Jerry W. McDaniel was an American illustrator, artist, communication designer, and educator. He did advertising work for numerous large corporations (Intercontinental Hotels, PanAm, Philip Morris International), created posters and also produced book and magazine illustrations.
Background
McDaniel was born in Vinton County, Ohio, United States, on September 9, 1935. His father Hoyt Glenn (Ben), a cattle farmer, married his wife, Lillian, three months before Jerry was born. At the onset of the Second World War, McDaniel's father sold all the livestock and moved his family to Athens, Ohio. When his father died in 1951, McDaniel's mother moved the family to Logan, Ohio.
Education
Jerry W. McDaniel started drawing and painting at the age of five, and his talent was encouraged by his parents. While in High School, he was an apprentice manager at J. C. Penny in Logan, Ohio. His high school art teacher, aware of his talent, knew that McDaniel had no money to go to school. So he told him about a chance to received a scholarship, guided him to prepare a portfolio, and actually drove to Columbus to file Jerry's portfolio. Eventually, McDaniel was accepted to the Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD). He worked his way through College as a mapmaker for the Ohio State Department of Hydrology.
Jerry McDaniel was the first graduate of the Columbus College of Art and Design to be granted the Award for Excellence (then called "Award for Outstanding Alumnus"), in 1982. He graduated from Columbus College of Art and Design twice, firstly with a Professional Certificate in 1957 and later with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1972.
In 1963 he started to attend the Experimental Workshop at the New School for Social Research where he studied under the guidance of Henry C. Pearson. He earned a Master of Arts in Computer Communication Art from the New York Institute of Technology in 1987.
In July 1957 McDaniel moved to New York. There he served as a package designer for Continental Can Corporation. Jerry McDaniel's first artwork was published in Redbook magazine in September 1957. When he completed his military service as a Spec 9 architect, the painter returned to New York, where he became a graphic designer and art director for the LW Froehlich Company, a pharmaceutical advertising agency.
Jerry McDaniel's was commissioned for the first time for a national campaign of Pan Am Airlines. In 1965, he headed the Illustrators Annual Show and in 1966 he produced the two Harlow's posters. McDaniel's works have been published in a number of books, including "The Illustrator in America" and "Icons and Images."
In 1967 the National Broadcasting Company requested paintings from the United States Air Force Collection to air during the launching of the Apollo 11 mission. The NBC has selected six paintings one of which was Jerry McDaniel's "Dawn of the Day."
In the late 1960s, he made a design and illustrated the complete Zane Grey Western Series for Simon & Schuster. He also became a creator of book covers for the S. S. Van Dine "Murder Mystery" series. Jerry W. McDaniel created award-winning posters as well. For over 25 years he was commissioned to create sports promotions in South America and Iberia: posters for tennis, bicycling, horse racing, Grand Prix racing, motor cross, and other activities.
In the year 1970, McDaniel became a founding member of the Advertising Design Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology, concurrently teaching graphic design at such universities as the New York Institute of Technology, the Columbus College of Art and Design, the Rhode Island School of Design, the School of Visual Arts and the Maryland Institute of Art and Design.
In 1991 Jerry McDaniel was commissioned to design and illustrate a poster for the Union's Labor March on Washington. This Union made a limited edition of 200 prints of Jerry W. McDaniel's "Solidarity Works: Solidarity Day '91" poster. McDaniel has also produced short films and film titles, including the film ICE (Idea, Composition, and Execution) and the film titles for The Bolshoi at The Bolshoi.
The painter took part at numerous group shows, and had one-man shows in New York, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Paris, and France. In recent years his work was presented in Düsseldorf, Bucharest, Germany, Romania, and he had solo shows in Beverly Hills, California (2012), exhibition at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) of California State University, Northridge.
Jerry McDaniel illustrated poems by two Romanian poets, Ana Blandiana and Lucian Blaga. He designed posters as well as promotional graphics for the Art of Innovation Conference in 2013 and 2014, banners for non-profit California organizations in 2014 and 2016.
He is a member of The New York Society of Illustrators, Broadcast Designers Association, The American Institute of Graphic Design, and The Graphic Artist Guild.
Connections
In 1962, Jerry McDaniel married Renata Buss, a model and former "Miss Berlin". They have parented two children, a son, Teja; and a daughter, Saskia. McDaniel has two grandsons from his son Teja, Liam and Tristan. Later he separated from his wife.