ADAI Memories from H.F. "Pen" Sommer

Some background on ADAI:

Coming to Des Moines in 1955 to assume a job as art director/production manager at the old Fairall & Company Ad Agency was a slower paced proposition than previous jobs at a couple of Los Angeles department stores. However, the thought of establishing an art director club in Des Moines on a smaller scale remained on my mind.

After mentioning, and looking for input from a couple of longtime-locals someone did suggest I contact Chuck Townsend at the Wesley Day Ad Agency. The thought of an Art Director's Club of Des Moines hit Chuck's button and the rest is history.

The next activity was a meeting at the Art Center, chaired by Chuck, and attended by more artists than I had ever seen in Des Moines. After the initial gathering another meeting was held and the election of officers. Chuck as prez, along with George Bacon and Jim Stevenson. The decision was made to call the organization the Art Directors and Artists Association of Iowa to enable us to qualify for membership in the national organization because of larger member numbers.

I was assigned chairman of the first exhibition and still have the awards brochure. Mr. Fairall and a client who was president of Valley Bank were both on the Edmundson Foundation at the Des Moines Art Center but were still unable to get the "biggies" to allow such a commercial event to take place at their shrine. Mr. Fairall sent me to Carl Mattern who was head of the Drake School of Art and so we ended up in a Quonset-type building which served us well.

The first show was a success, as was the banquet which was held a the Kirkwood Hotel. Many meetings were held a the old Press & Radio Club (above Kneeter Furs) until I no longer could remain a member because of too many conflicts.

ADAI Memories from Betty Husted

My memory may be faulty but I’ve learned to compensate by going through my life-long accumulation of STUFF (which I always said would come in handy some day.) So, when this opportunity to blog came along, I pulled out my stash of historic IMAGE newsletters from the good ole days of 1979-80. That was the time when I served as leader of Iowa’s fabulous art directors.

With the guidance of Harry Watts and everybody else who succumbed to my pleas for help we put together some great meetings which are well documented in these musty archives. Judging from the photos, we had a jolly good time eating, drinking and behaving like children let out for recess after a hard day of drawing and pasting.

One of my presidential duties was to invite interesting speakers who, if they were local, would share their expertise in return for dinner and drinks. However, once a year we popped for travel and lodging in order to bring in illustrious illustrators like: Mark English, Bart Forbes and Alan Cober. During my tenure, we chose another star of the fabulous Illustrators Workshop, Fred Otnes, as our big time presenter for the year.

I was very nervous about phoning him, thinking that with all his fame I wouldn't get to speak to him directly but, low and behold---Fred picked up the phone on the second ring. He told me that he and his wife, Fran, would be happy to come to Des Moines because they had been thinking about a Midwest trip to Kansas to see his relatives. Feeling like a big cheapskate, I had to explain that we probably couldn’t afford to fly them both here from their home in Connecticut but that I would consult with the board and get back to him soon.

To my relief, our resourceful creative thinkers came up with a way to make it all work. We would ask him to be a judge for our annual Exhibition. We would be funding the expenses of three judges anyway so this was an opportunity to have one of the top designers in the country not only tell us the secrets of his amazing collage illustrations but, evaluate our works as well.

Co-Exhibition Chair persons: Doris Meacham and Deetra Leech were thrilled to have a nationally recognized illustrator judge our show along with John Mann and Peter Vane.

The afternoon of March 28th, I picked up Fred Otnes and his wife, Fran, at the airport. We drove out to Traders, a popular bar near DMACC, and enjoyed Happy Hour with other ADAI members before a special dinner prepared by the DMACC students. The Otnes’s were very friendly and before the evening was over, I felt like I had known them for ever. Later during his talk in the DMAAC auditorium, Fred showed us his amazing layering techniques and answered every question we could think of.

The next day while he and fellow judges worked their way through the piles of entries laid out on Meredith’s cafeteria tables, Fran and I WENT SHOPPING. She wanted to browse our local antique shops and second hand book stores for ephemeral material that Fred could use in his work. She was a delightful companion and we had a great time prowling through the old shops in Valley Junction. I still have the intriguing collage poster he created for our club hanging on the wall of my studio at home.

Shortly after retiring from the commercial art world in 1991, I satisfied a life long ambition to be on stage. I became a children’s entertainer and worked my way around Iowa telling stories in schools, churches and various venues. That endeavor led to public speaking and entertaining adults. I am retired now and spend a great deal of time painting and creating my own collages and assemblages. At last I can play with all the STUFF I’ve collected since Fred and Fran Otnes came to an ADAI meeting almost (gulp) thirty years ago.

