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Cover: Enlargement from ‘Tart card’. Design by HDR Visual Communication

Jacket: ‘War is archaic’. Design by HDR Visual Communication

Contents

Editorial Hans Dieter Reichert & Mike Daines

In this issue Stuart Rogers does reflect on the strident anti-war messages, in the form of graffiti by urban guerillas. But an antidote, Alexey Brodovitch’s brilliant ballet photography, chronicled by Kerry Purcell, precedes it and keeps us calm.

Martin Andrews examines the history of contemporary book illustration and its techniques, with examples which underline his basic question: just ‘artwork, or fine art?

Next, our reader can discover the increasing relevance to designers of grids and stylesheets, then move on, possibly in the evening, to Caroline Archer’s story of the tart card industry.

Steven Heller writes on the history of graphic trade magazines, which he proposes as the ‘missing link’ in the evolutionary process of graphic design. Then the final part of our typographers lexicon brings us to a peaceful conclusion. For now.

Hans Dieter Reichert & Mike Daines

Reviews Editorial team
Ballet Kerry William Purcell
Conscientious Scrawl Stuart Rogers
Image from article Image from article Image from article

Stop Bush. It’s short, decisive, and ubiquitous around New York City. In the latest wave of protest-related messages to hit the streets, few are as visible as this one. The graffiti writer, possessed with relentless determination, strikes a multitude of targets: mailboxes, phone booths, doors, walls, windows. Every public space is vulnerable. In a city that expresses its written protest mostly through posters, stickers, and other less destructive methods, the defiant words of this particular writer may most clearly express the frustration, confusion, and anger felt by many in these uncertain times.

That’s not to say, however, that Stop Bush is the most effective campaign in its ability to change people’s behaviour. This writer occupies an extreme end of the emotional protest spectrum. While many image conjurers occupy this same self-expressive space, countless others bring more coherent and well-articulated ideas to the street, speaking out against perceived injustices by the US government and careless business practices, while offering concerned viewers a means to take action…

Stuart Rogers

Artwork or works of Art? Part 1 Dr. Martin Andrews
Principles, grids and stylesheets Mike Daines
Tart cards Dr. Caroline Archer
The Missing Link: graphic design trade magazine Steven Heller
Image from article Image from article Image from article Image from article Image from article

Graphic design evolved during the late 19th century from a sideline of the printing industry into an autonomous field with its own lore, icons, and personalities. The missing link in this evolutionary process is trade magazines. Initially they established professional standards for printing, typesetting, and bookbinding, yet viewed ornamental design as ephemeral. However, by the turn of the century, when businesses demanded that printers provide more sophisticated layout and typography, trade magazine editors were forced to analyze and critique new advances, which in turn gave weight to an art of graphic design.

These magazines did not just reflexively report the current trends. Instead some aggressively codified key methods and mannerisms that in turn defined a profession no longer at the mercy of ad hoc taste, but rather supported by a received canon…

Steven Heller

Lexicon – An A–Z of typographers (M–Z) Editorial team

©2003 Bradbourne Publishing Ltd.