The evolution of the West Coast's leading art studio 1921 to today ; Patterson & Sullivan began serving San Francisco advertising agencies in 1921, rose to prominence in the 1940s as Patterson & Hall, and today carries on the tradition as P&H Creative Group

the origins of P. And H. Began in 1921 as patterson and Sullivan and art service serving san Francisco advertising agencies gaining national prominence in the 19 forties as patterson and hall and today carrying on the tradition as P. NH creative group. It's 1921 prohibition has just

started and it's the roaring 20s. San Francisco has risen like the Phoenix after a devastating earthquake that 15 years earlier nearly destroyed the city. And a 26 year old ad agency art director named J. E. Patterson left his position with McCann advertising to start an art

studio in san Francisco with business partner and fellow artist Ray Sullivan. J. E. Patterson studied at the California School of Fine Arts and later in new york at the Art Students League. He was a decorative artist with an intricate style specializing in ornate book plate designs

often incorporating hand lettering and intricate scrollwork, dreaming of a zone. For his part, Ray Sullivan was a talented cartoonist with a graphic approach to commercial art and a flair for fashion illustration. No, Pat and Sullivan ran a tight ship. They were too business minded individuals who

were bottom line oriented and they constantly pushed their artists to be more productive Clyde C. V. A talented artist at Patterson and Sullivan created this series of caricatures depicting all the staff artists and the grueling day to day existence of a commercial illustrator. It's an amusing

and insightful look at daily life in an agency including client demands tight budgets and creative differences stan kelly who Paterson and Sullivan hired right out of the san Francisco art institute in the 19 thirties remembers fellow students warning him against going to work at that studio

because it was too commercial. They both came up to school and they both looked at my work and he wanted me to come down and all the students said don't go there, that's a commercial place. I needed the job, galley went on to have a prolific

career and was known as the illustrator's illustrator. In 1981 he was elected to the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame, the philosophy at Patterson and Sullivan's new studio was to assemble a capable team of talented artists versed in a wide range of styles from product still

life, automotive fashion portraits, you name it PNS artists could put pen ink, paper and brush together to produce ideas and illustrations that would become icons of advertising. The 1920s and 30s were halcyon years in California san Francisco was becoming the west coasts hub of advertising and

the agency quickly proved to be successful beyond the young artists dreams. Soon they were attracting high profile clients such as Mattson dollar steamship lines. Southern pacific railroad gallo son made dole del Monte stanford and standard oil. In addition to their illustration services. P. N. S. Employed

a staff of graphic and package designers. Calligraphers plus a comprehensive typography department. Later they would add a complete photography studio to enable them to serve advertising agencies from initial layout and design through to complete finished product. As patterson and Sullivan's reputation grew. They began attracting many

of the country's top illustrators in their early years. Artists such as john atherton stan galley, paul Carey, Jack Painter, Haines, Hall give darling Amato Gonzalez and Bruce Bomb burger left their mark at the agency. The studios key artist at this time was Haynes Hull. He joined

the firm in 1925 and continued to be active in the business through the 1960s. Haines, along with fellow employee, Alton painter was a member of the 13 water colorists, along with Maynard Dixon and Maurice Logan CVS cartoons of the Paterson and Sullivan artists often portrayed Haynes

as a sage arbiter amidst the turmoil and pandemonium of a bustling art studio. So after Sullivan left the business in 1939, or more accurately, the business left him. Hall became partner. This quite naturally led to a name change, and patterson and Sullivan became patterson and Hall

1925, Patterson and Sullivan created their first of many Stanford football covers, painted an energetic, almost impressionistic approach. Over a 50-year period. These covers evolved from painterly through a more graphic stylized approach, utilizing heroic imagery. To later Haynes Hall's Norman Rockwell style depicting friendly collegial rivalry as

patterson and Hall's reputation grew, they were called upon to illustrate many magazine covers for Sunset san Franciscan magazine, standard oil advertising, arts, western advertising and more the war years were a busy, all consuming time for patterson and Hall

and are reflected in the advertising subject matter. The agency's older artists were kept hopping as the younger ones were called into military service. During the war, the agency was asked by the government to develop designs for camouflaging the piers along the san Francisco waterfront to protect

them from attack by enemy planes. The years after World War two were boom times for the firm and the nation, the country was thriving and the economy was flourishing. Clients included Kaiser, aluminum, S. O. S. Clorox, PG and E. Safeway Borghi

gallo Bank of America and more as the decades rolled on and the agency continued to grow. There were many more changes to some of which were patterson's retirement and his nephew Chet patterson joining the firm. After returning home from World War

two in the forties, Chet accepted a one year apprenticeship at Patterson and Hall. One year, would turn into 40 years and by 1950 Chet had taken over for his uncle and under his guidance, patterson and Hall became the largest art service on the west coast. As

with many members of the P NH staff, Chet was often called upon to serve as a model for the artists with his expressive face and everyday man looks, he soon became a favorite and appeared in many ads and illustrations. The

Chevrolet account was a huge milestone for P and H. Jim Hastings who was an art director at P. N. H. Was hired by Campbell Ewald in Detroit who had the Chevrolet account. Jim knew the artists at P. NH could bring a fresh approach to the chevy

account and was instrumental in bringing in P and H. To illustrate Chevrolet's ads and billboards. See the USa in your chef, Rowley, America is asking you to come drive your chef rolling through the Usa. America's the greatest land of all on a highway or a road

along a levee. Nothing can beat her life is complete or in a Chevy us see it in your ship. Rolet West Coast style utilizing image, lifestyle and western scenery to sell automobiles, won numerous awards over a 30 year period performance is sweeter, nothing can

beat her life is complete or in a shabby and P. NH artist Bruce bomb burgers work on the Levi's account, reestablished their brand of working man's wear too rugged Western wear with his iconic cowboys Today, these advertisements are highly valued by collectors. His work on

SNPs, California, zephyr Mattson Chevrolet and Levi's really stood out. His male figures were heroic, proud icons of the american west. He would go on later to create the rugged western image of the Marlboro man campaign. Okay, in

the late forties P. And H. Hired Charles allen directly from art center in L. A. An incredible versatile artist, charlie would go on to have a 40 plus year career and had a profound impact on P. NH from rugged cowboys, beautiful women, sleep cars to mouthwatering

food and still lifes, charlie could do it all and better than most. Chet patterson would later recall that in all his years, he had never known a better illustrator than charlie Allen. It was, it was just amazing to see him and and watch him develop, you

know, uh just almost everything I took in his younger days was always better than the last year. The 60s marked a sea change in the firm's direction. Photography had improved tremendously. Illustration styles changed and were less in demand as

the times changed. So did the studio eventually becoming a full service advertising agency. In 1986, Bruce Hoeksema joined the firm, fresh from the Academy of Art in San Francisco with a background in illustration. Bruce worked his way up from graphic designer to art and creative director

to eventually purchasing the firm when Chet Patterson retired Today as PNH Creative Group, a full service advertising web and graphic design firm. The agency continues the tradition begun 90 years ago, we invite you to select the next chapter in the menu to view our current portfolio