America at 200
When I was younger, I had a sheet of US Bicentennial stamps and I always loved the red, white, and blue star. Little did I know then that I would become a graphic designer.
The symbol, designed by Bruce Blackburn at Chermayeff & Geismar is a multilayered stylized five-pointed star. It folds like bunting. Its rounded corners evoke both a flower and a pinwheel at the same time. And finally, the negative space reveals a classic, pointed star.
A few years ago, Standards Manual reproduced the guidelines and I managed to grab a copy. Here’s a spread featuring storyboards for a motion graphics spot. I love it.
In Blackburn’s foreword to the reproduction, he wrote:
My deliberations led to the following conclusions: to begin with, of all the revolutionary “American” symbols I considered as possible elements in a solution, the only one that passed the historical reference test and, at the same time, could be utilized in a contemporary or “modern” way was the five-pointed star from the Betsy Ross flag. But the star is an aggressive and militaristic form, and the event needed something friendlier, more accessible. Why not wrap the star in stripes of red, white and blue “bunting”, rounding the sharp edges of the star and producing a second star surrounding the original? The two stars also refer to the two American centuries being celebrated.
Also little-known fact—Blackburn’s version was not the winner of the competition. Richard Baird, writing for his great Logo Histories newsletter two years ago, tells the story:
The symbol designed by Bruce Blackburn while working at Chermayeff & Geismar Associates is well-known and celebrated as a fine achievement in marque-making. The symbol would go on to be used on the side of the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building, on the Viking Mars lander and used across stamps, patches and all kinds of promotional materials, which accounts for its widespread recognition in the US. However, few know that Blackburn’s design was not the winning entry, that honour went to Lance Wyman.
Honestly, I don’t like Wyman’s version as much. Maybe it’s because I’m so familiar with the Blackburn symbol. The 7 and 6 are too abstracted to be visible, even to a trained designer like me.
Happy 249th birthday, America.
Oh, and Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv is working on the 250th anniversary branding for next year.
