mariel olivo

Being a life-long New Yorker, I should probably be ashamed of myself for not having known who Milton Glaser was before my Google search earlier today. Glaser (born 1929) is the designer of one of the most pervasive images in pop culture history: the ‘I Love NY’ logo. Oh, that guy! He designed the logo in 1977 for the New York State Department of Commerce and decades later, it’s still damn popular.

I mean, I got excited when I saw one of my posters displayed in Newhouse’s Food.com cafe last December. I can’t imagine what it would be like to walk down 42nd street and see your work at every corner silkscreened on t-shirts, bags, hats, even coffee mugs. In late 2001, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Glaser updated the ‘I Love NY’ logo to the one below. Note the location of the smudge on the heart: it’s ‘downtown,’ as in where the attacks took place.

But that’s not all, folks! Glaser designed an iconic poster of Bob Dylan for CBS Records, the logo that DC Comics used from ‘97 to ‘05, and the logo for Brooklyn Brewery (more hometown love from me for that one, Milton).

Glaser studied at Cooper Union, was a Fulbright Scholar (he spent time in Bologna at the Academy of Fine Arts). Only three years out of Cooper Union, he started a design firm called Push Pin Studios with some of his classmates. In 1968, the man co-founded ‘New York Magazine’ with Clay Felker. He finally opened up his own studio in 1974, and was even design director of ‘Village Voice’ for a few years. In 1983, he started WBMG, which focused on magazine and newspaper design, with Walter Bernard (former art director of ‘Time’). Together, they designed ‘The Washington Post,’ ‘Money,’ ‘The Nation,’ ‘Esquire,’ and many others. Basically, he’s awesome at everything.

I was reading a few interviews he did, and he talks about how difficult it is for someone to look at a piece of his work and definitely say, “That is a Milton Glaser” because he feels that sometimes the designer should be transparent for the sake of the project. Hey, I agree with ya! However, Glaser thinks that the one unifying thread in all his work is a foundation of illustration. He says he never uses a himself to design (!!!!!!!!!!!), but concedes that it’d be impossible to run a studio without someone using computers. He’s had shows in the Museum of Modern Art here in NYC, and at the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris; he’s won trillions of awards, including some from the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and the Type Directors Club.

Check out this one Glaser print! I have an affinity for the quirky, and this definitely falls in that category. For a mere (HA!) $100 you, too, can own this poster, which was for Allan Heller’s furniture line of plastic, pasta-shaped pillows. (I feel like this room is missing something, but I don’t know what. Oh, of course! A fettucine-shaped loveseat!!).

A promise, Mr. Glaser: I will never again mistake you for “that board game guy.” My bad.

Happy 2009!

I celebrated at the annual Olivo Family New Years Extravaganza, and it was extra fun this year (though when your family members number in the MILLIONS, it’s hard not to have fun). The festivities also provided something new this year: enlightenment.

Let me set the scene: There I was, in my aunt’s kitchen in New Jersey, with a beer in one hand and a piece of Italian bread in the other (my own personal heaven…minus the Jersey part). I was talking to one of my older cousins, and–as has been happening more and more often lately–he asked about my post-graduation plans. Ugh. This brought about my usual response of a combination shrug-sheepish smile (hey, it’s cute in my head!).

Cousin: So, you’re learning all about design?
Me: Thaaaat’s the plan!
Cousin: Tell me about Milton Glaser.
Me (looking around frantically): Uhhhhh…….isn’t he the board game guy?!?

FAIL.

No, he’s not the board game guy. I then realized I know nothing about anything. Well, this isn’t exactly the enlightened moment I promised earlier. I already knew that I didn’t know anything. I guess it just took me getting design-slapped by business-major-cousin to really sink in.

So, here’s the plan. Every week, I’m going to do a profile on a designer/firm/SOMETHING design-related. Not only will I have to do the research myself, but I’ll have to rehash it somewhat competently here for you (my one reader…who isn’t even in the country right now!!). I’m starting, naturally, with Milton Glaser.

But I’ll start tomorrow…

I thought I was getting the better end of the deal when I left snowy Syracuse for Brooklyn, but it looks like the joke’s on me! Though I’m mostly unscathed (with the exception of a few rogue snowflakes evading my glasses and hitting me right in the eye), I was still delighted to find this animation in my inbox. Made by British studio Crush, it features the Sara Bareilles track “Winter Song,” and is just what I need to keep my spririts up while I’m snowed-in at home.

I love the old-timey feel and how the animation perfectly compliments the song…and anyone can relate to the story, about two friends trying to make due in the cold weather. I cringe just a little bit to say something like ‘heartwarming,’ but that’s what it is. Shout out to my own best friend who, though far from home right now, hasn’t been forgotten. So, watch it watch it watch it!! I think it’s the video equivalent of a big mug of hot chocolate.

I pride myself on being very detailed-oriented, which is why design suits me so well (or so I’d like to think!). Perfect kerning makes me inexplicably happy, and sometimes the delicate swash of the letter makes me lose my train of thought. Behold Cameron Moll, a Utah man with a godly attention to detail.

Basically, this poster makes me drool. Click on the photos for oh-so-necessary close-ups of this typographic representation of the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah.

This thing is handcrafted and apparently took over 100 hours to make. ONE HUNDRED HOURS?!?! Makes my all-nighters at the graphics lab seem like child’s play. But 100 hours seems to be an okay price to pay if THIS is the final product.

Excuse me, I think I’m gonna need a minute. If you want to check out some more super sexy detail shots of this piece, click here. It’s definitely worth your time.

So I recently decided that I don’t know a thing about graphic design–which is kind of unfortunate seeing as this is my intended career path. In an attempt to correct my ignorance, I’ve started reading a bunch of design blogs/sites.

During my web travels I came across Sycamore Street Press, a Columbus, OH stationery outfit that hand-prints their cards on a vintage letterpress. I know, right? That’s devotion. The cards are beautifully made, and I dig the muted/earthy color palate, but the clincher here are the messages. I’m one of those people who would rather show up to a party empty-handed than with one of those ‘normal’ birthday cards, so I was instantly drawn to these.

Also see: “Spoiler Alert: Someone got you a toaster” and “I expect a thank you note for this thank you note.”

I think I know where I’m doing my shopping from now on.

Hi everyone!

My name’s Mariel, I’m a graphic design major at Syracuse University, and this is my portfolio Web site. Feel free to look around and learn a little bit more about me and my work. Definitely keep coming back, though, to check out the new work I put up!

Click here for a multimedia presentation of my portfolio. You can also find individual versions under the “Portfolio” section of this site.