Current Exhibit

Janet Halverson: An Introduction

September 8, 2023 through January 13, 2024

Janet Halverson designed covers and jackets for books written by some of the most important authors of the twentieth century. That and the fact that those covers and jackets are highly regarded by contemporary designers of covers and jacket is, more or less, all that is known about her. Learn more »

Past Exhibits

Decision ’23: Let the People Decide

Decision ’23: Let the People Decide

March 24 through August 25, 2023

We were in a lot of trouble and needed your help. We simply could’t decide what our next exhibition should be. Twelve prospective exhibits were assembled and presented and we invited you the people to vote for your favorites. Learn more »
Quick Lazy Exhibit No. 3: Dream in Color

Quick Lazy Exhibit No. 3: Dream in Color

February 3 through March 18, 2023

There are times when we need more time. One show needs to end. The next show’s not quite ready. Enter our Quick Lazy Exhibits. Our third is a showing of posters by Black creatives compiled by Tré Seals. Learn more »
Bernard Shaw: Covered

Bernard Shaw: Covered

September 9, 2022 through January 28, 2023

We know how much you love the work of Bernard Shaw, so we’ve assembled this exhibition of covers to investigate how great designers of the twentieth century approached designing his work. Learn more »
John Gall: Collages

John Gall: Collages

September 9, 2022 through January 14, 2023

John Gall is the creative director for the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, designing and overseeing the design of hundreds of book covers each year. In an effort to forget what he knew about design, in 2008 he began to make collages for his own pleasure. Learn more »
Eric Carle’s Other Covers

Eric Carle’s Other Covers

March 11 through September 3, 2022

Before he was an internationally-celebrated author and illustrator of children’s books, Eric Carle was a graphic designer—and sometimes he designed book covers. Learn more »
L O V E and sometimes Y

L O V E and sometimes Y

April 22 through June 11, 2022

We were so taken by Ben Loiz’s painted lettering that we asked if we could have a small show of his alphabets. Instead he sent nothing but love. And amor. Learn more »
Emily Hass: Two Exiles

Emily Hass: Two Exiles

February 18 through April 16, 2022

We were so taken by Emily Hass’s drawings of Berlin buildings where Jews and persecuted artists and intellectuals lived in the 1930s, that we asked if we could have a small show of them. And she agreed. Learn more »
Same Diff: Twelve Small Collections

Same Diff: Twelve Small Collections

September 11, 2020 through March 5, 2022

Featuring a seemingly random collection of work by designers famous and unknown, Same Diff is about paying attention, looking closely, and making connections (and collections). Learn more »
Kenji Nakayama: Letters and Numbers

Kenji Nakayama: Letters and Numbers

October 22 through December 11, 2021

We were so taken by sign painter Kenji Nakayama’s lettering that we asked if we could have a show of them. (Sign painters take note: Don’t ask us. We’ll ask you.) These hand-lettered letters and numbers are bright and fun distractions during dark days. Learn more »
Zuzana Licko: 9 Jacquard Weavings

Zuzana Licko: 9 Jacquard Weavings

July 16 through October 16, 2021

We were so taken by type designer Zuzana Licko’s weavings that we asked if we could have a show of them. (Artists take note: Don’t ask us. We’ll ask you.) The geometric designs in these jacquard weavings are constructed from Licko’s Crackly pattern fonts, and then fine tuned into compositions. Learn more »
Quick Lazy Exhibit No. 1: Dutch Alphabets

Quick Lazy Exhibit No. 1: Dutch Alphabets

March 13 through September 5, 2020

There are times when we need more time. One show needs to end. The next show’s not quite ready. Enter our Quick Lazy Exhibits. Our first is a showing of Dutch Alphabets, the 2016 portfolio of new examples of writing and lettering compiled by Mathieu Lommen and Peter Verheul. Learn more »
Matthew Carter’s Top Ten (minus one)

Matthew Carter’s Top Ten (minus one)

September 13, 2019 through February 29, 2020

What catches the eye of this MacArthur Award-winning type designer when he’s not designing type? Let's not kid ourselves: Matthew Carter is always looking at letters. But he does not live by letters alone—and you might be surprised by what’s found its way to his list of favorite things. With just nine items we can begin to understand what makes Matthew Carter not just a well-rounded type designer, but a well-rounded person. Learn more »
The Bauhaus and Herbert Bayer and Banknotes

The Bauhaus and Herbert Bayer and Banknotes

February 15 through March 16, 2019

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus in Germany, we've assembled a modest showing of banknotes designed by Herbert Bayer. While it's not hard to find pictures of these banknotes on the Internet, one rarely gets to see them in real life. Learn more »
Dick Bruna and Black Bears and Japanese Matchboxes

Dick Bruna and Black Bears and Japanese Matchboxes

December 7, 2018 through September 7, 2019

While Dick Bruna was writing and illustrating his early books for children, he was also designing book covers for mysteries and detective novels. On the other side of the world, Japanese artists and designers were designing matchbox labels. What do Dick Bruna's covers have to do with Japanese matchboxes? This exhibition finally answers that question. Learn more »
Ivan Chermayeff: Mostly Early Covers

Ivan Chermayeff: Mostly Early Covers

May 5 through December 1, 2018

It’s not difficult to find examples of book covers by Ivan Chermayeff (1932–2017), but when displayed alongside his firm’s intimately familiar logos for Mobil, Showtime, MoMA, and Chase, they tend to get lost. Ivan Chermayeff: Mostly Early Covers is an opportunity to focus on forty-one of Chermayeff’s less-celebrated designs without being overwhelmed by the iconic work for which he is so well known. Learn more »

Previous Stamp-Designers-of-the-Month

Lance Wyman

Lance Wyman

November 1 through November 30, 2019

Lance Wyman created commemorative postage stamps for some of the most historically significant events of the late twentieth century: Olympiads, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the 1970 World Cup, the first manned landing on the moon, and the twenty-­fifth anniversary of the United Nations. Learn more »
Rosmarie Tissi

Rosmarie Tissi

July 19 through August 31, 2019

Rosmarie Tissi is a Swiss designer—but not a typical Swiss designer. Born in 1937, her work is as rational and orderly as that of her compatriots—but is typically more human and relaxed, more colorful and round. Her two postage stamps are perfect specimens of this contrast. Learn more »
Erik Spiekermann

Erik Spiekermann

May 3 through June 1, 2019

Erik Spiekermann turns 72 on May 30—so we've assembled a modest showing of Dutch postage stamps by this award-winning German designer. How did a German come to design Dutch stamps? And isn't it unusual that more than one subject (in this case, more than one sport) would be featured on a single stamp? Learn more »
Hermann Zapf

Hermann Zapf

March 29 through April 27, 2019

Hermann Zapf may have been the greatest type designer of the twentieth century, but he considered himself to be, primarily, a book designer. So, he was pretty good at his secondary pursuits. But what about tertiary pursuits such as designing postage stamps? Learn more »