A Tribute to Ivan Chermayeff
During my first semester of design school, I became transfixed with the textbook Branded Identity. Turning its pages, I repeatedly saw the names Ivan Chermayeff, Tom Geismar and Sagi Haviv: the creative trio behind Chermayeff, Geismar & Haviv (CGH), a New York based design firm behind some of the world’s most recognizable and enduring logos.
Browsing their website feels like visiting a museum of iconic, corporate identities. The breadth of their work is astonishing. Sharp angles, symmetry and the use of primary colors are the core components for many of their logos. The NBC peacock displays colorful feathers which blossom from the center. A geometric abstraction of the bird’s body is revealed within the negative space. Logos like National Geographic’s yellow rectangle, Mobil’s red “O”, Chase Bank’s octagonal badge and Univision’s geometric “U” feel bold and independent, yet fundamentally simple.
Throughout college, CGH was my dream company to work and learn from. To imagine working with Ivan, Tom and Sagi seemed intangible. How could a student from a small school in Ohio find his way to one of the world’s most legendary firms in the concrete jungle of New York?
After my sophomore year, I took an internship in packaging/branding design at Landor Associates in Chicago, Illinois. The following summer, I moved to Silicon Valley to work for Facebook’s central design team as a content strategy intern. Three years had passed and with more experience, school projects and freelance, I applied to the firm I had dreamt of working for. After contacting CGH, I scored an interview and received an internship offer from the partners within a week. I had barely unpacked my bags (returning from California) and packed up once more to make the move to New York.
On my first day, I got off the elevator onto the ninth floor, knocked on the large, glass door and was greeted by Sagi Haviv and his ebullient dog, Neo. Throughout that day, I met the 11 team members — including Ivan.
Somewhere in my mind, I imagined Ivan making infrequent appearances around the office, similar to the Queen of England — a respected political legacy, yet less active in the day-to-day political (or in Ivan’s case, design) minutiae. I would have guessed that his exposure would be inconspicuous… but I was wrong. Ivan, at 85 years old, arrived every day at eight o’clock in the morning and left after five or six. His excited dog, Walley always accompanied him. Working wasn’t his job; he had made work his life.
Ivan’s personality was immediately warm and charming. “We’re glad to have you,” he had said sincerely during our introduction via the firm’s principal, Mackey Saturday. Everyone in the office knew Ivan had an exceptional ability understanding shape, composition and cut paper illustration. Unlike the other members of the team, he didn’t use a computer. All of his work was with his hands and physical tools.
As much as his logos were sleek, polished and considered, his illustrations felt human and more personal. Walking by his office, it wasn’t surprising to see various scraps of colored paper and pencils scattered across his desk. Ivan masterfully transformed paper, chopping it into vibrant characters and idyllic scenes. His spirited animals, amorphous shapes and abstracted figures were brought to life through his amalgamation of layering shapes, bold color and optimistic spirit.
Ivan attended design reviews for all of the firm’s work, no matter who was presenting. His attendance during one of my own presentations for designs of a health care app made me realize the amount of care and pride he took in the firm’s output of high quality. Once, I showed him a sample tote bag I had designed as internal company merchandise. Ivan was attentive and eager to see the bag, feel its texture and closely examine the levels of the ink’s saturation. I had gone from reading about a design legend to working alongside him.
The last day of my three month internship, I printed a large poster that displayed some of my favorite logos by CGH. I asked if each of the partners and Mackey would sign it. After I entered Ivan’s office, we began talking about my time at the firm. He asked if I had enjoyed my time on the team, to which I responded that working at CGH had been one of my dreams. I told him I had studied his work in school and let him know how grateful I was to have worked with him. “We’re glad to have you,” he had said for the second time.
Ivan’s contributions to the design industry helped define visual branding for American corporations. CGH pioneered the modernist movement for visual identities, introducing intentional, simple and memorable logos into a fussy, commercial logoscape.
What’s known as a good logo today was greatly defined by logos from firms like CGH. Logos like NBC, Chase, The Smithsonian, National Geographic, Showtime, PBS, Merck Pharmaceuticals, MOMA, the EPA, Harper Collins and Cornell represent the “gold standard” in traditional logo design. The introduction of typographic systems, brand colors and visual languages for corporate identities used to be unprecedented. Now, those practices have become the standard.
The work and influence of Ivan Chermayeff can be seen everywhere. From iconic logos that adorn tall buildings to delightful illustrations in children’s books, Ivan’s work has been cemented in our visual culture. Because of him, I appreciate the beauty of a simplistic logo. His philosophy of stripping down the unnecessary to reveal the essence of what makes a logo memorable and iconic is taught and practiced across the world. I’m so grateful to have been able to work with him. Because he shared his knowledge and skills, Ivan’s legacy will continue to live on.
