Artist of the day: Artists of the day, January 4, 2022: Jay Vigon (and Margo Nahas) American Graphic designers, Art directors (#1461)

A funny thing happens quite often when people see my work for the first time. They say “NO WAY, YOU DID THAT?” I want to assure you that if it is on this site, I DID IT!

Jay Vigon, acclaimed world wide for his innovative graphics is a graduate of The Art Center College of Design and is considered one of its most influential graduates. Vigon earned his reputation by applying distinctively bold graphics to logo design, music packaging and fashion advertising. His clients include Lucas Films, Warner Bros., the University of California, Irvine and Gotcha Sportswear. Jay is the author of three books: Marks and Marks ll which are considered a must have for any design library as well as Vigon Ink., a look into the art of hand drawn graphics and personal fine art projects.

Jay Vigon’s pioneering style led him to become an innovator in field broadcast graphics for television commercials with such clients as AT&T, Diet Coke, Janus Fund and Honda. He moved behind the camera to assume the role of director. Among Jay’s many projects are spots created for Mercedes Benz, Estee Lauder, Seiko watches and Kaiser Permanente, as well as a multi year documentary project based on the life and times of Cesar Chavez. In 1994 Vigon, along with his wife Margo Nahas, established Made On Earth, a boutique built around character driven products. Jay Vigon continues to design for national and international clients.

One fan’s rock ‘n’ roll fantasy is reality for Jay Vigon and Margo Nahas, a husband-wife artistic duo who spent decades crafting album covers for some of the world’s best-known rock stars.

The two met at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, where they first began working on album covers in the mid-1970s. Still in school, Nahas landed an introduction at Warner Brothers, culminated in her designing the cover of the 1974 Seals and Crofts release, “Unborn Child.”

From there, the opportunities snowballed into work for Prince, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, Devo, Van Halen, “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” and more.

But, you’re probably thinking: how do two California-born rock ‘n’ roll artists end up in Des Moines?

“We stopped here (in 2003) and I totally fell in love with Des Moines,” Nahas said.

Vigon met regularly with the musicians, part of the creative process.

Sometimes these meetings came in the studio, sometimes at the record label offices, and, at least once, in the back of a Rolls Royce (more on that later).

For Rod Stewart, meetings happened on occasion at the singer’s pink-painted Beverly Hills home. Nahas, who opted mostly not to meet face-to-face with the musicians, and Vigon had developed a half-dozen directions for what would be Stewart’s 1982 “Absolutely Live” release.

Working with rock stars means getting midnight phone calls from rock stars.

That was the case in the early 1980s, Vigon recalled, when a few members of the Quiet Riot camp called him up to settle an argument.

He was working on what would be the art for the six-time platinum-selling “Metal Health” album — the release with the arena-ready “Cum on Feel The Noize” cover. The album’s cover featuring a man strangled in a straitjacket, his face concealed with a steel mask.

Vigon signed on in the early 1980s to do album artwork for the Doobie Brothers’ “Farewell” live album, a double LP that dropped in 1983.

The two spent about a half-hour in the back of Wonder’s car, on the way to his studio, discussing 1979’s album and film soundtrack “Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants.” The album’s known for producing the hit single “Send One Your Love.”

Another double LP, the album featured a cohesive color theme. They included Braille on the cover, a nod to Wonder’s blindness.

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