Professional Documents
Culture Documents
9 7 71479 75 3 0 32
Contents Things to
07 78
Bookshelf
See and Do Essentials
Essential design From resident
events and book expert
exhibitions for HUGO
January
80
13 Viewpoint
Talent What is your
Illustrator most memorable
Charlie Duck journey?
Editorial Angharad Lewis 19 83
Awards are always rigged the judges enter their own work and Talent Review
then give each other awards... they all do it. So young designers Photographer Critiques of new
don't want to enter. This was just one of the very forthright Will Robson Scott books, exhibitions
responses we got during 2009 when we began canvassing graphic and events
designers for their opinions on existing UK awards schemes. 24
We were aware that there was considerable discontent in the Showcase 84
design community about awards but we didnt realise quite how This months Exhibition
passionate people would be about it. Most of the designers we best new graphic Less and More
asked jumped at the chance to give their views and didnt hold design work The Design
back from constructive criticism to pure vitriol. Ethos of Dieter
Whether our correspondents veered on the side of optimism 36 Rams reviewed by
or cynicism, however, one thing became very clear: there is a Profile Kerry William
real hunger among graphic designers for a new type of awards Victor Moscoso Purcell
that they feel is genuinely about rewarding the best of the by Robert
industry and that truly represents the breadth of talent, Urquhart 88
skills, approaches and media. Six Books
It just so happens, then, that we might have an answer for 48 The latest
you... Roll up, roll up, for the all-new UK Grafik Design Awards Special Report design books
2010 no categories, no complicated entry process, no extor- Travel under fire
tionate fee, no tacky ceremony, no judges entering their own
work. We hope to answer all these negatives with a more con- 50 90
structive, upbeat, informed approach to awards, the structure Rapid Transit Exhibition
for which has come directly from what you have told us you want. Massimo Vignelli Slash: Paper
There will be ten overall winning projects that receive a Grafik on his New York under the Knife
Star award projects ranging from whole identity schemes, to Subway map reviewed by
typefaces, to a single poster, website, animation or even invite Amber Bravo
card. You wont have to enter work into categories, which means 56
you dont have to enter things twice if they span, say, book Pro Motion 92
design and typography. Our judges will simply award prizes to A history of bicycle Exhibition
the most outstanding work they see. The entry fee is 50 for logo design Without Thought,
the first item or project, then 25 for each additional item or Volume 10
project after that. Each individual or studio entering will get 62 reviewed by
something back in the form of a free three-month subscription High Life Dan Honey
to Grafik, so you can keep up with news about the progress of The golden era
the awards. of air travel 94
There will also be two separate awards: Best Newcomer and Book
Best Studio. As well as entering your own work, all the catego- 71 Francis Baudevin:
ries are open for nominations, so if you know a shy but tal- View Miscellaneous
ented designer who doesnt go in for chasing accolades, you can Opinions, advice, Abstract reviewed
be sneaky and get them on the Grafik Design Awards radar via perspectives by Angharad
our online nominations system. Lewis
We hope that lots of you will enter and show us what the 72
UK graphic design scene is made of, even if the only incen- How to 96
tive is to get your work under the noses of some of the most Be Green Exhibition
respected designers and critics around. We are extremely proud The seventh Robert
of the group of individuals who have given us their backing and instalment of your Urquhart
support by agreeing to be judges. The Best Studio Award will eco design guide reports from
be judged by Wim Crouwel and the Best Newcomer Award will be the Rotterdam
judged by Peter Saville. The work submitted for Grafik Stars 74 Designprijs
will be judged by our panel of experts: Phil Baines, Sara de Logoform ceremony
Bondt, Emily King, Kate Moross, Ben Parker (MadeThought), Nick Voigtlnder by
Roope (Poke), Eva Rucki (Troika), Marina Willer (Wolff Olins) and Stuart Geddes 98
myself, with Caroline Roberts chairing the judging. Kalina, Gym
For more information and to enter or nominate, just visit 76 Class and No.Zine
www.awards.grafikmag.com. The deadline for entries is Sunday Letterform magazines
31 January. Were genuinely excited about launching this awards Serapion By resident mag
scheme. We cant wait to see what youre made of, and look lowercase a by man Michael
forward to celebrating the winners with you in April. Jan Middendorp Bojkowski
Contents Things to
07 78
Bookshelf
See and Do Essentials
Essential design From resident
events and book expert
exhibitions for HUGO
January
80
13 Viewpoint
Talent What is your
Illustrator most memorable
Charlie Duck journey?
19 83
Talent Review
Photographer Critiques of new
Will Robson Scott books, exhibitions
and events
24
Showcase 84
This months Exhibition
best new graphic Less and More
design work The Design
Ethos of Dieter
36 Rams reviewed by
Profile Kerry William
Victor Moscoso Purcell
by Robert
Urquhart 88
Six Books
48 The latest
Special Report design books
Travel under fire
50 90
Rapid Transit Exhibition
Massimo Vignelli Slash: Paper
on his New York under the Knife
Subway map reviewed by
Amber Bravo
56
Pro Motion 92
A history of bicycle Exhibition
logo design Without Thought,
Volume 10
62 reviewed by
High Life Dan Honey
The golden era
of air travel 94
Book
71 Francis Baudevin:
View Miscellaneous
Opinions, advice, Abstract reviewed
perspectives by Angharad
Lewis
72
How to 96
Be Green Exhibition
The seventh Robert
instalment of your Urquhart
eco design guide reports from
the Rotterdam
74 Designprijs
Logoform ceremony
Voigtlnder by
Stuart Geddes 98
Kalina, Gym
76 Class and No.Zine
Letterform magazines
Serapion By resident mag
lowercase a by man Michael
Jan Middendorp Bojkowski
more than 80,000 artists in every time zone. Slovenia: istockphoto.com/ermingut
See the unexpected. Discover images from
OS. Luggage.
Wish I could.
Human
interaction.
Speaking the
language.
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Things to See and Do Talent Contest
January
Deadline 31 January 2010
www.awards.grafikmag.com
New Alphabet
Until 12 July
www.moma.org
Crafts are fashionable again, its official. Get down to the Galerie Anatome in Paris this
Despite the resurgence of all things handmade, month for an exhibition of work by maverick Dutch
however, tapestry is still pretty far down the design agency Thonik. The Amsterdam-based agencys
coolness list its all garish Kaffe Fasset cabbage energetic work has won it a raft of covetable
cushions and cross-stitch baby samplers as far as clients including the Museum Boijmans van
most people are concerned. An exhibition at the Beuningen, Venice Architecture Biennial, Amsterdam
James Cohan Gallery in New York is set to change Public Library, Triodos Bank and Spiral Art Center
all that, however. Entitled Demons, Yarns & Tales, in Tokyo, but its Thoniks massively powerful
its organised by the UK art collective Banners of rebranding of the Dutch Socialist Party (SP), with
Persuasion, and features a series of tapestries by its bold tomato-based identity, that has brought
thirteen different artists including Peter Blake, it to so many peoples attention. You can read the
Gary Hume, Grayson Perry, Gavin Turk and Julie full story on pages 56-61 of Grafik issue 176.
Verhoeven. Just because thread is involved doesnt
mean that the subject matter has gone soft, though www.galerie-anatome.com
subjects covered by the artists include imaginary
landscapes, abstract architectural forms, fashion
and nature and the politics of race, gender,
international conflict and the environment. Phew.
www.jamescohan.com
A new exhibition at the PM Gallery in Ealing this The late, great Alan Fletchers exhibition Fifty
month sets out to challenge our preconceptions Years of Graphic Work (and Play) is coming to
about embroidery (yup, its all about the Manchester in January. Curated by Emily King and
threadcount right now). Beware of Embroidery originally shown at the Design Museum in London
features work by five international artists all just after his death in 2006, the exhibition spans
using embroidery Kate Pelen (UK), Louise Riley Fletchers amazing fifty-year career, from his
(UK), Tilleke Schwarz (Netherlands), Laura Splan early days in New York, through the Forbes Fletcher
(USA) and Tamar Stone (USA) and celebrates Gill and Pentagram years, to his final period as
the diversity and energy that does exist within an independent designer. The exhibition is required
the medium (if you look hard enough). The subject viewing for any self-respecting graphic designer,
matter is definitely very varied, from Laura so if you havent had the pleasure of seeing it
Splans intricate doilies taken from the forms of yet (or just fancy a second look) then its
various viruses to Tamar Stones Bed Books and definitely worth a trip to CUBE in Manchester this
Corset Books, inspired by the body brace she wore month. The exhibition will be opened by St Peter of
for twenty-three hours a day between the ages of the Saville himself, a fitting tribute to such
thirteen and eighteen. a great man. We miss you, Alan, the world has been
a much duller place without you.
www.ealing.gov.uk/pmgalleryandhouse
www.cube.org.uk
Object Lesson
30 January23 May
www.brighton-hove-rpml.org.uk
01
02
03
01 Untitled, illustration
for We Are the Friction book,
April 2009
02 Kingdoms 3, self-initiated
work, January 2009
03 Kingdoms 2, self-initiated
work, February 2008
01
03
02 Untitled, self-initiated
work, August 2009
Whats been the best I sent my grandmother some drawings in the post a few months
and worst reaction ago. She wrote back a few days later telling me she thought
to your work? I was a real artist, which I liked. In terms of bad reactions,
Ive always found indifference pretty frustrating. I think its
important for work to evoke a reaction in the viewer, whether
What is the best good or bad; to do neither seems to negate the purpose of
advice youve making work in the first place.
ever been given?
