Sketch & Finish

2020 was, by almost all reports, an absolutely terrible year; one defined by wave after wave of bad news. One of the tragedies that hit the creative community hard was the passing of multidisciplinary designer Milton Glaser. He was best-known for his iconic I Love NY design. Pro bono work for the Empire State, the phrase became the state slogan, and the graphic is almost ubiquitous on souvenirs of the Big Apple. That might have been his most famous project, ultimately, but it’s hardly his only one. Glaser also founded New York magazine, opened several successful design studios, created dozens of lovely posters including a world-famous Bob Dylan poster, and he also made instantly recognizable logos for the likes of DC Comics, and Brooklyn Brewery. In short, the man was an absolute design legend. It’s hard to believe that Sketch & Finish: The Journey From Here To There is his last book, but there you have it. Long on examples and relatively short on words, this great new paperback from Princeton Architectural Press lives up to its name, documenting over 70 of the designer’s projects, from start to finish. As such, the reader is gifted a unique opportunity to see and learn how the mind of a creative genius works, offering insider perspective on a wide range of his creative projects including identity, posters, illustrations, book covers, and even wooden toy character design. Each project is given a two page spread, starting with Glaser’s initial sketch, and ending with the finished product. Some of the projects also show a few additional design iterations along the path to the end of the journey. Most of the spreads include a sentence or a short paragraph on the challenge at hand, and what it took to finish the work. If the journey counts more than the destination then Milton Glaser has left us an invaluable roadmap.