Timely Tutoring in Topics, Tastes and Trends of Typography from Bradbury Thompson

Westvaco Inspirations for Printers may be one of the most influential and highly prized series of paper promotions ever produced in the 20th century. The leaders at Westvaco, formerly named the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, believed their paper promotions should be an educational living record of advertising design and commercial art. What they often produced was something so entirely modern, that many issues still look contemporary seven decades later. Bradbury Thompson (1911-1995) was a key figure in their success. Beginning in 1939, he was responsible for the design and art direction of over sixty of the Westvaco Inspirations issues. Undaunted by minimal resources and budgets, he sourced out historic, public domain images and combined them with modernist effects. He relied on classic typography for the most part, but once went so far as to design a conceptual version of an U&lc alphabet he called Alphabet 26 which premiered in Westavaco Insprirations No. 180 in 1950. One of Thompsons' seldom seen art direction triumphs, issue No.129, is available here. This 16 page issue from 1941 is "A Primer of Typography, Including Timely Tutoring in Topics, Tastes and Trends." Thompson personally designed the front, back and 1st page spread. Other contributors were Charles Sheeler and Stow Wengenroth.

Selling 20th Century Design

A 1959 Czechoslovak How to Paint brochure designed in a very modern tone by an anonymous designer. 
Source: 108 Buddhas

Brochure of Képes Könyv design examples by Hungarian designer, Johann Tábor. Published in a 1930 issue of Gebrauschsgraphik.
Source: From the collection of David Levine.

The Chamber of Commerce of Czechoslovokia published this 1954 foreign trade guide in English. It was designed by Milan Hegar. 
Source: 108 Buddhas

A colorful Dutch brochure designed by Willem Hendrik Tweehuysen (1921-1981), for De Gouden Spin. Undated, but most likely from the 1960s. The text written in english playfully becomes part of the woven fabric. This is part of a much larger collection of Tweehuysen's 1950s and 60s design work which will be at auction on May 13th, 2014. 
Source: Burgersdijk & Niermans

These two cover designs from the early 1930s, advertising BMW Motorcycles, each sport a spare Bauhaus style of design and typography typical of this era. More on "selling speed" and the art of motorcycle marketing can be found at The Vintagent. It's a great read.  

Signs of Life Elsewhere

On a recent trip to Portand, this colorful image of the giant gothic P smacked my visual cortex. This extraordinary endeavor is an enormous replica of the Portland Art Museum logo made entirely from bicycle helmets. It is hanging above their entrance in observance of the show Cyclepedia, an exhibition of iconic bicycle design. The exhibit inside was pretty dang fun to see, though difficult to photograph. Probably my favorite was the Capo Elite "Eis", a remarkable hybrid bike and ice skate design developed in 1930 by Otto and Walter Cap, complete with an ice skate blade in front and a studded tire in the rear.

The cycle collection is from more than 200 functioning bicycles belonging to Michael Embacher, an architect in Vienna. Unfortunately it just closed on September 8th, however you can learn more about Embacher's collection here, and see many of the bicycles here or pick up the book or iPad app of Cyclepedia available in many languages. And here is the iPad trailer for Cyclepedia:

Bike of the Week

During my visit, the bike(s) of the week feature had several handbuilt cycles from local artist, Joseph Ahearne of Ahearne Cycles. He custom bulids steel bikes with love and fury, according to his tagline, but I would amend that with good humor as well. My favorite was the touring bike with the spork and flask attached. All sparkling shiny steel and picnic-ready. Simply remarkable work!

Ahearne's Flickr pages are chock full of more bicycle goodness. I love his mash-up of truck cycles which you can see pedaling all over Portland.

