Few designers have left a mark on Mexico’s visual identity as profound as Gonzalo Tassier. His work appears on products, institutions, and cultural references that millions of people encounter every day, often without knowing the name behind them. Yet beyond the logos and corporate identities that made him famous existed another dimension of his creative practice: that of an artist, observer, and educator whose influence extended far beyond graphic design.
Today, a new retrospective invites a closer look at the life and work of one of the most important figures in contemporary Mexican visual culture.
Beyond the Logo
The story of Gonzalo Tassier is often told through his most recognizable creations. He designed the iconic Hecho en México seal, contributed to the visual identity of Pemex, worked on projects for Correos de México, and helped shape previous emblems of Mexico’s national soccer team.
Yet reducing Tassier to his logos overlooks the broader artistic vision that informed everything he created.
Trained in architecture and philosophy and largely self-taught as a designer, Tassier approached visual communication with the sensitivity of a painter. He sketched constantly, filling notebooks, scraps of paper, and margins with drawings, observations, and ideas. His practice moved fluidly between watercolor, pastel, ink, oil painting, and graphic design, blurring the boundaries between commercial work and personal expression.
The same hand responsible for some of Mexico’s most enduring visual symbols was also creating intimate portraits, still lifes, and studies of everyday objects with remarkable attention and care.
Teaching Generations to See
Tassier’s legacy extends beyond the work he produced. For decades, he taught at the Universidad Iberoamericana, where he influenced generations of designers, artists, and creative thinkers.
His former students often describe his teaching philosophy as one centered on observation rather than technique. Before teaching how to design, he taught how to look—an approach that encouraged curiosity, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of visual culture.
That contribution earned him international recognition in 2008, when he received the prestigious Sir Misha Black Medalin London, becoming the first Latin American educator to receive one of the design world’s highest honors for excellence in design education.
The Retrospective That Brings Everything Together
A newly published volume, Gonzalo Tassier. Trazos de una vida, presented by the Museo del Objeto del Objeto (MODO) and publishing house Sexto Piso, offers perhaps the most complete portrait of the designer to date.
Compiled by his daughter, designer Berenice Tassier, the book gathers graphic work, personal reflections extracted from decades of notebooks, photographs, and artistic pieces spanning more than sixty years of creative practice.
What makes the publication particularly revealing is the way it places all aspects of Tassier’s work on equal footing. Corporate identities appear alongside watercolor studies. Personal sketches coexist with nationally recognized symbols. The distinction between designer and artist begins to dissolve.
And perhaps that is the most compelling aspect of Gonzalo Tassier’s legacy: the realization that there was never a separation between those two identities to begin with.
A Life Drawn Through Observation
At a moment when design is often measured by visibility, reach, or commercial impact, Tassier’s work offers a different perspective. His career demonstrates that visual culture is built not only through iconic symbols but also through a lifelong commitment to observation, curiosity, and craftsmanship.
The retrospective serves as a reminder that some of Mexico’s most recognizable images emerged not from a corporate boardroom, but from the imagination of an artist who never stopped drawing, questioning, and looking closely at the world around him.
The designer behind some of the country’s most enduring symbols was, above all, an artist. And he had been all along.
