George Lois: June 26, 1931 - November 18, 2022

george holding the first esquire cover he designed / photographed by platon for fast company’s october 2012 ipad issue

George lois

June 26, 1931 - November 18, 2022

Legendary art director, George Lois, passed away on November 18, 2022 at the age of 91, in Manhattan. His work, including 92 Esquire covers, provoked audiences and influenced countless designers who followed in his footsteps. His legacy will continue to leave a lasting impact and he will be missed.

The Atlantic’s Associate Creative Director Oliver Munday wrote: “History has no choice but to remember George Lois; he was an integral part of the machine of remembering.” You can read his full thoughts on George’s passing at The Atlantic here.

George was a member of the SPD community and a recipient of our prestigious Herb Lubalin Award. We’ve searched through the SPD archives and have shared some past posts below.

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Publisher’s Note from George’s First Esquire Cover / 1962

“On the October 1962 Esquire cover, Lois accurately predicted that boxer Sonny Liston would defeat Floyd Patterson in their upcoming heavyweight championship fight. The cover depicts a boxer, wearing Patterson's shorts, lying knocked out on the canvass. Says Lois, ‘The press wrote about the chutzpah of calling a fight on a magazine cover, and the issue was a sellout.’

In the wake of Liston's first round knockout of Patterson, it's hard to imagine, but that opinion at the time was decidedly in the minority. Lois pointed out the Publisher's Letter, which ran inside that October 1962 Esquire issue, to Florian Bachleda, and he passed it along to SPD. In it they take Lois's cover to task, disavowing his prediction and saying "we'd prefer to believe that Liston can be stopped, and that Patterson is the one that can do it." And it's not a passing comment; half the letter is devoted to criticizing Lois's cover choice. It's a pointed lesson to the fact, as Bachleda says, ‘that designers should stick to their guns.’”

-Robert Newman (from a SPD post published October 2012 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the cover)

Herb Lubalin Award / 2004

On May 7, 2004 at the 39th Annual SPD Awards Gala, George was presented with SPD’s Herb Lubalin Award. The following video was created by Fred Woodward, Michael Norseng, Hudd Bayard, and the talented team at GQ.

Breakfast with Mr. Lois / 2010

In advance of a speaker event in March 2010, about George’s new book George Lois: The Esquire Covers, he and Scott Dadich met up at his home to discuss the final preparations. Nathalie Kirsheh and Brandon Kavulla listened on and recorded the following:

Suzanne Noli: January 20, 1960 - August 13, 2022

Suzanne Noli

January 20, 1960 - August 13, 2022

Suzanne Noli, age 62, died peacefully on August 13, 2022 surrounded by her adoring family. Beloved daughter of the late Mary and Robert Noli, loving sister to Robert, Carol (Della Ratta) and Mary (Maloney), loving sister-in-law to Denise Noli, Ralph Della Ratta and James Maloney. Dear Aunt to Christine Tessar, Caroline Della Ratta, Nick Della Ratta, Kelly Maloney, Christopher Maloney, Kieran Maloney, and Erin Maloney. Dear friend to many.

Suzanne, who loved life, adventure, exercising, and the beach was raised in Sayville, Long Island. After graduating from the School of Visual Arts in 1984 Suzanne’s creative talents led her to a career first in publishing as a designer of book covers for G.P.Putnam’s Sons, Warner Books and Harper Collins, followed by a career in magazine design. True to her passion she began magazine design at American Health for Women. Suzanne served as Art Director for O (Oprah Magazine); Creative Director for Fitness Magazine and most recently Design Director of Veranda Magazine. Throughout her career, Suzanne freelanced at Women's Health, Lucky Magazine, Prevention Magazine, and Brides Magazine. Everywhere she worked Suzanne made lifelong friends.

Suzanne was down to earth, fun loving, and devoted to her family. Perhaps she is most remembered for her ability to connect with her nieces, nephews, and granddaughters. She was known as ‘Aunt Sue’ and ‘Sue Sue’ to them and leaves an indescribable impact.

She will be deeply missed by all whose lives she touched.

In lieu of flowers, please donate a pint of blood in her honor. Suzanne had recently began educating family and friends about the tremendous blood shortage.

Thank you for everything, Milton.

Photo by Walter bernard

Shortly before this photo was taken, at lunch, I had asked Milton how he was doing. He told me that as he got older and older, time passed so quickly for him that he could only tell what season it was by the type of hat he was wearing. If it was a straw hat it was spring and if it was a felt hat, another year was soon to pass. The lunch was filled with laughter, musings and as always, the great pleasure of listening to Milton tell a story.

I am “enormously” (one of his favorite descriptors) grateful to have witnessed his creative genius at close proximity in the '90s. I have always said that working for both him and the lovely Walter Bernard at WBMG was like getting paid to go to the best sort of graduate school. Listening to Milton present our work to clients, I hung on every word. His extraordinary (another one of his favorite descriptors) ability to articulate visual communication was nigh ethereal. If a client was being difficult or too literal, suddenly he would go quiet and his glasses would get pushed up onto his forehead where they would rest. He would rub his eyes and then cradle his head and take a deep breath. Then he would in the most gracious way, put them in their place and they wouldn’t even know it.

