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Poetter Hall was purchased by the SCAD founders in March 1979. Classes began in September of that year.  
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The Arts

Graphic designer shares tales of corporate design

Accomplished graphic designer Steff Geissbuhler.
Photo by Wayne C. Moore
Steff Geissbuhler stressed the importance of collaboration on design projects to the hundreds of students assembled at the April 11 lecture.

By Scott Boylston
Published: Friday, April 20, 2001

For someone who almost single-handedly designed such important corporate logos as those of NBC, Time Warner and National Public Radio, designer Steff Geissbuhler spent plenty of time April 11 lauding the virtues of collaboration.

Geissbuhler, partner and principal of the internationally renowned design firm of Chermayeff & Geismar, visited the Savannah College of Art and Design and presented his design work and illustrations to a large crowd at the Trustees Theater. Although the New York City firm is best known for its corporate identity programs, the designers also are involved in nearly all aspects of creative design, including museum exhibitions, environmental graphics and publications designs.

With 25 years of experience in the field, Geissbuhler had a vast amount of practical advice to share. Speaking of the difference between fine artists and graphic designers, he said, "Whereas the artist has the freedom — and the burden — of working in isolation, the designer must work with the specific demands of a client in mind. He must also be able to work with a team of other designers who may or may not have the same conceptual goals."

Many students said they found Geissbuhler’s anecdotal speech helpful to them as they plan for careers in graphic design.

"I really appreciated the way he explained what happened behind the scenes during a design project," said graphic design student Paloma Dominguez. "It gave me insight into how hard a designer has to work to explain every design choice."

Leila Singleton, another graphic design student, agreed. "It was interesting to hear him talk about design work that left an unintended impact on the client," she said.

Singleton was referring in part to the centennial graphics C&G did for the New York Public Library. In an attempt to portray the universal reach of the written word, C&G developed a design that rendered each letter of the word ‘library’ to represent the various content that can be found within the library. The letter ‘i’ became an architectural column, for instance, and the letter ‘b’ became a musical note. In an attempt to portray literature, the most common association of a library, they decided to place the letter ‘L’ on a sheet of paper. In order to show the letter was actually on a sheet of paper, the designers ripped a corner off to reveal a tear. What they did not predict was the librarian’s response to such a treatment — that the torn paper represented outright disregard for the written word, and tearing paper would be antithetical to the beliefs of any library.

This reaction became a sore point between designer and client even though each understood the other’s argument. In the end, the torn letter was used, but only after a long and impassioned explanation from the designers.

Through this and many other anecdotes, Geissbuhler communicated the demands that are placed on the designer in the real world, and shared with an eager audience a wide range of impressive design accomplishments.

Boylston is a graphic design professor at SCAD.