Qq Rr Ss Tt UuVvWw XxYy Zz 1234567890&/E03W £%!?( PUBLISHED BY INTERNATIONAL TYPEFACE CORPORATION, VOLUME SIXTEEN, NUMBER ONE, WINTER 1989 T1ONS TODAY ol0 Pe eo 04 Major New Bode, eLUewed & Summarized im tfii& 116,6,ue. raw 30. ITC EXHIBITION SCHEDULE At the ITC Exhibition Center A retrospective of the work of British calligrapher Donald Jackson, scribe to Her Majesty's Crown Office at the House of Lords, London. The Letter E A troublesome character with a questionable past - it turns out to be our most useful vowel. The Annual Report... a Perennial Headache The average reader spends a total of nine minutes with it, so why all the angst? Al Hirschfeld: Last of the Broadway Caricaturists His caricatures of Broadway stars document 60 years of New York theatre history. Families to Remember Continuing through March 16th Kaye and Fine, and ITC Caslon® - two en- 12 during, universally appreciated families. Typographic Milestones: Jan Tschichold 16 PAINTING WITH WORDS How a radical thinker almost single- handedly changed the course of typographic design in the 20th century. "Trustees of the Future" Prize Winners First, second and third prize-winners 20 in the fourth annual Herb Lubalin International Student Design Competition. What's New from ITC? ritish calligrapher, Donald Jackson, M.V.O., is (Good things come in threes). 24 scribe to Her Majesty's Crown Office at the House of Lords, London. One, ITC American Typewriter ® Italic, This retrospective exhibit of his work is comprised of more at long last, is now here to round out that family. Two, ITC Isadora;" a script than 50 pieces that were created using methods and techniques that especially designed for digital bitmap have not been altered since the 14th century. Included in typesetting. Three, ITC Flora,- a unique this display of writing, illuminating and gilding are heraldic devices, upright sans serif cursive face. peerages, charters, jewelry, a family tree, hand-bound books "Typographic Communications Today" . by Ed Gottschall. 30 and a tapestry. Modern adaptations of traditional forms of the art of A new all-encompassing book about calligraphy are a part of the exhibition as well. typography as a communications tool covers the evolution and revolutions, pioneers and practitioners and a critique Alphabet: The Story of Writing (produced by Chatsworth Films, Ltd., of the past 100 years' designs. Herein, a 17- London) is being shown on video throughout the day. page summary of the 256-page book which is to be released shortly. This exhibition was organized by the London Link, St. Paul, Minnesota. Three Thoughtful Alphabets Cool logic and light-hearted whimsy do not 47 usually co-exist, but here they do. Take Off Your Glasses... 48 March 17—June 6 The physically impaired may lack mobility, but not taste. Designers offer The ITC Center will be closed for renovation. some considerate, handsome devices for people with disabilities. June 7 through August 24 Illiteracy-the Price TDC 35 A call for entries in the fifth annual Herb 52 The 35th Annual Typographic Design Competition Lubalin International Student Design Competition. Sponsored by the Type Directors Club Hours: 12:00 noon-5:00 p.m. Open Monday—Friday Closed Monday, February 20 VOLUME SIXTEEN, NUMBER ONE, WINTER 1989 EDITOR: EDWARD GOTTSCHALL ART DIRECTOR: WEISZ YANG DUNKELBERGER INC. EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: ALLAN HALEY Admission: Free ASSISTANT EDITOR. RESEARCH DIRECTOR: JULIET TRAVISON ASSOCIATE EDITOR: MARION MULLER ART PRODUCTION MANAGER: ILENE STRIZVER ART/PRODUCTION: PAT KRUGMAN, KIM VALERIO, SID TIMM ADVERTISING MANAGER: CAROL MARGOLIN ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER: HELENA WALLSCHLAG ITC Center SUBSCRIPTIONS: ELOISE COLEMAN 2 Hammarskjold Plaza © INTERNATIONAL TYPEFACE CORPORATION 1989 U&LC (ISSN 0362 6245)15 PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY INTERNATIONAL TYPE- (866 Second Avenue, between 46th and 47th Streets) FACE CORPORATION, 2 HAMMARSKJOLD PLAZA, NEW YORK, NY 10017. ITC IS A SUBSIDIARY OF ESSELTE LETRASET. U.S. SUBSCRIPTION RATES 510 ONE Third Floor YEAR: FOREIGN SUBSCRIPTIONS, 515 ONE YEAR: U.S. FUNDS DRAWN ON U.S. BANK. FOREIGN AIR MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS-PLEASE INQUIRE. SECOND-CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT