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30 Graphic Designers That Every Creative Should Know

  • karanjeets358
  • Aug 14
  • 5 min read
Creative Designers
Discover the visionaries shaping graphic design—from iconic logotypes to revolutionary typography and immersive public art. Whether you're into branding, digital interfaces, or expressive illustration, these legends offer inspiration that transcends trends.

1. Georg Olden – The TV Graphics Trailblazer

Georg Olden
(Image credit: Getty Images)

He revolutionized television visuals at CBS in the 1950s (think I Love Lucy), and became the first African American to design a US postage stamp in 1963. A true pioneer in creative identity and representation.


2. Paula Scher – The Queen of Typography

Paula Scher
Paula Scher has been a design educator since 1992, teaching at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York (Image credit: Paula Scher)

Pentagram partner whose bold typographic style brands cultural icons—from MoMA to Microsoft. Her typographic maps and visual language blend narrative with clarity.


3. Chip Kidd – The Book Cover Rockstar

Chip Kidd
Chip Kidd is best known for his stunning book jackets

A master of literary visuals—from Jurassic Park to more—Chip Kidd elevates book covers into immersive art with a perfect blend of type and illustration.


4. Rob Janoff – The Man Behind the Apple Bite

Rob Janoff
Rob Janoff designed the Apple logo

His 1977 Apple logo design—a bitten apple—became a minimalist masterpiece, embodying knowledge, simplicity, and enduring tech brand identity.


5. Susan Kare – The Pixel Icon

Susan Kare
Susan Kare was the designer responsible for the original icons and interface elements on macOS

Creator of the original Macintosh icons—the Happy Mac, Command key icon, and more—Susan Kare humanized early computer interfaces with friendly, intuitive visuals.


6. Aries Moross – The Energetic Letterer

Aries Moross
Aries Moross has worked with everyone from TFL to One Direction

London-based creative director known for fluid, hand-crafted typography applied to branding, albums, and even live visuals for iconic artists like One Direction.


7. Saul Bass – The Film Title Genius

Saul Bass
Saul Bass' film title sequences have won him worldwide recognition (Image credit: United Artists/Kobal/Shutterstock)

A legend of cinematic design—famous for Hitchcock title sequences, logos like AT&T, and a deep understanding of storytelling through motion and form.


8. Jessica Walsh – The Emotional Typographer

Jessica Walsh
In 2024, Jessica Walsh launched the type foundry Type of Feeling (Image credit: Jessica Walsh)

Co-founder of &Walsh, creator of the Type of Feeling foundry, and founder of Ladies, Wine and Design, she wields typography to evoke emotion and empower women in design.


9. Michael Bierut – The Brand Visionary

Michael Bierut
Designer and educator Michael Bierut has been a Pentagram partner for 27 years (Image credit:  Michael Bierut)

Longtime Pentagram partner with identity projects for Hillary Clinton, Disney, and the New York Jets—plus a celebrated educator and author, always shaping visual culture.


10. Carolyn Davidson – The Creator of the Nike Swoosh

Carolyn Davidson
Carolyn Davidson designed that swoosh (Image credit: Carolyn Davidson )

As a student, she designed the Nike swoosh for just $35—a design so iconic that it fueled an entire brand. Later, she received Nike stock as its value soared.


11. Jonathan Barnbrook – The Activist Typographer

Jonathan Barnbrook
Jonathan Barnbrook has been a huge name in typography (Image credit: Marc Eckardt for FontShop, Berlin)

Bold, controversial fonts like Exocet and Tourette—devoted to pushing typographic norms and closely linked with artists like David Bowie.


12. Gail Anderson – The Lettering Maestro

Gail Anderson
(Image credit: APSU)

Bold, award-winning designs—from Rolling Stone covers to Broadway posters—and now an influential educator at SVA.


13. George Lois – The Magazine Rebel

George Lois
In terms of magazine design, George Lois was perhaps the original maverick (Image credit: George Lois)

Iconic Esquire covers that went beyond visuals to provoke thought, paired with powerful ad campaigns for MTV and VH1.


14. Morag Myerscough – The Immersive Colorist

Morag Myerscough
Morag Myerscough's designs are always colourful (Image credit: Morag Myerscough)

Transformative public installations and graphic environments that vibrantly reshape hospitals, cultural spaces, and cities.


