Lou Dorfsman's wall

I wanted to focus on a great graphic designer who really had an impact on the world of advertising, Lou Dorfsman. In particular, his typographic wall. Dorfsman's life spanned from 1918 to 2008 and he spent his working life at CBS, Columbia Broadcasting System, a career that defined the company's identity in every detail.

He worked his way up by treating every project with great importance and using his trademark style of "clear typography, simple slogans and smart illustration" (New York Times) to leave an impression.

Dorfsman's greatest achievement, or most memorable must be the wall he created in the CBS building. He was responsible for every detail of this giant company, ensuring the brand was maintained from the barricades that surrounded the site while under construction, to the art on the walls in the hallways, to the signage in the lobbies, to the letterheads and business cards. Dorfsman was responsible for all of the building's graphics, designating the type, design and spacing for wall clocks, elevator buttons, and lift inspection stickers!

'The wall' was a 35 feet wide by 8.5 feet tall work of art designed by Dorfsman to embellish the cafeteria. He called it 'Gastrotypographicalassemblage' and used varied typefaces to list all of the foods offered to patrons in distinct hand-milled wood type. The wall was based on ideas he conceived in the mid-1960s but the project was not completed until 1966 with help from graphic designer Herb Lubalin and Tom Carnase, who crafted the typography. Dorfsman considered this work to be "his magnum opus, his gift to the world".

A typographic wall is not unusual to see today, but Dorfsman's was the first of its kind. More than 1,450 letters were used and the 3d impact is impressive. When he retired the wall sadly was dismantled and went into storage, but there is a campaign to bring it back. 

Two other beautiful pieces of his design remain in high regard, the books he created for CBS, one showing their coverage of the 1969 moon landing with a spectacular blind-embossed with moon craters dustjacket and "Field of Vision," a 12 by 12 inch 132 page book with gorgeous black and white rotogravure photographs of each of the seven football games televised across the United States on the afternoon of November 4, 1962. Both have become collectors items. 

Dorfsman's design is beautifully bold often in monochrome with striking photography and large scale typography, the spreads engage and communicate. Perhaps thats it, perhaps that is what I take most from this great designer, his ability to communicate. Little advert or giant wall his message was presented in a way you couldn't, and didn't want to ignore.