Fall 2026 priority deadline for transfer and graduate studies is January 5.

Fall 2026 priority deadline for transfer and graduate studies is January 5.

Program

Our vision

Curriculum →

Mission →

Community

Who we celebrate

Faculty →

Chair →

Staff →

Students →

Work

We strive for

Recent Work →

Ventures →

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Fall 2026 priority deadline for transfer and graduate studies is January 5.

Program

Our vision

Curriculum →

Mission →

Community

Who we celebrate

Faculty →

Chair →

Staff →

Students →

Work

We strive for

Recent Work →

Ventures →

News →

FAQs →

Apply Now →

Search

Steven Heller

Steven Heller

Co-Founder and Co-Chair Emeritus SVA MFA Design, Author, and Art Director

Co-Founder and Co-Chair Emeritus SVA MFA Design, Author, and Art Director

Education

New York University, School of Visual Arts

Professional Experience

Over 200 books on graphic design, illustration and political art, including Iron Fists: Branding the 20th Century Totalitarian State; Paul Rand; Merz to Emigre and Beyond: Avant Garde Magazine Design of the Twentieth Century; Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design; Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age; The Education of a Typographer; Graphic Design History; Graphic

Style: From Victorian to Postmodern; Typology: Type Design from Victorian to Postmodern; The Education of A Graphic Designer; Italian Art Deco: Graphic Design Between the Wars; Faces on the Edge: Type in the Digital Age; The Swastika: A Symbol Beyond Redemption?; French Modern: Art Deco Graphic Design; Euro Deco; Cuba Style; Times Square Style; The Savage Mirror: The Art of Contemporary Caricature; Texts on Type; Graphic Humor: The Art of Graphic Wit; Citizen Designer; Seymour Chwast: The Left Handed Designer; Innovators of American Illustration; Art Against War; The Push Pin Graphic: Twenty Five Years of Design and Illustration; Stylepedia: Mannerisms Quirks and Conceits in Graphic Design; The Education of a Photographer; Anatomy of Design: Uncovering the Influences and Inspiration in Modern Graphic Design; The Design Entrepreneur: Turning Graphic Design Into Goods That Sell; Iron Fists: Branding the Twentieth Century Totalitarian State; The Moderns: Midcentury Graphic Design; For The Love Of Design; Growing Up Underground: A Memoir of Counterculture New York.

Honors and Awards

Three National Endowment for the Arts Design Arts fellowships
1998 Special Educators Award, Art Directors Club
1999 AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement
1999 Hershel Levit Award, Pratt Institute
2000 Outstanding Client Award, Graphic Artists Guild
2006 Richard Gangel Art Direction Award, Society of Illustrators.
Honoary Ph.Ds - College of Creative Studies, Detroit and University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic
2011 Smithsonian National Design Award/ Design Mind
2017 Eric Carle Award.

Courses

Where the Truth Lies: Persuasion, Information, Enlightenment

Portrait of Steven Heller|

Newsletter

Newsletter

Newsletter

310 East 22nd St - 5th Floor

New York, NY 10010

310 East 22nd St - 5th Floor

New York, NY 10010

310 East 22nd St - 5th Floor

New York, NY 10010

(212) 592-2600

mfadesign@sva.edu

(212) 592-2600

mfadesign@sva.edu

(212) 592-2600

mfadesign@sva.edu