GRAPHIC DESIGN OF NOEL MARTIN
Noel Martin [Designer], American Institute of Graphic Arts
Noel Martin [Designer]: GRAPHIC DESIGN OF NOEL MARTIN [poster title]. New York: American Institute of Graphic Arts, 1958. Original Impression. Poster. 19 x 25” (48 x 63 cm) trim size image printed via offset lithography in three colors on recto only. Pinholes to corners and lightly handled, but a very good example.
Vintage AIGA solo show poster designed by Noel Martin for an exhibition that ran from from April 22 – May 16, 1958.
Noel Martin (American, 1922 – 2009) was a renown self-taught typographer and designer who studied drawing, painting, and printmaking at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. He later became an instructor there and was the long-time designer for the Cincinnati Art Museum, as well as a prolific free-lance designer. Martin was celebrated for modernizing museum graphics and industrial trade catalogs. In 1953, he was featured in MoMA's landmark design exhibition, Four American Designers, along with Herbert Bayer, Leo Lionni, and Ben Shahn. His spiral-bound self-promotional piece, Identity Programs, presents some of his iconic minimalist logos.
From Steven Heller's New York Times Obituary [February 27, 2009]: " With the ubiquitous branding and expert merchandizing of museums today, it is easy to forget that graphic design was once a low priority for them. In 1947, when Mr. Martin became the Cincinnati Art Museum's first graphic designer, most museum publications were staid and musty.
"Mr. Martin maintained that contemporary typographic design, as practiced by the European Modernists, would enhance these documents and make art, particularly abstract art, more accessible and more appealing to younger museumgoers. He introduced a distinct blend of classical and modern typography to the museum's exhibition catalogs.
"Allon Schoener, a freelance museum curator and friend, said that Mr. Martin, first at the Cincinnati Art Museum and later at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, "created a style which has been emulated by most other American museums during the last 40 years."
Noel Martin was born on April 19, 1922, in Syracuse, Ohio. When he was a child, his family moved to Cincinnati, where he spent the remainder of his life. He studied painting, drawing and print- making at the Art Academy of Cincinnati in 1939-1941 and 1945-1947, between which he married his wife, Coletta, and served in the military. During World War II he served in a camouflage unit in the Army Air Force, where he made catalogs and brochures. While making educational film strips for the Army in New York he was exposed to modern art for the first time, which later influenced his work. He trained himself in the art of typography and graphic design. He became a designer for the Cincinnati Art Museum in 1947 and in 1949 began offering his services as a free-lance designer and art director to a variety of firms.
In 1951 he began teaching design and commercial art at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and worked there until 1957. In 1953 he was one of four designers featured in the Four American Designers exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, by which time he'd already become nationally known. He received the Art Director's Medal in Philadelphia in 1957.
In 1958 he redesigned The New Republic from cover to cover. Martin (1959) said, "Good typography for magazines is generally typography which is free of animation and the necessary tricks of advertising, and is functional1." He used typeface Palatino and uncluttered the cover, making sure to leave white space throughout the publication. In 1959, he wrote several articles on the relationship between modern art and graphic design.
He continued designing for the Cincinnati Art Museum throughout his life. He designed numerous booklets, books, calendars, catalogs, corporate logos, flyers, magazines, newsletters, stationary and posters throughout the following decades. Some of the firms and institutions he designed for on a free-lance basis include Champion Paper Company, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Federated Department Stores, General Electric, LeBlond Ltd., Standard Oil Company, The United Fine Arts Fund, University of Cincinnati, and Xomox Corporation. He also designed corporate logos for institutions, such as Advance Mortgage Corporation, the Contemporary Arts Center, and Black Clawson, most of which were minimalist in nature.
He was featured in various editions of Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Graphic Art and Who's Who in Advertising. He was featured in numerous exhibits locally, nationally, and internationally. He wrote several articles and gave numerous lectures throughout his career. He dies of leukemia on February 23, 2009.
The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, branding and identity. The organization's aim is to be the standard bearer for professional ethics and practices for the design profession. There are currently over 22,000 members and 73 chapters, and more than 200 student groups around the United States.
In 1911, Frederic Goudy, Alfred Stieglitz, and W. A. Dwiggins came together to discuss the creation of an organization that was committed to individuals passionate about communication design. In 1913, president of the National Arts Club, John G. Agar, announced the formation of The American Institute of Graphic Arts during the eighth annual exhibition of “The Books of the Year.” The National Arts Club was instrumental in the formation of AIGA in that they helped to form the committee to plan to organize the organization. The committee formed included Charles DeKay and William B. Howland and officially formed the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1914. Howland, publisher and editor of The Outlook, was elected president. The goal of the group was to promote excellence in the graphic design profession through its network of local chapters throughout the country.
In 1920, AIGA began awarding medals to "individuals who have set standards of excellence over a lifetime of work or have made individual contributions to innovation within the practice of design." Winners have been recognized for design, teaching, writing or leadership of the profession and may honor individuals posthumously.
In 1982, the New York Chapter was formed and the organization began creating local chapters to decentralize leadership.