BIOGRAPHY
Alvin Lustig was born in Denver, Colorado in 1915.
He did not have a huge interest in designing until he
reached high school. One of his teachers opened his eyes to
the world of art and he became inspired to create things
himself from then on. His formal art training consisted of
attending the Art Centre School of Design as well as
studying under Frank Lloyd Wright in Taliesin East for 3
months. He gained success early on in his career.
BIOGRAPHY
At age 21 he worked in a
drug store’s back room doing
freelance jobs as a typographer
and printer. It was then when he
started to create his geometric
abstract styles in design. He would
use plain colors and simple shapes.
After a year of that he decided that
designing was what he really
wanted to do more of and quit that
job. He designed books for New
Directions in LA and Noonday Press
as well as joined The Society for
Contemporary Designers group.
Instead of making book jackets
that tried summarizing the book,
he would read it and gain a sense
of what the writer was trying to
portray and put that in an image.
BIOGRAPHY
There was not enough work in California at that time
though, so in 1944 he moved to New York. From 1944 to 1946
Lustig was the Director of Visual Research for look Magazine.
He moved back to LA for 5 years and did furniture,
architectural, fabric, book and other designs in an office he
ran. He even taught workshops and design courses at Yale,
University of Georgia, Art Center, and Black Mountain College
in North Carolina. Lustig developed a theory that Israel could
impact society with good design and moved there in 1950.
BIOGRAPHY
He was never able to test this theory though
because his diabetes caused erosion in his vision and by
1954 he was virtually blind. Through his blindness he still
continued to work. In one instance, he was hired to design
signs for Seagram’s building and managed to direct his wife
and assistants on how to create every single detail. Alvin
Lustig died at the age of 40 on December 4th, 1955. His
collection was donated in 1986 to RIT by Elaine Lustig
Cohen, his wife of seven years.
BOOK DESIGNSHe made several book jackets such as:
• Lorca: 3 Tragedies• Wisdom of the Heart• Ghost in the Underblows• Exiles• Amerika
MORE DESIGNSHe created a whole variety of designs for other things as
well, including:
-Invitations -Office Spaces
-Advertisements -A Helicopter
-Magazines -Coordination Signage
-Commercial Catalogs -Print Materials for Girl Scouts of America
-Textiles -The opening sequence for Mr. Magoo cartoon
-Annual Reports http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8GTHXTEvIc
LEGACY
In 1986, Lustig received a spot in the Art Directors Hall of Fame and in 1993 was the recipient of an AIGA Medal by the American Institute of Graphic Arts. This past May, New Directions decided to start selling postcards and other stationary of his. His artwork was revolutionary in graphic design and his style of art can be seen trending in modern designs now.
PERSONAL REFLECTION
I believe Alvin Lustig was a very revolutionary and
talented graphic designer. I enjoy his geometric abstract
style of artwork a lot because it is close to how I like to
design the things I make. I find his art really appealing,
modern and unique. I am surprised I have never heard of
him before considering how much influence he has had on
graphic design.
http://library.rit.edu/gda/designer/alvin-lustig
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8GTHXTEvIc
http://www.designishistory.com/1940/alvin-lustig/
http://www.alvinlustig.com/aa_intro.php
http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/017_03/6334
www.aiga.org
www.observatory.designobserver.com
www.amodernist.blogspot.com
www.alvinlustig.com
www.collection.cooperhewii.org
REFERENCES
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