15 Famous Graphic Designers of All Time

The graphic design industry is a powerful force in the 21st century. It’s a creative sector that is expected to grow even bigger in the coming years. Brands, whether business ventures or other types, depend heavily on graphic design to enhance their visual communication with target audiences. Setting aside the business aspect, let’s focus on the creative side: we know that graphic design is essentially an art form where hundreds of thousands of creative geniuses produce designs that make an impact. Over the years, the industry has been shaped by the influential work of top graphic designers whose groundbreaking visual art movements changed the way humans communicate through design.

In this article, let’s dive into:

• Top Famous Graphic Designers: Here, I would like to introduce my readers to the graphic designers in the world and renowned designers of the past, considered the superheroes of the graphic design world.
• Qualities of Famous Graphic Designers: We will explore how these designers have left a creative legacy and see what budding influencers can learn from these top designers, who are true connoisseurs of graphic design.

Every day, we see new graphic designers creating out-of-the-box designs. Graphic designers or illustrators are generally artists who develop visually and conceptually exciting images that convey strong messages. But where did it all begin, and who are the legendary designers who contributed so much to this industry? I’m here to help with that, and in this article, I’ve listed 15 famous graphic designers who have left an inspiring legacy for a younger generation of artists.

What Makes an Iconic Legend in Graphic Design

If you asked me to list the top ingredients that make a graphic designer influential, well, I have no specific answer. Apart from the usual design skills and creative hunger, there’s no magic formula to predict if a designer can become famous or not. But one thing I’ve found common in all these top designers is that they were willing to push design boundaries and experiment with unique ways to communicate visually.

Some of these designers introduced new, innovative techniques to the design market, while others I’ve studied transformed the overall design culture by making iterative contributions to the field. Essentially, there are many common qualities shared by these iconic legends who are highly respected and looked up to in the graphic design market.

• Iconic works
• Innovative and unique style
• Breaking the rules of design

15 Famous Graphic Designers of All Time

Here are the iconic legends that layed the stones and pillars for graphic design that we see today.

1. Paul Rand

First on this list, and likely the first on every graphic designer’s list, is the famous designer Paul Rand. He had one of the most successful careers as a graphic designer and art director, and he pioneered modern corporate logo design. His design methods inspire generations of budding designers in the field of graphic design. Wondering about some of the designs he created? Rand was the creative genius behind logos for IBM, ABC, UPS, Morningstar, and more.

He was also a graphic design professor at Yale University, an Ivy League institution. Some of the design elements he consistently used were typefaces like Helvetica in all his designs. I believe he was one of the early adopters of the Swiss Style of design in the USA, especially in corporate design for successful industries and businesses. Paul Rand was also a follower of the modernist school of thought and was influenced primarily by artists like Pablo Picasso, Jan Tschichold, and Paul Cézanne.

I see a sense of balance between form and function in all his influential graphics and a strategic use of geometric shapes to create strong visual contrasts. If you’re looking to learn more about Rand, you can read his 1985 autobiography titled Paul Rand: A Designer’s Art. He also authored Design, Form, and Chaos and From Lascaux to Brooklyn. Paul Rand passed away on November 26, 1996, leaving behind a rich legacy in the history of graphic design.

2. Saul Bass

Saul Bass is a household name in the design world. If you’re into graphic design and love to get inspired by top legends, Saul Bass will always be in the top three. He made his mark in the 1950s by designing iconic movie posters and motion picture title sequences. You’ll never forget the posters for Vertigo and Anatomy of a Murder, or the title sequences for films like Psycho and The Man with the Golden Arm. Bass was also an Academy Award winner for his directorial work.

Bass had a unique design approach that consistently drew the human eye, and he also created timeless, iconic logos for brands. Many of these logos have remained relevant for over 35 years, like those for Kleenex, Girl Scouts, and AT&T.

3. Chip Kidd

What typically attracts a bookworm to a new book is the beautifully designed book cover. Designers can ingeniously create layered designs with fonts to make titles more intriguing to viewers. Chances are, many of these striking designs are either influenced or directly created by the famous graphic designer Chip Kidd. Chip Kidd is a graphic designer known for his work mainly on designing influential book covers like Jurassic Park. Currently working as an art director for Knopf, Kidd has also worked with major publishers like Amazon, Penguin, HarperCollins, Columbia University Press, and others.

Chip Kidd revolutionized the evolution of book cover designs. Some of his best works (and my favorites) include covers for writers and artists like Haruki Murakami, Frank Miller, Charles Schulz, and Cormac McCarthy. The iconic Jurassic Park logo? Yes, Kidd designed the T-rex skeleton logo, which has become a lasting icon. Interestingly, he’s also an illustrator with a history of drawing for graphic novels such as Batman comic series. He was quite a talented graphic designer, creating truly inspirational designs that are still in use today.

4. Peter Saville

Peter Saville, a highly credited and famous graphic designer, was born in 1955 and played a major role in spreading graphic design across mediums and into pop culture. The iconic fashion brand Burberry? Saville is the mastermind behind its distinct visual identity. But he didn’t stop there; he also created beautiful album covers such as Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures and New Order’s Power, Corruption & Lies.

