Much to stimulate the senses, visual, tactile and aural in this issue, as we push ‘sensual typography’ beyond a preoccupation, amongst other publications, with erotica.
Helmut Schmid writes about the Swiss typographer and teacher Robert Büchler. He is a pioneer of modern typography and a contemporary of Emil Ruder, with whose work Büchler’s bears comparison, and with whom he was a fellow campaigner.
Frank Armstrong’s article explores in depth the relation between typographic and musical composition, presenting a fascinating study that amplifies his quote from Leonard Bernstein: ‘the best way to “know†a thing is in the context of another discipline’.
While commentators discuss the ‘designer as author’ as a contemporary phenomenon, Steven Heller uncovers the career of self-taught Merle Armitage, who worked at this role for over 40 years, beginning in the 1930s.
Meanwhile Martin Gamache proves the proposition that a graphical approach to cartography, employing devices familiar to the illustrator, can transform mapping. And proves it with stunning visual examples.
A residency programme at the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum, on the shores of Lake Wisconsin, provides almost tactile images, around which Dennis Ichiyama spins his description of the course and its results.