Studio Practice: OUGD406 - Studio Brief 2 - Study Task 1

We were given a book that we had to analyse the content, publisher, author and editors of.

My book:
Typographica
Poynor, R
Laurence King
2001
Library Class: 655.2

I was given Typographica by Rick Poynor which is all about the cult graphic magazine Typographica, designed and edited by Herbert Spencer.

Interestingly, the book seems to have two different publishers for the US and England. In the US it is published by Princeton Architectural Press. Princeton Architectural press have published many other theory or autobiography books to do with graphic design such as "Jan Tschichold: A Life in Typography" and "Zero: Hans Schleger - A Life in Design". They also publish other aspects of design such as architecture, photography and digital culture.

In England it was published by Laurence King Publishing who also seem to specialise in creative books. They have a wide range of different topics that they publish from graphic design to religion. But I do wonder why they have used two publishers for this book as Laurence King also has publishers that deliver to the US.

When getting the book from the library it was classified with Typography books and book design books. I would say that this book isn't really all about typography or book designs though. It is also about graphic design's history from the 1950s to present day, focusing on Herbert Spencer who edited and designed Typographica magazine as well as the evolution of the magazine from that influencial period. Typographica was started just as things were looking up after WW2, rations were being lifted and most of the damage had been fixed. It was a time of hope and this gave room for a new era which I believe Spencer showed in his work. He showed the world the international style, a style free from clutter or complication, one that is timeless and could be used forever.

It is written by Rick Poynor who was the founding editor of Eye magazine, an infamous magazine for graphic design. He now writes for many publications on design and the visual arts such as "Typography Now", "The Graphic Edge" and "Design without Boundaries". This book is a collection of sorts about all the themes and designs that were published in the Typographica magazine and why it was such a successful book in its day. I find it interesting that Poynor has gone from editing and designing cult magazines to writing about them. This would make the book easier to read for designers and it was written from a designers perspective.

The purpose of this book is to inform and educate about the magazine so it is probably aimed at students or graphic design professionals. It reads very much like a history book so I imagine it would be used for either research purposes. Or it may even be used for inspiration due to the heavy use of imagery within the book.

Blurb:
"Herbert Spencer's Typographica magazine fused new typography and graphic design, avant-garde art, printing history, accounts of the Modernist pioneers and environmental photography to create one of the most remarkable journals ever to emerge from British cultural publishing. Typographica was unusual not only for the consistency of its editorial vision but for its longevity - it was published in London in two series of sixteen issues each, from 1949 to 1967 - especially since the magazine made, and was expected to make, no profit for its gentlemanly owners. Rick Poynor presents a detailed examination of the magazine's development and also provides insightful analyses of both its editor and publisher/printer, Lund Humphries. Spreads and details of the magazine are engagingly reproduced and accompanied by discursive and informative captions."

After looking at all the information about the publishers and the author I wanted to know a bit more about the magazine that it is about. Typographica was the name of a journal of typography and visual arts founded and edited by Herbert Spencer from 1949 to 1967. Spencer was just 25 years old when the first Typographica was issued. Typographica was produced in two series: the "Old Series" and the "New Series". Each series was published in sixteen issues. The magazine covered everything from newspaper typography to hebrew typefaces. Herbert Spencer (The editor and designers) sought to analyse contemporary typography and to present, with commentary, typographic experiments of significance but his aims and chosen title give little indication of the subject spread of Typographica. Each issue combined a variation of images and letter-forms drawn from everyday commercial graphics, public signage and printed symbols, with articles devoted to abstract art, French book illustration and photography. The first series of 16 issues was characterised by debates around the basic principles of design, the tension between rational order and graphic freedom. The glossier second series, also of 16 issues, reflected the exuberance of the 1960s and came in a more luxurious format, with a greater variety of paper stocks, overlays and even separate booklets inserted into the text and sewn lightly into the binding.

Example: Typographica issue 5