Deadline extended to July 9, 2007

It won't happen again for 50 years! Don't miss out on the celebration.

Advance admission sales only. Reservations deadline extended, now due by July 9, 2007.

ADAI 50th Anniversary GALA
Hotel Fort Des Moines
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Social / 6 p.m.
Dinner / 7 p.m.
Programs being after dinner and wind up by 11 p.m.
$35 per individual or $60 per couple

Please note, formal dinner just means sit-down meal. Dress as you wish: formal, casual or even retro from your favorite design decade.

Every individual attendee or couple will get a 50th anniversary commemorative poster. If we have any extras, they will be sold for $25 each with the proceeds going to the ADAI scholarship fund.

Download an invitation and RSVP form at: http://www.artdirectorsiowa.org/anniversary.asp

PS: Do you have an ADAI story? Contact Barb Gordon (gordon@dwx.com) to get your story posted on the ADAIblog.

Jack Summerford's Helvetica Poster

Read about one of the posters in our ADAI poster archive.

Jack Summerford mentions our club in an article in CA, March 1999.

ADAI Memories from Jim Lienhart

Hi Barb,

I just received a postcard about the 50 year celebration for ADAI and it brought back a lot of memories. I started as a designer at Meredith Publishing in 1957.my first job out of art school from the Kansas City Art Institute and School of Design. I was among the small group of designers that started ADAI in 1957. I remember participating in the competition to develop the first logo for ADAI.(the logo you show on the postcard in the number 57) The guy that won the competition was Rudi Johnson who was in the Meredith Publishing design group with me. He was an older guy (at least then I thought he was older) probably in his 40's. I always remember he has a red 55 Thunderbird...very cool. Anyway I worked at Better Homes and Gardens promoting their books primarily...really loved it...won a bunch of awards in Des Moines and Omaha art directors club.

I tried to get a raise from $4500 per year at Meredith and one of their officers met with me and said most people are going for the 40 year plan of security with no raise at this time...I left and joined Look Magazine (with a raise) for a couple years and won some more awards and had some more fun.

Pat Taylor was a buddy of mine and Chris Christensen (art director at Look at the time) I still exchange xmas cards with them. I moved to Chicago in 1961 and went on from their to head up several design groups (RVI and Unimark) and then became president of a large branding and identity office for 25 years (Murrie Lienhart Rysner & Associates) and then started my own office and now combine teaching design and running the office. But the days in Des Moines were the most exciting for me. I came back and spoke at ADAI at one point and had a great time. I'm still enjoying design working on a range of very interesting assignments. At 71 I still feel the same excitement in coming up with new concepts and solutions.

Take care and say hello to some of the old birds in Des Moines.

Jim Lienhart

Lienhart Design
939 West Huron Street
Suite 310
Chicago IL 60622

Phone 312 738 2200
Fax 312 738 2100
Web lienhartdesign.com
Email jim@lienhartdesign.com

ADAI Memories from Dee Johnson

Oh yes, the memories from ADAI. Way to many to even scratch the surface but here goes.... I first joined the group in 1964 when we had meetings at local restaurants and even some at Drake and DMACC. They were more of a social nature and "fun" was the main objective. We had some illustrious speakers like Alan Cober, Bob Peak, Jasper Johns, Milton Glaser, and thanks to Bob Bowers at Drake University, Herb Lubalin.

When Herb Lubalin spoke he was a part of an entire week of celebrating typography and design at Drake University. My students at DMACC made large flash cards that had one letter in a different type style (all hand decorated) and, when they stood up in the back row, it spelled out
U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H E R N A N K E N Y S A Y S H I H E R B ! I wore my high school cheerleading outfit and we even did a cheer for him. It was great fun and he wanted to take the cards with him afterwards so we packaged them up and he took them with him back to New York.

One of the speakers during that week was a man who was designing what he thought could be used as a Universal Alphabet. He had traveled to Russia and just happened to be there during the celebration of their alphabet. He told about the parade and how the citizens made tribute to their letters. At one point, in his presentation, he was standing in front of the 35mm slide projector and the alphabet was super emposed over his face and body. I always thought that was on purpose!

Speaking of FUN meetings.... we always had the annual Clios meeting where we could enjoy the best Commercials of the year. One year we were at Willow Creek Country Club and there was a contest to design and fly the best paper airplane during the meeting. You can only imagine how much fun that was. We laughed ourselves silly.

