The Art Directors Club of New York (sometimes referred to as the
ADC) was founded in 1920 by Louis Pedlar and
Earnest Elmo Calkins. With Fred Lamb, Calkins had organized the first advertising art exhibits in New York City in 1908, and saw a need for an organization that would “dignify the field of business art in the eyes of artists”, emphasizing his belief that “artistic excellence is vitally necessary to successful advertising”. By 1947, the Club's work was being credited with a gradual increase in advertising art standards throughout the United States. In 1921, the club hosted their first juried exhibition with original work from over 250 contributors. The exhibition organized by Calkins and opened with an inaugural dinner on March 2, 1921. The awards that evening went to: Fred R. Cruger for black and white illustration; W.E. Hoitland for painting; and Rene Clark for poster design. The Art Directors Club was restrictive in its membership during its early years. Women were not admitted until 1942.
George Olden, an art director with the
Columbia Broadcasting Company, was the first African-American member, having been elected to the Club in 1952. The Art Directors' Club includes art directors working in film and
New media. The Club inspired many similar initiatives around the world, such as
Design and Art Direction (London, 1964),
Le Club des D.A. (Paris, 1967) and the
Art Directors Club of Europe (Barcelona, 1990).
Logo The first logo was an interpretation of
Albrecht Dürer’s signature. In 2009, ADC rebranded with the help of Trollbäck + Company. The new logo moved away from a monogram and introducing a word mark in bold hues. In 2014, they updated their logo with a monogram created by
Sid Lee that references historical ADC monograms. ==Awards==