just another business card?

i don’t collect business cards but i have many. here is the business card of walter w ballmer, the designer of the olivetti logo i am familiar with. i have no idea what he is referring to when he says “i’ve had much pleasure to receive some of your graphic works.” i found this in a book on design. there was no indication that the book belonged to mr ballmer, but i added it to my collection of olivetti ephemera. this is not a huge category but, sadly perhaps, it is yet another category. the collection ranges from trash cans designed by sottass to a few choice typewriters and olivetti ads that span the 40s-70s. (many can be seen here.) felix has a wonderful example of mr ballmer’s work. i’ll scan some of my ads that don’t seem to be a part of this group. it’s nice to know that a least something is not on the web. or maybe i just didn’t look hard enough. that is something of which I can’t usually be accused.

never bothered

my collection of letters starts with the envelope. up until the nineteenth century, most of the letters were folded to make the envelope. here is an example: you can see the wax seal which was used to hold the folded letter shut. what makes this envelope special to me, of course, is the label, “353 from rathwnow.” i haven’t shown this to a postal dealer, so i have no idea what or why this label was attached to this letter. i just loved the letterforms. loving type is an odd thing.

there are so many of us who share this passion. what make a letterform special? what draws us to a particular font? how many new typefaces are designed each day? do we really need them? i always look forward to working with interns or new designers and they bring in their favorite typefaces. often these fonts are completely new to me. many i don’t like, but i try and set aside my prejudices and see what they see. how does that particular typeface add to the design where another doesn’t? this is certainly the case with these letterforms. the surprise of finding these numbers on a letter amidst a pile of other nineteenth-century letters said buy me. wonderful, isn’t it?

title by jan

i pay attention to title pages and i have many that i admire. is it silly to buy a book for its title page? i previously shared the book by ee cumings and i wonder: is the title page similar to the letterhead, in that both are defined, limited spaces? the title page sets the tone for me. the skill of the designer is revealed within this page. this example is designed by jan tschichold. i collect books he designed during the pre-war years but also those from the ensuing era, when he recanted the dogma of neue typographie and designed in a traditional style. his penguin years exemplify this. his ability to design a page, to orchestrate the page and balance the elements, always seems right to me. when teaching typography, i think it is important to strive for a design in which the addition of another element alters it in such a way as to take away from a balanced composition; no matter if it’s a traditional design or an asymmetrical one. reaching this stage can be a struggle. when i look at tschichold’s work, I feel the design would become something else if another element were added (or something subtracted). i remember in school taking a two-inch black square and placing it in a ten-inch white square, and the teacher asking me to move it around. if placed it in the center, it said one thing; moving it to the edge said another. the composition changed dramatically. so simple, yet so powerful. i have often sat and done this exercise with a student. with each movement of the square we talked about how it changes our perception of the page. the thinking is that using type enhances the composition, gives it more purpose. i think it took me twenty years to understand and articulate this. remember when you were doing all these exercises? now, when i look at a title page, i am rewarded by the care and diligence with which it was composed. maybe you see the same thing?

the trill of the hunt

black is not my favorite color, but when it comes to piet zwart, black means something completely different. here are three letterheads he designed. the first is his own invoice, the others he designed for bruynzeel. what excites me is the defined space. there is so much that can be done within that space, and learning to control that space always excites me. zwart’s own letterhead, typical of the neue typographie of the period, is one of the favorites of my collection. i especially like the bold black rule highlighting the name and town of voorburg.  its positioning on the bottom third works nicely in the confined space. zwart’s personal invoice is such a bold statement in contrast with the two bruynzeel letterheads. these two letterheads are both more subtle, but nonetheless masterful. most of the items in my collection usually come with a story, some more interesting than others. the first two letterheads were bought sight unseen. i subscribe to a host of auction house email updates. i used to get their catalogs, but if you don’t purchase anything they stop sending them. anyway, these two letterheads were purchased in a lot of other dutch items. the listing was for “materials designed by zwart.” actually i had to have the listing translated, and fortunately someone in the studio could read and speak german. i emailed the auction house and asked for some pictures of the items. this was quite a few years ago and that process was not as seamless as it is now. i received the pictures: they were of a bunch of papers lying on a table. nothing was completely clear, but I could make out the zwart letterhead and that was all i needed to convince me. i don’t remember how much i paid, but 360 dollars seems to rings a bell. there were a dozen or so items, so i felt it was really good deal.

the third letterhead, with the dynamic red arrow and photo illustration, was a real find. i have mentioned the book fair that takes place each year at a public school in the west village. although i have not attended for the last few years, in the past i eagerly queued up on opening night. the entrance fee is usually higher then, but getting the first look is thrilling. i have always felt i was searching for items, books and paper that other collectors either weren’t interested in or overlooked. (everyone always likes to think they were there first. “i bought that when they were just fifty cents,” goes the boast.) the fair is divided into three rooms. as you enter there is a winding group of dealers, a connected room with six or seven dealers and the main auditorium that holds the majority of the dealers. at that time, there was only one book dealer, irving oaklander, with books on typography and design. oaklander books has been around since i came to the city and his shop on west 26th was a delight. he knows his stuff. mr oaklander has been the recipient of much of my hard-earned money over the years. you will never meet a nicer individual.

once the doors open, we’re off like racehorses. i’m usually methodical and visit each booth. if i see a familiar book, i check the price. i am amazed that some books have remained the same price for the twenty five years I have been collecting. as i walked around the book fair that day, i spotted the bruyneel, but only the side with the hands and door lock was visible. i tried to contain my excitement and not give away that I just peed in my pants. i casually looked at the other things on the display table before asking about the invoice. i don’t remember my exchange with the dealer, but i know i was overwhelmed to find such an item at an american book fair. i was rewarded further when I turned it over. I knew at once it was designed by zwart. the dealer only knew it was dutch. such a wonderful addition to my collection, and i am thrilled to share it with you.

