A major proponent of “New Typography” in the United States, Dan Friedman received his formal education in Basel, Switzerland under Armin Hofmann, an influential educator and designer whose students disseminated the Swiss Style of graphic design in the late 1960s. Though Friedman’s portfolio had earned him teaching positions at Yale University and SUNY Purchase upon...

In 1937, Cooper Hewitt acquired blueprints and drawings made by Swiss-American architect William Lescaze. The drawing above shows Lescaze’s 1934 plan for the redesign of New York’s Avon Theater at 251 W 45th street. The original theater, designed by architect Eugene De Rosa, was known as the Klaw Theatre. The name changed to the Avon...