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July 7, 2010

Happy Birthday, Steven Heller

In the early 1990s, fresh out of grad school, I was working as the Design Director at the (now-defunct) Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine where, surrounded by writers and editors, I became interested myself in writing. At that time, the only writing credit I had to my name was my thesis, and the only person besides me who’d read it was Paul Rand, who wasn’t terribly impressed. Undaunted, I mentioned all this to Steven Guarnaccia, who kindly mentioned it to Steve Heller, and a few days later this letter arrived.

Sight unseen, I was being offered a chance to write — to write about design! — for the AIGA Journal. I was over the moon, and leapt at the opportunity.

This marked the beginning of a long and rich collaboration and friendship, and I say this knowing that there are others who, like me, have benefited from Steve’s pure generosity of spirit. Not only does he seem to write a book every ten minutes (and if you’re missing any of them, we’ve provided links for our readers below), but he is always willing to share — a credit here, a recommendation there — all of them genuine and heartfelt and real. A willing collaborator, a supportive editor and a devoted friend to artists and designers across the globe, Steve Heller is about as close as we come, in America, to a national treasure. And today is his birthday.

Happy Birthday, Steve.

101 Books Authored, Co-Authored or Edited by Steven Heller

New Ornamental Type: Decorative Lettering in the Digital Age
Steven Heller & Gail Anderson

Thames & Hudson, 2010

Design School Confidential
Steven Heller & Lita Talarico

Rockport Publishers, 2009

Art Direction Explained, At Last!
Steven Heller & Veronique Vienne

Laurence King, 2009

Marketing Illustration: New Venues, New Styles, New Methods
Steven Heller & Marshall Arisman

Allworth Press, 2009

Anatomy of Design
Steven Heller & Mirko Ilic

Rockport, 2009

Illustration: A Visual History
Steven Heller & Seymour Chwast

Abrams, 2008

Design Disasters
Steven Heller, editor

Allworth Press, 2008

The Design Entrepreneur
Steven Heller & Lita Talarico

Rockport, 2008

Iron Fists
Steven Heller & Mirko Ilic

Phaidon, 2008

The Swastika
Steven Heller

Allworth, 2008

Teaching Motion Design
Steven Heller & Michael Dooley

Allworth, 2008

New Vintage Type: Classic Fonts for the Digital Age
Steven Heller & Gail Anderson

Watson-Guptill, 2007

Looking Closer 5
Steven Heller, Michael Beirut & William Drenttel, editors

Allworth, 2007

The Education of a Photographer
Steven Heller, Charles H. Traub & Adam B. Bell

Allworth, 2006

Stylepedia
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 2006

Nigel Holmes On Information Design
Steven Heller

Jorge Pinto, 2006

Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age
Steven Heller & Mirko Ilic

Thames & Hudson, 2006

Becoming a Graphic Designer
Steven Heller & Teresa Fernandes

Wiley, 2005

The Education of an Art Director
Steven Heller & Veronique Vienne

Allworth, 2005

The Education of a Graphic Designer
Steven Heller & Veronique Vienne

Allworth, 2005

Cuban Carnival
Steven Heller & Vicki Gold Levi

Universe, 2005

The Education Of A Comics Artist
Steven Heller & Michael Dooley

Allworth, 2005

Euro Deco: Graphic Design Between the Wars
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 2005

Inside the Business of Illustration
Steven Heller & Marshall Arisman

Allworth, 2004

Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design
Steven Heller

Allworth, 2004

Times Square Style
Steven Heller & Vicki Gold Levi

Princeton Architectural Press, 2004

Hola Cuba!
Steven Heller & Vicki Gold Levi, editors

Little Bookroom, 2004

The Designer’s Guide to Astounding Photoshop Effects
Steven Heller & Gail Anderson, editors

North Light Books, 2004

Bandit Love
Steven Heller, editor

North Light Books, 2004

East Side West Side
Steven Heller, editor

Little Bookroom, 2004

The Education of a Typographer
Steven Heller, editor

Allworth, 2004

Teaching Graphic Design
Steven Heller, editor

Allworth, 2003

Citizen Designer
Steven Heller & Veronique Vienne, editors

Allworth, 2003

Merz to Emigre and Beyond
Steven Heller

Phaidon, 2003

Cuba Style
Steven Heller & V. Levi

Princeton Architectural Press, 2002

Design Humor
Steven Heller

Allworth, 2002

Looking Closer 4
Steven Heller, William Drenttel & Michael Bierut, editors

Allworth, 2002

The Education of a Design Entrepreneur
Steven Heller

Allworth, 2002

The Graphic Design Reader
Steven Heller

Allworth, 2002

Counter Culture: The Allure of Mini-Mannequins
Steven Heller

Princeton Architectural Press, 2001

The Education of an E-Designer
Steven Heller, editor

Allworth, 2001

Graphic Design History
Steven Heller & Georgette Ballance

Allworth, 2001

Red Scared!
Steven Heller & Michael Barson

Chronicle, 2001

Graphic Style
Steven Heller & Seymour Chwast

Harry N. Abrams, 2001

Texts on Type
Steven Heller & Philip B. Meggs, editors

Allworth, 2001

Genius Moves
Steven Heller & Mirko Ilic

North Light Books, 2001

The Education of an Illustrator
Steven Heller & Marshall Arisman, editors

Allworth, 2000

Graphic Design Time Line
Steven Heller & Elinor Pettit

Allworth, 2000

Design Connoisseur
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Allworth, 2000

