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Object Timeline

1991

  • Work on this object began.

1996

  • We acquired this object.

2013

2016

2024

  • You found it!

Poster, Save Our City

This is a Poster. It was designed by Michael Bierut. It is dated 1991 and we acquired it in 1996. Its medium is screenprint on white paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

New York-based graphic designer Michael Bierut created this poster for the Designing New York Committee’s Save Our City event in 1991, while a new partner at Pentagram (he joined the firm’s New York office the year before). The black and white poster promotes and commemorates a symposium on how design might improve residents’ experience of living in the city. This high-contrast piece shows Bierut’s expertise in manipulating type. The top half of the poster is black and phrases in white block capitals are turned on their side to evoke Manhattan’s skyscrapers seen from a distance. “Save Our City” is printed in black type of varying sizes with only the bottom portion of the word “save” is seen; it blends with the swath of black from above, conjuring a sinking feeling, or of being consumed by the environment. Bierut is a master of utilizing optical tricks to convey his concepts graphically. He designs for his audience, and is careful to consider the most direct way of relating information to those who will receive it.

This object was donated by Michael Bierut. It is credited Gift of Michael Bierut.

Its dimensions are

90.5 x 60.5 cm (35 5/8 x 23 13/16 in.)

It is inscribed

Printed in black ink, lower left margin: Design: Michael Bierut/Pentagram / Printing: Ambassador Arts

Cite this object as

Poster, Save Our City; Designed by Michael Bierut (American, b. 1957); USA; screenprint on white paper; 90.5 x 60.5 cm (35 5/8 x 23 13/16 in.); Gift of Michael Bierut; 1996-86-5

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18654185/ |title=Poster, Save Our City |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=19 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>