Then there were the annual picnics where we would rent a shelter house (sometimes at Walnut Woods), get a keg, and vote for the new officers. As is likely the case today, there was a proposed slate of officers (people we begged to take office) and the voting was pretty much a done deal so we just had a great time together and it was a celebration for the outgoing officers and the incoming newbies.

Our meetings were not always so successful. One year the club president, Jan Williams, had invited a costume designer to put on her show at the Art Center and we gathered in the auditorium to enjoy the show. WELL..... needless to say.... it was quite a show when the gal came out in the nude to walk over a film of herself posing in a life drawing scene. There were other acts which shocked some members to the point that they were ready to get up and walk out.... NO KIDDING! Ask me about it or Denny Clark or Harry Watts.

Speaking of Harry.... he has been involved with ADAI since the beginning and also was Chair of the DMACC Advisory board very early on in the Commercial Art Program. I started referring to him as "The Godfather of Commercial Art" and it was a title that stuck. One year, Bob Cunningham ( long time employee of Principal and a great illustrator), drew and produced a life sized poster figure of Harry Watts in a leisure suit. We placed it in the tall grass in his front yard as a joke and he may still have it..... who knows.

Our group was really pretty dull when you think of it. You get all of these creative people into one room and we really should be having more fun. Sometimes we take ourselves way too seriously. That is the best thing about this career... you can work and still love your job.

Ask me.... 36 years of teaching at DMACC and I am still learning and having FUN.

Dee

Sense of Gratitude to ADAI

I am Heather Soladay Olson, a former ADAI member and officer (treasurer in about 1979, and design show co-chair in about 1980). I would like to share fond memories and a sense of gratitude to ADAI. Congratulations on your 50th anniversary!

I graduated from Iowa State University with a double major in Advertising Design and Journalism & Mass Communications in 1978. I job hunted in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Kansas City, but after three months and 80-some (no kidding!) interviews at ad agencies, I was still jobless. Fortunately, one of my good friends from ISU, Susan Olsen Grundmeier, was offered two jobs in Des Moines that summer. She was kind enough to suggest I pursue the one she didn't want, and I became promotion director of The Register and Tribune Syndicate.

I moved to Des Moines from my family home in Cedar Falls and lived on SW 9th Street with another ISU grad. Somehow I discovered the Art Directors Association of Iowa and began my professional association journey. I remember a woman named Betty Husted who encouraged me to run for an office. I became treasurer, taking over the books from Chris Conyers. Chris and I got to know one another in the ensuing months because I had many questions. Wouldn't you know, a short while later The Designgroup needed to hire a junior art director. Chris asked me to interview, I met Tom Sargent, and they hired me! It couldn't have been a better career move or a more enjoyable place to work, and I owe it all to ADAI!

As time went on, I moved from treasurer to design show co-chair, and had the wonderful experience of meeting top designers who came to judge our show. I remember the jurying event taking place at Meredith Corporation, and I think the awards ceremony was at Aunt Maude's in Ames.

With confidence in my leadership abilities gleaned from my ADAI days, in 1981 I took a corporate communications job in Minneapolis (my dream city), and quickly became involved in the Minnesota Graphic Designers Association (MGDA) under the direction of Tim Larsen. I designed the MGDA newsletter, chaired the Annual Design Conference at Lutsen, and was soon asked to be the first woman president of MGDA. A few years later, the group became an AIGA chapter, now known as AIGA Minnesota.

After 14 years as a graphic designer, a multi-year sabbatical raising a boy and twin daughters, then a few years spent editing publications and doing project coordination, my next employer became Tim Larsen of Larsen Design Office, one of the largest graphic design firms in the Upper Midwest. Tim brought me on to do new business development, and four years later asked me to be director of human resources. This month I renewed my involvement in professional associations by becoming director of education for AIGA Minnesota.

I think I can thread my way back to ADAI to say your organization was instrumental in leading to me where I am today! Thank you, and I'd love to hear from my old Des Moines friends!

Heather S. Olson
Director of Human Resources
LARSEN
7101 York Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN

An ADAI story

I remember when Milton Glaser came to Iowa to speak. Drake University and ADAI joined to host the prominent designer. Glaser designed the famous I love NY logo. You know, the one with the heart symbol instead of the word love. I still cringe when I see bumper stickers with sayings like I "heart" my cocker spaniel. Imitation may be a form of flattery, but imitations can be very crude!

-Barb Gordon, ADAI member since 1974.