Lou Dorfsman*, who for more than 40 years designed every aspect of the Columbia Broadcasting Company’s advertising and corporate identity, including the set of Walter Cronkite’s newsroom and the typographically elegant sign system for CBS’s New York headquarters, known as Black Rock, made the CBS TV identity second to none.
Among the many memorable print works that supported and defined CBS were booklets and books devoted to the network’s programming. Hamlet: A Television Script was adapted by Michael Benthall and Ralph Nelson for presentation on the CBS Television Network by the Old Vic Company on Feb. 24, 1954. Dorfsman’s design and Ben Shahn’s illustrations, excerpts shown here, set a standard for corporate communications.
*Editor’s note: Thanks to Brad Holland for pointing out that Bill Golden was still art director of CBS when “Hamlet” was aired, leaving the credit as to who designed the book in question. Also, Holland rightly noted that the headline for this item is from “Richard III” not “Hamlet.” (I was being ironic, I think.)
For more Steven Heller, check out Design Humor: The Art of Graphic Wit‚ one of the many Heller titles available at MyDesignShop.com.