Ivan Chermayeff Quotes

It is difficult to separate oneself from one's design moralities.

I stayed true to what I thought was good design no matter who it was for.

Don't ally your personal interests with the development of the company.

Good design should be honest.

I've really fired a lot of managers that had that mindset or publicists that had that mindset of, 'Oh, you need to go on a date with this person because it's going to help album sales.' No thank you. That's not my flow.

It became very important for me to stand up and design with a conscience for environment, you know? Just because you like clothes doesn't mean that you have to throw your principles out the window.

An honest design communicates solely the functions and values it offers. It does not attempt to manipulate buyers and users with promises it cannot keep.

In my career as an actress, I have never got involved with anybody from the world of films. I have always kept my professional and personal life separate, as that's my policy.

Of course art world ethics are important. But museums are no purer than any other institution or business. Academics aren't necessarily more high-minded than gallerists.

Under no circumstances would it be right for me to go with MGM. Irene shares my opinion.

I don't mind being cast as some kind of a pantomime baddie, but I am very fair in business. I always have been. I pride myself on being fair.

In this business, it's easy for either your heart or your head to be swayed, and I try to always stay true to who I am.

Whoever pays the consultant gets pretty much what they want to hear.

I think any man in business would be foolish to fool around with his secretary. If it's somebody else's secretary, fine.

That's something I learned in art school. I studied graphic design in Germany, and my professor emphasized the responsibility that designers and illustrators have towards the people they create things for.

Is there anyone I wouldn't take as a client? Well, I'd never represent a banker.

I've fixed hard problems of all kinds, civil rights and business problems. It's the stuff I like to do, and I'm good at it, as a matter of fact... and I never left my conscience at the door.

I'm not sure I can say there is a clean line between me as an individual and me as a lawyer.

My brother is an agent, so he is in the business. Is he my agent? No, no, no. That would never work.

In terms of design, it's true the world has an influence. But, as a designer, you have to protect yourself. You have to look at the world and then forget it.

Design certainly has a cosmetic, aesthetic aim. It always aims at making things beautiful. But relevance is just as important. I often say, 'If it isn't ethical, it can't be beautiful. But if it isn't beautiful, it probably shouldn't be at all.'

I could not permit my silence and my inaction to be construed as condonation.... With my tongue tied by the confidentiality demanded of me by law, there was only one way I could make a statement that something was wrong. I chose it. I resigned.

I'm very good at separating things, and one of the things that I've always separated is that my business from one artist to the next has nothing to do with each other.

I am a businessman, not a politician, but I am also a proud American who would never do anything against my country's national interest.

I don't do nudes. I don't do semi-nudes. I don't do cigarette shots. It took me a long time in the business to realize I didn't have to do everything people told me I should if I wanted a career.