Orwellian REcovers

Since the recent leaks and revelations of the NSA surveillance program and the controversy over privacy rights, George Orwell's, 1984, has been at the top of many Summer reading lists. Are we all angry and paranoid readers? It would seem so. Currently, this classic dystopian novel sits at No. 56 on Amazon's top 100 bestsellers list; up from 12,507 just a week ago. That is an astonishing rise in sales of nearly 6000% for a book that was first published 64 years ago! And Amazon keeps track of all of our purchases in case the NSA needs this data as well. 
     Today seems like a perfect day for Letterology to take a look at some of the many published and unpublished portrayals of Orwell's popular book. The first unpublished example seen above is a particularly brilliant solution by the Adronaut design team, Patrick Pichler and Wolfgang Warzilek in Vienna. Below is one of my all-time favorite Penguin reissues designed by David Pearson.   
  

1984 as portrayed by Jon Vallance above. The three images below are of an unpublished 1984 version by Travis Roof, a former student in my book design course at Seattle Central Community College in the Fall of 2009. A particular favorite of mine;)

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Joanna Weiner's unpublished 1984 interpretation realizes a text solution. 

Artist Hadyn Symons in the UK cleverly illustrates his Orwell classic. Below is another unpublished example. This one by designer Emily Kouri.

This list of REcovers would be incomplete without this imagined version by Ben Jones in Manchester, England. It was submitted to a Call for Entries in 50 Watts' Polish Book Cover Contest several years ago. Contestants were asked to design the "Polish Edition" of their favorite book. Jones nailed it with his entry. 

Book designer Jon Gray does a nearly all-type solution for this Penguin reissue. 

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The first US paperback; a 1955 Signet pulp release.

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The very first UK edition of Orwell's 1984, released on June 8th, 1949. Below is the first published US edition found at Good is Dead. Neither design credits are listed. 

Swedish designer Olle Eksell (1919-2007) designed this cover in 1959.

BBC released this short documentary, The Beauty of Books: Part 4, several years ago, and it takes a close look at the range of Orwell's 1984 and the Clockwork Orange book covers. Definitely worth a watch. 
...is it just me, or does it sound like Big Brother is the narrator here?

Lifetimes of Achievement

The American Institute of Graphic Arts announced eight lifetime achievement in design awards earlier this year. The prestigious awards went out to John Bielenberg, William Drenttel and Jessica Helfand, Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, Stefan Sagmeister, Lucille Tenazas, and Wolfgang Weingart. As part of the presentation of the 2013 AIGA Medal, the AIGA commissioned short videos about each of the winners. It is difficult to single out any of these winners, so take a look at all the other videos here. (Spoiler alert: Sagmeister arranges all of his books by color on the shelf.) 

From the AIGA: 
The medal of the AIGA, the most distinguished in the field, is awarded to individuals in recognition of their exceptional achievements, services or other contributions to the field of graphic design and visual communication. The contribution may be in the practice of graphic design, teaching, writing or leadership of the profession. ... Individuals who are honored may work in any country, but the contribution for which they are honored should have had a significant impact on the practice of graphic design in the United States.

Front & Center with Calligraffiti

A meeting between Nalden and Calligraffiti artist Niels Shoe Meulman, at his home and studio in Amsterdam in 2010 provides us with a front row seat to watch him at work. Although this was filmed several years ago now, I never grow tired of watching it. Lettering by snowplow next? Yes pleeeez!
::Produced by Circus Family & Nalden 

Easter Treasures

Front and back (above) of 1950s Fortnum & Mason's Easter catalogs. All of the works seen here were from the brilliant mind of UK artist Edward Bawden (1903-1989).

1955 Fortnum & Mason chicken-shaped catalog.

A "Dumpty Duo" front and back from Entertaining A La Carte by Edward Bawden for Fortnum & Mason.

Linocut illustration for the Fortnum & Mason 1958 Easter catalog. As the card is pulled from the die-cut "chicken coop" sleeve, the chicken eggs are hatched.  

Another F&M eggceptional 1950s catalog.
:: Fabulous Flickr finds from TM114, with eggception to the "chicken coop" catalog above which is from Bedford Gallery via Kotomicreations.