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Mark Cerulli remembers original 007 logo graphic artist Joe Caroff (1921-2025)

Another precious link to early James Bond history has broken with the loss of graphic artist Joe Caroff, who passed peacefully in his New York apartment on 17th March 2025 at age 103 – just missing his 104th birthday.

I first met Joe Caroff in the 1990s in New York City and was hugely impressed by the sheer volume of work he created. Years later I was in a position to tell his life story in a documentary, By Design: The Joe Caroff Story. Produced with accomplished editor Paul C. Rosen, our film showed that as huge as his cinematic accomplishments were – designing logos for West Side Story, 007, A Hard Day’s Night, Rollerball (co-starring Swedish actress Maud Adams), Last Tango In Paris, Manhattan and many others, it was only part of his story.

Official trailer for By Design: The Joe Caroff Story

Joe was actually quite humble about his work, telling us, “When I’d walk down the street and see something I did on a poster, I knew ‘I did that’, but I could never tell the guy next to me, ‘I did that.’” He was extremely proud of his 81-year marriage to his true love, Phyllis, who was a successful social worker and psychotherapist. (Sadly, Phyllis passed away in February of this year.)

Joe also lived through the Great Depression and fought in WWII – making him a true American success story for the ages!

Although his brilliant design for 007 – created after studying a Walther PPK and realizing the edge of the 7 could be extended into the barrel of a gun – became an instant classic, Joe also created several other Bond-related logos including From Russia with Love (1963), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971). (Oddly, Joe didn’t think his work on Diamonds Are Forever was that great. I – and many others – beg to disagree!)


The original 007 logo for the 1962 James Bond film Dr No designed by Joe Caroff. All rights reserved.

In addition to his movie logos, Joe designed the Orion Pictures logo, an early FOX TV logo, ABC News and ABC Olympics logo – which caused the network’s creative director to say, “Holy sh*t!” when Joe unveiled it.

Over his 50 plus years in graphic design, Joe had many happy client reactions, likening their joyful responses to applause for an actor.

From Sweden with Love and Bond fans worldwide send their respects and gratitude to the Caroff family. Along with two sons and a granddaughter, Joe leaves behind an iconic body of work that will never be forgotten.

Text by Mark Cerulli. Copyright © 2025 From Sweden with Love. All rights reserved.

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