To not worry too much about what other people are doing. I think,
particularly in illustration and design, it is only too easy to get caught
up in what is considered contemporary and popular. The tutors at
Brighton would always challenge us, steering us away from simply
mimicking what was on trend. Instead we were encouraged to think
about what it was we were interested in, and to be confident to
explore that, finding ones own points of reference
Something Sisyphean has always appealed. Drawing a
What would be your
billboard by hand, with a 0.3mm mechanical pencil, that
fantasy commission?
kind of thing.
www.charlieduck.co.uk
ORIGINAL GMUND
FROM GF SMITH
LAUNCH 2010
PLEASE PRE REGISTER YOUR INTEREST
ORIGINALGMUND@GFSMITH.COM
10%
+
50%
+
100%
COTTON
Talent Will Robson Scott
From dark, moody subcultures to the subtle absurdities of life, young
street photographer Will Robson Scott has a keen eye for catching the
human condition. Fresh from a trip to South Africa, the Londoner tells us
what hes up to next and offers some stark advice about his profession.
01
02
02
03
Whats been People buying your work or employing you is great, but it
the best and the also makes me feel a bit guilty getting paid to take photos.
worst reaction to Criticism can be hard to swallow but can make you stronger.
your work?
Separate personal and commercial work, and as soon as you stop
enjoying photography, quit.
What is the best advice
Finishing Crack and Shine (Londons first graffiti book) was a
youve ever been given?
huge achievement, just because we were told so many times
it would never happen. Also being invited on the Gumball rally
What has been the
(3,000-mile luxury-car rally) this year seemed like a once-in-a-
defining moment of
lifetime chance.
your career so far?
Pierre-Franois Letue
Modernes:
The Andam Fashion Awards 19892009
Showcase January 26
Marc&Anna Pete and Repeat
Heres one for you: Pete are Repeat are sitting on repetition we wanted to break it up. Each page has a
a fence. Pete falls off, who is left? Repeat? Okay different grid and we chose to use a selection of
then: Pete and Repeat are sitting on a fence... typefaces to overprint the main font. We wanted each
repeat ad infinitum. Its as old as the hills. Its repetition of the details to be slightly different,
also the title for an exhibition that showcases works not an exact repeat. This hinted at the impossibility
from the Zabludowicz Collection, an international, of exact repetition, and also represented the range
privately funded contemporary art collection. of work on show. We chose a selection of classic
Inspired by the Bruce Nauman piece Clown Torture typefaces, each famous for a different reason and
(which, if you have coulrophobia, is the most use: Akzidenz Grotesk, Amasis, Avenir, Baskerville,
terrifying film ever), the exhibition is the first Cantoria, Caslon, Din, Garamond, Palatino, Plantin,
held by the collection that draws solely on pre- Sabon, Univers, and Zurich.
existing works, including those by artists Sherrie Chopping the invites from one A3 sheet resulted
Levine, Keith Tyson and Wolfgang Tilmans. Exhibition in four different versions, all containing the same
curator Ellen Mara De Wachter turned to studio information, but all with a different selection
MARC&ANNA to produce the identity, gallery guide of typefaces.
and catalogue. Cyclus Offset paper was used throughout,
Marc Atkinson of MARC&ANNA reveals the link except for the image pages in the catalogue, which
between the concept of the show and the design were printed on Greencoat Silk. Pete are Repeat are
and identity that he and partner Anna Ekelund sitting on a fence. Pete falls off...
designed for it: The title and concept was already
halfway there, so the design followed on from the www.marcandanna.co.uk
concept. However, because there was so much
Showcase January 27
Mind Design Tess Management
Tess Management, owned by Tori Edwards and Sian The identity included model cards, portfolios,
Steel, is a new London-based model agency that folders and stationery and Mind Design also
evolved from Independent Talent. Tess represents designed a newspaper to announce the launch of
the crme de la crme Naomi Campbell and Erin the new agency. In connection with the logo, Jacobs
OConnor, as well as new models like Georgia May developed a setof different frames that are used
Jagger, are all on its books. Edwards and Steel around the images. The newspaper folds to an A4
chose Mind Design to come up with the identity format, held together by a bellyband, which sports
for their new enterprise. different versions of the logo.
Holger Jacobs of Mind Design takes up the The look and feel of the work is a bit of
story: A few years ago we noticed the work of a departure for Mind Design, which up until now
Simon Egli, a Swiss designer who developed a multi- has concentrated on starker, more modernist-style
layered typeface based on letterpress ornaments. aesthetics. As Jacobs says, For many years we
We teamed up with Simon to develop a rather followed the manifesto that Ornament Is Crime,
complex identity based on a modular system. The but recently discovered how liberating it is to
logo system developed from simple outlined letter just play with shapes and pattern that have no
shapes overlaid with various ornaments and Art particular function.
Deco-inspired shapes. It would be possible to create
endless logo combinations using this principle www.minddesign.co.uk
but we decided on a set of six colour and six black- www.tessmanagement.com
and-white versions for general use. In print the
logo is produced by overprinting five Pantone
colours with a slight transparency.
Showcase January 28
Modernes: The Andam
Pierre-Franois Letue
Showcase January 29
Alex Rich and Jrg Lehni Design Real
Design Real is the first show at the Serpentine his 2005 piece One Less Car). The reason for this
Gallery to concentrate on design, in this case choice, Rich observes, is that it felt like a
product design, curated by German industrial celebration of something you see every day. Rich and
designer Konstantin Grcic. Grcic chose to work with Lehni were given free rein, allowing them room to
Alex Rich and Jrg Lehni when it came to the explore their own ongoing research in innovations
exhibition design and identity, having collaborated around print and technology. The only guideline we
previously with the pair on an evening event at were given by the Serpentine Gallery was that the
A Recent History of Writing and Drawing at the ICA book had to have a bellyband. The printing ideas came
in London in 2008. This exhibition, however, was a from the web format working on a black background
much bigger proposition for all concerned. screen saves energy on the web, so we continued that
The starting point, from a design point of view, aesthetic into print, says Lehni. The difficult
was talking about language and objects, and the balance between too much information cluttering a
fact that there should be research available but we gallery space and too little information rendering
didnt want it to be too didactic, explains Lehni. the exhibits impotent gestures was a tough call but
The result is an exhibition identity, including one that Rich and Lehni have handled with finesse.
catalogue and signage system, that uses strong,
simple one-word titles in the gallery, backed up www.design-real.com
heavily by a website displayed on kindles within www.field-trip.org
the gallery, and a catalogue published by Walter www.scratchdisk.com
Koenig Books.
The typeface, chosen by Rich, is the standard
car number plate font (most notably used by him in
Showcase January 30
Bonbon Swiss Federal Design Awards
If the Swiss Federal Design Awards are anything each of the winners gets a section where were
to go by, that nation excels at nurturing and introduced not only to their work, but also get a
rewarding young design talent. Nineteen designers glimpse of their lives, environments and ways of
have been shot to stardom via this years awards working. Bonbon collaborated with photography duo
and their work has been documented in a brilliantly Geoffrey Cottenceau and Romain Rousset (following
designed book by Bonbon. The 2009 catalogue comes collaborations with Korner Union and Cortis
on the back of two others designed by Valeria & Sonderegger in 2007 and 2008 respectively) and
Bonin and Diego Bontognali of the Zurich studio. mixed their images with snaps by the designers
The pair first won the commission from the Swiss themselves.
Federal Office of Culture in 2006 and were asked to One of the most beguiling and successful
design the book for 2007, 2008 and 2009. It may sound aspects of Bonbons design for the catalogue is
like a dream of a job but it was hard-earned its application of type. The font used throughout
Bonin and Bontognali were themselves winners of is Piek, designed by Philipp Herrmann and
an award in 2002 with their diploma project, a book distributed by optimo.ch. The grid anchors images
about trash and fast typography. and text blocks to the central area of the page
Our idea was to make more than a catalogue. but this is also used as a sort of central margin,
The winners of the award should not be forgotten around which text at a 45-degree angle is arranged.
after six months, say the designers, echoing their The whole experience is very satisfying and if
own experience of winning. Bonbon alighted on the you find yourself hungry for even more Swiss design
idea of making an encyclopaedia. We wanted to talent, you can see the work of the winners in
collect a lot of different information about the an exhibition at MUDAC in Lausanne until the end
winners and their work, they explain, good, bad, of January.
wrong, funny, strange, right, new, old, inconsistent,
not important, private in a way, to show them www.bonbon.li
in a larger context than only in design. Thus www.philippherrmann.ch
Showcase January 31
Melanie Mues Roger Hilton Night Letters
The drunk, desperate nighttime ramblings of a man an ashtray) and touching intimacy (9.30 Sun
to his wife may not sound like great material for I awoke and refreshed and poking up I found you
a book, but in the case of artist Roger Hilton they sound asleep. Well this is just to say I miss
make for fascinating and moving reading. A body you very much. There is nothing in the world will
of work entitled Night Letters, which comprises replace you). Sometimes such magnificent leaps
Hiltons handwritten works as well as a collection occur all within the space of one letter, or even
of small gouache paintings, all produced during one spidery paragraph.
the two years leading up to his death in 1975, has The extremely personal nature of Hiltons work
been brought together in an enchanting new volume is interpreted with finesse by Mues in her design.
