Chermayeff & Geismar Inc: designing over four decades

Washington, DC – The Corcoran College of Art + Design continues its commitment to design with the special exhibition Chermayeff & Geismar Inc: designing over four decades. Celebrating the work of one of America’s most influential and respected graphic design firms, the exhibition covers the early rise and long-term contribution of the firm, particularly as it reflects a consistent design approach across a breadth of creative disciplines that spans nearly a half century. Chermayeff & Geismar Inc: designing over four decades was on view in the Corcoran’s Hemicycle gallery, the dedicated exhibition space of the Corcoran College of Art + Design, from November 24, 2004 through January 31, 2005.

“The interdisciplinary work of Chermayeff & Geismar is exemplary of the Corcoran’s allegiance to design excellence and our mission to broaden and expand the design opportunities that exist in Washington,” notes Corcoran Dean Christina DePaul. “With the College’s degree programs in graphic design, interior design and digital media and our continuing series of design exhibitions, we hope to communicate that design does not consist solely of visual images but also of ideas that shape all of our lives.”

The firm of Chermayeff & Geismar Inc. is responsible for such memorable design as the NBC and Mobil logos, as well as many hallmark elements of Washington, DC’s visual landscape, including The Smithsonian Institution’s identity, the display of Thomas Jefferson’s personal library at The Library of Congress and the banners that currently grace the Corcoran’s beaux-arts building.

This exhibition of the firm’s work presents roughly 150 graphic and exhibition designs, including an installation of the firm’s classic early study in experimental type design “Watching Words Move.” These landmark works range in scope and date from posters created for the Mobil-sponsored Masterpiece Theater series to permanent exhibitions for Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty to an animation sequence composed of 60 different Chermayeff & Geismar Inc. trademark designs.

As the exhibition reveals, the firm’s idea-driven, intuitive and consistent approach to design has resulted in its achievement of the quintessence of good design: clear, memorable and distinctive communication that over four decades has easily become an integral part of the world around us.

Chermayeff & Geismar Inc: designing over four decades was generously supported in part by the Solow Building Company and David Teiger. Additional thanks are due to in-kind donor Kimpton Hotels.