Anna Mancera

Commercial Art
3rd Period
Graphic Design Report

Muriel Cooper

Muriel Cooper, born in 1925 in Brookline Massachusetts, America, received education

from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and Ohio State University, getting her BA

(Bachelor of Art) and BFA (Bachelor in Fine Arts) in design and BS form Massachusetts College

of Art.

Muriel was a well rounded person, being an author of the book The Legacy of Raymond

Unwin: a human pattern for planning, an educator, the art

director of MIT Press, and the co-founder of the MIT Media

Lab, and created the MIT logo. She was also awarded AIGA

Medal in 1994, an award for recognition of exceptional

achievements in design. Throughout her time at MIT,

Cooper helped produce over 500 books including the book

Bauhaus published in 1969 by MIT Press, and the first

version of Learning From Las Vegas. Her time in the

spotlight was the time when the world was still dominated by

males. A woman with her success was rare at this time, which

is one of the reasons why Cooper did what she loved.

Interestingly, Cooper, well known as a pioneer of

graphic design did not know how to program computers. She

didnt know how, but could still see how programing could

advance the field of computer design. Cooper and her students

took the opportunity that she saw and moved forward into

production of media, new computing, electronics, and printing technologies.

 Anna Mancera
Commercial Art
3rd Period
Graphic Design Report

Coopers artwork has a Bauhaus influenced style. Bauhaus is a style of art created by

Walter Gropius, which was the idea that all art was to be combined together (architecture, design,

etc.)

Cooper died three weeks after she received her AIGA Award on May 26, 1994 from a

suspected heart attack, dying at the age

of 64 in Boston Massachusetts.

The image on the right is a self

portrait taken with a polaroid camera.

This piece is different from her other

artwork I have seen. Personally I enjoy

this picture much more than the images

above.

When I look at this image, Im

not overwhelmed, and not

underwhelmed. The shades of blue seem to give this piece a feeling of reality. A slight

pessimistic view on reality, which is similar to my own view of the world. I can relate to this

image. I also feel like Cooper is trying to show her advances that she has made in the designing

field, she is trying new things, and enjoying every bit of it.

I dont know what the opaque black strip is in the middle of the picture, but it works. The

stripe is almost saying Im not perfect. Its a flaw that ties the entire piece together with a sense

of humbleness and relativeness. This picture is my favorite piece by Muriel Cooper, granted I

have not seen all, but I can relate to the shades of blue, imperfect stripe, and determined look on

Coopers face.
 Anna Mancera
Commercial Art
3rd Period
Graphic Design Report