designed by Melanie Mues. The title is embossed white out of black in Hiltons
The letters Hilton wrote veer from domestic shaky handwriting on a cloth-bound cover, giving
arrangements (Get some ham. And beetroot), to the book a diary-like feel. The bulk of the book
philosophical flights (The eating thing is idiotic; is given over to full-page reproductions of pages
the fucking thing is equally idiotic: the song, of Hiltons letters, drawings and paintings. If you
music, art thing is idiotic. What remains? Nature werent a fan of Hilton before, you may well emerge
raw in tooth and claw) and desperate pleas from this book a love-struck convert. I think he
(All these things are sitting in the kitchen. deserves to be back on everyones bookshelves, says
I dont want to go out to that horrid, cold place: Mues. He was a larger-than-life character, always
egg cup, spaghetti, bacon, potatoes, milk. All could rebellious against the art farts and institutions.
be made available to me. Why keep the whiskey out
there instead of in here?), to great humour(Clear www.muesdesign.com
up your cigarette stubs, even normal people use
Showcase January 32
Melissa Price M1
Following her study in book form of the building but designed with many factors in mind: optimum
faades of Londons Barbican Centre, Melissa Price sightlines, ease of driving at high speed, blending
of Cartlidge Levene has created a screenprinted with the landscape, and providing an ever-changing
graphic homage to the M1 motorway, which celebrated view for drivers.
its fiftieth birthday in 2009. Price put on her Prices twenty-page book contains her collection
historians hat and delved into the background of drawings of the motorways junctions seen from
of the M1, and motorway design in general, to find above, and this view, executed in white and motorway
inspiration for the book. She was delighted to find blue, emphasises the balance and simple elegance
that motorways something usually considered of these structures. Accompanying the illustrations
ugly, brutal or boring could yield some true are type compositions giving a full listing of the
aesthetic pleasure and remarkable design strategies. destinations signed from each junction, going in
I was interested in the graceful curves and shapes order from South to North. The book has a short
of the junctions and found that there are huge cover in paper-lined bookcloth with a Singer-sewn
variations, from the simplest interchanges to those binding. Despite Prices clean modernist treatment,
with multiple flyovers and roundabouts, Price there is an unmistakable air of nostalgia about her
reveals. Her research also unearthed the methods undertaking, a whiff of Britain in the late 1950s,
used by motorway designers to make our driving poised on the cusp of a new era, before the rest
experience more enjoyable and safe. The earliest of the UK was crisscrossed with motorways and when
sections of the M1 had several long straight motoring rather than simply getting from A to B
stretches which were discovered to have a soporific was a civilised pastime. You can buy your copy
effect on drivers, she continues. In later motorway of M1 now from Kaleid Editions on Redchurch Street
construction sweeping curved shapes were introduced in London.
after it was recognised that a changing perspective
and vista helps drivers stay alert, improving www.kaleideditions.com
safety. So the shapes and curves are not arbitrary, www.melissaprice.co.uk
ShowcaseJanuary
Showcase December 3333
No Brow and Blexbolex Abecederia
Abecedaria is a chilling and rather odd sci-fi cum In Abecederia, Blexs comfortingly familiar
crime thriller story that has been published as pulp-fiction writing style is set against his sparse,
an artists book by No Brow Press. The story tells off-beat illustration style to deliberately
of two notorious criminal brothers on the run from disquieting effect. The whole book is printed using
the law in the 1960s. The pair are chased from France just three spot colours, which are overlapped in
to Africa, where they seek refuge in the fabled places to create depth and also to show off the
settlement of Abecederia. They hope to find virtuosity of the printing.
sanctuary there, but instead stumble on something Relatively new on the independent publishing
altogether more sinister involving gory human scene but already gaining a reputation for
experiments, brainwashing and the evil Dr Praxis. excellently produced obscure titles and specialising
The story and accompanying illustrations come in illustration, No Brow is an admirable venture. You
from the fertile imagination of French illustrator can pick up a copy of Abecedaria from shops around
Blexbolex and this is the first of his works to be London and the UK including Artwords, KK Outlet,
translated into English. It was originally published Beyond the Valley and various galleries, as well as
in 2007 and soon after, in 2008, Blexbolex was the select outlets around the world (check the No Brow
recipient of the prestigious Most Beautiful Book website for details).
Award at the Leipzig Book Fair for his work on
another title, Leute. www.nobrow.net
Showcase January 34
Lesley Moore C-Mon & Kypski
Alex Clay is keen to point out that there is no album is so visual, Clay continues, that we wanted
person named Lesley Moore at the design agency to use that in some way, so we came up with a pyramid
Lesley Moore. Its a phonetic play on less is more, for the limited-edition version. We thought they
just as C-Mon in the name of the band it designed are never going to go for it, but lets propose
this sleeve for is a play on Simon (Akkermans, one it anyway.
of the bands frontmen). Got it? To Lesley Moores surprise the band agreed and
Dutch band C-Mon & Kypski chose Lesley Moore there followed an extremely short turnaround on the
to design its fourth album, We Are Square, to convey work it took just three weeks from concept to final
the message that, having started out as a two-piece, delivery and was developed in co-operation with the
they had now racked up another couple of members studio Guido van Gerven. The result is a satisfyingly
and emerged as a fully wired electro-stomping-and- tactile article that suits the space-ska-lounge,
grinding four-piece. sax-metal, astro-funk that is C-Mon & Kypski.
Their previous albums were much more sample- Its every designers dream to do a record cover.
based, explains Clay, so they wanted to show they We were very happy that our first one turned out like
are a band that also play instruments. To do this, this, says Clay. Lesley Moore would be proud.
Clay combined hand-drawn portraits of the band
members with a concept inspired by the title of the www.lesley-moore.nl
album. On the inner sleeve, he used photographs by www.c-monandkypski.nl
Gabriel Eisenmeier of their instruments with cut-
outs based on a square shape. The title of the
Showcase January 35
Profile Victor Moscoso 36
Profile
victor
Moscoso
Portrait of Victor Moscoso
by Laurie Wilson
www.laurie-wilson.com
San Francisco, Brighton in the Himalayas, the place where, Victor is obviously someone who has a handle on his
half a century ago, beatniks turned hipsters under the business matters. As I set my Dictaphone going he also sets
Californian sun. Victor Moscoso, the old master of psychedelic his own going, his wonderfully evocative Brooklyn-meets-
art, lives just north of the city, in sleepy Marin County across West Coast drawl announcing the wrong date into the tape
the Golden Gate Bridge. I could pop over in a taxi and go see recorder. I correct him. He tells me Ive got toothpaste on
him in an afternoon. my chin. Its showbiz, you always gotta remember that, he
Sitting by the pool after my arrival in San Francisco, reminds me. I like Victor.
I call Victor. How much is the fee for this interview? he asks. Dont blame me for being an American artifact, I dont
There is no fee, Victor, but its great publicity for you, I say. like it either, Victor begins, meaning every word. Im a poster
Jeez, man, comes the reply, youre getting me to do all this guy, thats it. We begin talking around the psychedelic art label.
work for nothing? Okay. Make sure you buy my book before The Ninja Mutant Turtles. They lucked out, man. Leonardo,
you come and see me. Im about an hour and a half out Michelangelo, they had the right idea. Digging up treasure.
of town. I can give you a couple of hours, I guess. Thank I guess hes talking about commercial art. Fuck this fine-art
you, Victor. shit, man.
A week later Im sitting in a cab, clutching the book I bring up a quote from Victor at the end of his book
(Sex, Rock and Optical Illusions, published by Fantagraphics What is the job? When do you want it? What does it pay?
in 2005), heading over the bridge with a nervous taxi driver Oh shit, here comes one of those rare guys, an artist
at the wheel. Hes wondering why hes taking an Englishman that knows about business, he laughs. I always treated
into the remote hills beyond the bay. Im wondering whether the job as if I was a plumber. Would you ask a plumber to
he knows where were going and what kind of reception I can fit a toilet for free? No. So dont ask me. I call myself a graphic
expect when I arrive. designer, thats a practical and useful role in society. But
Moscoso, Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley back in the 60s the term graphic designer didnt exist and the
and Wes Wilson were the Big Five of what is now called profession was new. Throughout, Victor makes it clear that
the psychedelic art movement, producing posters for music he was a poster artist: Thats what we were known as, me,
venues the Fillmore Auditorium and the Avalon Ballroom Griffin, Mouse, Kelley, we were the poster guys. There was
for the Family Dog collective. Moscoso was also making no other way of communicating about these dance events.
posters for his own company, Neon Rose, around the Haight- No radio, no television, this was the only way.
Ashbury district. From 1966 to 1969, these five ruled. Their He arrived in San Francisco in 1959, from Brooklyn
works lined the streets, advertising gigs by the Grateful Dead, where his family had emigrated to from Spain at the onset
The Sparrow (later to become Steppenwolf), Jefferson of the Spanish Civil War. Brooklyn is a great place to be from,
Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis says Victor mischievously. Prior to his move to San Francisco,
Joplin, Quicksilver and the Miller Blues Band, among countless he attended Cooper Union before transferring to Yale. At
other legendary performers of the time. Their work was picked Yale he studied under the father of Op Art, Joseph Albers.
up around the world and became the trademark graphic Albers was a refugee of another war. He had been a student,
depiction for the music and counterculture of a time. Today, then a professor in the Department of Design at the Bauhaus
Moscoso is one of the last men standing. His talent is equal in the 1920s and early 1930s. When the Nazi Party gained
to those he advertised. He is a legend. power in 1933 Albers felt the heat and fled to America. Or,
As you cross the Golden Gate Bridge from the city, the as Victor astutely sums up, Hitler sent all his non-performing
landscape changes. Marin County looks a little like the Lake artists to the USA. Albers bridged a transition between
District, or more like Devon in the summertime perhapslush, traditional European art and the new American art of the
green, remote and hilly. The GPS directs us down a steep path 1950s and 1960s. This was the first of two points in Victors
into a thicket. Suddenly, from behind a bush, out leaps a tall, career when he would be the right guy at the right place at
dark, bespectacled man in a bandana. He jabs at the window the right time. The second would not be until seven years
of the cab. This is Victor. later in Haight-Ashbury.
