Push Pin Studios
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Graphic design, Illustration |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Founder | Milton Glaser, Seymour Chwast, Edward Sorel |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
| Products | Album covers, books, posters, corporate logos, typefaces, magazine designs |
Push Pin Studios is a New York City-based graphic design and illustration firm established in 1954 by prominent designers Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast. The studio is recognized for its unique "bulgy" three-dimensional reinterpretations of historical design movements such as Victorian, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco. This approach marked a departure from the "numbing rigidity of modernism" and traditional commercial illustration styles. Eye magazine characterized Push Pin’s work as an homage to diverse historical aesthetics while simultaneously introducing a modern visual language across various media including album covers, books, posters, corporate logos, typefaces, and magazine designs.
History
Following their graduation from Cooper Union, Edward Sorel and Seymour Chwast briefly collaborated at Esquire, where both were dismissed at the same time. Utilizing unemployment benefits, they rented an apartment in Manhattan and founded Push Pin Studios, named after their self-produced mailer, The Push Pin Almanack. Milton Glaser became part of the team after returning from a Fulbright Fellowship in Italy.
In 1956, Sorel left when the studio moved to East 57th Street. For approximately twenty years, Glaser and Chwast directed Push Pin alongside designers like John Alcorn, Paul Davis, Barry Zaid, and Paul Degen. Currently, Seymour Chwast leads The Pushpin Group, Inc.
Over more than sixty years, the studio and its founders—including Reynold Ruffins and Sorel—have created work published in leading outlets such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and Print (magazine). Their creations have been displayed internationally, notably in "The Push Pin Style" exhibition at the Louvre’s Museum of Decorative Arts, as well as venues throughout Europe, Brazil, and Japan between 1970 and 1972.
Related publications
Push Pin Studios produced internal periodicals including The Push Pin Almanack and The Push Pin Graphic. Additionally, the founding members acted as art directors for Audience magazine, a prestigious bimonthly subscription journal focused on arts and literature. Under Glaser and Chwast's leadership from its inception in 1971, Audience received the Society of Publication Designers' highest honor in 1972 but discontinued publication in 1973 due to financial constraints.
Gallery
(Selection limited by availability.)
Bibliography
- Chwast, Seymour. Push Pin Graphic: A Quarter Century of Innovative Design and Illustration. Chronicle Books, 2004.
Exhibitions
- 1970 The Push Pin Style — Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris (March 18 – May 18, 1970); subsequently shown in Brazil and Japan
- 2021 The Push Pin Legacy — Poster House (September 2, 2021 – February 6, 2022)