Lou Dorfsman

Louis Dorfsman (April 24, 1918 – October 22, 2008) was an American graphic designer who oversaw almost every aspect of the advertising and corporate identity for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in his 40 years with the network between 1946–1987.

Early life and education Dorfsman was born in 1918 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and moved to the Bronx as a child. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland. Dorfsman attended Theodore Roosevelt High School, graduating in 1935. Dorfsman had wanted to attend New York University and study bacteriology there, but was unable to afford the tuition. He chose to attend Cooper Union, where he received a four-year scholarship and graduated in 1939.

Career Early career After graduation, his design jobs included making displays for the 1939 New York World's Fair. The mural was displayed in the building until early 1990s. In 2014, it went through restoration and was moved to a building on the Hyde Park campus of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.

Later life and death Dorfman retired from CBS in November 1987 to establish his own studio. The responsibilities for advertising, which had previously been handled in-house under Dorfsman's supervision, were transferred to Backer, Spielvogel, Bates.

Dorfsman died at age 90 on October 22, 2008, in Roslyn, New York of congestive heart failure. He was awarded the TDC Medal by the Type Directors Club in 1995.

The 1988 book Dorfsman & CBS by Dick Hess and Marion Muller covered his more than 40 years with the network.