Being sent down to show Milton an iteration of a magazine logo that we were working on, I would descend one flight from the WBMG office to the MGI office. There, across an ocean of oriental carpets and drafting tables sat Milton. His desk topped with paper (or was it illustration board?) was perennially covered in sketches, doodles and exquisite drawings. He would look up with his kindly smile and say “What do you need Chaawwwwk?” I was very sheepish to break his concentration but he welcomed working in an “interruptive” style which he and Walter practiced.

There were laughs. One day I showed him a new-fangled electronic spell checker that I had just gotten. To test it out, we typed in some ten-dollar word which I can’t recall. We waited eagerly as it generated the corrected version and it just said “Uterus.” We howled with laughter at the absurdity.

His generosity in all that he did to give back to students and early career designers and illustrators was unparalleled. I would schedule portfolio reviews and informational appointments on a weekly basis. So few people take the time to do this now. It was second nature to him to give back. His philanthropic work for various educational and social justice institutions is a lasting legacy that will continue to help and educate people far and wide. As recently as weeks ago, he was working on a graphic treatment of the word “together” for public school students to connect and comfort them during the pandemic.

I was lucky to have been at his 65th birthday party at the Rainbow Room where we ate cake off of his iconic plates. It was a wonderful event and I knew how fortunate I was to be there. It feels like just yesterday but I realize that it was 26 cycles of straw and felt hats ago. He was right, time does go faster as you get older.

Thank you for everything, Milton.

Chalkley Calderwood
Filmmaker • Creative Director
chalkleycalderwood.com

Milton Glaser: June 26, 1929 - June 26, 2020

Milton Glaser

June 26, 1929 - June 26, 2020

The design world lost a legend. Milton Glaser taught us that we don’t have to follow formulas or subscribe to orthodoxy. He was a brilliant stylist and a brilliant conceptualist who influenced and will continue to influence generations of designers. Milton added an important chapter to the world of art and design that will live forever. We will miss you.

Tom Schierlitz: October 18, 1959 - February 28, 2018

Tom Schierlitz

October 18, 1959 - February 28, 2018

I remember putting together color copies of Tom’s work in my scrapbook and thinking— “Wouldn’t it be cool if I work with this guy at some point.” It was probably around 1999 or 2000. His style was so unique—it seemed so simple and obvious. It felt “inevitable”—like there was no other way to shoot this object, but this way. It gave you a thrill to see the objects he photographed on the page of a magazine. No one was shooting still-life in this way at that time.

I still have that scrapbook and Tom’s work is still in it. 

Tom and I met for the first time around 2007. I came down to his studio in Tribeca for a shoot we were doing for GQ. I was excited to finally work with him, but also intimidated by his sharp mind. 

We worked together many, many times since then. But what’s even better—our professional relationship grew into a friendship. 

I still know very little about photography, but I learned so much from Tom about other things in life—what is the proper way to assemble a 14-foot table top out of wood and the best way to sand it for a smooth finish, how long and at what temperature should red onions be cooked, how to use gummy bears to motivate kids to ski, how to make Korean pork tacos, what a pain it is to distill whiskey and many, many other small life hacks. His passion for doing things the right way was inspiring. And I will miss this the most.

It made me a better person.

-Anton Ioukhnovets

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Tom's Memorial
March 25th, 2018 | 3:00PM - 6:00PM
Walker's Bar - 16 N Moore Street, New York, NY 10013

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George Pitts: September 10, 1951 - March 4, 2017

Photograph: Clayton Cubitt

George Pitts

September 10, 1951 - March 4, 2017

Very sad news: Legendary photo director George Pitts passed away early Saturday morning, March 4, after a prolonged illness. George was a photo editor, writer, poet, painter, photographer, teacher, and much more. As longtime photo director of Vibe, and later the revived Life magazine, George was an inspiration and mentor to countless photographers, photo editors, art directors and editors. His passing is a huge loss to our community.

George is survived by his wife, Jan Pitts.

For more on George's legacy at Vibe magazine, see this remembrance and collection of Vibe covers.

Time.com has a collection of remembrances of George by editors, art directors, and photographers:
In Memoriam: The Photography Community Remembers George Pitts

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Now available for viewing on YouTube is the complete memorial service for legendary photo editor / photographer / artist / teacher George Pitts. The three-hour celebration and remembrance was held on April 2 at the Parsons New School, and featured moving and inspiring presentations by Florian Bachleda, Richard Baker, Bill Shapiro, Leslie dela Vega, Robert Newman, Emil Wilbekin, Rob Kenner, and many other friends and colleagues, as well as George's wife, Jan Pitts. In addition to the many amazing speeches, there are also plenty of great pics of George, as well as a gallery of his photographs.