Canada

For Christmas last year, I received a gouache painting that my parents framed from my grandfather. There is no date or signature on it but I know it was part of his portfolio from when he studied graphic design here in Washington, DC. All of it was done by hand around 1947, including the lettering, and it is absolutely classic.

When I studied art history in undergrad, I remember a professor saying that pop art stemmed out of graphic design because advertising was seen as being the true American art form. And, it really is. In his career, my grandfather worked for Duke Energy, marketed travel to Myrtle Beach, and designed a logo for Piedmont Natural Gas that is still used today in a slightly modified form. My favorite story though is that an airline called Atlantis came to him once, wanting my grandfather to design their planes. They told him that they wanted to use blue and green paint but he said, "No, you don't. If you paint the planes blue then they'll go up and blend into the sky. You want something that will be noticed. You want black and orange." He was right and Atlantis agreed.