Celebrating Cruz Novillo’s timeless Spanish graphic design revolution

“Cruz Novillo: Logos” provides a comprehensive guide to an important
facet of Pepe Cruz Novillo’s output, his logo design. The book from Counter-Print celebrates the work of Spain’s prolific graphic designer. Pepe Cruz Novillo, the graphic designer behind identities for Spain’s post office, police force and Socialist Party was born in 1936 and was a cartoonist, artist and sculptor before specialising in corporate identities. He went on to create logos and icons for art galleries, construction companies, schools, festivals, banks, laboratories and the Spanish Socialist Party as well as designing Peseta notes.

 “His work is now so ubiquitous, it has become part of the fabric of visual culture in [Spain],” says Counter-Print. “The influence of his use of geometric shapes, simple, strong line-work and a playful, illustrative aesthetic can be seen in the work of many contemporary designers and has helped in keeping his legacy alive” writes in the book’s introduction, Counter-Print’s Jon Dowling on the timeless aesthetic of Novillo’s work and his lasting influence on graphic design.

“His studio Cruz más Cruz, that he now co-directs with his son Pepe Cruz Jnr … still garners praise and recognition globally…. Simultaneously, a new generation of designers are falling in love with the historical output of Cruz Novillo’s work and are beginning to appreciate its significance and importance to the visual landscape of Spain,” he writes.

The book contains over 300 pages of logo designs. It also includes a Q&A with Novillo.

“I strive to have a powerful semantic idea, I try to draw it in the best possible way … then I review it so that it acquires a pragmatic quality” says Novillo in this inspiring monograph.

Get your own copy here.