It turns out the bush has a door and the door leads to Arriving in San Francisco just as the beatnik culture,
Victors studio. Victors studio is amazing. Theres nowhere to gestated in his beloved NYC, reached the mainstream
sit, its stuffed full of drawings, reference materials; bits and public consciousness around the world, Victor got a job as
bobs. Its man-shed heaven. a labourer, earning three dollars an hour, more than any
I had been filming my arrival on my camcorder but Victor of my college friends, he notes. But Victor is dismissive of
objects. Hey, what you doing? Put that away. Theres stuff in the beatnik movement, calling them fantasists. There was a
here thats not copywritten yet. Sorry, Victor. more seriously active, more rebellious time to come.
02
The year of his arrival in San Francisco, America had Holy shit. I had no idea, none of us did, Moscoso
become engaged in a war that was the catalyst to a cultural remembers of the show. We did posters to get people to
revolution and a shift in the thinking and understanding go to the dance hall. Sure, it got smart, we did it to entertain
of America as a world power around the world. A war that them, and the information became entertaining. Here I am
questioned the American Dream, a war that brought together doing what I want to and getting paid. Goodbye, Van Gogh
a generation and divided a nation. Victor was on a different syndrome. The Joint Show smoked the butt of the Haight-
front line. I got called up by the army, which wasnt killing Ashbury love-in and Moscoso was already pushing things
anybody yet by then, but still I didnt want to join up so I forward again. By this time Im starting to get tired of posters,
enrolled in college. We had more in common with the youth gee, Im tired of them. Im with Rick Griffin, he had been a
of China than we did with our parents. America was an army cartoonist before the posters, and we came up with a plan of
state. If your hair touched your collar youd be expelled doing a full-colour magazine. We called it Zap Comix. Griffin
from school. Married couples slept in separate beds. We ran into Robert Crumb, he adored Griffins work, and here
were like we know what you do, man. Christ, this is fucking we had all this unbelievable iconoclastic imagery. I took over
bullshit. America. The country that has brought you the production and Wes Wilson joined in. That nailed it to the
Vietnam War wall. Zap 2 comes out and it takes off, selling in every head
San Francisco was already a magnet for Americas shop in the States. Speaking about the triple-X-rated content
counterculture. Beat-generation writers living in North Beach (including incest and severed penis heads) in Comix, Victor
fuelled the renaissance with poetry that quickly took a hold says, Its one thing to think it but to draw it then to
on the burgeoning music scene. By now Victor was teaching publish it? Wow. Outrage. We thought all the taboos had been
at the Institute for Art, which put him in touch with the scene broken. Right down the pipes, man, they cant swallow this one.
directly. Artists like Alton Kelley and Stanley Mouse were This was the last stand. By now the front line in the
hooked up with music promoter Chet Helms under the title alternative war had broken ranks, Bill Graham was creaming
of The Family Dog. Promoter Bill Graham was lurking, ready to money with business deals that were decidedly more self-
muscle in with his hard business ideas. The short-lived serving than they were in the interests of the community
but highly productive period in which San Francisco was that had provided the talent. The new drugs of choiceheroin
to dominate as the most iconicposter art centre of the world and cocainehad turned the hippies sour. The war in Vietnam
was about to begin. Victor saw an opportunity. For the second was now, even in the mainstream, an agreed failure. The
time in his life he was the right guy in the right place at the party was over.
right time. I saw what those guys were doing and I thought Victor continued working on the fringes producing record
I can do this. sleeves, notably the excellent Headhunters album cover for
While the posters Mouse and Kelley produced were Herbie Hancock in 1973, and working to demand for a clutch
heavily influenced by Art Nouveau graphics, particularly the of 60s contemporaries including Jerry Garcia of the Grateful
work of Alfons Mucha, Victor remembered the teachings Dead. Victor also continued to teach, primarily teaching
of Albers and that of his own plumber trade work ethics. students how to use their portfolio to get work, an honourable
Within three posters I was in the game. I started my own task and one that is only just beginning to be understood as
production company and went to the promoterswho initially necessary by art schools even today.
said they couldnt afford meand said: Hire me and Ill give Victor is incredibly humble about his influence and
you 200 posters, then Ill print the rest and sell them myself. abilities and is refreshingly candid about his generation. Every
This worked out well, I was selling them for a dollar a print. generation is as talented as the last, he says. My work was
The posters were everywhere. Victor recalls that the about the craft of putting opposing colours together. It had
San Franciscan police were getting heavy-handed with the nothing to do with acidhow to you paint the birth and rebirth?
hipsters, by now called hippies, beating them up for leaving You cant. All I did was say: Hey, go buy a ticket to this, you
garbage cans out with the lids off. The neighbourhood got might get something out of this. Its easy to rebel.
together and said, Hey, lets not give the cops any excuse When I ask about the resurgence of psychedelic art in
to fight so I came up with a poster that simply said Clean Up. the 1990s with the advent of technology that produces fractals
After that Id go walking down Telegraph Hill and thered be and the fact that Timothy Leary said that the digital revolution
posters in every window. It was like the Sistine Chapel, man. is the new LSD, Victor retorts: He took too many damn drugs.
Wow, I loved it. Victors love for his craft, away from the strobes and
By 1966, the hippies had reached their high. Sixty-six bongos of the dance halls, is obvious. He speaks with emotion
was the true summer of love, Moscoso asserts. George about offset litho and stone litho techniques, drawing on
Harrison was right when he said it was shit in 67. The trouble limestone, the texture and physical work of printing and
started when the dealer Super Spade got killednew drugs, silkscreening. But its time to go. The taxi driver whos been
new peoplejust because a guy has got long hair dont shitting himself ever since I told him that there were probably
mean to say you should trust him. bears in this part of the woods is tooting his horn. In the hurry
The descent may have started in 67 but it was also the to leave I forget to get my book signed, a regret that hangs
year the Big Five made it really big. Often cited as a pioneering over my head.
event in the evolution of psychedelic poster art, The Joint What was he like? asks the taxi driver as we head back
Show was held at the Moore Gallery in July 1967. The poster over the bridge. I just met a master, I reply. So go and buy
guys had an art show and the spotlight was well and truly on his book, Sex, Rock and Optical Illusion.
them. People spilled out onto the street and hung off rooftops Hes not a plumber, hes a decorator and, like
to celebrate the decorators of a revolution. It sounds like one Michelangelo in his time, the best in the business.
hell of a party. There you go, Victor. I sold it.
02
Travel
The simple act of getting around often brings you into contact with some
unexpectedly inspiring graphic design. Take mapsparticularly classics
such as Harry Becks Tube map or the New York subway mapboth are
discussed by the latters designer, Massimo Vignelli, in our Travel Special
Report. We also deconstruct the semiotics of bicycle logos with Max
Leonard and Jason Jules takes us on a trip to the dizzying heights of now-
defunct airline Braniffs glamorous corporate look courtesy of designer
Alexander Girard. Please fasten your belts for take-off
Massimo Vignellis 1972 design for the New York City Subway map has become a classic piece
of graphic design on a par with Harry Becks London Underground map. KERRY WILLIAM
PURCELL met up with Vignelli in New York to discuss the finer points of map design, the inspiration
for the 1972 original and how it stacks up against the version that replaced it.
Yet Vignelli did have to address the problem of establishing a correlation between the
subway and the geography of the city. His own River Thames moment came when he decided to
remove any reference to Central Park in his design: We did take out Central Park because it was
so much of a problem, because of the compression you need for putting in information. However, such a
move was seen as too severe, so Vignelli took the decision to compress the park from a rectan-
gle shape to a square shape. He admits that many New Yorkers were shocked by this. Ultimately,
people know that that isnt the way. And if they see it that way, they dont trust the map anymore. But if you
dont have it, its great. In retrospect, one imagines Vignelli would have liked to have taken
this one step further. In 2008, Mens Vogue produced a limited-edition signed reprint of the
subway map. Yet, as the whole nomenclature had changed since he first produced the map,
when first approached by the magazine Vignelli only agreed to do it if he could produce a
new one. So we did one, Vignelli notes, and it had some kind of schematic geography, with the water,
because New York is full of islands and peninsulas etc. At one point they ran out of blue ink and just added a
white background. If I had seen that from the beginning, I would have eliminated the blue completely.
Along with the Central Park issue, one of the criticisms repeatedly
levelled at Vignellis map was that it failed to connect the subway to
the geography above ground. This case was made by Michael Hertz, the
designer (with the MTA [Metropolitan Transit Authority]) of the map that
would eventually replace Vignellis in 1979. He noted that, for instance,
New Yorkers knew that at 50th Street and 8th Avenue you must walk a long
block east to Broadway whereas Vignelli clearly shows it as an intersec-
tion. Yet what Hertz ignores is that Vignelli did try to bridge the gap
between his diagrammatic map and the local area of the station. Like a
diver coming up for air, he offered a variety of maps to aid the decom-
pression from train to street. We had a system map, which is the diagram,
Vignelli notes, we had a geographical map, a verbal map, and we did a fourth
one which was a neighbourhood map. The system map they did. The neighbourhood
map they did in some stations. They never did a geographical map. This was a mistake.
