Identify: 50 Years of Chermayeff & Geismar
(03.01.2012) Identify: Basic Principles of Identity Design in the Iconic Trademarks of Chermayeff & Geismar focuses on the transcendent work of Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar.
From the partners' logos for NBC and Mobil to the iconic superscaled 9 at Manhattan's Solow Building, the book highlights the last half-century of the firm's work. A preface by Isaac Mizrahi and a foreword by Stephen Heller explain how Chermayeff and Geismar's work transcends visual styles and why it has had such a dramatic impact on the field of visual communication design.
The compilation of work includes sketches and drawings as well as alternative versions of iconic designs. The authors explain their process and approach to working with clients.
"Identity design is not about what one likes or dislikes. It's about what works," the authors note. And while times have changed in the more than five decades since they partnered up, "our basic approach to trademark design has not."