Primary Structures, cover

Elaine Lustig Cohen was an artist and graphic designer, known for combining European modernism and innovative typography. Lustig Cohen studied painting and art education, working as a teacher for a short period before taking over her late husband’s graphic design studio in 1955. Her passion for modern art and Bauhaus principles guided her aesthetic as she designed signs for New York’s Seagram building, catalogs and exhibition installations for the Jewish Museum, and more than one hundred book jackets for Meridian Books. A prolific artist, Lustig Cohen continued her practice beyond graphic design, working in paint and collage toward the end of her career. In 2011, she was awarded the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Medal for her contributions to American design.