Artone^373
Seymour ChwastThe curvilinear style known as art
nouveau in France and Jugendstil in
Germany was revived by Push Pin Studios
during the early 1960 s and prefigured the
postmodern reappraisal of passé forms by
well over a decade. Push Pin, founded in
1955 by Seymour Chwast (b. 1931 ), Milton
Glaser, Edward Sorel, and Reynold
Ruffins, was a pioneer of stylistic
sampling, known for combining traits of
Victorian, arts and crafts, art nouveau, and
art deco approaches with contemporary
typography and illustration that
underscored the influential “Push Pin
style.” This approach was a model for
other American designers interested in
decorative form and, as a byproduct,
fostered a return of drawing to the design
process. The prevailing modern ethos
rejected historicism as quaint and
unresponsive to contemporary business needs. But Push Pin’s eclecticism
was based on the idea that historical form could be revitalized and given
currency with certain mass media, including book and record covers,
advertising, magazines, and package design. There is probably no better
example of the appropriateness of this method of historical quotation than
Seymour Chwast’s 1964 design of the Artone Studio India ink package, the
logo of which was the basis for his display typeface called Artone, released
that same year by Photolettering Inc.
In 1963 Push Pin Studios was commissioned to repackage the
Artone ink carton by the new owner of the art supply company, a Wall
Street businessman named Louis Strick. Since his company was small,
Strick rejected costly market research and customer profiles. Rather, he left
the problem entirely in the hands of Chwast and Glaser (then the two
remaining principals of Push Pin). As was often their procedure, each made
sketches independently and only later came together for reaction and
critique. “We’d talk about it, do our own ideas, and then talk about it