When I started in the profession, I was the youngest such and such for a long time. Somewhere along the line as the generation before me retired or moved on to greener pastures, I became the old guard. This happens to all of us, which is better than being hit by a bus.
I would like to say that I did my best work in my twenties and now have matured into a stable approach. But, the opposite might be true. I don’t know yet. I’ll decide that when I’m 80. We look at young designers and assign a set of values to them: rebellious, energetic, vibrant, and breaking new ground. We assign values to designers over 40: leaders, maintaining the status quo, stable, and stalwart. Like most generalizations, these don’t apply to all.
It’s easy to think of some of history’s most well-known designers as mature, stodgy, and cranky characters with a big hidden heart like Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, or Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada. It seems contrary to think of Herbert Bayer as a rebellious upstart cavorting at the Bauhaus, or Ray Eames as the young student. But, as evidenced below, even Paul Rand was once a twenty-something.
![](/media/images/39722-alexey-brodovitch.png)
Alexey Vyacheslavovich Brodovitch and Rchard Avedon, Harper’s Bazaar cover, 1952.
![](/media/images/39722-Anni_Albers.png)
Anni Albers, rug design, 1928.
![](/media/images/39722-Bayer-Herbert.png)
Herbert Bayer, catalogue of samples, 1925.
![](/media/images/39722-Bea_Feitler.png)
Bea Feitler. Harper’s Bazaar cover, 1965.
![](/media/images/39722-Charles-Eames.png)
Charles Eames, LCW chair, 1945.
![](/media/images/39722-Cipe_Pineles.png)
Cipe Pineles, Seventeen magazine cover, 1949.
![](/media/images/39722-Deborah_Sussman.png)
Deborah Sussman, Los Angeles Olympics environmental graphics, 1984.
![](/media/images/39722-Fillipo_Tomaso_Marinetti.png)
Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti, Une Assemblée tumultueuse. Sensibilité numérique, 1919
![](/media/images/39722-Henryk_Berlewi.png)
Henryk Berlewi, Reklama Mechano, 1924
![](/media/images/39722-Herbert-Matter.png)
Herbert Matter, Engelberg Trübsee poster, 1936
![](/media/images/39722-Hugo_Ball___Emmy_Hennings_Founders_of_Caberet_Voltaire.png)
Hugo Ball and Emmy Hennings, founders of Cabaret Voltaire, 1916.
![](/media/images/39722-Josef_Muller_Brockmann.png)
Josef Müller Brockmann, Musica Viva poster, 1958.
![](/media/images/39722-Ladislav_Sutnar.png)
Ladislav Sutnar, Catalog Design cover, 1944.
![](/media/images/39722-Lella-and-Massimo-Vignelli.png)
Lella and Massimo Vignelli, Parallele rings, 1973
![](/media/images/39722-lester_Beall.png)
Lester Beall, Rural Electrification Administration poster, 1939.
![](/media/images/39722-Marget_Larsen.png)
Marget Larsen, Christmas boxes for Joseph Magnin, 1963.
![](/media/images/39722-Marianne_Brandt.png)
Marianne Brandt, Tea Infuser and Strainer, 1924.
![](/media/images/39722-max_Ernst.png)
Max Ernst, Red Forest, 1970.
![](/media/images/39722-Muriel_Cooper.png)
Muriel Cooper; with Suguru Ishizaki, David Small and students, scene from Information Landscapes, 1994.
![](/media/images/39722-Paul_Klee.png)
Paul Klee, Senecio, 1922.
![](/media/images/39722-Paul_Rand.png)
Paul Rand, United Parcel Service logo, 1961
![](/media/images/39722-Raoul_Hausmann_and_Hannah_Hoch.png)
Raoul Hausmann and Hannah Hoch, The Art Critic, 1919.
![](/media/images/39722-ray-eames.png)
Ray Eames, Dot Pattern textile, 1947.
![](/media/images/39722-Saul_Bass.png)
Saul Bass, Vertigo poster, 1958.
![](/media/images/39722-Sonia-Delauney.png)
Sonia Delaunay, Prismes electriques 1914.
![](/media/images/39722-Tomoko_Miho.png)
Tomoko Miho, 65 Bridges poster, 1967.
![](/media/images/39722-Tristan_Tzara.png)
Tristan Tzara, Dada Phone, 1920.
![](/media/images/39722-Varvara-Stepanova.png)
Varvara Fyodorovna Stepanova, poster, 1923.
![](/media/images/39722-William_Golden.png)
William Golden, CBS logo, 1951.