Robert Brownjohn
Robert Brownjohn | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | August 1, 1970 London, England | (aged 44)
Occupation(s) | Graphic designer, title designer |
Robert Brownjohn (August 8, 1925 – August 1, 1970) was an American
.Early life
He was born to British parents on August 8, 1925, in
Regarded as a prodigy by his peers, Brownjohn became a protégé of Moholy-Nagy and his successor,
After receiving a nonprofessional B.A. in architecture in May 1948,[2] Brownjohn initially worked as an architectural planner in Chicago before returning to the Institute (which had been absorbed as a unit of the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1949) to assist Chermayeff and teach his own courses in the school's evening division. He also worked as a freelance designer for several magazines, including Esquire and Coronet.
New York career
In 1951, Brownjohn returned to New York City in order to further his graphic design career. Continuing to work freelance for the next five years, he completed projects for a wide variety of clients, including Columbia Records. Brownjohn's effusive personality and fondness for jazz music allowed his friendships with Parker and Miles Davis, among others, to blossom as he became a part of the bohemian social scene in the city. Brownjohn also became addicted to heroin in earnest during this period. He was never to conquer this affliction and it contributed to his untimely death at the age of 44.
In 1956, Brownjohn married Donna Walters. The couple went on to have a daughter, Eliza. The following year, Brownjohn formed Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar (BCG) with fellow designers
The end of 1959 saw the end of BCG. Brownjohn's drug use had escalated and he moved to London with his family in order, he hoped, to take advantage of the UK's more liberal attitude to drug use.[3] Following Brownjohn's departure, the company (known as Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv today) became known for its seminal corporate identity programs.
London career
As one of the most fêted and socially connected designers from New York, Brownjohn fitted into the
Brownjohn's career began to shift to working primarily with moving images. In 1963, the producers of the James Bond films approached Brownjohn after disagreements with film title designer Maurice Binder.[4] Harry Saltzman asked Brownjohn to design the title sequence for the second James Bond film, From Russia with Love.[5]
Movie title sequences
Robert Brownjohn's work on two James Bond title sequences, From Russia with Love and Goldfinger, is probably his most widely known achievement. In these he used the technique of projecting moving footage onto the bodies of models and filming the results. The idea of filming projections is one gleaned from the Bauhaus and was used by László Maholy-Nagy in his early constructivist films of the 1920s.[3] The combination of this artistic technique with the style and glamour of the 1960s typify Brownjohn's work. The use of wit and risqué humour, for example the deliberate lining up of a projected shot of a golf putt so that the ball appears to roll down gold painted model Margaret Nolan's cleavage, are also classic Brownjohn devices.
Goldfinger's title design, photographed by David Watkin cost £5000. Brownjohn also designed the British posters for the film featuring Sean Connery and Honor Blackman over a gold painted Margaret Nolan. A second poster, featuring the characters in a golden hand, was designed for Ireland.[6] Eventually Saltzman and Brownjohn fell out, and Brownjohn worked on no other Bond films.[7]
In all, Robert Brownjohn designed four title sequences:[8]
- From Russia with Love (1963)
- Goldfinger (1964)
- Where the Spies Are (1965)
- The Night of the Generals (1967)
Later career
The most notable work from Brownjohn's post-Bond career is probably the cover for the 1969
Brownjohn died from a heart attack in London on August 1, 1970, a week shy of his 45th birthday.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Alice Rawsthorn (December 11, 2011). "The Man Who Broke the Record on 'Let It Bleed'". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1925, Brownjohn, whose father, a bus driver, died when he was 12, studied art at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn before enrolling at the Institute of Design in Chicago in 1944. ...
- ^ "Bj at institute of design chicago 1940's". Archived from the original on May 4, 2019.
- ^ a b Design Museum article on Brownjohn
- ^ Starlog magazine Maurice Binder interview Part 1
- ^ p.66-67 King, Emily, Brownjohn, Eliza & Brownjohn, Robert Robert Brownjohn:Sex and Typography 1970 Laurence King Publishing
- ^ p.33 Nourmand, Tony James Bond Movie Posters: The Official 007 Collection 2004 Chronicle Books
- ^ pp68-69 Robert Brownjohn
- IMDb
Further reading
- King, Emily, Robert Brownjohn: Sex and Typography, Laurence King Publishing, 2005
- Chermayeff, Ivan and Geismar, Tom, watching words move, Chronicle Books, 2006