Milton Glaser (1929-2020)
Undoubtedly one of America’s greatest graphic designers, Milton Glaser was best known as the creator of one of the most iconic images of the twentieth century, the ‘I ♥ NY’ logo.
Milton Glaser was born in New York City on 26 June 1929. He was educated first at the High School of Music and Art in New York, then at the Cooper Union School of Art, graduating in 1951. He obtained a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, Italy, where he worked with the painter, Giorgio Morandi.
In 1954, Glaser co-founded Pushpin Studios, an illustration and design studio along with Seymour Chwast, Reynold Ruffins, and Edward Sorel.
In 1968, he co-founded New York magazine with the journalist Clay Felker, working as President and Design Director until 1977. In 1974, he opened his own design studio, Milton Glaser Inc, in Manhattan. Still in operation today, Milton Glaser Inc, has been responsible for numerous famous designs and logos, such as the Brooklyn Brewery logo in 1987 and the ‘DC Bullet’ used by DC Comics between 1977 and 2005.
In 1975, he was commissioned to complete the full graphic and decorative programs for the restaurants in the World Trade Center, as well as the design of the building’s Observation Deck.
Glaser’s most famous design was created in 1976, when he was commissioned by the state of New York to come up with a design to improve the image of New York City. His simple ‘I ♥ NY’ design became one of the most famous, copied and reproduced logos ever created. Inspired by the sculpture ‘Love’ by the artist Robert Indiana, the logo ensured Glaser’s reputation as America’s leading graphic designer. He formed the publication design firm, WBMG, with Walter Bernard in 1983, which has been responsible for design projects on over 50 newspapers and magazines worldwide, including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and Rio de Janeiro’s O Globo.
Milton Glaser was presented with numerous awards throughout his career, such as lifetime achievement awards from the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, in 2004, and the Fulbright Association, in 2011. In 2009, he became the first graphic designer to receive the National Medal of the Arts. He held solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1975, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris, in 1977.
His work is represented in numerous public collections including the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum (New York), the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and the National Archives (Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC); and The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
