People’s Graphic Design Archive

A 1936 American Labor Party poster at the New York Historical Society exhibition “Art as Activism: Graphic Art from the Merrill C. Berman Collection”

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:48:06 +0000

This poster comes from an exhibition featuring a selection of 71 posters dating from the 1930s to the 1970s. Drawn from the singular collection of Merrill C. Berman, an investor from Rye, New York, the works demonstrate the role visual art has played in political and protest movements throughout the United States. Treated as art objects, the posters are framed and displayed like paintings, offering a rich alternative history of the past century in America.

Shibuya +Fun Project vol.2

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:33:32 +0000

This project was started by Shibuya Area Management + Yuki Kikutake Laboratory, Tokyo Metropolitan University. It aimed to make the construction board an art media and create an experience that can only be done in Shibuya. They created a new greeting, "SHIBUYAHHO!" and promoted to post it on Twitter.

Homer Groening feature in Communication Arts

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 22:16:02 +0000

This is a 4-page feature about advertising designer, Homer Groening. It's likely of interest to most people because he is the father of comic author, Matt Groening (Simpsons, Life is Hell creator). Reading the article, you will see that Matt grew up around someone who truly valued the combination of humor, creativity, risk, and hard work.

Communication Arts, vol 8 no.5 , 1966

Guy Mitchell Show Title Card

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 15:18:59 +0000

The Guy Mitchell Show aired on ABC from November 1957 to January 1958. Artist unknown.

Immovable Objects

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 10:58:36 +0000

For Godard, New York was a constant source of inspiration. In this poster, he filters the skyline through celluloid film, letting the strips ripple and curl across the top, marked by a film editor.

Atlas Travel Services Ltd

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 17:22:13 +0000

Designer: Michael Lewis Pacey
Studio: Supergraphics Design
Client: Atlas Travel Services Ltd
Year: Circa 1972

The Atlas Travel Services Ltd. logo was the third of six logos that graced the walls of the Supergraphics Design studio, at 1162 Hornby Street in Vancouver, in the mid 1970’s.

Other logos in this series include:
Ammo Power Tools
Andex Oil
Yukon Volleyball
Colleen Kennedy
B/K Electric

Vector files created by his son Robert Pacey @paceyandpacey

#MichaelLewisPacey
#MLPaceyLogos
#MLPArchives
#SuperGraphicsDesign
#MichaelPaceyDesign

LIVE TALK

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:39:03 +0000

Join artist Leonardo Drew, Madison Square Park Director Brooke Kamin Rapaport, and moderated by Savona Bailey-McClain. Panel discussion on public art at Madison Square Park by Leonardo Drew and Martin Puryear at Galerie Lelong in Chelsea.

Growing Rice: A Migration Story from Seed to Plate

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:38:11 +0000

Rice around the world is thought of as Asian. But rice is just as African as it is Asian. Oryza glaberrima was cultivated from wild rice that needed humans when the Sahara was drying. That knowledge fueled the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade where Africans were brought west. Rice dominated the United States and particularly South Carolina for two hundred years by these African slaves. When Black culture migrated north, Harlem became its capital. A mecca where traditions could be preserved and human rights championed. Spend an evening learning about rice with curator and historian Savona Bailey-McClain, JJ Johnson, chef of rice restaurant FieldTrip, and rice farmer Nfamara Badjie. Learn how the culture of rice has impacted Black culture as we trace its roots from Africa and the Caribbean to the American South. After the discussion guests will enjoy a scrumptious rice dish prepared by celebrity chef JJ Johnson and a cocktail courtesy of Plantation Rum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om87CS22eKk&t=318s

Moderator - Savona Bailey-McClain

Chef JJ Johnson

Author Michael Twitty

Rice Farmer Nfamara Badje

Visual Identity for the City of Rotterdam

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 19:05:57 +0000

The visual identity for the City of Rotterdam was developed in 1972 by graphic designers Wim Crouwel and Eli Gross. The project was developed also with Jolijn van de Wouw as team lead, with John Stegmeyer also involved in the project. Ben Bos wrote in his book about Total Design (Bos, Ben. TD 63–73: Total Design and Its Pioneering Role in Graphic Design. Volume 22 of Unit. London: Unit Editions, 2015) :

Eli Gross played a prominent role in the design of the symbol.

