27 Chicago Designers Exhibit: 2016

The 27 Chicago Designers, founded in 1936, and continuing to 1991, was dedicated to promoting the work of its members—illustrators, typographers, photographers and designers. This collaborative effort produced 38 books in the group's 55-year history. The books were probably the first source books for design in the US.

An exhibition, “Selling Design: 27 Chicago Designers 1936-1991,” was organized to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the organization’s founding. Former 27 Chairman Jack Weiss conceived the idea and co-curated the exhibition with Lara Allison of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. UIC Special Collections hosted the event and provided most of the material. The Newberry Library provided additional digital images. The books themselves and scans of their pages formed the basic content of the exhibition. A book and catalog of the exhibition are available through the Chicago Design Archive.

2016