In 1978, he co-founded Factory Records with Alan Erasmus and Tony Wilson, creating hundreds of album covers together. Beyond these iconic bands, he has designed covers for David Byrne, Pulp, Brian Eno, King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, and many others. His album covers, especially Unknown Pleasures, are featured on merchandise today, from tattoos and clothing to animations.

5. Stefan Sagmeister

Stefan Sagmeister is known for pushing the boundaries of peculiarity and experimentation to new levels. Born on August 6, 1962, in Bregenz, Austria, he is one of the most celebrated contemporary graphic designers in the industry. Sagmeister has designed famous album covers for Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones, and the Talking Heads’ Once in a Lifetime box set.

Believing strongly in innovation, Austrian graphic designer often ventured into commercially recognizable and unusual art in the world of design. Take his “Banana Wall” project, for example; it was a wall made of 10,000 bananas. Initially, the green bananas formed a pattern against a background of yellow bananas with a typographic message spelled “Self-confidence produces fine results.” Over time, the green bananas turned yellow, causing the text to disappear, while the yellow bananas browned, making the text reappear alongside the artist’s copy.

His work illustrates his commitment to a conceptual new order approach and experimental design techniques.

6. Paula Scher

Let’s give a great round of applause for the first female graphic artist on this list. Paula Scher has had a successful and respectable career as an art director and graphic designer.  She is known as the first woman to become the principal of the iconic design studio called Pentagram.

Paula Scher was born in Washington, D.C., in 1948. She specializes in poster design, book cover design, environmental graphic design, branding, and typography. She began her career by designing children’s book covers at Random House, then became the art director of Atlantic Records, where she was in charge of creating album covers.

She has also done notable work creating brand identities for the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet, and the Public Theater.

If you want to see one of Paula’s most recognizable works, look up the Windows 8 logo. She showcases her brilliant design skills by reimagining the simple object of a window, removing the four-color flag that was the existing logo.

One thing you notice in her designs is how she expresses bold colors and relies on Art Deco and Russian Constructivism in her use of typography work.

7. Massimo Vignelli

The next graphic designer on the list is Massimo Vignelli. He was born on January 10, 1931, in Milan, Italy. I really like to pronounce his name, which feels kind of artistic. He was an architect, designer, philosopher, and much more, going down as one of the best designers in history.

Vignelli famously governed his work by the motto, “If you can design one thing, you can design everything.” 

He specialized in a modernist approach to design and used geometric forms in all his creations. He was one of the first designers to create modern info design, and as I mentioned, he was an all-rounder; from packaging design to interior design, he worked in every type of graphic design field and with high-profile clients.

Did you know that he created the famous New York City subway map? This map is now considered a landmark in modernist information design. He also contributed to furniture and product design for Knoll and other companies. His other top clients included American Airlines, Bloomingdale’s, and IBM. He also worked on several typefaces, improving and simplifying notable fonts like Helvetica and Bodoni, among others. His approach to graphic design was to combine traditional graphic design elements with modern touch to make an impact on the world,

His famous Vignelli Canon outlines his design principles, focusing on discipline, structure, and timeless design.

8. Milton Glaser

You’d recognize Milton Glaser (1929-2020) through his famous “I ❤️ NY” logo of the 1970s. You can still find it printed on T-shirts, mugs, and posters all over the world. Who would’ve thought of using the heart symbol instead of writing the word “love”? Well, that was Milton Glaser.

He was also the brain behind other popular logos, such as DC Comics and Brooklyn Brewery. Milton is one of the best graphic designers in America who pushed the boundaries of poster design. Along with three friends, he founded Push Pin Studios in New York in 1954, and this firm became one of the country’s finest and most respected graphic design firms over the next twenty years.

His poster design techniques can be studied well, as he displayed his love for psychedelic colors, silhouettes, and bold outlines, which reinvented traditional poster design techniques in the industry. Glaser was an active member of the Art Directors Club, founded in 1920. This organization has brought together art directors from New York and highlighted their work through exhibitions and awards.

9. Michael Bierut

Michael Beirut was born in 1957 in Ohio, USA, and has made a clear mark on the graphic design industry by proving his worth in branding, editorial design, and identity design. He is considered one of the prominent American graphic designers, focusing mainly on a clean and strategic approach to corporate branding.

He worked for Vignelli Associates, learning directly from Massimo Vignelli. You can see his notable designs in the redesign of Mastercard, United Airlines, The Walt Disney World Company, Benetton, Motorola, The Atlantic, and even Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign logo. Apart from his high-profile clients, he is a professor at Yale, where he worked on the syllabus for the design thinking program, and he is a well-known design critic.

If you want to learn from Michael Beirut, you can read his books; he has written four books on design and regularly writes for Fast Company and The New York Times about corporate branding and design.

10. Otl Aicher

How many of you have noticed the walking symbol while crossing traffic and the stick figures on public restrooms today? Well, it’s obvious that you might have noticed these stick figures at least once in your lifetime; otherwise, you’re living on Mars, I assume.

