CARLI Digital Collections Featured Image: Coldspot Soda Fount

The city of Chicago and the history of graphic design share a long, vital association that stems back to the city's role as the geographical and railway center of the industrial part of the country. From its roots as a center for the production and distribution of printed materials, Chicago's importance in the world of graphic design grew. Among the prominent designers was Charles Harrison.

Born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1931, Harrison graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in 1954, and completed his Masters Degree in 1963 at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). At Sears, Roebuck and Co., where he worked for over 30 years, he designed many household objects, like garbage cans, scissors, and hairdryers. Harrison also served as adjunct faculty at several institutions, including the University of Illinois at Chicago and Columbia College Chicago. In 2006, he published an autobiography called A Life's Design.

The images in the “Design Collection” reflect Chicago's place in graphic design history. The collection contains sketches, technical drawings, photographs, and more, including this design drawing of a “Coldspot Soda Fount” by Charles Harrison dated February 2, 1951.

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