# Push Pin Style

> The eclectic illustrative style of New York's Push Pin Studios, founded by Seymour Chwast, Milton Glaser and Edward Sorel. Against the neutrality of the Swiss style it raided Victorian wood type, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, comics and folk art, drawing everything with bold contours, flat colour and invented display lettering, and made illustration and personal wit central to graphic design again.

- Period: 1954–1980
- Where: North America
- Origin: Push Pin Studios, New York
- Branch: Pictorial & machine age
- Also known as: Push Pin Studios, Push Pin Graphic
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/push-pin/

## How it works

- Plunder historical styles (Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, comics) and recombine them with conscious wit.
- Draw figures and objects with a heavy, even contour and fill them with flat, bright colour.
- Design or redraw display lettering for each job, often inventing a new alphabet.
- Let the illustrator-designer's personal voice and humour lead the concept.
- Frame images in revived borders, cartouches and decorative panels when they add period flavour.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (characteristic)
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (occasional)
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (characteristic)
- [Measured density](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/measured-density/) (characteristic)

### Typography
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (defining)
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (characteristic)
- [Stencil](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stencil/) (occasional)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (defining)
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Complementary clash](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/complementary-clash/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (defining)
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (characteristic)
- [Whiplash line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/whiplash-line/) (occasional)
- [Rounded & pill](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rounded-and-pill/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic)
- [Carved line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/carved-line/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (characteristic)
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)
- [Floral & vegetal](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/floral-and-vegetal/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (defining)
- [Comic & cartoon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/comic-and-cartoon/) (characteristic)
- [Found & vernacular imagery](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/found-and-vernacular-imagery/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (characteristic)
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (characteristic)

### Tone & intent
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (defining)
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (characteristic)
- [Nostalgic & retro](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/nostalgic-and-retro/) (characteristic)
- [Warm & approachable](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/warm-and-approachable/) (occasional)

Avoids: Modular grid, Grotesque & neo-grotesque, Ornament-free, Rational & objective, Straight photography, Flush left, ragged right

Palette: #f4e9cf, #1b1b1b, #e0512f, #f2b632, #2e86ab, #9b4f96

Typefaces: Baby Teeth (Milton Glaser, Photo-Lettering Inc., 1960s), Glaser Stencil (Milton Glaser, 1970), Blimp (Seymour Chwast, Photo-Lettering Inc., c. 1970), Artone (Seymour Chwast, Photo-Lettering Inc., 1968), Revived Victorian wood-type and Art Nouveau display faces

Known for: Push Pin Studios (founded 1954); Seymour Chwast; Milton Glaser (Bob Dylan poster for Columbia Records, 1966–67); Edward Sorel; Reynold Ruffins; The Push Pin Graphic (1957–1980); 'The Push Pin Style' exhibition, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (1970)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [American Mid-Century Modernism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/american-modernism.md) (1940–1970)
- Influenced by: [Art Nouveau](https://stylogeny.com/styles/art-nouveau.md) (1890–1910)
- Influenced by: [Victorian Letterpress & Wood Type](https://stylogeny.com/styles/victorian-letterpress.md) (1810–1900)
- Influenced by: [Art Deco](https://stylogeny.com/styles/art-deco.md) (1910–1939)
- Alike in its design choices: [Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book & Periodical Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/cairo-beirut-book-design.md) (1952–1990), 74% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Newtro (Korean New-Retro)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/newtro.md) (2017–present), 73% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Arab Children's Comic Magazines (Samir to Majid)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/arab-childrens-comic-magazines.md) (1956–present), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Screenprinted Gig & Alt-Movie Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/screenprint-gig-poster.md) (1991–present), 68% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Turkish Weekly Humour Magazines (Gırgır to Uykusuz)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/turkish-humour-magazines.md) (1972–2025), 67% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Taishō Roman & Lyrical Illustration](https://stylogeny.com/styles/taisho-roman.md) (1910–1940), 65% alike

## Real works

- [Dylan](https://www.moma.org/collection/works/8108): Milton Glaser, 1966, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (773.1983)
- [Blues Project](https://www.moma.org/collection/works/6485): Seymour Chwast, 1968, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (356.1969)
- [Mahalia Jackson (poster for an Easter Sunday concert at Lincoln Center)](https://www.moma.org/collection/works/6462): Milton Glaser, 1967, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (353.1967.a-b)
- [End Bad Breath.](https://www.moma.org/collection/works/6477): Seymour Chwast, 1967, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (355.1969)

## Sources

- Seymour Chwast, Steven Heller & Martin Venezky, The Push Pin Graphic: A Quarter Century of Innovative Design and Illustration (2004)
- Milton Glaser, Graphic Design (1973)
- Philip B. Meggs & Alston W. Purvis, Meggs' History of Graphic Design

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Push Pin Style”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/push-pin/