Past Designers

Alvin Lustig (1915-1955)

Alvin Lustig began his career with his love of magic.  His love for magic and his posters that advertised his talent is what brought attention to the fact that he was indeed a good designer.  He then began school at the Los Angeles Community College and the City’s Art Center School.  A couple years after, he began a business that was slow getting of the ground, but his work showcased a new beginning.  The rest of his career revolved mainly around designing book covers.  His life ended due to diabetes in the year of 1955, at the age of 40.

Cipe Pineles (1908-1991)

Originally from Vienna, Cipe Pineles enrolled in Brocklyn’s Pratt Institute, in which she developed an impressive portfolio.  She maintained plenty of job interviews from her work, but since she was a woman, she did not maintain any jobs.  This was until she joined a small firm called Contempora.  She made her way at this firm and began her main career as art director for magazine companies like Vanity Fair, House and Garden, and Seventeen.  During her career, Pineles made her way through a male-dominated industry and turned out to be very successful until her death in New York in 1991.

Bradbury Thompson (1911-1995)

Bradbury Thompson received a degree from Washburn College in Topeka, Kansas, which is where he had become the editor and designer of the college yearbook.  Right out of college, Thompson began working for magazines as the art director and made a name for himself.  He then became editor and designer of Westvaco Inspirations for Printers.   He demonstrated typography for 61 issues, until the production ceased.  After the production ceased, Thompson maintained jobs as art director for multiple magazines and overall designed up to 30 layouts for magazines.  He also created a typeface due to his curiosity of typography.  His font was called Alphabet 26.  He passed away in New York in 1995.

Erik Nitsche (1908-1998)

Erik Nitsche was originally from Switzerland, however, to jumpstart his career, he moved to Germany to work with his professor and worked at Pressa. He then moved to Paris to work for a printing house and during his stay in Paris, he had earned money for multiple magazine illustrations.  He then moved to Los Angeles and New York to become editor of illustrations for magazines.  He then became art director for Saks Fifth Avenue and at the same time he continued to complete freelance work.  He then started to work for General Dynamics and did some print ads that got the attention of the CEO.  The CEO let Nitsche be in charge of the identity of the company.  Towards the end of his career, Nitsche moved back to Switzerland and established his own company but then moved back to the states to work on children’s books.  He then moved to Germany to work on designing stamps and then moved back to the states where he died in 1998.

Ladislav Sutnar (1897-1976)

Ladislav Sutnar went to three different schools in Prague in which he learned everything he needed to become successful in multiple things like making puppets to designing magazine covers.  He was then asked to design an exhibit at the New York World Fair, which was cancelled, but ended up staying in New York.  He then became art director of Sweet’s Catalog Service, in which he stayed for two decades.  He then published New Patterns in Product Information in which he started what is now known as information design.  The rest of his career consisted of working for multiple magazines.