attributed…
although avid doesn’t actually describe it, i am most certainly an avid jan tschichold fan. i was thrilled when christoper burke’s book active literature was published a few years ago. the day it arrived i sat in bed and read it through. i was thrilled to see so many wonderful and rare examples of tschichold’s book designs. many i was seeing for the first time. i believe quite a few are from felix weider’s collection. his collection continues to be a wonder, i’m so envious. (he posted his 700th book. don’t miss it.) in order to collect tschichold i must search ebay and the annual international book fairs. i come across a copy of die neue typographie from time to time, but rarely do i come across other titles by tschichold. mr. weider continues to share his finds, made easier by the fact that he lives in switzerland. however, on rare occasions i have discovered a book that i have never seen before. like the example i’m sharing today. is this designed by tschichold? most likely not, but it is certainly ‘from the school of.’ according to burke, tschichold did work for lund humphries in the late 30s, designing the penrose annual in 1938. this little book, structure drill in chinese, is from 1945. i know tschichold moved to england, but i don’t think it was until much later. i will need to reread burke to be sure. many of tschichold’s familiar typographic elements are repeated here. the use of type in a box; a slab serif; the use of the city typeface; the change of type weight for emphasis; the asymmetric layout. all these clearly reference tschichold. i have provided the title page from another book designed by tschichold which uses almost the same layout. (mr weider has a couple more images of this book.) what do you think: tschichold or not? mr. burke, what do you think? close, right?
made in japan
what it says means very little other than being curious. pattern and color are what is appeal-
ing. where was this found? one of my secret places to explore is libraries at resort hotels. it seems travelers bring their books and leave them behind. fourteen years ago, when i was first married, we traveled to bali. that was the first of five glorious trips. after the first one, i realized that when you are relaxed, you wake up early, take part in an activity—in my case a hike through the rice paddies—return for breakfast and have the whole day to read. hence my rummaging through the hotel library. (don’t worry i left fourteen books behind.) i looked at this book and fell in love with its simplicity and beauty. i have talked about my love of repetition before and i just love orange. this is the most beautiful orange. as part of this blog, i need to give this a category. it is neither typography, series, nor anything other than a book. i have lots of books. i should have a category for ‘interesting’ or ‘i just like it.’ yes, that’s it:
i just like it.
dusted off
my father looms large. mostly because he said very little. but what he did say, i remember. when i was a kid, he would go into work on saturday mornings and I would often accompany him. instead of having me hang out at his office, he would drop me off at myers magic shop. his office was on first avenue north, just a block away from pete’s famous hot dogs, a hole in the wall where you would stand eating your hot dog and polishing the subway tile at the same time. the magic shop was close by. i would spend hours watching and practicing tricks. my dad and i took only a few trips together but one was to a magic convention. as i got older, i went into the office less and less. i remember one occasion he asked me to come along; i must have been around 19 or 20 at that point. my dad drove a 1968 327 camaro. simple, basic, no extras. he was decidedly a ‘buy american’ kind of guy. i got into the car and made the decision not to say anything until he spoke first. not as a challenge or with any anger, just as a test. the drive on a saturday morning took only about 15-20 minutes. as we drove through red mountain, we passed the exit for 8th avenue south and st. vincent hospital, where there was a sign for a company, associated doctors. the owner was one of my father’s customers and a friend. maybe ten minutes had passed. i couldn’t stand the silence any longer, so i asked him about how hospitals make money. a business question, just to have him talk. i never saw him read a novel although i gave him several. he said, ‘they charge fees.’ that’s all. so much for conversation. on another occasion, and i don’t remember how it came up (maybe he thought i was arrogant, he certainly thought i was full of myself), he said ‘everyone has a horn to blow. just remember it’s best if yours is collecting dust in the corner.’ i have always thought this was good advice and i have tried to keep it as a mantra, yet it seems i’m going against that advice here. sightunseen was kind enough to visit me and my collections and write a little something about them. they offer some very kind words, and i thought it was the least i could do send any interested parties to their fine blog. please visit them—and come back and see me, too!
edward estlin
there was a time when my goal was to collect a book from all the great presses: aldine, aldus, bodoni. not sure where this idea originated, rather 19th-century, i think. i purchased a few but my enthusiasm waned and my goal with it. what i did continue to focus on was great title pages. here is one of my favorites by ee cummings. most typography students know the work of ee cummings, i think. he was fond of using different ways to express himself typographically and he did not always follow the conventions. there is a word for this: orthography. this has nothing to do with typography; follow the link and you can read a better explanation than i can give you. you don’t hear designers speak much of this, however. i remember it mostly from my english classes in college. cummings was a master of understanding how to emphasize what he wanted to say. visually as well as when read out loud. i am no cummings scholar but have always liked his book the enornous room and loved how visual his poems are. i have never really appreciated poetry and i regret this. this wonderful title page has a beautiful arrangement. it is just right. the designer as author. rather, the author as designer. i have never done any research to discover how involved cummings was with the typesetting of his works. yet another life path gone by and not taken.
turns of phrase
what to collect? it seems i have just about everything. i guess where you hunt determines what you collect. i go to paper fairs, so i collect paper. i don’t collect bottles, but if i went to a bottle collector’s show i would certainly find something worth purchasing. actually, i do think i have a few interesting bottles sitting on my shelves. a couple weeks ago there was a post card show here in nyc. at almost every paper show there are some post card dealers. they have row after row of long boxes, often stacked on top of each other containing card after card. all categories by topic: flowers, state, country, etc. there is usually a row of chairs lined up for anyone to sit and rifle through the thousands of postcards. i am not one of these people. last year there was a huge show of walker evans‘ collection of postcards and a lovely book that went with it. i controlled myself and didn’t buy the book. i also missed the show. postcards are not my thing. look for the book; it’s sure to be a collector’s item. once, after walking around a particular fair, i sat down at a dealer with covers who also had lots of postcards. i always get the question, ‘what do you collect?’ i am embarrassed to answer. you would think i wouldn’t be so ashamed, but i am. i decided that i should make an extra effort. i discovered—after looking through cover after cover—that each envelope was always empty. since the value of the cover is in the stamp or cancelation, it makes no sense to save the contents. i am so disappointed by this. on one occasion i did find something special and it was the start of an ongoing collection. i call them x-y letters. in the 19th century, when paper was scarce, someone writing a letter was often short on paper or possibly conserving what they had. so after filling the page, they would turn it ninety degrees and continue writing. here are two examples of exactly that. amazing, right? i have about six examples of this. whenever i run across these i buy them. one example i misplaced/filed somewhere is an x-y-z letter. after writing both horizontally and vertically, the author turned the page 45 degrees and continued from there. truly remarkable. when i find it i will be sure to post it. i am continually amazed by the ways in which we communicate. enjoy.
