The School of Visual Arts Subway Poster program is one of the most time-honored commissions for New York City artists. For close to 60 years, the school has bought ad space in the most hostile surroundings possible—subway platforms throughout the city, traveled by millions of people each day. But the concept is brilliant: Find future students in places where they can be saturated with the SVA message on a daily basis. And for students who realize that the art and design have been done by SVA faculty, the sell is even sweeter.

Viktor Koen created this spring’s edition, and developed a multi-level visual statement in which the message is the message: The ABC’s of SVA—Art | Business | Culture. Known for his illustrated initials, Viktor was a natural for the assignment, which relies on delivering a complex message through the medium of the product, in the most condensed, quickly digested way possible.

He says, “Here, letters are fused out of art making utensils (I photographed everything I had from the old days, including the contents of boxes that haven’t been opened for decades,) but also secret photo shoots in art stores and tools that SVA students at the MFA illustration program were kind enough to part with. These objects formed a simple line that drove a complicated message: Change your life by making art part of your vocabulary, one letter at a time."  See for yourself:

SVA’s Subway Poster Program (recent examples) serves as a model for professional practice, which is elemental at the school. In this instance, the credits are: 
Creative Director: Anthony P. Rhodes
Director of Design & Digital Media: Michael J. Walsh
Art Direction: Steven Heller
Design & Illustration: Viktor Koen
Publisher: Visual Arts Press, Ltd.
Printer: Seaward Corporation

Viktor Koen is on the faculty of SVA’s MFA Illustration as Visual Essay and BFA Graphic Design. His busy studio, where he works with clients including Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, Penguin, Random House, is a stone’s throw from the school. His exhibition of morphed typography is on view through August at the Type Directors Club. Photo above: Viktor Koen.

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