‘Forgotten superheroes of design’- Janet Froelich
Janet Froelich for ‘Hall of Femmes’ (2013)
What makes someone important enough to be remembered, for their name to be ingrained into history? People are remembered by family and friends but after they are gone they fade like the billions before them. So my question is how do some designers manage to make the pages of history books, have their artwork pasted all over the internet? What makes some people design heroes when others of equal calibre are destined only to fade?
When thinking of a forgotten hero naturally I started to think about the famous designers that I’ve come across since being interested in design. What I quickly realised was none of these people were women. In all other aspects of my life I’ve looked up to women, whether it be in sports or entertainment but somehow this hasn’t applied to design.
Women have consistently comprised over 50 per cent of graphic design graduates since the 1970s[1], however, women are not the ones filling our design history books, despite the trend of women’s significant interest in graphic design[2]. My forgotten design hero- naturally given my new found realization is a woman. Janet Froelich is someone I’ll admit I should have heard of. As summed up by Steven Heller “In short, she’s the art director’s art director- and that is visible to anyone with eyes to see”[3]. She is also a force in the design world and the only women to make many ‘design hero’ lists.[4] Despite her incredible achievements she isn’t someone who is gracing everyone’s Pinterest boards.4
Froelich has done remarkable work especially in publication. She worked at ‘New York Times’ for twenty-two years as an art director and a creative director. She was also involved in many of its off shoots including ‘T Style’. [5] The New York Times magazines have won countless prizes under her leadership. Her style is visually strong and extremely catchy, but always intelligent and elegant. After her years at ‘The Times’ she worked for ‘Real Simple’ a lifestyle publication for working women.[6] Froelich has won more than 60 gold and silver awards for her bold art direction and she was inducted into the Art Directors Hall of Fame in 2006. [7]
Collection of spreads and covers spanning over Froelich’s 22 years at the ‘Times’. Via Pinterest (accessed 11/04/2018).
Above are some examples of her design work for ‘New York Times’. They illustrate her beautiful, clean aesthetic and just how successful and consistent her work in publication has been.
As shown in the picture below Froelich was part of the design team that created the 9/11 cover for the Times Magazine, which showed beams of light rising from Ground Zero where the towers once stood.[8] This piece of work was super powerful and uplifting in a time where America as a nation was drowning in grief. Froelich’s clever eye for design and her ability to approach design in such a tasteful and almost understated way allowed her to be part of such an iconic piece of design. Her work on this project also highlighted just how powerful design can be. People often look at design, especially in Froelich’s field as quite cold and lacking of creativity, however, she has proved in her work the power that elegant and sleek design can have.
‘New York Times’ cover (2001) via Pinterest (accessed 11/04/2018)
I would think that such amazing achievements would make someone like Froelich a design hero of our time, I hope this to be true. I have confidence that by choosing Janet Froelich I’ve made just a few more people aware of her talent and also highlighted the under representation of women in a field that we can no longer call a male dominated one. The challenge of being remembered and not forgotten is something that people will battle with for a long time, all I can hope is the women are no longer a sub heading in design but rather the title.
[1] Jane Connory, “Plotting the Historical Pipeline of Women in Graphic Design” (2017)
[2] Jane Connory, “Plotting the Historical Pipeline of Women in Graphic Design” (2017)
[3] “Janet Froelich @ Hall of Femmes”. Print Magazine. 2013-10-03
[4] http://fnewsmagazine.com/2009/11/design-heroes/
[5] “Janet Froelich @ Hall of Femmes”. Print Magazine. 2013-10-03.
[6] “Janet Froelich @ Hall of Femmes”. Print Magazine. 2013-10-03.
[7] http://fnewsmagazine.com/2009/11/design-heroes/
[8] “Annual “Tribute in Light” installation returns to NYC tonight – reVerb”. reVerb. 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
Discussions in Design 