Design Legends: Louis Danziger

Lou Danziger retired from design more than 20 years ago, preferring to work as a consultant and educator. His legacy in teaching is just as profound and Danziger is considered at the top of his field in both design and teaching what he knows about it. Danziger's work in the 50s through the 70s took Modernist concepts to a new level, using minimalism in both presentation and the creation of the work itself. Danziger took Modernism farther, while maintaining what he said was a healthy "disrespect for design". Danziger's career got off to a humble start, designing posters while serving in the Armed Forces from 1943 to 1945. When he was discharged, Danziger used the GI Bill to attend art school.

While he studied at the Art Center School in California, he learned from Alvin Lustig, who taught graphic and industrial design there. Later, Danziger joined the Design Group, founded by disciples of Lustig with a disdain for the nostalgia they found in what they labelled as "mindless" commercial design. Danziger created work for Esquire, General Lighting, Steelbuilt and others, concentrating on communicating ideas with a single image. As others have pointed out, he stood on the shoulders of Modernism, but always strove to take it to a better place and disliked being yoked to any limitation including genre or design movements. As an educator in places such as CalArts, Harvard, and the Art Center College of Design, Danziger's mission includes the need to impart three simple directives, telling students to feel, think and above all, create. Conceptualizing and talking about design are nothing without the work. Design, according to Danziger, is a problem-solving activity.