AIGA 1962

Terry Lee Stone and I were talking about the good old days of competitions.  We both agreed that we loved all of the printed ephemera that was produced each year for either AIGA 365, or the New York Art Director’s Club Show, or Western Art Director’s Club. I know this is really, really bad. It’s not a sustainable practice, and the world is a more caring place now that we do these communications digitally. But, to be asked to design everything from the poster to the award certificate for one of these competitions was a choice project. When Lou Danziger was moving out of his studio, one of Frank Gehry’s first buildings, he called Noreen and me and asked if we wanted anything. We managed to walk away with a George Nelson H leg table, Lou’s custom wood flat files, a copy stand, and Lou’s box of awards. For 15 years, the awards been carefully archived away.

Now, they have been released and some are displayed here. I especially love the 1962 AIGA award, presumably designed by George Tscherny. The “XIX” award can be seen on the walls of Sterling Cooper on Mad Men. The green and pink NYADC club award from 1963 has the most incredible swirls. And, finally, the AIGA mailing label on the tube, I know Paul Rand designed the AIGA logo, and the multi-talented Bart Crosby refined it, but this is tempting.

ADLA as seen on Mad Men

NYADC 1963

AIGA mailing label

ADLA

AIGA 1963

AIGA 1956

AIGA 1964

CA 1963

ADLA

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There's no such thing as too much madras

Many of you have written or called and asked me, “Sean, how do you stay trapped in 1962? Where do you find those clothes?” or “Sean, I’d be more than happy to take you shopping, I’m sure I could help you be more up to date.” The answer is that it’s not easy to stay trapped in 1962. The clothes I buy come in and out of fashion every 20-25 years. So I’m quite hip for a few months every two decades. Since the fashion industry insists on change, if I find an item I like, I buy several and store them. Some items such as Sperry Topsider canvas sneakers have never been out of production, thankfully. The secret is J. Press. They have the same ethos about change (it’s bad) that I do. J. Press is in Cambridge, New Haven, Manhattan, and Washington D.C. and is exactly the right place to find madras shirts and handkerchiefs, whale or anchor motif belts, and good school color repp ties. Of course, I have other sources for non-groovy 1962-wear. But the best advice I can give is to buy multiples. It’s possible that the next time you go to buy classic khakis, they will have been replaced with a cut that some might call “European.”

This is how hanging out on campus should be

J. Press catalogue 1962

Good ties, but you need to order through the time machine

American Graffiti, Ron Howard, good fashion tips

You never know when someone may say, "Sailing?"

Notice how well groomed and neat these students are

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My good friend Erica, her husband Tristram, and two boys are moving to Los Angeles from London. I advised her to show Tristram The Loved One before committing to the move. The Loved One is a novel written by Evelyn Waugh, and made into a film in 1965. It is a dark and macabre comedy following a young British poet after his uncle commits suicide in the backyard of his Hollywood bungalow.  Aimee Thanatogenos is the beautician at Whispering Glades cemetery, based in Forest Lawn who our British poet is pursuing. She lives in one of those insane condemned houses on stilts that everyone is convinced will collapse in an earthquake. One of the film’s highlights occurs when the chief embalmer, Mr. Joyboy, takes Aimee home to meet his rather large mother. This movie is a cross between Six Feet Under and the Addams Family. If you like Forest Lawn, pet cemeteries, Liberace as a casket salesperson, Milton Berle freezing dead poodles in Bel Air, a bleach blond Rod Steiger, you’ll love The Loved One.

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July 1964, Walter Allner

For some quirk of data collection, I am listed in a book about Saul Bass and Walter Allner. This book does not exist. If you’re one of the people who insist I have a copy and won’t give it up, please believe me. If it were to exist, I could retire happy. To even be mentioned with Saul Bass and Walter Allner is a huge honor. In this case, it’s just bad data entry at Amazon. Walter Allner designed some of Fortune magazine’s most incredible covers. Allner, trained at the Bauhaus, was one of the pioneers in the field who brought modernism in typography to American design. His Fortune covers are examples of a minimal and graphic approach. He told his students, “Raise the aesthetic standard — the public is more perceptive than you think.” These covers and his body of work presume that the audience is intelligent and visually literate. There are no big headshots of Britney Spears. In addition, for those of you who are saying, “Yeah, so what, I could do that stuff.” This was before Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. The windows of the Time & Life Building on the 500 Fortune cover are actually turned on. For real.

May 1959, Walter Allner

May 1958, Walter Allner

July 1953, Walter Allner

March 1955, Walter Allner

January 1959, Walter Allner

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Bertram Cooper's office, Mad Men: no shoes allowed

Designers like distressed typography on the side of a building, hardware stores in foreign countries, vintage shopping bags, and Muji products. With few exceptions, I’ve found that many like Mad Men. Of course the plot and characters are interesting, but we can’t help ourselves when we notice the ads framed on the walls, Don Draper’s desk lamp, or the multi-colored doors at Sterling Cooper. The genius of the design is that it is not a pure snapshot of 1963. There are older items mixed in with the new ones. Nobody went out and bought everything brand new in June 1963. We all have favorite pieces. I love that there are New York Art Director’s Club awards from that time, and I really love Bertram Cooper’s Japanese inspired office. I need that. I should have it.

Betty with that strange kid and a good wall sculpture

Don Draper and Roger Sterling, I'm going to add a bar to my office. Wait Noreen has one at her desk.

Don and Betty Draper and a turquoise tufted headboard, nice.

Why can you not buy a knotty pine kitchen today? What has gone wrong?

Very nice Eva Zeisal coffee service in the background, but a badly designed ad on the wall.

mmmm, beige wall phone, plaid wallpaper

Mad Men cast imitating famous chair designers who weren't as attractive.

George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames and Jens Risom Playboy Magazine, July 1961

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