Thought You Should See This

November 3, 2011

One for graphic design buffs: PHARMA is an exhibition of mid-20th century graphic design and advertising created on behalf of the flourishing pharmaceutical industry. Fans of some of the discipline’s true pioneers, including Herb Lubalin and Paul Rand, can feast their eyes on posters, marketing and ephemera that shows the world of corporate druggery in a nascent state. As curator Alexander Tochilovsky writes in the exhibition blurb:

“The exhibition highlights a defining change, as the marketing of brand name drugs to the consumer marked a paradigm shift in medicine away from physicians and into the hands of pliable public opinion. The actions of the pharmaceutical industry reflect both a reactive response to increased government regulation and a proactive attention to the demands of American consumerism.”

PHARMA is on show at 41 Cooper Gallery at The Cooper Union in New York City through December 3rd. Click the images to see larger scale slideshow.

Images: Top Row, L-R:
Ad for Geigy, c. 1954-55; c/o Display – Graphic Design Collection.
Mailer for Geigy by Max Schmid, 1951; c/o Display – Graphic Design Collection.
Ad for Geigy, c. 1958; c/o Display – Graphic Design Collection.

Images: Middle Row, L-R:
Ad for Dompe by Franco Grignani, 1954; c/o Display – Graphic Design Collection.
Ad for Dompe by Franco Grignani, 1955; c/o Display – Graphic Design Collection.
Ad for Dompe by Franco Grignani, 1954; c/o Display – Graphic Design Collection.

Images: Bottom Row, L-R:
Ad for Wm. S. Merrell Company by Herb Lubalin, photo by Carl Fischer, 1954
Ad for Roche by Aldo Calabresi for Studio Boggeri, photo by Sergio Libis, 1959
Promotional mailer for Ciba by Jerome Snyder, 1950s

11:39am | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZLv7dxBSH_g6
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(Notes: 17)