15. Marian Bantjes – The Ornamented Wordsmith

Marian Bantjes
Marian Bantjes is known for her highly intricate designs (Image credit: Marian Bantjes)

Graphic artistry meets typography in mesmerizing compositions—best seen in her work like Pretty Pictures.


16. Lindon Leader – The Arrow Visionary

Lindon Leader
Lindon Leader is responsible for one of the cleverest logos out there (Image credit: Lindon Leader)

Credited with the understated genius of the FedEx logo, using negative space to craft this globally recognized symbol.


17. Max Miedinger – The Helvetica Creator

Max Miedinger
Max Miedinger created one of the world's most used typefaces, Helvetica (Image credit: Max Miedinger)

The mind behind Neue Haas Grotesk (rebranded as Helvetica)—a serif-less icon that became the typographic headliner of modernism.


18. Paul Rand – The Logo Legend

Paul Rand
Paul Rand was an American art director and graphic designer (Image credit: Paul Rand)

A minimalist whose timeless logos for IBM, NeXT, and others redefined corporate identity and design philosophy.


19. Sindiso Nyoni (R!OT) – The Social Designer

Sindiso Nyoni
Sindiso Nyoni brought street art into his graphic design work (Image credit: Sindiso Nyoni on Facebook)

Melding activism, street art, and graphic design, his works tackle social issues with bold visuals and global exposure.


20. April Greiman – The Digital Pioneer

April Greiman
(Image credit: April Grieman / Apple)

Pushed early digital tools at the forefront of graphic design, with iconic projects like “Does It Make Sense?”, shifting design into the digital era.


21. Alan Fletcher – The Intelligent Ironist

Alan Fletcher
Alan Fletcher was one of the most highly regarded graphic designers of his generation (Image credit: Alan Fletcher)

A co-founder of Pentagram, his V&A logo remains timeless. Fletcher’s subtle wit and clean aesthetics defined visual branding.


22. Rodrigo Corral – The Storytelling Cover Artist

Rodrigo Corral
Rodrigo Corral is one of the most prolific book cover designers around (Image credit: Rodrigo Corral)

From The Fault in Our Stars to Jay-Z’s Decoded, his covers don't just package— they tell stories visually.


23. Milton Glaser – The Cultural Icon

Milton Glaser
Glaser was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama in 2009

Designer of the iconic I ❤ NY logo and beyond—his work infused design with empathy, identity, and cultural resonance.


24. Hermann Zapf – The Typeface Innovator

Hermann Zapf
Hermann Zapf teaching at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1980 (Image credit: RIT Digital Archive / public domain)

Creator of classics like Palatino, Optima, and Zapf Dingbats—spanning from calligraphy to the digital era, his typefaces remain foundational.


25. Ikko Tanaka – The East-West Modernist

Ikko Tanaka
Ikko Tanaka's poster for the 1959 World Commercial Design Exhibition in Tokyo (Image credit: Ikko Tanaka)

Blending Japanese aesthetics with modernism, he shaped visual culture across posters, Olympics graphics, and Muji’s visual identity.


26. Archie Boston – The Bold Commentator

Archie Boston
Archie Boston inspired many with his courageous graphic design (Image credit: Archie Boston)

Challenged social norms with provocative poster designs and became a trailblazer for African Americans in graphic design.


27. Vaughan Oliver – The Music Visualist

Vaughan Oliver
Vaughan Oliver designed covers for Pixies' entire discography (Image credit: 4AD)

His dreamlike album art for 4AD labels like Pixies and Cocteau Twins forged an unforgettable visual language for indie music.


28. Michael C. Place – The Design Futurist

Michael C. Place
Michael C Place's Studio.Build is based in Leeds (Image credit: Michael C Place)

Co-founder of The Designers Republic and Studio.Build, he brought gritty, futuristic visuals into gaming and global branding.


29. Rudy VanderLans & Zuzana Licko – The Digital Design Duo

Rudy VanderLans & Zuzana Licko
Zuzana Licko and Rudy VanderLans designed fonts according to the limitations and idiosyncrasies of bitmap graphics and dot matrix printing (Image credit: Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko)

Founders of Emigre magazine—early adopters of digital typography who redefined how we see font in the digital age.


30. Jane Davis Doggett – The Wayfinding Designer

Jane Davis Doggett
(Image credit: Jane Davis Doggett)

Creator of “Alphabet A”, a typeface system that revolutionized airport signage and streamlined public navigation systems across U.S. airports.



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