The brain behind these pictograms of stick figures is none other than Otl Aicher. Otl Aicher is a German graphic designer who created the first stick figure pictograms for the 1972 Munich Olympics. After that, the world kind of adopted using them everywhere, from traffic signs to airports, malls, theaters, and more.

Otl Aicher is also credited as one of the forefathers of corporate design, having worked for Lufthansa and Braun. He was also interested in designing book covers and creating new Swiss typography and design.

11. Jessica Walsh

Jessica Walsh is a prominent graphic designer who made a name for herself at a very young age. She redefines graphic design and even changes the current styles and trends of today with her influential designs. Jessica Walsh became a partner at Sagmeister & Walsh at only 25 years old.

Prior to working with Sagmeister, she had already done top designs for magazines such as The New York Times, designed covers for book magazines, and worked with Paula Scher and Pentagram. Yes, she learned from the best and is focused on being the best designer to put out female art in the industry. Walsh has a significant style and approach, often depending on surrealist art styles.

She loves to have a bold, colorful overall look and infuses that into all her products. From branding objects to covers, everything has a mix of vibrant pop designs. Her color and type palettes are unique as we see the visual image in her work She has done notable branding efforts for the Jewish Museum of New York and has created ads and editorials for Aizone and Levi’s. She has also written a book about her experiment with fellow designer Tim Goodman called 40 Days of Dating.

12. Aries Moross

Aries Moross (previously known as Kate Moross) is the creative director of Studio Moross and one of the influential graphic designers on our list. They instantly became famous with their energetic, fluid drawing style and trademark typography. Aries is an art director and part of contemporary designer from London, UK, and is considered the top British graphic designer.

They have created multiple album covers that cater to pop culture fans, including live visuals for One Direction and for the Spice Girls’ 2019 tour. Some of the top clients include musicians like Sam Smith, Jessie Ware, and Disclosure. They have opened up about how they seek ideas for their designs. Aries gets inspired by everyday life and interacting with people and rejects the traditional notion of getting inspired by culture or art galleries.

If you want to learn more about them, you can read the book written by Moross, Make Your Own Luck: A DIY Attitude to Graphic Design and Illustration.

13. Rob Janoff

Who is Rob Janoff? Do you know the Apple logo? Then, yes, he designed the technology giant’s minimalistic logo that makes waves each year. Let’s say the Apple logo is possibly one of the most famous logo marks in the world today.

Rob was working at an ad agency, Regis McKenna, back in 1977 when he designed this logo. Although the original logo has been tweaked, the basic form of the bitten apple has remained the same. But if you know the story behind how he came up with this logo, it’s a no-brainer. He said if a computer is named after a fruit, maybe the image should represent the fruit, so he drew a few silhouettes of apples. The “bite” is also considered a computer term, so he gave the logo a personal touch and made it the iconic logo it is today.

14. Alan Fletcher

Alan Fletcher is known as the godfather of British modern design. As a graphic designer, Fletcher had a stellar career as he specialized in groundbreaking typography and poster designs. He worked with the highly esteemed design agency Pentagram and co-owned the graphic design agency called Fletcher/Forbes/Gill.

He also wrote a book on insights into graphic design called The Art of Looking Sideways. He took around 18 years to write the book, which is really impressive. He also penned another notable book of his designs called Beware of Wet Paint. To look at some of his most famous works one is the Victoria and Albert Museum logo and the logo for the Institute of Directors, among others.

15. David Carson

David Carson is a graphic designer worth mentioning. He is considered to be the rule breaker of graphic design and the father of so-called grunge typography. He has redefined magazine cover designs and typography poster designs. He likes to break the normal conventions related to the rules of design and could be described as an anarchist in his style, as he re-establishes the normal design rules.

I like the way he uses typefaces to create poster designs, especially the Pepsi one, where he made art. He doesn’t follow the normal balance principles or rules; he simply represents the art, product, or service as he has experienced it.

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Popular Opinion – Best Graphic Designers

These people are legends. As a graphic design enthusiast and with a love for art, I always look up to them. If you’re looking to enter the graphic design industry, it’s highly recommended that you study these people I’ve mentioned inside out. Graphic designers should have a deep understanding of both art and functionality, so getting to know about top designers will only help you find inspiration for your next big project.

If you’re a brand or business, look at what they did with branding and making businesses memorable through defined logos and brand brochures. If what they did differently got them what they needed, you should also try it for your brand. If you’re looking for an approach these graphic designers took for your brand, you’re in the right place.

Connect with Graphically designers, who are top in the field, and get unlimited design revisions at an affordable monthly rate. Maybe your brand’s view will change the world.

Conclusion

As an industry, graphic design has been around since the 1950s, which makes it a relatively new and young field for artists. We often tend to associate graphics with logos and mere websites, but the fact is that it’s much more than that; it is itself an art. Like Edgar Degas said, “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Graphic designers tend to create visually and conceptually beautiful art that conveys a strong message to the viewers.

If you appreciate today’s modern graphic design work, you also have to learn from the foundational pillars of this industry—the famous graphic designers who laid the groundwork and dared to push the boundaries and rules of design. I hope this article helped you understand the contributions these top 15 designers have made to the graphic design field.

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