Maxim Shamir

Brothers Gabriel and Maxim Shamir (born Scheftelowitsch) were Latvian-born graphic designers who created a number of Israel’s official state emblems, medals, stamps, and banknotes. Both attended the Charlottenburg School of Arts in Berlin before opening their own design studio in Riga. Two years later, in 1935, they immigrated to Tel Aviv, where they established a graphics studio and helped found the Graphic Designers Association of Israel. In 1949, the Shamir brothers designed the emblem for the State of Israel, and in 1958 they won a competition to design a series of banknotes for the Bank of Israel. The two continued to work together until 1974.