To Date:
A Publication of the Graphic Artist's Guild
issues from the late 1960s

The Detroit chapter of the Graphic Artists Guild was founded in the late 1960s to fight for the rights of local illustrators. Its causes ranged from residual payments (something like a royalty payment, these insured that an artist would be compensated every time their work was reprinted), to minimum pay rate and health insurance coverage. To Date: is full of camaraderie, spirit and fun, as evidenced by the often whimsical ads purchased within by local artists, which at $25 for a quarter page supported the publication of the magazine.

Photographer Unknown
Artists at Work circa 1960's: McNamara Associates

These photos illustrate the intensely collaborative process of ad making at a prominent Detroit studio.

Detroit’s art studios were big business, but they were also a place of creative personalities, camaraderie and evolving talent.

The importance of illustration studios is an undocumented area in the otherwise profuse field of automotive history. Automobile companies did not directly produce their own advertising, nor did the ad agencies charged with conceptualizing and orchestrating campaigns. Illustration studios had complex responsibilities when hired to illustrate an advertising campaign, as attested to by their output of final products, studio promotional materials, and artist samples.

The interactions, aspirations and identities of Detroit’s artists and studios provide a humanizing touch to the enthralling but competitive world of automotive advertising.

A partial list of Detroit’s art studios includes: Artstaff, Graphic House, Al Hutt, LaDriere, McNamara Associates, New Center Studios, Ferd Prucher Studios, Skidmore Sahratian, and Studio Associates.