Ruth Ansel

Ruth Ansel
Born	1938 New York, NY
Residence	New York, NY
Education	Alfred University
Occupation	Ruth Ansel Design
Awards	Gold Medal of Design, 1970, The Art Directors Club AIGA Medal, 2016

Gold Medal of Design, 1970, The Art Directors Club

Ruth Ansel is an American graphic designer. She became a co-art director of Harper's Bazaar in the 1960s alongside Bea Feitler. In the 1970s she was art director of The New York Times Magazine and in the 1980's House & Garden, Vanity Fair, and Vogue. She was the first female to hold these positions.

After graduating with a Fine Arts degree from Alfred University in 1957, Anselstarted working under Bob Cato at Columbia Records. She married designer Bob Gill who introduced her to the “New York Design Mafia” - George Lois, Robert Brownjohn, Saul Bass, and Ivan Chermayeff - but the couple later split.

In 1961, Ansel started working at Harper's Bazaar in the Art Department, which at the time was under the directorship of Marvin Israel. Under Israel, she developed a critical eye and to create tension on the page. In 1963, Israel was fired after a falling out with editor-in-chief, Nancy White, Ruth Ansel and Bea Feitler became co-art directors of Harper's Bazaar. It was in collaboration with Bea Feitler and Richard Avedon that Ruth Ansel produced the now iconic April 1965 cover of Jean Shrimpton with a winking eye and a bright pink "helmet" that was cut and pasted from day-glo paper. In 1974, she left Harper's to become the first female art director of The New York Times Magazine. In 1983, she revamped House & Garden and in the 1984 joined Vanity Fair.

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