While it’s generally accepted that Chicagoans care and know about the city’s treasure trove of architecture, recognition for its leadership in the other design disciplines—environmental, industrial, communications—lags behind.
For Chermayeff & Geismar, the challenge was to create a permanent exhibition that celebrates the history, collections and public programs of one of New York's most important cultural institutions.
The Tiles of the Oceans is a monolithic wall of 54,000 classic blue and white tiles hand made in Portugal. The mural, six stories high and 240-feet-long, weaves through the interior and exterior of the Lisbon Aquarium, inviting people inside to cue up for the main exhibit. The images were first scanned on the computer and then pixilated. They are created from 64 geometric tile designs, each a percentage value of dark to light in 10 degree increments. Thirty different creatures from each of the world's oceans were selected to co-habitate this one space.
A prolific designer, illustrator, and artist, Ivan has created memorable, iconic images for hundreds of clients. He is a founding partner of Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv, a leading graphic design firm in the fields of corporate identity, brand development and logo design.
