Margaret Iannelli, graphic designer

Margaret Iannelli (1893-1967), graphic designer and illustrator
Store poster for Bauer & Black Baby Talc, 1922
3-color, perhaps printed 2-color

This piece and the one below are part of the exhibition Modernism’s Messengers: The Art of Alfonso and Margaret Iannelli, on view in the Chicago Rooms at the Chicago Cultural Center until August 17. 

The exhibition tag for the piece above states, “Iannelli Studios developed an entire marketing campaign for Bauer & Black’s line of baby products based on Margaret Iannelli’s playful theme of toy animals.”

Japanese printmaking and European modernists influenced many young artists in the United States in the early twentieth century, including Margaret. In this poster the typography is hand-lettered and, along with the animal illustrations, was drawn with India ink to produce the color separations. The typographic lettering supplements the illustrated animal imagery perfectly.

The color complimentaries of orange and blue enhance each other well and give the poster a young and vibrant appearance. The gold/brown color suggests a mixture in specific percentages of the blue and orange.


Margaret Iannelli, graphic designer, hand-lettering, and illustrator
Proposed graphics for Character Magazine, 1934–35 (unpublished)
India ink and opaque white on illustration board