Dan Friedman Papers
name: label: Creator
content: Friedman, Dan, 1945-1995
label: Names
content: Allgemeie Gewerbeschule
label: Names
content: Anspach Grossman Portugal, Inc.
label: Names
content: Bergdorf Goodman (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Bonwit Teller & Co.
label: Names
content: Citibank (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
label: Names
content: Cooper-Hewitt Design Archive
label: Names
content: Gran Fury (Artists' collective)
label: Names
content: Hochschule für Gestaltung (Ulm, Germany)
label: Names
content: Jeffrey Deitch Art Advisory Services
label: Names
content: National Public Radio (U.S.)
label: Names
content: Neotu (Gallery)
label: Names
content: Pentagram Design
label: Names
content: State University of New York at Purchase
label: Names
content: WilliWear (Firm)
label: Names
content: Yale University
label: Names
content: Deitch, Jeffrey
label: Names
content: Haring, Keith
topic: label: Occupation
content: Graphic designers
label: Occupation
content: Packaging designers
label: Topic
content: Packaging -- Design
label: Topic
content: Design education -- United States
label: Topic
content: Graphic arts -- United States
label: Topic
content: Furniture design -- United States
label: Topic
content: Signs and symbols -- Design
label: Topic
content: Letterheads -- Design
label: Topic
content: Corporate image -- Design
label: Topic
content: Logos (Symbols) -- Design
label: Topic
content: Printing
label: Topic
content: Postmodernism -- United States
label: Topic
content: Posters -- Design
label: Topic
content: Book design -- United States
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This collection was donated to the museum by the designer's brother, Ken Friedman in 1995.
creator: label: Creator
content: Friedman, Dan, 1945-1995
setName: label: See more items in
content: Dan Friedman Papers
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Educator, graphic and furniture designer. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, 1945. Friedman recieved a BFA from Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburg, PA. He studied graphic design at Hochschule fur Gestaltung, Ulm, and studied with Armin Hofmann and Wolfgang Weingart at Allgemeine Gewerbeschule, Basel. Friedman returned to America in 1969 and began his career as graphic designer for large corporations.

He worked with the firm Anspach Grossman Portugal as a senior designer from 1975 to 1977. Friedman contributed significantly to what came to be known as "post-modern" or "new wave" typography in the 1970s. He taught graphic design at Yale University, 1970-73. He became Assistant Professor and Chairman of the Board of Study in Design at the State University of New York at Purchase, 1972-1975. Friedman designed catalogs and brochures for both universities. Friedman worked with Pentagram Design in New York City from 1979 to 1984. He designed corporate identity programs, posters, publications, packaging, letterheads, and logos, for clients such as Citibank, and Williwear.

Friedman was a long-time friend of artist Keith Haring, and designed the book, "Keith Haring", 1982. He was the author of "Dan Friedman: Radical Modernism", 1994, and co-authored with Jeffrey Deitch, "Cultural Geometry", 1988, and "Artificial Nature", 1990. He designed the books "New Italian Design", 1990, and "Post Human", 1992. He also designed furniture, lighting, screens, wall elements, and interiors. Many of his furniture designs were done especially for Galerie Noetu in Paris. Among his best known furniture designs are the 1989 Virgin Screen, 1989 Zoid sofa and chair, and the Three Mile Island lamps.

Friedman served as the Frank Stanton Professor of Graphic Design at the Cooper Union in New York city, from 1994 until his death in 1995.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 16 Cubic feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1967 - 1995
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Transferred to the Archives Center in 2012.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1277
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Stationery
label: Type
content: Clippings
label: Type
content: Statistics
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Lecture notes
label: Type
content: Speeches
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Slides
label: Type
content: Brochures
label: Type
content: Mechanicals
label: Type
content: Transparencies
label: Type
content: Financial records
label: Type
content: Articles
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Record Groups include: 

1: General Correspondence

2: University Affiliations

3: Project Files

4: Lectures and Writings

5: Clippings

6: Research Materials

7: Photographs and Slides
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection is unprocessed.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Stationery
label: Genre/Form
content: Clippings
label: Genre/Form
content: Statistics
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Lecture notes
label: Genre/Form
content: Speeches
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Slides
label: Genre/Form
content: Brochures
label: Genre/Form
content: Mechanicals
label: Genre/Form
content: Transparencies
label: Genre/Form
content: Financial records
label: Genre/Form
content: Articles
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: General correspondence files contain all communications that do not pertain to a specific project. Because Friedman's personal life and business were so interconnected, many of his business associates also shared personal correspondence with the designer.,Materials in this collection document Friedman's work from 1967, as a student, until his death in 1995.

Files that document his affiliations with Yale University and the State University of New York at Purchase include administrative memos, proposals, lecture outlines, syllabi, bibliographies, examples of students' work, and design projects Friedman did for each school. A copy of the goals and objectives of the Division of Visual Arts within the School of the Arts at SUNY Purchase written by Friedman is included.

Project files include business correspondence, invoices, sketches, contracts, clippings, photographs, and slides. In the case of his graphic projects, some samples of stationery and brochures are included. Extensive documentation exists for Friedman's projects for Citibank, WilliWear, National Public Radio, and Bonwit Teller. Some correspondence is in German. Friedman's lecture notes, proposals for articles and books, and drafts of many articles are included. Clippings of articles on the designer and his work are arranged chronologically.

Research files consist of articles and Friedman's notes on topics of interest to him, such as typography, structure, simultaneity, and information theory. Photographs, slides, and transparencies of many of Friedman's projects, his sources of inspiration, and the work of his students are included.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Drawings and Prints Department

Hundreds of designs for letterheads, logos, business cards, invitations, greeting cards, furniture, lighting, screens, office interiors, shoppings bags and gift boxes, calendars, packaging, weather pattern diagrams and maps, book covers, and posters 

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Applied Arts Department

"U.S.A." table and dome-shaped floor lamp.,.

Friedman's work can be found in the collections of the following museums: Museum of Modern Art, New York City; Museum of Decorative Arts, Montreal, Canada; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Seibu, Tokyo; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA; and Israel Museum, Jerusalem.