At the center of the identity was a geometric abstraction of the map of Rotterdam, reducing the city’s urban structure and the river that defines it to a series of hexagonal forms. The resulting symbol translated the physical geography of the city into a concise and highly abstract graphic language.

What was particularly innovative for the early 1970s was the logo’s dynamic application. The river was treated as a separate element within the system, allowing the identity to appear in a larger version incorporating the river, or in a more compact version without it. The logo was therefore not conceived as one fixed form, but as a flexible system that could adapt to different formats and contexts while retaining its visual identity.

This approach reflected the systematic and functional thinking associated with Total Design at the time. Rather than simply creating a symbolic representation of Rotterdam, the designers developed a visual language in which geography, abstraction and application were integrated into a single identity system.

The Red and Yellow Postal Mailboxes for the Israel Postal Authority

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 19:05:25 +0000

The visual system for the postal mailboxes was designed by graphic designer Eli Gross, a former member of Total Design (1969–1972), after his return to Israel in 1972. Working for major public institutions, including the Israel Postal Authority, Gross developed a series of functional and highly recognizable elements for Israel’s public infrastructure.

An iconic example is the distinctive pair of red and yellow postal mailboxes, likely dating to the mid-1980s. The design consists of two simple flat tubes bent at the top and positioned back to back: one red and one yellow. The yellow mailbox was designated for local mail, while the red mailbox was used for inter-city destinations. The red color continued a visual tradition established by postal boxes during the British Mandate period, while the contrasting yellow created an immediate functional distinction.

The design exemplifies Gross’s approach to public and functional design: a minimal, systematic form in which visual identity and practical information are integrated into a single object. Repeated throughout the country, the mailboxes became a familiar element of Israel’s everyday visual environment.

Little documentation about the design survives today. Perhaps precisely because of its ubiquity and functionality, the mailbox became almost invisible—rendering it as an everyday object that quietly fulfilled its purpose without demanding attention.

Bank Leumi Design Manual Spreads

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 19:04:51 +0000

The visual identity for Bank Leumi was introduced in 1978 and designed by graphic designer Eli Gross, a former member of Total Design (1969–1972). After returning to Israel in 1972, Gross began working for major public and commercial institutions, including Bank Leumi, where he developed a comprehensive visual language for the bank.

The identity was based on a simple horizontal 1:5 grid, using a Reflex Blue stripe alongside a cyan stripe. The system could be consistently applied across a wide range of applications, from printed materials to the facades and signage of individual bank branches.

At the time, Israeli corporate design was often characterized by eclectic European influences, with inconsistent lettering, decorative forms, and frequently distorted or stretched type. Gross’s system introduced a highly controlled and flexible visual language that could be extended across an entire national network while maintaining a strong and immediate identity.

The Bank Leumi system became an important example of modernist corporate design in Israel. Its extensive application across the bank’s branches meant that the identity became part of the everyday visual environment, exposing virtually an entire generation of Israelis to a new, systematic approach to corporate identity.

Poster, 11th Summer Jazz Festival, 1979

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 09:53:21 +0000

Takenobu Igarashi (Japanese, 1944–2025) for Nippon Cultural Broadcasting, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan); Printed by KY Printing Co. Ltd. (Japan); Lithograph on paper; 72.8 × 51.5 cm (28 11/16 × 20 1/4 in.); Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

[History Student Work] Design The Accessible

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 22:48:58 +0000

A student-authored booklet made expanding upon Herbert Spencer's essay “The Responsibilities of the Design Profession” regarding graphic designers contribution to making products to help the disabled.

[History Student Work] True or False: Is Photography Truthful?

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 22:49:14 +0000

Student-authored commentary.

Photography at its core involves capturing a moment in time as an image; however, with the ability to edit and without context, can photographs truly be considered truthful? Laszlo Moholy-Nagy's typophotos not only add visual appeal to photographs, but the inclusion of type allows the photographer to explain the context of a photo, which adds to its truthfulness.

[History Student Work] What makes a Magazine Modern?

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 22:49:39 +0000

Student-made critical commentary Graphic Design archive booklet based on Dr. Mehmed Femhy Agha's 1930 essay What Makes a Magazine "Modern"?

[History Student Work] Let's Talk About Herbert Spencer

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 22:50:06 +0000

This student-authored booklet takes on the significance of Herbert Spencer and how he has shaped graphic design. His design approach and principles establish legibility, empathy towards the audience, the creation of work that can benefit everyday people, and effective layout tips and tricks. Enjoy!