History of Graphic Design through Publications: GREAT IDEAS OF MODERN MAN

Location: Special Collections
This is a collection of 26 plates.

From the AIGA Eye on Design feature on this work:

When Walter P. Paepcke founded the Container Corporation of America (CCA) in 1926, he wanted it to be associated not only with high-quality design, but with social and environmental responsibility too. So he asked his wife, the former Elizabeth Nitze, a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago and a theater and store designer, to art direct a series of ads they had conceived to promote CCA’s image, beginning in 1950.

Called Great Ideas of Western Man, it was Nitze’s idea to reinterpret quotes from famous historical figures, though she hired Egbert Jacobson to art direct them. He in turn commissioned many renowned designers and artists of the day, including Ben Shahn, A.M. Cassandre, Milton Glaser, Alvin Lustig, René Magritte, Jan Tschichold, Saul Bass, Alexey Brodovitch, Lester Beall, Elaine Urbain, Leonard Baskin, Jacob Landau, Gene Federico, Carol Summers, Bradbury Thompson, and others.

(all images are pictured on the site)