Because if you come out of a station, you want to know what streets are around, thats
why you need a geographical map. But if you need just information related to the lines,
how to get from point A to point B, that is the system map. The verbal map was just
telling you verbally: if you want to go to Times Square, you take this train, go to Grand
Central, and take the shuttle and so on. Therefore, we were really covering all the
aspects, the diagrammatic, the verbal, the geographical and the local [neighbourhood
map]. So they cant accuse us of not conveying information.
Each map offered a different reading of the immediate environment. For Vignelli, the prob-
lem with the current map designed by Hertz/MTA is that it attempts to provide all of this
information in a single space. As he remarks, You know, there is the fork, there is the knife and there
is the spoon. And each one of these three things has a specific use. You cannot eat soup with a fork.
Yet maybe in some way the current subway map perfectly mirrors the
highly individualised society that is New York City. Vignellis map asked
the passengers to forgo some of their own narrowly defined demands in
favour of a design that could better serve the whole. Ultimately, to
accept the drawing as a diagram and not a geographical map required
a level of altruism that just was not there. For Vignelli, freedom in
New York implies a disrespect for the other, because it is a me-me-me culture. It is my
freedom and to hell with you. There is no respect for the other. It is typical New York
mentality, which is not rigorous enough. And it wants to have everything. The result
is a design where the passenger is being given too much information. As
Waterhouse concurs, The current map has everything they need, its just
that it does it so badly. Its absurd. Do you need helicopter routes on
the map when you are underground? Vignelli puts it more succinctly:
While we designed a map with a grid, they designed a map with greed.
Design and cycling have a relationship characterised by extremes: the functional beauty of
a classic steel road bicycle; the garish ugliness of 1980s professional Lycra kit.
In a sense, for all frame-builders, the frame is the distinguishing mark, a logo in
itself. This was most true in the 1930s when British frame-builders were forbidden from
placing their name on their racers bicycles, the rationale being that this sponsorship
would compromise the amateur sport. Some, therefore, deformed tubes in patented patterns
so that the bike rushing onwards to glory would be instantly recognisable in the following
weeks cycling press.
Yet bicycle logo heritage runs rich and deep, its early course, for the large part,
outside the design establishment. Traditionally, top road bikes were built by hand in one-
man workshops, by artisans producing a few hundred bicycles a year for local riders. A
few engaged with logo design as a branding discipline, but one feels that many would much
rather have been building frames. The physical constraints imposed by the bicycle doubt-
less also concentrate a logo designers mind. A traditional frame is made of steel tubes
one inch in diameter there is only so much usable surface area. Long waterslide decals on
the down tube and a badge on the head tube are the norm.
Despite, or because of, these factors, there is a common aesthetic and an iconogra-
phy, inspired by the spirit of competitive cycling, technological innovation and notions
of craft and heritage. What follows only scratches the surface, but explores five themes
through some outstanding designs.
Logo for Ugo de Rosa, one of the most revered frame- Run With the Hunted Kinfolk logo, contemporary take on
builders. One of several Italian logos that use traditional head badges by Marco Hernandez of LitFuse Tattoo
playing-card imagery for new Japanese-American company that hand-builds steel frames
Logo for Campagnolo, circa 1930s Logo for Eddie Merckx, circa 1980
Logo for Hetchins, 1934 Logo for Hill Bros, with coat of arms of Padiham in Lancashire,
and Latin inscription Fortune, the companion of valour
Original logo for Cinelli Head badge for the Mash SF Cinelli bike, designed by Benny Gold
The Kalavinka head badge, depiciting Logo for Bianchi, 1885 Logo for Flying Pigeon
a kalavinka (Buddhist heavenly spirit),
is hand-painted by the framebuilders
wife in his Tokyo workshop
Logo for Rollapaluza, a race club where riders compete Dubonnet Tour de France advertisement
on bikes bolted to a stand, with no front wheel. The logo
by Wayne Peach, shows two bicycles in head-to-head combat.
La Vie Claire health food stores introduced Piet Mondrians Logo for Molteni, the pro team sponsored by a sausage company
Composition A to its team jerseys during the 1980s
02
01
Braniff was to air travel what Rolling Stone and Playboy were to maga-
zine publishing; a radical rethinking of everything that had happened
up to that date. The story of Braniff plays out like a Mad Men-type TV
series; a tale of an age gone by, where marketing men and corporate
presidents were Americas modern pioneers and where being maverick was
a quality to be admired, not shunned. A tale of affairs, divorces and
disasters and ultimately of a collapse caused by misjudgment on a grand
scale its the tale of Icarus played out in modern clothes. Whats more,
Braniff left a cultural legacy that were living with even now.
As part of his summary exit from Continental (with whom he would experience fierce competi-
tion until the bitter end), Lawrence took with him marketing agency Jack Tinker Associates.
Led by the ace account executive Mary Wells, they had been working on a project to market
Continentals new fleet of jets. Wells was modern and smart and cultured: for example, she
had Ray and Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen furniture for her wedding (her first wedding,
that is). She would drive most of Braniffs groundbreaking campaigns. Married to different
people at the time, Lawrence and Wells would eventually divorce and marry each other.
By virtue of the countrys size and its postwar prosperity, the American
commercial airline industry was already way more developed than its UK
or European counterparts, but it was still functioning within a cultural
context established during or prior to World War II. Fares were incred-
ibly expensive and regulated the core thinking here was that in order
to ensure the safe running of planes, the government needed to limit
competition between airlines that might eventually involve lower fares
and therefore, it was assumed, standards. More, this meant that the gov-
ernment undertook to ensure that these airlines never went bust.
They were faced with something which many designers and marketing people are faced with
today; where oftentimes if there are no inherent qualities to distinguish one product
or service from another, theres no alternative but to carefully manufacture an identity.
Turning Braniff Airlines into a unique brand provided a creative template that still has
currency today. The goal was to formulate a brand differentiation seemingly out of nowhere.
What they did was recruit a crack creative team, all of whom brought something different
to the party. Although they probably didnt use the term at the time, what they needed was
a big idea. In her biography, Mary Wells Lawrence explains: I saw the opportunity in color
the way Flo Ziegfeld must have seen an empty stage. I saw Braniff in a wash of beautiful
color.
The Braniff team recruited Emilio Pucci, the Italian designer known for
his prints and his passion for colour, to design the uniforms for the
staff from ground staff to pilots, with special attention to the air
stewardesses, whom they summarily renamed air hostesses. These designs
turned the servile, stuffy air stewardess into a strong, independent,
young, available woman not too far away from ideas found within the
fashion magazines of the time, except that their sole purpose was to
travel, have a good time and serve the needs of their passengers (most of
whom were men). The design of their uniforms enabled the hostesses to do
what was coined and advertised as The Air Strip, as they gradually took
off pieces of outer clothing during the course of the flight. Somehow we
got the idea that Braniff routes always took people from cold places to
warm places, explains Wells Lawrence. Further, Braniff made space age-
style helmets for its air hostesses, to protect their hairstyles while
cutting through busy airports, and bikinis in which Pucci ensured they
were photographed for press purposes at any given opportunity.
Then, in an inspired move, the Braniff team recruited Alexander Girard. Raised in Flor-
ence, Girard studied architecture in Rome and ended up as a textile designer in New York
working with Herman Miller and the Eameses. Like Pucci, whom hed coincidentally known
growing up in Florence, his thing was colour Mexico and folk art being big themes in his
work. Braniff was the kind of branding gig designers usually only ever dream of: to design
the interiors, the check-in counters, the club lounges, the serving trays, the seats and,
most importantly, the planes livery. Later, in 1973, Alexander Calder took over the gig that
Girard had initiated.
02
03 Braniff boutique
advertising, 1965
05
04
02
03
But even before the deregulation of US air travel in 1978, the Braniff
glow was beginning to fade; it wasnt that the idea had run its course,
or that those behind it had lost confidence in this grand project, it was
that they had too much confidence in it and believed its potential was
limitless. The tale of Braniff and Harding Lawrence is a case study not
only in the power of marketing and image but also its weaknesses. If The
End of the Plain Plane was a statement of intent, then The Air Strip,
followed by copy lines like The Most Exclusive Address in the Sky, were
indications of a growing arrogance. In fact, it became less and less
about the experience of flying and more about the power of advertising
and the sweet smell of success.
Ads like When You Got It, Flaunt It, are a neat exam-
ple of the fine line which the brand walked between
branding and bragging. Imagine: Sonny Liston sitting
next to Andy Warhol on a plane.
Andy Warhol: Of course, remember theres an inherent beauty in soup cans that Michelangelo could not have
imagined existed
Voiceover: Talkative Andy Warhol and gabby Sonny Liston always fly Braniff. They
like our girls, they like our food, they like our style and they like to be on time. Thanks for
flying Braniff, fellas.
Thanks to Victor Constantini for his expert consultation and invaluable industry insight.
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182
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74
Logoform
Voigtlnder by
Stuart Geddes
76
Letterform
Serapion
lowercase
a by Jan
Middendorp
78
Bookshelf
Essentials
HUGO introduces
a story of people
who have fought
the good fight
80
Viewpoint
What is your
most memorable
journey?
