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CIPE PINELES
June 23, 1908 - January 3, 1991
Cipe Pineles: Welcome
Cipe Pineles had a hard time landing her first design job in the 1940s because prospective employers were interested in her portfolio—until they learned that she was a woman. Eventually, she became art director at Glamour in 1942, the first female to hold that position at a major American magazine.
Pineles later obtained the position of art director at Seventeen magazine. Most competitor magazines at the time depicted young women as husband hunters; however, Seventeen considered its readers to be smart and serious. By commissioning well-known fine artists such as Ad Reinhardt and Andy Warhol to illustrate articles, Pineles rejected the idealized style typical of magazine illustrations at the time, and gave exposure to modern art.
Cipe Pineles: Text
Cover of Seventeen, April 1948 issue, photographed by Francesco Scavullo
Cipe Pineles: Image
In 1950, Cipe Pineles became art director at Charm, a magazine targeting a new demographic: working women. As art director, she designed fashion spreads that showed the clothes in use throughout day to day life at work, commuting, and while running errands. “We tried to make the prosaic attractive without using the tired clichés of false glamour,” said Pineles. “You might say we tried to convey the attractiveness of reality, as opposed to the glitter of a never-never land.” Her work helped to redefine the style and design of women’s magazines, while also advocating for the changing of women’s roles in society.
Cipe Pineles was certainly a pioneer of women in graphic design in the sense that she was not afraid to take on roles that had previously only been obtained by men. It is notable that in addition to the prestigious positions mentioned above, she was also the first female member of the Art Directors Club, and the first female elected to its Hall of Fame.
To learn more about Cipe, read Martha Scotford's Cipe Pineles, a Life of Design
https://wwnorton.com/books/Cipe-Pineles/
Cipe Pineles: Text
CIPE'S WORK GALLERY
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(top) Cover of Vogue, April 1939 issue. (bottom) Alternative Vogue cover design (not used).
Editorial spread, Seventeen, April 1950 issue, pp. 104-105, illustrated by Dong Kingman
Cover of Seventeen, July 1948 issue, photographed by Ben Somoroff. Charm covers, May 1953 and Januar
Cover and inside cover spread, Parsons/New School catalogue, 1971-1972.
Editorial spread from Charm, January 1954 issue, pages 128-129, photographed by William Helburn
Cover of Lincoln Center journal, 1968
Cipe Pineles: Gallery
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