Robert Brownjohn

While best known for his title sequences for the James Bond films From Russia with Love and Goldfinger, Robert Brownjohn had a short but influential career, which integrated design, advertising, film, photography, and music. A major figure in the New York advertising and design scene of the late 1950s, he later moved to London, where he was at the epicenter of the burgeoning music, art, and fashion scene of London’s “swinging ’60s.”
Born in New Jersey to British parents, Brownjohn later moved to Chicago, where during the mid-1940s he studied under former Bauhaus teacher Laszlo Moholy-Nagy at the Chicago Institute of Design. He quickly caught the attention of his teachers, who later brought him on as an instructor at the school. After moving to New York in 1951, he spent five years as a freelance designer for clients including George Nelson and Bob Cato. In 1956, he formed a partnership with Ivan Chermayeff, a designer and son of the modernist architect Serge Chermayeff (with designer Tom Geismar joining a year later). Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar quickly grew into one of the most innovative design and advertising firms in New York. Brownjohn’s many personal problems, caused primarily by the heroin addiction that later claimed his life, ultimately soured his New York relationships, precipitating his move to London in 1960.
In London, Brownjohn rapidly established himself as a designer of note. While working for the firm McCann Erickson, he designed the opening credits for the second James Bond film, From Russia with Love, his first foray into film. The following year he directed the film titles for Goldfinger. For both title sequences, he employed a surprising and attention-grabbing approach in which the credit texts and scenes from the films were projected onto scantily clad women, initiating the long-running Bond film tradition of elaborate title sequences featuring seductive women. Brownjohn’s treatment of type as dynamic, abstract forms in the title sequences illustrated both his mastery of graphic design and the enduring influence of Moholy-Nagy’s use of type and photography. His combination of sexually suggestive images and wry humor was a fitting accompaniment to the James Bond mythos. The broad acclaim he received for the Bond film titles led to more film and commercial work for clients ranging from Pirelli to Midland Bank to the Rolling Stones. Though he continued to produce original and challenging work, in the latter half of the 1960s, his life became increasingly unstable. He was moving from one partnership to another until he died in 1970, at the untimely age of 44.
Introduction by Paul Galloway, Collection Specialist, Department of Architecture and Design, 2016
Exhibitions
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From the Collection:
1960–1969 Mar 26, 2016–Mar 19, 2017
MoMA
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Making Music Modern: Design for Ear and Eye
Nov 15, 2014–Jan 18, 2016
MoMA
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Designing Modern Women 1890–1990
Oct 5, 2013–Oct 19, 2014
MoMA
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Hand Signals: Digits, Fists, and Talons
Apr 5–Sep 8, 2013
MoMA
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Goldfinger: The Design of an Iconic Film Title
Oct 5, 2012–Mar 18, 2013
MoMA
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Robert Brownjohn has
6 exhibitionsonline.
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Artist's proof for the cover of "The Age of Reform" by Richard Hofstadter c.1955
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Robert Brownjohn Artist's proof for the cover of "A Guide to the Religions of America," Leo Rosten, ed. c.1955
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Artist's Proof for the cover of Pepsi-Cola World, November, 1957 1957
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Cover of Pepsi-Cola World, January, 1958 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Artist's Proof for the cover of Pepsi-Cola World, February, 1958 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Cover of Pepsi-Cola World, June, 1958 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Artist's Proof for the cover of Pepsi-Cola World, July, 1958 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Artist's Proof for the cover of Pepsi-Cola World, Summer 1958 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Artist's Proof for the cover of Pepsi-Cola World, October, 1958 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the model) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the model) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the model) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the model) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the model) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the model) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the model) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the model) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the model) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the model) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the model) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the model) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismar Brussels World Fair (View of the fair) 1958
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Robert Brownjohn André Surmain Associates 1950s
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Robert Brownjohn Brownjohn (Personal letterhead for Robert Brownjohn) 1950s
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Robert Brownjohn Buckner Fanning Evangelistic Foundation 1950s
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Robert Brownjohn Capital City Press, Montpelier, Vermont 1950s
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Robert Brownjohn Colorcraft Lithographers Incorporated 1950s
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Robert Brownjohn el Farmacéutico 1950s
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Robert Brownjohn Epicure Kitchens 1950s
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