Hello and welcome to our new issue of Baseline, issue 61. Please excuse the wait for this issue. This was due to ‘Olympic’ duties. Baseline has been involved in the creation and organisation of ‘Munich ’72 – Design Legacy’. The Symposium and Exhibition focused on the iconographic visual identity of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, created by Otl Aicher and his design team.
    We start the issue with an analytical and critical book review by our editorial advisor Ian McLaren. Reading letters – designing for legibility is by Sofie Beier and published by the Dutch publisher BIS. Following is an eclectic selection of 11 books on the subject of design, which we want to share with you.

Feature
We continue with the features section and the continuation of Margaret Re’s article on Matthew Carter. This time discussing his development and influences in his design, while working with Mike Parker at Linotype US and Walter Tracy at Linotype UK in the 60s and 70s.
    Next in line are bold Cuban film posters. Brought to our attention by Arnold Schwartzman and reported by Stephen Heller, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science (AMPAS) in Los Angeles mounted an exhibition of 125 handmade silkscreen prints. Famous for their bold dynamic style Heller compares their aesthetic value to the Russian Constructivist posters of the 20s, the Polish posters of the 70s and the French Atellier Populaire of ’68.
    Thomas Bohm, from User design informs us about the problem of misrecognitions of letters and symbols. Different kinds of people have specific requirements. His article points out the most problematic letter shapes and symbols and how their design could be improved for maximum recognition.
    Illustrator and image maker, Paul Davis, has worked for advertising creatives and their clients and at the sharper end of design, building a reputation for spontaneity and improvisation, in both image and letterform. Geoffrey Grandfield discusses Davis’ work for Baseline.
    HINT is an all-cap sans serif alphabet, which is based on squares (no exceptions!). It’s designer Ivan Chermayeff, founding partner of the legendary American design consultancy ‘Chermayeff & Geismar’, never seems to tire of experimentation and exploration. HINT is not meant to be very practical or easily used, however, it does have character.

Education
San José State University’s (SJSU) Graphic Design Program has been an integral part of Northern California Public University’s design education since the 1960’s. The program’s mission is to provide balanced educational resources and activities for scholarly, professional, and critical research in visual communication design. Prof. Chang Sik Kim, lecturer at SJSU, gives a summery and presents us with inspiring samples of recent work by his students.

Hans Dieter Reichert