Doyald Young on his five mentors
I've had more than one mentor, five to be exact: Joe Gibbey,
Mort Leach, Hermann Zapf, Mary Sheridan, and Henry Dreyfuss, who
came into my life in that order. Joe Gibbey first taught me
commercial art in 1948 at Frank Wiggins Trade School in Los
Angeles. Its now called Los Angeles Trade Technical Jr. College. It
was an evening course and where I was introduced to the magic of
letterforms. Gibbey made me use a brush to ink my letters, but
first I had to develop the letters on a single piece of paper and
through a process of erasing and redrawing I learned about form,
spacing, proportion, and weights; Gibbey first taught me how to
see.
Mort Leach was a transplanted New York lettering man who taught
enormous classes in the 1950s at Art Center at night; sometimes as
many as 40 students showed up. Mort was far more rigorous in his
expectations and finely tuned my perceptions. He introduced me to
Hermann Zapf's work, Optima, Palatino and the grandest of all
titling faces, Michelangelo. I was mesmerized by Mort's ability and
I desperately tried to please him. He was funny too. After four
semesters he asked me to be his assistant. I taught lettering,
introduction to typography and logo design at Art Center for 27
years.
I didn't meet Hermann Zapf until almost 40 years after I was
introduced to his work—we are friends now. Zapf stands first
amongst the towering figures in the 450–year history of font
design. Generously, he wrote a brief introduction to my Fonts &
Logos book, perhaps the greatest compliment I've received. While I
am not a broadpen calligrapher (I draw letters instead of writing
them), at school I copied his calligraphy, surely the most glorious
work of all writing masters, studied his fonts and researched his
life and work.
One of Art Center's towering figures, tiny Mary Sheridan, was
chair of Packaging. The students adored her. She was tough as nails
and demanded mountains of homework and instilled in them a strong
understanding of three–dimensional design, color sense, subtlety,
and sternly demanded impeccable craftsmanship. I didn't take her
classes, I later freelanced for her studio for almost 25 years.
When she became the partner and West Coast director of Frank
Gianninoto's design firm, she had to relinquish her clients and in
turn introduced me to Henry Dreyfuss, one of the great founders of
American industrial design.
So began a 17–year business relationship that was in itself an
education in taste, psychology, practicality, formality, design,
client relations, presentations, and understated prestige that
molded my design esthetic. It was Dreyfuss, when named a trustee of
California Institute of Technology, who recommended my talents to
the University, that again became a 20–year consulting
relationship.
Above all, it has been the kindnesses of these mentors, geniuses
really, who, sensing my desire to work hard to burnish my craft,
that are responsible for my beliefs and accomplishments.
Doyald Young
Doyald Young, Graphic Design
Sherman Oaks, California