Typographica
Encyclopedia
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.
Typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...
and visual arts founded and edited by Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer (graphic designer)
Herbert Spencer was a British designer, editor, writer, photographer and teacher, born in London on June 22, 1924, and died March 11, 2002 ....
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.
Old Series
- Typographica 1, 1949 (24 pages). Contents: Magic and the art of writing; The integration of photo and type; The use of space in typography.
- Typographica 2, 1950 (38 pages). Contents: Copper-plate scripts; Political typography; The ornamental lettering of Imre Reiner; Visual aids.
- Typographica 3, 1950 (38 pages). Contents: Function and design in business printing; The possibilities of the photogram; Central School experiments with photograms; Modern French book illustration
- Typographica 4, 1951 (48 pages). Contents: Type faces: a plea for rational terminology; First principles and last hopes; Music engraving; Chastel's illustrations for ‘Le Bestiare’.
- Typographica 5: Purpose and Pleasure, 1952 (40 pages). Contents: Is there a 'new' style of typography?; Illustration versus typography; Modern typographyModern typographyModern Typography was a reaction against the perceived decadence of typography and design of the late 19th century. It is mostly associated with the works of Jan Tschichold and Bauhaus typographers Herbert Bayer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, El Lissitzky and others....
in the modern world (by Paul RandPaul RandPaul Rand Paul Rand Paul Rand (born Peretz Rosenbaum, (August 15, 1914 — November 26, 1996) was an American graphic designer, best known for his corporate logo designs, including the logos for IBM, UPS, Enron, Westinghouse, ABC, and Steve Jobs’ NeXT...
); Typography to-day (by Max BillMax BillMax Bill was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer.Bill was born in Winterthur...
); Must line weight be uniform? - Typographica 6, 1952 (44 pages). Contents: Printers’ and founders’ type specimens; The liberation of the letter; Title on the spine: the case for standardisation; Arguments against standardisation (by Peter Ray and Max BillMax BillMax Bill was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer.Bill was born in Winterthur...
). - Typographica 7, 1953 (48 pages). Contents: Newspaper typography; Max BillMax BillMax Bill was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer.Bill was born in Winterthur...
; Artist and newspaper; A note on early race programmes. - Typographica 8, 1953 (44 pages). Contents: A show of hands; Dick Elffers; The autobiography of the wooden press; University magazines; Designing ‘Perspectives USA’ (by Alvin LustigAlvin LustigAlvin Lustig was an American graphic designer and typeface designer. He studied at Los Angeles City College, Art Center, and independently with Frank Lloyd Wright and Jean Charlot. He began designing for books in 1937. In 1944 he became Director of Visual Research for Look Magazine. He also...
). - Typographica 9, 1954 (40 pages). Contents: Publishers’ colophons; The machine-set advertisement; Pattern, sound, and motion (Central School type experiments); Recent typography in France; Trends in abstract painting in France.
- Typographica 10, 1955 (36 pages). Contents: Stedelijk Museum catalogues; The training of typographers; French lithographic illustration.
- Typographica 11, 1955 (36 pages). Contents: The tower of Babel; International publishing; H. N. Werkman, printer-painter.
- Typographica 12, 1956 (44 pages). Contents: Letters in steel; Additions and revivals; Clavé’s Gargantua; The development of MistralMistral (typeface)Mistral is a casual script typeface designed by Roger Excoffon for the Fonderie Olive type foundry, and released in 1953. The Amsterdam Type foundry released a version in 1955....
. - Typographica 13, 1957 (40 pages). Contents: French book clubs; Locomotive lettering; The arrow in the road; The illustrations of Avigdor Arikha.
- Typographica 14, 1958 (40 pages). Contents: The publications of Gaberbocchus Press; Two German presses; Sandberg's Experimenta Typographica; Old-fashioned types and new-fangled typography.
- Typographica 15, 1958 (40 pages). Contents: Telephone directories; Lunch-hour photogramPhotogramA photogram is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a photo-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. The result is a negative shadow image varying in tone, depending on the transparency of the objects used...
s; Büchergilde Gutenberg; Dutch chocolate letters. - Typographica 16, 1959 (44 pages). Contents: Modern Hebrew typefaces; Capitals, twin- and multi-printHoofdletters, Tweeling- en MeerlingdrukHoofdletters, Tweeling- en Meerlingdruk was a Dutch book published in 1958. In the book, author Dr. George van den Bergh made several propositions for a more economical arrangement of type in books. The book was featured in Herbert Spencer's Typographica in and Eye magazine...
(with red/green paper spectacles inserted); El LissitzkyEl Lissitzky, better known as El Lissitzky , was a Russian artist, designer, photographer, typographer, polemicist and architect. He was an important figure of the Russian avant garde, helping develop suprematism with his mentor, Kazimir Malevich, and designing numerous exhibition displays and propaganda works...
: typographer.
New Series
- Typographica 1, 1960 (64 pages). Contents: Britain's Royal Arms; Five Polish photographers; Yosl Bergner’s drawings to Kafka; The work of Franco Grignani; The history of numerals; Photograms by Anne Hickmott.
- Typographica 2, 1960 (60 pages). Contents: de Jong, Hilversum; BCG (BrownjohnRobert BrownjohnRobert Brownjohn was a graphic designer known for blending formal graphic design concepts with wit and sixties pop culture...
, Chermayeff and Giesmar); The books of Abram Krol; Max Huber in Italy; A humanized alphabet. - Typographica 3, 1961 (76 pages). Contents: Typophoto; The books of Diter Rot; National Zeitung; The drawings of Alcopley; From painting to photography: experiments of the 1920s.
