Lecture Research Week Seven
After Peter mentioned the importance of finding female heroes I decided it was time to make more of an effort in discovering mine when the Artist Cipe Pineles was mentioned, her work was interesting, sleek and different. I wanted to learn more.
After reading through the following articles I was not disappointed by the information that I learned about a graphic designer, photographer, illustrator and as one of the articles put it “badass woman” Cipe Pineles. Pineles was born June 23, 1908, in Austria. Later she immigrated to the United States as a teen in 1923 in order to attend the Pratt institute where she developed and grew her passion as a designer. A young woman designer was unheard of at the time, but thanks to the discovery of her artistic potential by Condé Montrose Nast- the founder and publisher of magazines The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Vogue she was quickly thrust into becoming the first.
Pineles is arguably one of the most influential women in the art and design world. Her drive and passion for creating new and exciting ideas were recognised by the work she was producing in the magazine that she had managed to land her first designing job in Contemporary, Ltd and she quickly moved up the ranks to work in magazines Vouge and Vanity Fair. She held various roles that allowed her to develop a love for photography, illustration. After much hard work Pineles became the Art Director at both Glamour mag and Seventeen magazine. Pineles wanted to create content that expanded the horizons of younger people rather than falling into the trap of creating for “silly little girls”.
Pineles mentioned that her coming boss M.F. (Mehemed Fehmy) Agha that she worked on with on Vogue and Vanity Fair that “Nothing you did satisfied him. He was always sending you back to outdo yourself, to go deeper into the subject.” This push to always be better than you thought you could be was undeniably what taught Pineles the skills to develop her style to be the revolution that it became as well as how to be an Art Director.
Pineles was the first woman to truly break into the art and design world in many ways. This, however, did not mean that she was adverse to the sexism that was occurring in both her profession as well as the resistance of those pushing against the idea of women being more than just housewives. Charm was a magazine that filled a hole in the industry’s current state in the 1950s, it created a relatively realistic view of the working women, and the goals that younger girls could aspire toward in a world that had had previously three options, a teacher, a nurse or a secretary.
Pineles was on the receiving end of many awards such ranging from the Society of Publication Designers the Art Directors Club, AIGA. This recognition, for her male counterparts, was recognised as a warrantable reason for being let into the New York Art Directors Club, where her boss Dr. Agha had relentlessly fought for her recognition for her professional triumphs, persistently proposing her to the board for ten years. However, she had remained relatively unnoticed within the design profession. Struggling to be accepted into the higher ranks of design where she belonged because of her gender. Her second husband William Golden was the one to point out when he was accepted onto the board that were ignoring his highly qualified wife. This lead to Pineles becoming the first female to be accepted into the Directors club in 1948, later being inducted into their hall of fame in 1975.
Pineles Vouge covers are what originally caught my eye, but her story and her integral role in my ability to design today are what truly inspire me, more so than any design ever could. I think my first design heroine has most definitely been found in the form of a “Badass” designer named Cipe Pineles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipe_Pineles
http://www.aiga.org/medalist-cipepineles/
http://www.designworklife.com/2014/01/22/cipe-pineles/
https://emilychristy.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/editorial-design-a-closer-look-at-cipe-pineles-2/