Letterforms: Bawdy, Bad and Beautiful
Steven Heller & Christine Thompson

Watson-Guptill, 2000

Wedding Bell Blues
Steven Heller & Michael Barson

Chronicle, 2000

Paul Rand
Steven Heller

Phaidon, 2000

Looking Closer 3
Steven Heller, Jessica Helfand, Michael Bierut & Rick Poynor, editors

Allworth, 1999

Design Literacy (Continued)
Steven Heller

Allworth, 1999

Less Is More
Steven Heller & Anne Fink

North Light Books, 1999

Typology
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 1998

German Modern
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 1998

Design Dialogues
Steven Heller

Allworth, 1998

Belles Lettres A 19th Century French Writing Tablet
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 1998

Belles Lettres An Arts and Crafts Writing Tablet
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 1998

Belles Lettres An Art Deco Writing Tablet
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 1998

Belles Lettres An Art Nouveau Writing Tablet
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 1998

British Modern
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 1998

Food Wrap
Steven Heller

St. Martin’s, 1998

Design Culture
Steven Heller & Marie Finamore, editors

Allworth, 1997

Teenage Confidential
Steven Heller & Michael Barson

Chronicle, 1997

Digital Designer
Steven Heller & Daniel Drennan

Watson-Guptill, 1997

Deco Espana
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 1997

Looking Closer 2
Steven Heller, Michael Beirut, William Drenttel & DK Holland, editors

Allworth, 1997

Faces on the Edge
Steven Heller &
Anne Fink

Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1997

Deco Type
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 1997

Magazines Inside & Out
Steven Heller & Teresa Fernandes

PBC International, 1997

That’s Entertainment
Steven Heller & Anne Fink

PBC International, 1997

Low Budget
Steven Heller

Watson-Guptill, 1997

Newsletters Now
Steven Heller & Elinor Pettit

PBC International, 1997

American Typeplay
Steven Heller & Gail Anderson

PBC International, 1996

French Modern
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 1996

Cover Story
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 1996

Japanese Modern
Steven Heller, Seymour Chwast & Fraser

Chronicle, 1996

Business of Illustration
Steven Heller & Teresa Fernandes

Watson-Guptill, 1995

Jackets Required
Steven Heller & Seymour Chwast

Chronicle, 1995

Streamline
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 1995

Looking Closer
Steven Heller, Michael Bierut, William Drenttel & DK Holland, editors

Allworth, 1994

Covers and Jackets!
Steven Heller & Anne Fink

Rizzoli, 1994

Designing for Children
Steven Heller & Steven Guarnaccia

Watson-Guptill, 1994

Graphic Style
Steven Heller & Seymour Chwast

Harry N Abrams, 1994

Dutch Moderne
Steven Heller & Louise Fili

Chronicle, 1994

Borrowed Design
Steven Heller & Julie Lasky

John Wiley & Sons, 1993

Savage Mirror
Steven Heller

Watson-Guptill, 1992

School Days
Steven Heller & Steven Guarnaccia

Abbeville, 1992

You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
Steven Heller, Vicki Gold Levi & Seymour Chwast

Hyperion, 1992

Angry Graphics
Steven Heller & Karrie Jacobs

Gibbs Smith, 1992

Designing With Illustration
Steven Heller & Karen Pomeroy

Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990

Trylon and Perisphere
Steven Heller, Barbara Cohen & Seymour Chwast

Harry N Abrams, 1989

Sourcebook of Visual Ideas
Steven Heller

Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1989

New York Observed
Steven Heller, Barbara Cohen & Seymour Chwast, editors

Harry N Abrams, 1987

Innovators of American Illustration
Steven Heller, editor

Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1986

Art Against War
Steven Heller, D. J. R. Bruckner & Seymour Chwast

Abbeville,1984

Man Bites Man
Steven Heller, editor

Hutchinson, 1981

Artists Christmas Cards
Steven Heller

Fireside, 1981

25 More Books Authored, Co-Authored or Edited by Steven Heller
The Book of Waters (A&W Press) — 1979
The Empire State Building Book (St. Martins) — 1979
Sin City Fables (A&W Press) — 1980
Jules Feiffer’s America (Knopf) — 1981
War Heads: Cartoonists for a Nuclear Weapons Freeze (Penguin) — 1982
The Art of Satire: Painters as Cartoonists and Caricaturists for Delacroix to Picasso (Horizon Press) — 1984
Seymour Chwast: The Left Handed Designer (Abrams) — 1985
The Fifties Revisited (Universe) — 1985
The Little Theatre: A Christmas Carol (Viking Kestrel) — 1985
Design Career (Van Nostrand Reinhold) — 1987
Graphic Style: From Victorian to Post-Modern (Abrams) — 1987
Low Budget/High Quality Design: The Art of Inexpensive Visual Communications (Watson Guptil) — 1988
Graphic Wit: The Art of Humor in Design (Watson Guptil) — 1989
Carta Italiana (Chronicle) — 1995
100 Best Posters of Europe and America (Toppan) — 1997
Papier Francias (Chronicle Giftworks) — 1999
The Italian Art Deco Address Book (Chronicle Giftworks) — 1999
Design Dialogues (Allworth Press) — 1998
Becoming a Graphic Designer (Van Nostrand) — 1999
Sex Appeal: The Art of Allure in Advertising and Graphic Design (Allworth) — 2000
Graphic Design Timeline (Allworth Press) — 2000
Genius Rules: 100 Icons of Graphic Design (North Light Press) — 2001
The Push Pin Graphic (Chronicle Books) — Fall 2004
Inside the Illustration Business (Allworth Press) — Fall 2004
Design Literacy Revised (Allworth Press) — Fall 2004