- Typographica 4, 1961 (78 pages). Contents: Mile-a-minute typography?; Road signs in Holland; Street level (by Robert BrownjohnRobert BrownjohnRobert Brownjohn was a graphic designer known for blending formal graphic design concepts with wit and sixties pop culture...
; The Civic Trust and lettering: a visit to Epping. - Typographica 5, 1962 (68 pages). Contents: Reading by machine; Penguins on the march; DIN–a new, old cause; A case for auto-letterpress.
- Typographica 6, 1962 (68 pages). Contents: Reading by touch; Pat McAuliffe of Listowel; Lettering in Coventry CathedralCoventry CathedralCoventry Cathedral, also known as St Michael's Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry, in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The current bishop is the Right Revd Christopher Cocksworth....
; Typewriter type faces; Watching words move (a booklet insert by BrownjohnRobert BrownjohnRobert Brownjohn was a graphic designer known for blending formal graphic design concepts with wit and sixties pop culture...
, Chermayeff and Giesmar). - Typographica 7: Typography in Britain, 1963 (72 pages). Contents: Piet ZwartPiet ZwartPiet Zwart was a Dutch photographer, typographer, and industrial designer.- Examples of His Artwork :He started his career as an architect and worked for Jan Wils and Berlage....
; Design underfoot; Thematic photography (booklet insert); Education and the child; This is my private world. - Typographica 8, 1963 (70 pages). Contents: Josua Reichert: typography as visual poetry; Chance; Art and writing; A rich man's guide to bingo; Paul SchuitemaPaul SchuitemaGeert Paul Hendrikus Schuitema was a Dutch graphic artist. He also designed furniture and expositions and worked as photographer, film director, painter and teacher for publicity design at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.-Industrial Design:Schuitema studied at the Academie voor Beeldende...
; Concrete poetryConcrete poetryConcrete poetry or shape poetry is poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme and so on....
and Ian Hamilton FinlayIan Hamilton FinlayIan Hamilton Finlay, CBE, was a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener.-Biography:Finlay was born in Nassau, Bahamas of Scottish parents. He was educated in Scotland at Dollar Academy. At the age of 13, with the outbreak of World War II, he was evacuated to family in the countryside...
. - Typographica 9, 1964 (64 pages). Contents: Avant garde graphics in Poland between the two worlds wars; Henryk Berlewi and Mechano-faktura; Sunday photography; Crowns.
- Typographica 10, 1964 (64 pages). Contents: Newspaper seals; The compass rose; The emergence of the printer's stock block; Sex and typography (by Robert BrownjohnRobert BrownjohnRobert Brownjohn was a graphic designer known for blending formal graphic design concepts with wit and sixties pop culture...
). - Typographica 11, 1965 (52 pages). Contents: Alexander RodchenkoAlexander RodchenkoAleksander Mikhailovich Rodchenko was a Russian artist, sculptor, photographer and graphic designer. He was one of the founders of constructivism and Russian design; he was married to the artist Varvara Stepanova....
: a Constructivist designer; Poems/Prints; MassinRobert MassinRobert Massin is a French graphic designer, art director and typographer who is notable for his innovative experimentation with expressive forms of typographic composition. Massin stopped using his first name in the 1950s.-Biography:...
; Herbert BayerHerbert BayerHerbert Bayer was an Austrian American graphic designer, painter, photographer, sculptor, art director, environmental & interior designer, and architect, who was widely recognized as the last living member of the Bauhaus and was instrumental in the development of the Atlantic Richfield Company's...
's photographic experiments; Words and images; At Remaurian (booklet insert). - Typographica 12, 1965 (76 pages). Contents: The nymph and the grot: the revival of the sanserif letter; Fishing figures; The living symbol; Art on the assembly line; Emphatic fist, informative arrow; The arrow in China.
- Typographica 13, 1966 (62 pages). Contents: Tombstone lettering on slate; Hong Kong signs; Aesthetic pattern programmes; Type size: a system of dimensional references.
- Typographica 14, 1966 (58 pages). Contents: Idéogrammes lyriques; A book of matches (by Crosby/FletcherAlan Fletcher (graphic designer)Alan Gerard Fletcher was a British graphic designer. In his obituary, he was described by The Daily Telegraph as "the most highly regarded graphic designer of his generation, and probably one of the most prolific"....
/ForbesColin Forbes (graphic designer)Colin Forbes is a British graphic designer. He is notable as a former head of the graphic design program at London's Central School of Arts and Crafts and as one of the founders of the Pentagram design studio....
); Protest by design. - Typographica 15, 1967 (56 pages). Contents: Paul van OstaijenPaul van OstaijenPaul van Ostaijen was a Flemish poet and writer.Van Ostaijen was born in Antwerp. His nickname was Mister 1830, because of his habit of walking along the streets of Antwerp clothed as a dandy from that year....
; Paul van Ostaijen: Lyric poetry–instructions for use; Objects count (by Crosby/FletcherAlan Fletcher (graphic designer)Alan Gerard Fletcher was a British graphic designer. In his obituary, he was described by The Daily Telegraph as "the most highly regarded graphic designer of his generation, and probably one of the most prolific"....
/ForbesColin Forbes (graphic designer)Colin Forbes is a British graphic designer. He is notable as a former head of the graphic design program at London's Central School of Arts and Crafts and as one of the founders of the Pentagram design studio....
); Spanish street lettering. - Typographica 16, 1967 (52 pages). Contents: Typographica 1949–67; John Heartfield; The word as ikon; Kurt SchwittersKurt SchwittersKurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters was a German painter who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including Dada, Constructivism, Surrealism, poetry, sound, painting, sculpture, graphic design, typography and what came to be known as...
on a time-chart.
See also
- Watching Words Move, by Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar, Chronicle Books, 2006. (ISBN 978-0-8118-5214-2) – This book was developed from the insert in Typographica 6 (New Series).