Ruth Ansel

In 1961, Ansel started working at Harper's Bazaar in the Art Department, which at the time was under the directorship of Marvin Israel. Under Israel, she developed a critical eye and to create tension on the page. It was in collaboration with Bea Feitler and Richard Avedon that Ruth Ansel produced the now iconic April 1965 cover of Jean Shrimpton with a winking eye and a bright pink "helmet" that was cut and pasted from day-glo paper. In 1974, she left Harper's to become the first female art director of The New York Times Magazine. In 1983, she revamped House & Garden and in the 1984 joined Vanity Fair as art director.

In 1992, Ansel opened her own design studio where she continues to produce groundbreaking content today. In the past she designed the Dark Odyssey by Phillip Jones Griffiths, The Sixties by Richard Avedon, Women and The White Oak Dance Project by Annie Leibovitz. She has also produced ad campaigns for Versace, Club Monaco, and Karl Lagerfeld. Current projects include a book for photographer Jerry Schatzberg and a book on the life and work of jewelry designer Elsa Peretti. In 2009 she was invited to present her work at Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden. A book designed by Hjarta Smarta, highlighting her forty-year career and taking a look at what it was like to be the first woman in these positions.

Awards

The Gold Medal for Design, The Art Directors Clubs, 1970 Design Award for Continuing Excellence in Publication Design by the Society of Publication (Special Tribute) Hall of Fame Award, The Art Directors Club, 2011 AIGA Medalist, 2016