This copy below, is only a part of the report as published in the Marin Independent Journal from April 23, 2025 to May 4, 2025.
You can read the full article by going here :Gerald Edward Berman
Birth: December 29,1937 Death: August 11, 2024
Gerald Edward Berman was a trailblazing San Francisco designer and art director whose creative vision shaped iconic local and national brands. After graduating from Lincoln High School, Berman enlisted in the Army Reserves. He then studied advertising design at City College of San Francisco before attending the San Francisco Academy of Art. Jerry Berman began his professional journey as an assistant art director at a retail store before stepping out on his own.
After a successful twenty-year advertising and design career under the banner of Jerry Berman Associates, he founded Sidjakov, Berman, and Gomez, with partners Nicholas Sidjakov and Flavio Gomez. In 1987 the firm was sold to WPP Group, the world’s largest marketing services organization.
Jerry then went to the San Francisco Art Institute to study painting. In 1993, he started Jerry Berman Creative Group specializing in corporate identity, product development, packaging, and advertising concepts.
Berman’s career portfolio included: American President Lines, Rice-A-Roni, Columbus Meats, Levi’s, Anheuser Busch, Kraft General Foods, Ralston Purina, The Quaker Oats Company, Viacom, Xerox and Transamerica Corporation.
He also branded Columbia School of Broadcasting and rebranded White Wolf Vodka. And in 1983, his firm redesigned the SF Giants uniform.
Jerry was responsible for the brand packaging of Transamerica Pyramid. When the TransAmerica building was being built, in 1972, he came up with the barricade design around the construction site. The barricades had peepholes so passersby could observe the construction. One of the peepholes had a mirror behind it, so anyone who looked through it would see themselves. He invented the slogan, “A San Francisco landmark since 1972.
Berman’s professional notable mentions include New York Art Directors’ Gold Medals, American Institute of Graphic Arts awards, an impressive number of Clios (oscars), and publications: Graphics, Communication Arts, Print, Advertising Age, and Adweek.
Jerry created the iconic Haight Ashbury daisy poster overlay and collaborated with Mayor Dianne Feinstein in 1984 on a downtown stadium trademark design.
Published in: Marin Independent Journal from April 23, 2025 to May 4, 2025
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I have looked back into some of San Francisco’s graphic arts publications of the ’60-’70’s.
In 1970… when Bob Buechert was President of the Art Directors and Artists Club, Bob opened the membership to more areas of the graphics community and renamed the association as the San Francisco Society of Communicating Arts,
Here are some of Jerry Berman designs from three of the published collections from annuals exhibitions from the ‘60s:
1963 — 14th SFADA Annual Exhibition
1965 — 16th Art Directors and Artist Club of San Francisco
1967 — 18th The San Francisco Art Directors and Artists Club
…and Berman’s accepted pieces from three published annuals in the ‘70s:
1971 — Communication-Seventy-One San Francisco Society of Communication Arts
1974 — San Francisco Society of Communicating Arts — The Last Show
1978 — The 1978 San Francisco Show
I don’t have photo records that could show Jerry Berman’s career following these very early examples.
We did get to catch photos of Jerry, himself, as he enjoyed being with friends at our annual Geezer-Get-Togethers and other occasions.
Ann Thompson