View
View How to Be Green
Its a shock to learn that the manufacture of just one sheet of A4 paper uses up the same energy
as burning a light bulb for an hour. In this two-part look at the paper industry and how designers
can make better decisions about sourcing and buying paper, Nat Hunter uncovers some
inconvenient truths. Illustration by Richard Hogg.
View Logoform 74
Almost more extraordinary than the lettering itself Whatever its history, though, the lettering
Voigtlnder
by Stuart Geddes
is the fact that Voigtlnder has, through very thick itself is a heady mix of swashed calligraphy and
and very thin, stuck with this logo for more than moments of blackletter that seems as though it was
250 years. That this logo survived the twentieth last popular in the 1970s. It is unique and odd and
century is alone close to a miracle, amidst the beautiful in a way that you very rarely see in logos
flurry of modernisation, particularly in the world any morebecause, I think, theyre thought of as
of camera makers. logos, or brands, or parts of identity systems. The
In attempting to research this logo, I stumbled thinking behind a piece of lettering like this has a
across a black hole of information. While there lot more to do with the semantics of a trademark,
is plenty of information about the company itself or the original cattle-branding meaning of brand.
and its a tumultuous history, from a royal privilege That is, its simply a distinctive mark.
to produce opera binoculars, inventing the zoom
lens and passing on buying Rollei, to being bought
by Rollei and eventually going out of business in
the early 80sthere is not a word to be found on
the glorious Voigtlnder logo itself.
Was it Johann Christoph Voigtlnders
signature? Was it the signage from the front of its
first lens shop? Did it even have a first lens shop?
My guess is that some nameless printer or signwriter
made this lettering, perhaps in a popular style
of the day.
View Logoform 75
View Letterform
View Letterform 76
To choose one character from a typeface is like interface for immersive reading. Type is more than
Serapion lowercase a
by Jan Middendorp
designed by Frantiek torm
choosing one colour plane from a Mondrian a channel to convey language. It also provides
painting, or a single flower in an Arcimboldo. the text with a cultural contexttime, place,
Type design is not about single glyphs. It is about circumstancesand must draw, keep and guide the
creating elements to form a whole, about creating readers attention. A typographic design
(or anticipating) a modular landscape with a (a page) that does this successfully is not about
purpose. Pretty details are a by-product. Admittedly, uniformity, it is about diversity. It may also be
the details CAN be unbelievably pretty. Much of about attitude, dignity, history, humour, resistance,
the font fetishism weve seen since type became confusion, even illegibility. Typefaces can be
cool is about details. But too much attention called in to support or willingly sabotage the
to detail can make a font fall apart. When each typographers/designers strategy.
wacky g screams out from the paragraph: Look Which takes me to the typefaces of Prague
at my ear. Look at my tail, we may be distracted designer Frantiek torm. torms typefaces are
by spectacular g-ness and stumble over the seldom neutral. They are expressive and personal.
word which that g is supposed to help form. So They refer to tradition in a number of ways:
apparently we need coherence for a typeface to respectfully, irreverently, or tongue-in-cheek. They
function as a reading tooland maybe restraint are too picturesque for some peoples tastes, while
in applying detail. others see torms typefaces as the ideal tool for
Functionalism tried to convince us that conveying emotion and atmosphere. It wouldnt
responsible form-giving is about the elimination work if his fonts werent very well drawn and fine-
of any arbitrary detail; that functionality is best tuned to function in a page of text. While many of
helped by objectivity; and that objectivity equals his alphabets abound with unexpected details and
predictabilty, modularity, uniformity. Yes, but unusual changes of direction, the overall impression
and here I paraphrase Erik Spiekermann, talking is harmonious: they are consistent in their diversity.
about Helvetica in THAT moviewhen the general I have chosen torms Serapion, possibly
dress code is uniform, you dont get a typeface. his craziest serifed roman. I used it for years as a
You get an army. And a pretty boring one at that. typeface for headlines and intros in the bi-annual
So we want to find a different kind of coherence. cultural listings of the City of Ghent. It was eminently
Maybe we do need the details after all. functional: it grabbed the attention and conveyed a
Typography is not merely about communicating feeling of excitement and fun. I picked the lowercase
content. Let me rephrase that: setting and laying a because its a beginning and it makes you feel
out text is not merely about creating an invisible something special is going to happen.
View Letterform 77
View Bookshelf Essentials
At a time of year when our beliefs (or lack thereof) come into focus, HUGO leads us to
an inspiring book that is not only about believing in something, but putting your life on
the line to stand up for it. So, take a break from your New Years resolution list and meet
the graphic designers, printers and publishers whose work has changed or saved lives.
Paris, 1997
Editions Hazan
The French Resistance
by Raymond Aubrac
my mind back to those who have sacrificed or have now? Because in this struggle it was writers,
been sacrificed in our name. After all, the yuletide graphic designers, printers and publishers who
season is such a sentimental time of year, and as were instrumental in the fight. As much as their
such is a perfect time for reflection on just where compatriots in the armed struggle, they put their
our cultural gifts come from and who has paid for lives on the line to do right, using the skills they
them. I like to do my bit to acknowledge all that. had to help fight the fight. They kept the lines of
In the book trade, Christmas is given over to communication and information flowing to others
near-hysterical positivity in a desperate attempt to in the Resistance, which was vital to its survival
maximise emotional customer spend and see us and eventual victory. They informed the general
through another year. Which is right and necessary citizenry for whom they fought, who were otherwise
in the contemporary battlefield of retail survival. But force-fed a diet of outrageous propaganda. They
in all this frenzy I feel personally compelled to offer faced huge obstacles and dreadful consequences
up at least one sobering note among all the cheerful execution being the very predictable
tomes. Its always a book that gives one pause for consequence of being caught, after torture.
thought, a little reminder that there has often been They stole paper where they could, and with
immense sacrifice and suffering in our cultural great difficulty hid enormous printing presses. They
back catalogue. printed by night in cold dark cellars, and distributed
This year my selection comes from Editions their work secretly and at great risk by day.
Hazan in Paris and its remarkable series, Pocket They wrote and designed and printed underground
Archives. Our volume is The French Resistance. newspapers, leaflets and posters to assist and
The introductory essay is written with great clarity inspire people they might never know, to help in
and simple grace by Raymond Aubrac, a Resistance a cause they often could not see but only believe
fighter, and the book is filled with excellent archival in. Much of this work was paid for out of their
pictures from numerous Resistance archives. The own pockets, from what little they had. Their work
book both substantiates and dispels our film noir was utterly compelling and meant something vital
views of the Resistance: some of it was beautiful to life itself.
and heroic, most of it was grubby and horrific. You could say they had no choice. That would
The text and pictures resonate with sacrifice and be true. But it would follow, then, that we do have
righteousness, with fighting what is wrong and choice in our beliefs and how we act on them
fighting those who would make an accommodation today. So when I put this book and its story before
with evil rather than stand up to it. Those who you it is with a hope that those of you in the creative
stand up to malign power often pay dearly for their community may realise that through your skills you
beliefs. The moral core in me wants desperately have the power to address power, and the means
to believe that right always wins in the endnot to make that communication/confrontation effective.
without arduous struggle, but that it does always Be it with words, graphics, posters or the web.
win. In our time, I think of people like the Tibetans. Those are skills vital to life and they should be
They face seemingly impossible odds, with little used to promote right and good. I hope you have a
hope of their struggle ever freeing them from a cause. Some cause. Why? We have it comparatively
tyrant as rich, ruthless and powerful as the colossus easy these days, struggling with things like bills
that is modern China. Still, they fight as best they and budgets, deadlines and competition. Not easy,
canwith what theyve got and appreciate our but tough out there for us is not the end of the
support, however we can give it. world. Others before us, before us in the past and
In June of 1940 the same thing could have standing before us now, have, and dostruggle with
been said for part of the population of France, much more. They often suffer horribly, or die trying,
which had been defeated by perhaps the most to redress wrongs.
efficiently well-oiled monster of militarism the world If you really want to make more sense of your
had ever seen, Nazi Germany. And until D-Day in life and this world, find yourself some cause and
June of 1944, the Frenchor rather those French fight for it using the skills and tools youve got.
people who opposed the collaborationist Vichy You have choice, which is something best utilised
regimehad to fight this beast as best they could, before a time comes when you may not. The
by clandestine and underground methods, locally purported old Chinese proverb/curse, May you live
or regionally organised, rarely facing the enemy in interesting times, may someday become, simply,
directly for lack of equipment, and suffering torture We all now live in interesting times. But before the
and execution when caught or betrayed. Ordinary world comes to that, put some of your time and
citizens did this because of beliefs stronger than skills into the causes of our times, and we might
personal safety or advantage. They did it because, just escape that most unforgiving season.
most fundamentally, they believed it is right to fight
wrong. This was the essence of the Resistance. hugo@grafikmag.com
Aurelia Lange
www.byboth.com
Earlier this year I went to Galveston on the coast
of Texas which is one of the most surreal places Ive
been to as it is consistently hit by hurricanes so is
like a weird seaside ghost town. It was a particularly
rainy day but as the bus set off the sun broke
through the clouds. I noticed that the guy in the
adjacent seat was trying to get my attention, but
I didnt understand what he was saying until
he put his hands together and arched both arms,
then pointed out the window at an enormous
rainbow. It was good.
