Cruz Novillo, designer of logos such as the fist and rose of the PSOE or the shield of the Community of Madrid, dies

The designer José María Cruz Novillo, creator of corporate and institutional identities that are part of the recent history of Spain, died this Saturday at the age of 89, as reported by the specialized media Gràffica.

Born in Cuenca in 1936, Cruz Novillo began his professional career in 1958 at Publicidad Clarín. In 1965 he founded his own studio, from which he developed a graphic production that ranged from the business to the political and artistic fields.

Among his most notable works are the logos of public and private companies such as Correos, Renfe, the National Police, the Public Treasury, El Mundo, COPE, Diario 16, El Economista, Banco Pastor, Endesa, and the ONCE Foundation.

At the institutional level, he was the author of the flag and shield of the Community of Madrid, while at the political level he designed the fist and rose emblem of the PSOE.

Likewise, his work extended to the financial sector with the design of the series of peseta banknotes issued by the Bank of Spain between 1978 and 1985.

In the cultural field, he signed the billboards for reference films in Spanish cinema, including The spirit of the hive, The south, The national shotgun, Mondays in the sun, Barrio or Deprisa, deprisa.

He was also a painter, sculptor, engraver and artist interested in color, sound and time. Since the nineties he developed his ‘chronochromophonic’ works, a line of artistic research in which he combined duration, color, sound and structure.

Recognized as a multidisciplinary artist, his career was distinguished with the National Design Award in 1997 and the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts in 2012. He was also a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando and received the Laus de Honor award in 2023.

His figure was vindicated by the documentary The Man Who Designed Spain (2019), directed by Andrea G. Bermejo and Miguel Larraya.

In his final stage, he maintained his professional activity through the Cruz más Cruz studio, together with his son Pepe Cruz.