by the hand

handwriting has fascinated me for many years. i think even writing in my practice book as a kid was rewarding, although i do recall getting d’s in penmanship. i have a vivid image of my report card with c’s all across for my grade in penmanship. i have always written in an obscure hand. my sister is about the only on who can decipher it. in grad school, i had matthew carter as a teacher at a time when there were not too many fonts available for the mac. many of my classmates were designing fonts with the hope that adobe might use them. i looked around and felt bored by this thought. don’t get me wrong, there was some wonderful work being done. and i love type as much as the next guy, probably more than most. i spent hours in the type shop, but making individual letter forms did not speak to me. although i think part of my issue was with learning a new program. fontographer, to be specific. after a little thought, i decided on a typeface to design: my own script. this isn’t a big deal now, it’s actually rather mundane, self-indulgent. one classmates asked what i was going to call it. ‘mac-arrogant,’ i answered. seemed fitting. anyway, in my quest for letterheads, i have invariably come across some amazing samples of handwriting. i can never resist buying a letter with such a distinguished hand. here are several examples from my collection, each more remarkable than the next. when was the last time you wrote a letter by hand?

flambo

what a great word. not sure what it means, if anything, but i do know it is a company in france and they make these metal ’signalisation.’ i love this little card. it’s about four by five inches when folded. i have never seen anything like. it is my practice when traveling to any country to visit not just flea markets but also stationery stores and hardware stores, large and small. finding this card was a delight. one reason i keep stopping in stationery store after stationery store is that i hope to discover old stock. old staplers, tape holders and especially paper clips which have been lying on the shelves for years, the longer the better. this card with its exhibition of many wonderful markers or ‘recommandes’ was found in a nondescript stationery store in paris. there was nothing remarkable or special about this shop; it was neither old nor distinguished in any way, but i went in nonetheless. rooting around, i discovered a small box of one of these ‘flambos.’ I approached the shop owner (it is always a good sign when the shop owner is present, as that means that the store maybe family owned), and asked in my best french (which is really the worst french) if he had any other types of these markers. he opened a drawer and pulled out some other ‘flambos’. what excited me most was this card. it wasn’t out for display but was his reference. i surprised the owner by asking to see it. how could anyone be so excited about such an ordinary thing? yet there are so many things to love about this little card. the flambo typeface. seeing essentially the same thing in different forms appeals to me. there always seems to be a need to take the same device and create such a variety. upon closer inspection, you can see there is a device for each day of the week, one for every month, every letter in the alphabet. there is a rich variety of shapes and colors. after my initial excitement i asked if he had any of these in stock. alas, no. i could hardly contain my excitement. i asked if he would sell me this card. the shop owner was now stupefied. why would anyone want such a thing? he looked at me and excused himself. he returned from the stock room with another card and announced that i could have it. this little card never left my breast pocket for the rest of the day. such a simple thing that provided such a wonderful memory.

peter black

aka piet zwart. there is little doubt that the work of piet zwart is worthy of lengthy study. i have several books about his work and am always eager to add to that collection. his work is coveted and commands a premium price. i have had to save up a bit before purchasing several pieces in my collection. many years ago, after being in gmund, germany, for several days working with the büttenfabrik gmund, i spent a couple of nights in munich. after a few days of art directing photography for their corporate brochure, wonderfully photographed by gentl and hyers, i was walking around and noticed a gallery exhibiting the work of mats gustafson, one of my wife’s favorites artist. just a few doors down was what I thought was a book store but turned out to be the auction house scheider henn. coincidentally, they were having an auction featuring bauhaus-related materials. needless to say, i was pretty excited. i was able to view many of the lots and there was a group of items from holland, including this simple brochure for the door manufacturer bruynzeel i am sharing today. zwart did a great deal of work for bruynzeel. there is so much to this little jewel. the lower case—no surprise i like that. the transparency. the use of color. all combine to make a rich experience for a mundane subject. there were several other items in this auction which i will share another time. enjoy.

three inspirations

all these wonderful examples were won on ebay. i love each one more than the next. two of them fall into two of my collecting categories: german book design and the czech avant garde. the third, well, is just wonderful type. i don’t really care much about who designed these or their provenance. they provide inspiration. over the years i have found it extremely helpful when discussing a design direction with a designer to pull something that he or she might not have seen. you often hear that a designer shows up with his or her portfolio and it is obvious that they have never heard of such and such a designer. i recall being asked by my teachers if i had every heard of this designer or that designer. since i studied art history first, i think my method for studying graphic design took a more historical approach. does that mean knowing design history is important to being a graphic designer or a creative director? i recall working in a studio years ago. it was a wonderful place, an amazing carriage house. next to the entrance was a framed josef albers print. one day a messenger came in and asked if it was a josef albers. i was standing there with a young designer who had graduated recently from art school, so i thought i would let her answer. she said she didn’t know. of course i was shocked. i thought every design student would know josef albers. the ensuing conversation that took place among the designers in the studio was about whether it was important to know who josef albers was and did it actually matter. i felt it was important to know what had come before, and that the knowledge would imbue your design. however one designer disagreed completely. he didn’t see what value it would add. well, the conversation divided into two camps. this was twenty five years ago, and i felt pretty strongly that design history, art history, architecture history, hell, history in general, is pretty worthwhile. do I still feel as strongly? i don’t think I would argue with quite the intensity i did then. i certainly would not get bent out of shape about it. i don’t know the individual designers of these pieces. however not knowing might be just fine.

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?

sutnar