Lois is considered one of the most influential visual communicators of the 21st century whose groundbreaking Esquire magazine covers are now part of the permanent collection of New York’s MoMA.
The appearance by Lois was his first ever at a TED event and the 83 year old did not disappoint, giving a talk that was both moving and inspiring. He speaks about his life’s work and talks energetically about what it takes to be great. “Do it right and you will live forever.”
Here is the biography of Lois from the TEDx Thessaloniki website:
George Lois was born in New York in 1931. He is considered to be among the most influential professionals in the fields of visual communication and advertising of the last 50 years.
He is often called the pioneer behind the Creative Revolution in America’s advertising industry during the 1960s. During his long lasting career, he devised some ground-breaking advertising campaigns which combined high level design with astounding sales numbers. Among others, he has been the designer of campaigns for some of the most prominent media outlets in the USA, such as TIME Magazine, USA Today (which was literally saved from being taken off circulation thanks to the TV campaign devised by Lois), MTV (whose ‘I Want My MTV’ campaign is considered a cornerstone of modern advertising), ESPN (which was transformed overnight from a channel on the verge of collapse to a prototype sports network worldwide thanks to Lois’ ‘In Your Face’ campaign) as well as several multinational firms, such as Xerox and Tommy Hilfiger.
He has also served as creative director of Esquire magazine from 1962 to 1972 and during that mandate he literally changed the course of printed press with his work. Lois was the designer of some of the most popular magazine covers of all time, all for Esquire. Since 2008, 38 of those belong to the permanent collection of New York’s MoMA, following a 12-month exhibition under the title “George Lois: The Esquire Covers @ MoMA”.
Lois was also the mind behind the election campaigns of four US Senators including Robert Kennedy.
Besides his career, Lois has also been an activist for several causes. During the years of the Greek junta, he designed and published political campaigns against the dictators in some of America’s most important dailies. At the same time, he was the frontrunner in the appeal for the liberation of American boxer Rubin Carter, who had received a life sentence on racist grounds. For that cause, he managed to gather support from numerous prominent Americans such as Bob Dylan or Mohammed Ali.
George Lois is the only one till today that has received both top-tier awards of the advertising sector, namely The Art Directors Hall of Fame και The One Club Creative Hall of Fame. He has also received lifetime awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts, CLIO and the Society of Publication Designers.
He is the writer of 10 books some of which are used as main course books in Communication faculties in universities worldwide.
He still lives in New York and, at the age of 83, has not ceased to work, not for a day.
www.georgelois.com