push pin

The late Reynold Ruffins — a graphic designer and a founder of the storied Push Pin Studios — along with his wife, Joan Ruffins, and daughter Lynn Ruffins Cave, were subjects of an exhibition here in 2018.

Such touches include the bookshelves in the current “The Push Pin Legacy” exhibition, full of books that contain covers and/or illustrations by artists who worked for the studio known for the exuberant, kaleidoscopic style that pushed back — so to speak — against the advertising aesthetic of the time.

Founded in 1954, Push Pin was home to many lauded designers, including Seymour Chwast, Reynold Ruffins, Edward Sorel and Milton Glaser, who was perhaps best known for creating the iconic I ♥ NY logo.

Designed by Push Pin artists Paul Davis and James McMullan, they are a group of enormous posters advertising works from the New York theater scene of the late 20th century, when I was growing up in the city.

I found myself surprisingly affected by a group of posters in the Push Pin exhibit.