Obit of the Day: Designer of the Ghostbusters LogoMichael C. Gross is responsible for two iconic ima
Obit of the Day: Designer of the Ghostbusters LogoMichael C. Gross is responsible for two iconic images of the 20th century. Most famously, he designed the Ghostbusters logo, based on a concept by Dan Ackroyd. But in 1973 he also shocked the world with his National Lampoon cover featuring an apparently frightened dog with a gun to its head.The cover, which was originally supposed to a subscription ad, was voted as one of the 40 best magazine covers of all time by the American Society of Magazine Editors.A graduate of the Pratt Institute, Mr. Gross did design work for several magazines including Esquire, he also created posters for the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, and worked for a time as John Lennon’s personal designer.In the early 80s, his interests turned to Hollywood and he became a producer. His first movie was the 1981 animated film Heavy Metal, which combined music and adult-themed animation. His next film was Ghostbusters (1984) which brought about the classic logo which the Pratt Institute voted the most admired icon created by its alumni or faculty - beating out the Chrysler Building.Mr. Gross produced fourteen films and television shows most famously Twins (1988), Kindergarten Cop (1990), The Real Ghostbusters* (1986-1991), Beethoven (1992), and Dave (1993). He also received an Emmy nomination for Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas (1992). But not everything he touched turned to gold since he was also partially responsible for the Sylvester Stallone/Estelle Getty flop Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot! (1992).Mr. Gross, a cancer survivor, suffered a recurrence in 2014 but this time the diagnosis was terminal. Deciding against any life-prolonging treatments, instead his therapy included the creation of an art exhibition titled “Flip Cancer” which featured dozens of images of the middle finger as designed by him and his colleagues. Michael Gross died on November 16, 2015 at the age of 70.Sources: CBSNews.com, www.michaelcgross.com, and IMDB.comImages are copyright of Columbia Pictures and National Lampoon, respectively, and courtest of Wikipedia.orgOther designers featured on Obit of the Day:John Berg - Grammy Award-winning album cover designerJoseph Selame - Designed logos for CVS, Goodwill, and Stop & Shop with his wife ElinorMassimo Vignelli - Designer of the New York City subway mapand co-star of Ghostbusters Harold Ramis -- source link
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