www.chrissieabbott.co.uk
View Viewpoint 80
New Website Online Now
www.grafikmag.com
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84
Exhibition
Less and More
the Design Ethos
of Dieter Rams
reviewed by
Kerry William
Purcell
88
Six Books
The latest
design books
under fire
90
Exhibition
92
Slash: Paper
Exhibition
under the Knife
Without
reviewed by
Thought,
Amber Bravo
Volume 10
reviewed by
Dan Honey
94
Book
Francis
Baudevin:
Miscellaneous
Abstract
reviewed by
Angharad
Lewis
96
Exhibition
Robert
Urquhart
reports from the
Rotterdam
Designprijs 98
ceremony Magazine
Kalina,
Gym Class
and No.Zine
magazines
by resident
mag man
Michael
Bojkowski
Review
Review Exhibition
of Dieter Rams
Until 7 March
Reviewed by
Purcell
When walking around an exhibition, one can undergo KF 20 coffee machine, for
Braun, 1972. Photograph by
innumerable impressions. They may be inconsequential,
Koichi Okuwaki
bizarre, fleeting or trivial. Often, such thoughts are
instantly forgotten, but occasionally an image can
endure. For example, when visiting the Design Muse-
ums retrospective exhibition on the work of Dieter
Rams, entitled Less and More The Design Ethos of
Dieter Rams, I started to think about Terry Gilliams
1981 fantasy film Time Bandits. More specifically, I
recalled the scene in which the parents of the main
character, a young boy named Kevin, are sitting down
to dinner. While the mother is making fruit juice in a
blender, we see behind her a large array of white elec-
tronic kitchen utensils and gadgets (mixers, electric
knives and coffeemakers). While preparing the food,
the mother recounts the story of a friend whose own
electronic utensils were all destroyed because of a
blown fuse. The father retorts smugly: She should have
bought German. The overall implication of this scene
is clear. Kevins parents are transfixed (simplisti-
cally so) by a form of obsessive consumerism, forever
chasing after the latest time-saving device (earlier
in the film the mother boasts how a new kitchen can
turn a block of ice into a beef bourguignon in eight
seconds). Set in the early 1980s, the scene captures a
time when these newly fashioned electric consumables
still had the aura of something unique. Not yet gath-
ering dust under the kitchen sink, they sit proudly on
the shelf, bestowing a level of distinction and status
on their owner.
Unfairly or not, this scene came to mind when I was walking around the
Rams exhibition. Seeing people standing reverentially before a Braun
Multipractic Kitchen machine or the Braun Blow Dryer P 500, I was struck
by the corresponding encounter (albeit in a less rarefied environment)
many people would have had with these items in their homes throughout
the 1970s and 1980s. Yet, while in working-class homes many of these new
devices would have been valued for their ability to cut down on manual
labour (and the prestige of owning such an item), as is stated in one
of the exhibition captions, many Braun products were [originally] con-
ceived to appear in middle-class homes without being conspicuous for
their modernity. The restrained simplicity of Ramss designs made mod-
ern technological devices acceptable to a middle-class audience who did
not wish to be associated with the brash consumerism of the post-war
period. It was an approach echoed by Dr Fritz Eichler, who was respon-
sible for Brauns design and communication from 1956, who noted that
Braun designs were for people who do not consider their flats as stages
for their unfulfilled wishes and dreams, but as places that are simple,
tasteful and practical.
Review Exhibition 84
Review Exhibition 85
Review Exhibition 86
Perhaps it is this inconspicuous quality of Ramss designs that makes them appear rather
anonymous. Yet such simplicity is notoriously hard to achieve. It is a discreet and unas-
suming approach that does not clamour for attention. As Rams famously declared in his
much-quoted Ten Commandments on Design, good design is unobtrusive. Products designed
in this way are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should always
be neutral, they must not be seen, they must underline their usefulness. The consequence
of this reductive approach is most apparent in the hi-fi units and record players designed
by Rams. Unlike the shavers, hairdryers and various kitchen utensils, hi-fi audio sys-
tems often feature a rather complex array of switches, dials and buttons that communicate
information on radio frequencies and audio quality, along with the obvious stop/start, for-
ward/rewind and on/off functions of the different formats (tape, record player etc). With
clear and easy-to-understand product graphics, operating elements and switches arranged
in a logical order, Ramss hi-fi systems were perfectly formed devices whose function was
intuitive for the user. They are one of the highlights of this show.
In these hi-fi systems, the housings were often made of steel, with alu-
minium front plates and screws integrated discreetly into the design
process. The overall effect was one of understated elegance. It is in
these designs that one can detect the source of inspiration that has
influenced so many of todays contemporary designers. This link is rec-
ognised towards the end of the exhibition with a small glass cabinet
featuring objects by designers who have acknowledged their debt to Rams.
Alongside such figures as Jasper Morrison, Sam Hecht and Naoto Fuka-
sawa, the individual one thinks of most when looking at Ramss designs
is Apples Jonathan Ives. It is quite easy to play the game when walk-
ing around the show of spotting the embryonic Apple product. A handheld
radio that looks like an iPod, or a speaker that resembles an iMac in
materials and product graphics the influence is clear.
On the evening I attended this show, Rams himself gave a brief talk before the exhibition
opened. While he spoke the chimes and bleeps of various mobile devices echoed around the
entrance to the museum. I considered how the design of many of these devices was probably
indebted to the man who stood before me. Yet, in fifty years time, will these products look
as beautiful as the ones featured in this show?
Review Exhibition 87
Review Six Books
Published by Mark
Glitch: Designing
Batty, 24.95
Imperfection
Signage Systems +
The Fiction of
examples are each taken apart, broken down into graphic components and
then reviewed in consideration to building use and material construc-
Science
tion. The book would be a good addition to any library, even for the lay
person who may just be interested in retuning to look at their graphic
surroundings with fresh eyes.
It seems someones been left in a badly lit room with a lot of time to play around with
paper, a guillotine, cutting mat, a few mirrors and coloured elastic bands and managed
to get a book deal out of it. This frankly strange book by photographer Frank Hlsbmer
mainly comprises large-scale photographs of his mildly diverting sculptural compositions,
created, apparently, in a flood of inspiration between 2006 and 2008. The work professes a
deeper meaning exploring myths of the world of science but how whimsical arrangements
of paper and elastic bands do this has, unfortunately, evaded us.
Published by JRP
ECAL:
Ringier, 25.00
A Success Story
in Art and Design
way but this book opens the door to understanding the obsessive tenden-
cies of the autistic mind. It brings together artwork created by autis-
tic people of all ages, accompanied by Q&As in which the artists reveal
something of their reasons for expressing themselves visually and the
inspiration behind particular pieces of work. The range of talent is
massive, from zero to accomplished, so dont expect genius-like quali-
ties throughout. But if youre a practising or aspiring art therapist,
this book is essential reading and it also offers the casual reader an
insight into this curious strand of outsider art.
Published by
Mark Batty, 25.00
by Jill Mullin
Drawing Autism
enon of face food taking off. A cultural amalgama-
tion of character design and bento boxes, face food
started as Japanese mums and dads attempting to make
their kids lunchboxes more interesting by sculpt-
ing the food into popular comic and cartoon charac-
ters. With a little help from digital photography and
social networking sites, it is now a fully fledged
movement and the bento box creations from rice, ham,
egg and nori have reached staggering heights of crea-
tivity. This little book by Western face food enthu-
siast Christopher D. Salyas (his second volume on the
subject) is a how to book, with sketches and photos
of prime examples of face food, with ingredients and
instructions on how to make set pieces or come up with
your own little culinary tableaux. Our favourite is a
rendition of the famous Velvet Underground and Nico
banana sleeve by Andy Warhol, reshaped in sticky
rice, omelette and nori. Weirdly appetising.
Published by
by Christopher
D. Salyas
Museum of Art
Until 4 April
Slash: Paper
Reviewed by
and Design
The interior lobby of the new Museum of Art and Design Paperwork #701G (in the
beginning), by Andreas
(MAD) looks as if its been hit by a tempestuous paper-
Kocks, 2007. Photography
shredder, as the entire ceiling is consumed by Andrea by Christoph Knoch
Mastrovitos depiction of a storm seizing Christopher
Columbuss ship (as well as our attention). Mastro-
vitos paper maelstrom is just one of many impressive
pieces in the museums latest show, Slash: Paper under
the Knife, a multifaceted exhibition whose material
limitation belies its expansive vision.
Attention to detail is just one of the exhibitions prevalent motifs, and many of the pieces
included are as much about ideas as they are about form. Take, for example, conceptual art-
ist Nina Katchadourians Finlands Unnamed Islands. Katchadourian treats these geological
no-names as if they were biological specimens and encases each in a microscope slide for
display. The detail and precision required to physically render and display the tiny forms
is just as compelling as the overall concept.
Review Exhibition 90
One of the most striking features of Slash, however, is its refusal to view paper as a two-
dimensional object (both figuratively and literally). The sheer architectural scale of
some of the paper installations is staggering; Mia Pearlmans work, for example, exhibits
a level of dynamism and force that is somewhat unexpected in such a humble material. And
one of the most enjoyable pieces in the show is Rob Carters Stone on Stone. Carters seven-
minute-forty-four-second stop animation projection reconstructs the imaginary coevolu-
tion of two houses of worship, the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan
(which is nicknamed St. John the Unfinished and The White Elephant of the Upper West Side
for its constant state of disrepair) and Le Corbusiers Sainte Marie de La Tourette in Lyon,
France. The piece displays a wit and virtuosity that both complements and eclipses many of
the other pieces in the show. As with any collection, some works are more compelling and
successful than others, but Slash undoubtedly proves that works with paper deserve as much
attention as those on it. If youre looking for a diverse, inspiring collection of art to
view this winter, this paper exhibition should surely make the cut.
