Ivan Chermayeff

Chermayeff was born in London in 1932, the son of architect Serge Chermayeff, and moved to the United States at about age eight.^4,5,6 He studied at Harvard University, the Institute of Design in Chicago, and Yale’s School of Art and Architecture.^2,7 After graduating, he briefly apprenticed with Alvin Lustig and worked at CBS on record-cover design.⁶

The Rochester Institute of Technology dates the founding of Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar in New York to 1957; It's Nice That gives 1956, while Cooper Hewitt also records a 1957 New York firm founded with Thomas Geismar.^1,4,8 The original studio designed Columbia record sleeves and book jackets.⁸ In 1960, Brownjohn moved to London and the firm took the name Chermayeff & Geismar Associates; the Smithsonian American Art Museum separately dates the founding of Chermayeff and Geismer Associates to that year and places it in Cambridge, Massachusetts.^7,8

The firm became Chermayeff & Geismar, Inc. in 1991 and split in 2005 into Chermayeff & Geismar Studio and C&G Partners.⁸ Chermayeff’s later partners included Sagi Haviv, and his professional partnership with Geismar lasted roughly 60 years.² The firm designed a sunburst identity for the Smithsonian Institution and a typographic identity for the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in 2010.¹

Other documented projects include posters for the Guggenheim and Big Apple Circus, a New York Times 9/11 editorial cover, a 1983 Mobil Masterpiece Theatre poster, and a 1988 John Carter album cover.^3,4 According to Renowned graphic designer Ivan Chermayeff has died aged 85, Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv created design work for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama.⁴

Chermayeff made prints and mixed-media collages from collected or found materials, alongside his design practice.^3,5 His personal artwork was exhibited at the De La Warr Pavilion and the School of Visual Arts; the SVA exhibition Copy, Cut + Paste followed his family’s 2019 donation of much of his work to the school’s archives.^3,5 Chermayeff said that many collages came together quickly, although he sometimes kept scraps for years before using them.⁵

His personal projects included the miniature book Watching Words Move (1962) and children’s books using photographs or cut paper.² Books documenting the partnership’s work included Designing (2003) and trademark compilations published in 1979 and 2000.²

Chermayeff was elected president of AIGA in 1963 and received its gold medal in 1979; other honours included the Yale Art Medal and the American Institute of Architects’ Industrial Art Medal.^4,8 The firm received a First International Design Award from the Japanese Design Foundation.⁸ Sources give different years for Chermayeff’s induction into the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame: RIT gives 1982, while Cooper Hewitt and TypeRoom give 1981.^1,6,8

Chermayeff said his goal was to make work that was simple and memorable.⁵ In remarks associated with his Hall of Fame recognition, Chermayeff distinguished design from art.^1,6 In a 1964 address, he warned that the visual environment was deteriorating at a pace he described as shocking and potentially irretrievable.² The Guardian described him as one of the most admired graphic designers of a generation that reshaped the profession.²

Chermayeff died on December 2, 2017, aged 85.^1,2,4