​Join us for a visit to the Lubalin Archives at The Cooper Union.

The Herb Lubalin Study Center preserves the work of Herb Lubalin and other designers through an archive that includes drawings, type specimens, posters, logos, and advertising materials dating from 1939 to 1981. Lubalin is a goated American Graphic Designer and this growing archive contain works not only by him but also Warhol, Milton Glaser, and many others.

​The archive isn’t digitized so you literally won’t be able to find stuff on it on are.na, Pinterest, google images etc. We’re moving beyond aesthetics and engaging with materiality and context, folks! As someone who has visited the archives, I’d say it contains some of the best design references in the country.

​We’re getting a hands-on presentation of a selection of material which lasts about an hour and a half. The presentation is different every time and tailored to the group, so even if you’ve been to the archives before, it’s unlikely that the presentation will be the same. It’s a closer look at some of the objects in the collection, the stories behind them, and what they can teach us about making work today. The emphasis is on ways we can make active use of design history as contemporary practitioners. We use physical examples from the collection to construct specific case studies of ways we can look at objects to inform today’s design decisions.

​The Center usually doesn’t host groups past 3 PM, but they’ve graciously agreed to keep the archive open for us until 6 PM on Friday, allowing for a 4 PM start. You may need to leave work a little early, but it’s a Friday and well worth it.