Collection primarily consists of photographic materials including color slides, color and black & white transparencies, and black & white photographs; press releases, articles, correspondence, press releases, client lists, and surveys documenting the life and work of packaging, industrial, and graphic designer Saul Nesbitt.
Scope and Contents:
Series 1, Background and Biographical Information, 1951-1984
Consists of Nesbitt's resume, an artist/designer statement, list of clients and accomplishments of Nesbitt Associates, Ltd., press releases, articles, and photographs of the designer.,The materials in this collection document Nesbitt's work from 1951 through 1984.
Series 2, Records of the Public Relations Office, 1955-1963
Includes press releases and clippings describing some Nesbitt's products, his theories on consumer motivation, and the results of his surveys, as well as correspondence with members of the press.
Series 3, Correspondence, dates
Contains general office communications
Series 4, Photographic Materials, 1951-1981
Consists of color slides, color and black and white transparencies, and black and white photographs of most of Nesbitt's designs for packaging from 1951-1981.
Series 5, Samples, undated
Includes three samples of fitted presentation boxes designed by Nesbitt, as well as a prototype for a design award for Parsons School of Design in New York, and two "Multiplication" cubes commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Oversized materials include books jackets and booklets designed by
Nesbitt, as well as some renderings for packaging designs done in color.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into five series:
Series 1, Background and Biographical Information, 1951-1984
Series 2, Records of the Public Relations Office, 1955-1963
Series 3, Correspondence, dates
Series 4, Photographic Materials, 1951-1981
Series 5, Samples, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Saul Nesbitt was a packaging, industrial, and graphic designer born in New York City on August 10, 1920. He was a student of sculptor Chaim Gross and studied art at many New York institutions including: Art Students League; New York University (NYU); Columbia University; Pratt Institute of Art; and the New School.
Nesbitt served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1945 where he worked as a cartographer and as the head of the visual aid section in a military intelligence training center. In 1945, he joined the staff of Harper's Bazaar magazine where he was an illustrator assisting art director Alexey Brodovich. In 1946, Nesbitt was hired by the industrial design studio of Raymond Loewy as a handletterer and packaging designer.
Saul Nesbitt worked with Lippincott Industrial Design from 1948 to 1951. He opened his own design studio, Nesbitt Associates, Ltd. in 1951. The firm specialized in package design, trademarks, and corporate identities. Some of his most recognizable designs were for the label for Campbell's Soup and the Florists' Telegraph Delivery (F.T.D.) Winged Mercury 'Interflora' figure, still used today. Nesbitt's other clients included: Franco American; Revlon; Ballantine Beer; Borden; Champion spark plugs; Kodak; Phillip Morris cigarettes; Schick razors; and Archway cookies. In addition, Nesbitt developed the "Karry Kit" for Ballantine Beer which came to be widely used and known as the six pack.
Nesbitt was known for his revealing studies and surveys of the buying needs and preferences of the "average American housewife" and consumers in general. His opinions on what he referred to as "underpackaging" were widely publicized in professional magazines and journals. In 1984, Nesbitt retired from the design field and went to California to resume his career as a sculptor until his death in 1993 at the age of seventy-three.
Related Materials:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Albert W. Hampson Commercial Artwork Collection, NMAH.AC.0561
Borden Company 1939 New York World's Fair Collection, NMAH.AC.1063
Smithsonian Institution
Archives of American Art
Esta Nesbitt Papers, circa 1942-1981
Smithsonian Institution Archives
Archives Collection Management Records, 1989-2006
Provenance:
Collection donated by the designer's wife, Mrs. Saul Nesbitt, in 1994.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution Search this
Credit Line:
The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; a joint gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Paul Singer, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the Children of Arthur M. Sackler
