Dugald Stermer, 74, artist and designer (Ramparts magazine; 1984 Olympics)

[Evan Hulka]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/06/BAL71M8206.DTL

Ramparts alumnus, illustrator Dugald Stermer dies

Stephanie Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Dugald Stermer, a San Francisco illustrator who made precise and
striking images on behalf of the counterculture and mainstream alike,
died Friday of complications related to skin cancer. He was 74.

Mr. Stermer got his start in the city in the 1960s, when he was art
director of Ramparts, the leftist magazine that paved the path for
Rolling Stone.

He left to pursue a freelance career, first as a magazine designer and
then as an illustrator. He designed the medals for the 1984 Summer
Olympics in Los Angeles. He worked on advertising campaigns for
Levi's, Jaguar, Brooks Bros., BMW, Nike and others.

And he drew for a slew of publications, including The San Francisco
Chronicle, Time, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the New
Yorker, GQ and Rolling Stone.

Mr. Stermer was also a father, an author, an activist and chairman of
the illustration department at California College of the Arts. He
rendered his subjects in such rich color and intricate detail, they
appeared nearly alive.

"I haven't got the brains to cure cancer or world hunger, or bring
warring parties to the peace table, or any of the big issues," he told
the American Institute of Graphic Arts, whose local chapter named him
a fellow this year. "All I know how to do is to draw pictures and
write a little bit. So it becomes more important that I try to use
those abilities to do good."

At Ramparts during its heyday from 1964 to 1970, Mr. Stermer coined an
aesthetic that contributor Jann Wenner imitated when he left the
magazine to start Rolling Stone. One cover depicts the editors,
including Mr. Stermer, burning their draft cards. On another, Mr.
Stermer's young son brandishes a Viet Cong flag.

"The design and visual content were critical, an absolutely
indispensable part of the magazine's success," Peter Richardson,
author of a book on Ramparts, told the Society of Publication
Designers two years ago. "Ramparts took more chances visually than its
stodgier (mostly East Coast) political counterparts, and its
production values far exceeded the grittier underground ones."

Robert Scheer, then-editor in chief of Ramparts, described Mr. Stermer
as in many ways "as mainstream as you could be - but an independent
thinker."

"He was a good-looking, charming old guy from Southern California,
which gave him a great strength," Scheer said in a phone interview
from Los Angeles. "He was not alienated from the country in any way.
He thought we could reach people with designs or graphics."

An art major at UCLA, Mr. Stermer spent 17 years chairing the
illustration department at the California College of the Arts in San
Francisco. He authored four books, including one with Susan Sontag.

He also served on the city's Arts Commission and, for three decades,
the board of directors of the Delancey Street Foundation, a local self-
help organization for former substance abusers, ex-convicts and the
homeless.

"Everyone can talk a good game about the value we all have, the value
an ex-felon has," Scheer said. "Dugald lived it."

Mr. Stermer is survived by three sons, Dugald of Sherman Oaks (Los
Angeles County), Christopher of Sacramento and Colin of Alameda; and
two daughters, Megan and Crystal, both of San Francisco.

A memorial service open to the public is scheduled for Dec. 17 at
Delancey Street.