United States Environmental Protection Agency Graphic Standards System

About this book

In 1970 President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to confront environmental pollution and protect the health of the American people. One of the EPAs top priorities was consolidating numerous state offices to more efficiently carry out its goal of working for a cleaner healthier environment for the American people. But there was one area in which the EPAlike many government agencies of the timewas terribly inefficient: their graphic design and communications department. Millions of dollars were being wasted annually due to nonstandardized formats inefficient processes and almost everything being designed from scratch. In 1977 the EPA began working with the legendary New York design firm Chermayeff & Geismar (now Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv or CGH) responsible for some of the most recognizable visual identities in the world such as Chase Bank PBS National Geographic the Smithsonian Institution Mobil Oil and NBC. Partners Ivan Chermayeff Tom Geismar and Steff Geissbuhler set about tackling this problem. The result was the 1977 US Environmental Protection Agency Graphic Standards System. Forty years later Jesse Reed & Hamish Smythcreators of the NYCTA and NASA Graphics Standards Manual reissueshave partnered with CGH and AIGA the USs oldest and largest professional organization for design to publish this classic graphic standards EPA manual as a hardcover volume. Each page is reproduced at the same size as the original three-ring binder pages using the same vibrant Pantone inks with a total of 14 colors.