Otto Storch is a well-recognized photographer and Art Director who has received well over 300 awards for his work in the advertising industry. Otto helped bring a modern flavour to American editorials. He first stepped foot into the design industry as a photo retoucher for Dell publishing House and soon after became Art Director.
Otto had such a successful career because of his exploration in design. He craved excitement for new projects and liked having the freedom to push his creative limits. At Dell, Otto felt as if his work was being forced out of quantity rather than quality. This was where he went back to learning, first by taking classes taught by Harper Bazaar’s Art Director Alexey Brodovitch and then eventually studying at the New School. 17 years later, Otto joined McCall’s magazine where he began to feel his spark of creativity come back while discovering his new love for photography.
Otto’s experimentation with typography and photography broke the barriers of design. For me, Otto helped make reading interesting by changing the way type was used. Type was no longer looked at as a way of communicating information, but a way of visually evoking feeling as an image. Although Otto is no longer with us today, I feel that his body of works will continue to live on and inspire many other artists to work outside of their comfort zone.
Sources: