505 - SB1 - Graphic Design in the 70/80s

Some graphic design produced in the 70s:

I LOVE NY

1976, milton glaser

Milton Glaser interview with designboom

Designer Milton Glaser began with the American Typewriter font, but rounded off the edges because the “actual typeface is clunky,” he later explained. The designer’s use of a symbol in place of a verb was decades ahead of its time. Today, emojis and emoticons have become the norm. First used on July 15, 1977, the logo has since been trademarked by the New York State Department of Economic Development.

Glaser’s original crayon sketch done in the back of a taxi is now in the Museum of Modern Art’s collection. New York state’s economic development office moved in to copyright the famous logo about a decade after its introduction, by which time it was everywhere from T-shirts to shot glasses (above.) Today, the state prosecutes unauthorised uses of the logo, even as it draws a healthy revenue stream from licensing it. Meanwhile, creator Milton Glaser has yet to see a cent from any of it. Told the campaign would only run for a few months, Glaser did his work pro bono and refused to copyright it. The thinking was that if the logo was free to everyone, it would become part of the city’s iconography.

Montreal 1976 Olympics

“Amik,” a black beaver with a red strip featuring the 1976 Games logo, was the symbol of the Montreal Olympics. A national competition was held to name the mascot. Amik means beaver in the Algonquin language. The red stripe represents the ribbon used for winners’ medals. Official Olympic mascots were introduced in 1972 for the Munich Games, where a colourful dachshund was chosen.