Review Exhibition 91
Review Exhibition
Tokyo, 23 October
Without Thought,
23 November
Dan Honey
Reviewed by
Volume 10
I stumbled upon Without Thought by accident when stop- Top: Rubber band box by
ping for lunch at the fancy Gyre complex in Omotesando Hiroki Nishii, Panasonic
Corporation
Hills. A small robot made from cardboard boxes beck-
oned me to the third floor. Standing before the works, Bottom: Shoe box by Aya
I was like a kid in a candy store. So much to look at. Masuda, Ricoh Company Ltd
The exhibition is the outcome of the 10th DMN Design Workshop directed by
Naoto Fukasawa. In these workshops, Fukasawa encourages a new guard of
Japanese designers, from varying fields and disciplines, to interrogate
his own design philosophy, Without Thought. In this regard, Fukasawas
design approach is an ongoing study of how humans unconsciously inter-
act with their environment. With this awareness, his designs are natural
responses to basic human needs resulting in optimum forms that have the
ability to improve everyday living.
The workshops begin with a three-day winter camp where participants work through prepared
exercises and case studies that prompt them to observe the quotidian and capture uncon-
scious yet shared human behaviour. Based on the findings, new design ideas are shared and
for several months after the camp, supported by ongoing review, the designers verify their
concepts through fast prototyping and model creation.
Aya Masuda, an emerging product designer for Ricoh, addressed the irri-
tating and puzzle-like task of returning stilettos to their box by
creating a contoured version where the shoe fits perfectly. Aki Kanai, a
designer of office supplies, created a mischievous family of wig boxes,
giving vitality to normally inanimate and rather awkward receptacles.
Mayumi Seki, a creator who shares my own desires, designed a single-
slice mirrored cake box that reflects to give the illusion of an entire
cake with eight perfectly plump, delectable slices.
Most appealing was the delightful miniature mandarin box, designed by Kai Tamura. With
fresh memories of slimy squashed fruit in the bottom of my bag, I couldnt help but think
how much better my general existence would be if the fruit I purchased for my lunch came
individually packaged for my enjoyment in Tamuras box.
Review Exhibition 92
Review Exhibition 93
Review Book
by Francis Baudevin
Angharad Lewis
Miscellaneous
Published by
JRP Ringier
Reviewed by
Abstract
While millions of graphic designers around the world ABM by Francis Baudevin, acrylic
on canvas, 211 x 171 cm, 2000
are busy making designs for the sides of packaging
boxes for products from pharmaceuticals to choco-
lates to records artist Francis Baudevin is busy
taking those designs apart and turning them into
paintings. Hes been at it since the late 1980s and has
a substantial oeuvre behind him, which is celebrated
in this new JRP Ringier title.
Im always keen to see what this publisher does next, partly because
its editorial remit is so interesting, but also because it always
has great designers working on its books. Miscellaneous Abstract by
Baudevin, designed by Swiss duo Gavillet & Rust, does not fail to deliver
on either front.
Baudevins aesthetic, as well as his technique, appears narrowly prescribed. Put simply, he
takes items from his collection of products and packaging, isolates the graphics on one
surface and reproduces it, removed of any text, as a hand-painted canvas or wall painting
scaled up ten times from the original size. If there are small printing errors or imper-
fections on the surface of the particular packet he is painting, these are included in the
final work. Baudevins paintings, then, are a curious cross between reproduction and still
life, injected with the conceptual decision to remove all text. It is the last that gives us
the key to his work.
Other comparisons float to the surface. Is Baudevin furthering Warholian narratives about
consumerism? Bob Nicklas, in his introduction, thinks this is a blind alley. It would be a
mistake, he says, to see Baudevins project as critical or ironic, as a commentary on the
culture of consumption (or self-medication) and distraction. His interest, like that of the
graphic and packaging designers who produced the logos and album covers, is simply visual
communication.
Review Book 94
would add that Baudevins project obfuscates and toys with our visual communication
I
receptors. Without the lettering of the original designs, our faculty for reading the work
relies totally on the visual contextualising these particular combinations of shape,
colour and composition rests agonisingly on the tip of your tongue, inciting you to scru-
tinise the logo whose meaning you would subconsciously read and process in a millisecond
in its original context on the side of a packet of painkillers. But here Baudevin lays bare
the crux of what graphic design is the amalgamation of text and image to convey a mes-
sage and how it works, by its deconstruction.
Finally, Gavillet & Rust, in its editorial design, gives an answering call
to the artists enterprise. The text of the book, including titles and a
long interview between Baudevin and Rainer Michael Mason, is set (in the
font Antique) with deliberate spaces in unexpected places it is made
to look like there are letters missing, when there are not. We are asked
to fall into step with a new way of reading the words textual touch
to the deconstruction of visual reading at work in Baudevins painting.
Review Book 95
Review Exhibition
Designprijs 2009
Reviewed by
Rotterdam
Beuningen
A Sunday afternoon in late November, the chill exacer- Atlases by Joost Grootens,
winner of the Rotterdam
bated by the murderous suburban mansion-block feel of
Designprijs 2009
the museum, home to the biennial the king of Dutch
design prizes the Rotterdam Designprijs.
The Rotterdam Design Prize, played out every other year since 1993, was last won by Amster-
dam-based graphic design agency Thonik, which set the natural course for a non-graphic
design-based selection this time round. Indeed, adding to speculation, only two of the ten
nominees shortlisted Gorilla and Studio Joost Grootens are strictly graphic design
ventures. A lecture and debate prior to the announcement also adds fuel. Headed by Alice
Rawsthorn, who is joined by designers Sylvain Willenz and Clemens Weisshaar, the debate is
riddled with product- and industrial-based issues and buzz words (sustainability, anyone?).
It is left to design critic Gert Staal to attempt to vocalise how Dutch design is currently
viewed by the rest of the world in short, excellent graphic design, not so sure about
manufacturing and other design platforms.
Studio Joost Grootenss delicate work on the Four Atlas book collection
is lost behind a glass case, while the Gorilla project (a two-year series
of graphic interventions in a national newspaper see Grafik issue 180)
shines. But then this is not just an exhibition, this is a prize that has
decided to shift the focus away from the individual product and onto the
designers artistic vision.
Back upstairs its time to announce the winner. Peter van Ingen, chairman of the interna-
tional panel of judges, in a wonderful Eurovision moment, chooses to perform his duties
via a pre-recorded television piece to camera, only handing over at the last minute to Raw-
sthorn to announce the two winners, one receiving the big prize of 15,000 euros and also one
public winner, voted for online (no euros, just kudos).
Review Exhibition 96
Rawsthorn puts an end to all the speculation its a clean sweep for graphic design, with
Studio Joost Grootens picking up the euros and Gorilla picking up the kudos. Speaking to
Joost Grootens after the event, he muses: I really did not expect to win, especially after
Thonik won in 2007. We all thought that a graphic designer couldnt possibly win. Im very
pleased that I came this afternoon.
In the citation that Studio Joost Grootens received, the jury remarked:
Grootenss design practice can or at least should provide a new direc-
tion for the future of design.
Review Exhibition 97
Review Magazine
No.Zine magazines
Reviewed by
I was going to use this months column to attempt to
invent a term for magazines and zines that are pro-
duced by small teams to high standards and that term
was going to be micropublishing you know, like
microfinance and microbrewery. Then I looked it up
and found a rather disparaging definition that used
words such as low mass appeal and marketing. The
whole thing started to sound a bit vanity publishing.
Truth is, these days you could easily argue that the
main difference between micro- and mass-market pub-
lishing is more a matter of distribution than quality.
Take Gym Class Magazine, for example. Okay, so Im not entirely unbiased, Cover, Kalina magazine,
having written for the mag a couple of times, but this has given me a issue one
peek into the publications inner workings. There is no massive edito- www.kalinamagazine.com
rial team here, no Gym Class office, no bean counters constantly check- www.gymclassmagazine.com
ing budgets. Its put together by jobbing designer Steven Gregor and www.nozine.com
Kalina magazine is another good example of a low-to-no-budget publication whose only lim-
its seem to be the amount of time photographer and editor Noah Kalina can dedicate to it.
Kalina, the maga/zine, benefits from being available via Hewlett-Packards Print-on-Demand
venture known as MagaCloud. This means all printing and distribution is already taken care
of and top editorial designer pal Jeffrey Docherty (currently art director for I.D. maga-
zine) can bring the whole publication together with minimal fuss and bother. The first two
issues were primarily folio pieces for Mr Kalina, each on a particular subject. Issue three
is really fun as it sees his photography getting remixed by a whole host of creatives such
as Andy Miller, Nicholas Felton and designers Toko.
After looking at these publications, I was left with the question Were
these zines or magazines? The independent bods who put them together
and their total unreliance on advertising says zine yet the quality of
their design and content combined with their decreasingly lo-fi pro-
duction values suggests magazine. See, this is where the term micro-
publishing would come it handy in helping define the genre. Because
this is a sector that is just going to keep growing and growing. HP has
recognised this already with its MagCloud venture, as has Issuu by mak-
ing magazines from all levels of the industry available digitally to
all-comers.
So lets reclaim the term micropublishing from the doom-mongers and nay-sayers and cele-
brate their independent spirit. After all, its these pocket-sized mini-mavericks that will
help keep magazines alive and well, now and into the future.
Review Magazine 98
Creative Resources Illustration
For the weird and the wonderful
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