“Polish was the keynote of a jazz concert by the Stan Getz Quartet and Count Basie’s orchestra,” a New York Times reviewer wrote on November 28, 1963, noticing that Getz imbued even the gentlest phrases with “a sinew and mettle that keep them alive and vigorous.” Seymour Chwast’s innovative poster, echoing the vitality and assurance of the renowned jazz musicians, advertised the concert with cartoonish figures, green skin tones, and a blue horn.

Chwast, along with Milton Glaser and other graphic artists, founded Push Pin Studios in 1954. Despite different styles, they all sought an integration of illustration, design, and typography, and were attracted, as Glaser noted, to things “orthodox modernism” despised, including ornamentation and hand-drawn pictures. Going against the grain of photographic magazine illustration and minimalist abbreviation in corporate advertising, Push Pin Studios introduced a fresh and influential approach to poster art and graphic design.