Opened in 1985, The Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography was created in order to preserve an unprecedented resource, Herb Lubalin’s vast collection of work. Its goal was to provide the design community with a means to honor Lubalin, and to study his innovative work.
Herb Lubalin (1918–1981) is best known for his wildly illustrative typography and his groundbreaking work for the magazines Avant Garde, Eros, and Fact. The Study Center's core collection includes an extensive archive of his work, including promotional, editorial and advertising design, typeface designs, posters, logos, and other other materials dating from 1950 to 1980.
The collection also includes work by other eminent designers including Otl Aicher, Rudi Baur, Anthon Beeke, Lucian Bernhard, Lester Beall, Will Burtin, Lou Dorfsman, Karl Gerstner, Tibor Kalman, Alvin Lustig, The Push Pin Studios, Paul Rand, Bradbury Thompson, Massimo Vignelli, and many more. There is also a library of books and magazines about design and typography, an extensive collection of posters, myriad type specimen books and pamphlets.
The Study Center is located at The Cooper Union 41 Cooper Square, Room LL119, New York. The Lubalin Center is free and open to the public by appointment.