Illustrator Jerome Martin
Steven Heller Collection: All the King’s Men cover by Jerome Martin (Time Reading Program), 1963.
Steven Heller recently gave us 82 books from the Time Reading Program; check out his recent article in Design Observer about their wonderfully eclectic covers.
While going through the books myself, I was particularly taken with the three covers done by an illustrator I’d never heard of, Jerome Martin. I did a little bit of research on him and learned that he was an instructor at SVA in the 1960s and was also active in magazine illustration around that time. Here are some drawings he did for Fortune in 1961.
As for the Time Reading Program, Martin illustrated covers for Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, Marcus Goodrich’s Delilah, and Charles Jackson’s The Lost Weekend. They all share a similar sensibility — strong, flat lines and a corresponding perspective on their human subject.
Steven Heller Collection: Delilah cover by Jerome Martin (Time Reading Program), 1965.
Steven Heller Collection: The Lost Weekend cover by Jerome Martin (Time Reading Program), 1963.
Comments
23 Jul
I attended Jerome Martin’s 2D Design classes in 1961-62. He was smart, “cool,” dynamic and inspirational – made you want to do better. Always considered him the best teacher I had at SVA. If he (or his son) is still around: Thanks.
09 Aug
I took his class at SVA in 1987. I believe he had been teaching there for years, if not decades. I’m not sure when he stopped teaching. (I assume he is no longer there.) As Frank says above, I too considered him THE best teacher at SVA. He was very methodical in the way he taught and it seemed like he tweaked and improved his methods every year as he learned more from his students. Because his methods were quite systematic, I think they can easily be replicated by other instructors. One could even start a whole school around his methods. If he did stop teaching, it’s a shame that nobody captured and documented his methods for others to carry on. 23 years after taking his class, I still frequently refer back to his teachings, techniques, terminologies, and ways of critiquing work. Someone needs to publish a book about his teaching methods.
09 Aug
It’s great to hear from former students of Martin’s. I love his work but knew nothing of him as a teacher. You’ve inspired me to ask around SVA’s illustration department.