Where Logos Meet Album Covers: Designer Ivan Chermayeff

Exploring the relationship between NBC, PBS and Gramavision album covers.

The iconic logos of NBC, Showtime, and PBS all share one thing in common: designer Ivan Chermayeff. Born in London in 1932, Ivan and his family moved to the United States in the 1940s. He grew up to study at Harvard University, the Institute of Design, and the Yale School of Arts. After graduating, he became an assistant art director at Columbia, designing record covers.

Clockwise: Logos for Mobil, The Smithsonian Institute, NBC, PBS, Showtime, and Chase Bank. Designed by and courtesy of Chermayeff, Geismar & Haviv.

In 1957, Chermayeff co-founded a design firm with artists Tom Geismar and Robert Brownjohn, which is now known as Chermayeff, Geismar & Haviv. Some of their early projects include designing the streamlined logos for Chase Bank (1961) and Mobil Oil Corporation (1966). As noted in The New York Times, “the firm, known for its sleek Modernist designs featuring bold primary colors, was among the first to convey corporate identity by means of abstraction, streamlining the fussier logos that had dominated the commercial landscape in the first half of the century.”

Some of the firm and Chermayeff’s lesser-known work are the record covers he designed for Gramavision and Command. Just like the logos they crafted, the imagery on the album covers is based on simple geometric shapes, lines, and collages. In a video interview filmed in 2010, Chermayeff comments on how design is the answer to people’s problems and should be “as simple as possible, and as straightforward as possible, and as economical as possible…”

One can clearly see this philosophy implemented throughout his work and creative process in which he worked computer-free. “I don’t touch computers… I have no buttons at all.”

Explore some of Ivan’s album covers below.

Pete Levin, Party in the Basement released 1990 on Gramavision. Art by Chermayeff & Geismar Associates.

Los Admiradores, Bongos / Flutes / Guitars released 1960 on Command. Art Direction by Charles E. Murphy. Cover by Chermayeff & Geismar Associates.

John Carter, Fields released 1988 on Gramavision. Cover by Ivan Chermayeff.

Al MacDowell, Time Peace released 1989 on Gramavision. Artwork and design by Chermayeff & Geismar Associates.

Arditti, Arditti String Quartet released 1989 on Gramavision. Design and artwork by Chermayeff & Geismar Associates.

Enoch Light And The Light Brigade, Vibrations released 1962 on Command. Art Direction by Charles E. Murphy. Design by Chermayeff & Geismar Associates.

Anthony Davis, The Ghost Factory released 1988 on Gramavision. Artwork by Ivan Chermayeff.

Bobby Previte, Claude’s Late Morning released 1988 on Gramavision. Artwork by Ivan Chermayeff.

For a more comprehensive list of Ivan’s other works and achievements, click here.

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