NEW YORK, NY AND ADDITIONAL MAILING OFFICES. POST- New York, NY 10017 MASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO U&LC, SUBSCRIPTION DEPARTMENT, 2 HAMMARSKJOLD PLAZA, NEW YORK, NY 10017. ITC FOUNDERS: AARON BURNS, HERB LUBALIN, EDWARD RONDTHALER ITC OPERATING EXECUTIVE BOARD 1989 MARK J. BATTY, PRESIDENT AND CEO AARON BURNS, CHAIRMAN Morning hours available for schools and professional organizations by reservation only- EDWARD GOTTSCHALL, VICE CHAIRMAN ALLAN HALEY, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT For more information and group reservations call (212) 371-0699. ANN OLSEN, CONTROLLER LAURIE BURNS, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES MICROFILM COPIES OF U&LC MAY BE OBTAINED FROM MICRO PHOTO DIVISION, BELL & HOWELL, OLD MANSFIELD ROAD, WOOSTER, OH 44691 HEADLINE: ITC AVANT GARDE GOTHIC DEMI • SUBHEAD/INITIALS: ITC NOVARESE MEDIUM ITALIC TEXT. ITC SLIMBACH BOOK, BOOK ITALIC, BOLD FRONT COVER: ITC FAT FACE, ITC FLORA BOLD, ITC ISADORA REGULAR TABLE OF CONTENTS: ITC AMERICAN TYPEWRITER BOLD, MEDIUM ITALIC MASTHEAD: ITC NEWTEXT REGULAR ave you ever noticed that the Tuesday morning meeting which is supposed to answer everybody's questions rarely does? This is not a new phenomenon; it has long been prevalent in business. Now, unfortu- nately, it is beginning to creep into other aspects of our lives. There are less and less simple answers to ques- tions like: "Why doesn't my car startr "Why isn't my report worth an 'A'r or "What do you mean, you can't balance the checkbook?" So it is with the origins of our alphabet. The seemingly simple question is,"What's the origin of the The "E" is normally letter 'E'?" Sorry, no simple answer. drawn as a somewhat narrow Several experts believe that letter. Its width, without serifs, is our "E',' or at least some of the sounds approximately one-half of its it represents, was once indicated by cian writers were among the first to height. the Egyptian hieroglyph for a house. use symbols to represent sounds, The middle horizontal Others contend that it grew out of rather than employing different sym- the sign represented as a window bols or pictures to signify a particular stroke (or arm) is almost always And others still, attribute the "E's" word. The Phoenician language drawn above the true center of ancestry to the Egyptian symbol of was based on 22 consonant sounds the character. This gives the letter (vowels were relatively unimportant), a courtyard. To further complicate both balance and proportion. In matters, our "E',' one of the most each with a name—and a symbol to some mannered designs, espe- commonly used vowels, actually represent that sound in writing. cially those with art nouveau started life as a consonant. One of these 22 sound-sym- The Phoenician writing sys- bols was the precursor to our "E'.' The overtones, the middle stroke is tem is generally credited as the first Phoenician which they called placed quite high. step toward the creation of our cur- he, and roughly represented the ITC Fen ice® Regular rent "phonetic" alphabet. Phoeni- sound of our "h," was probably the FA great-great grandparent of the fifth letter in our alphabet. ITC Benguiat® Book 1:16 When the Greeks adopted The middle stroke is also the Phoenician writing system, they normally the shortest of the three had difficulty pronouncing about The Phoenician )■\ was half of the Phoenician letter names; horizontals. The differences one of the problem characters. The and so they modified the trouble- should be subtle (in many cases Greeks could not pronounce the some characters to bring them into first sound of the letter name. Being not even optically apparent), but sync with the Greek language. Some pragmatic people, and living in less the center stroke should be were altered only slightly, others complicated times, their answer to slightly shorter than the top, and drastically, and still others were the problem was just to drop the the top not as long as the baseline dropped altogether. part of the name that was causing stroke. Although not as obvious, the difficulty. As a result the Phoeni- these differences are also found cian "he" became simply "e" —and thus our most useful vowel was born. in sans serif designs. Overtime, the Greeks gradu- ally simplified the design of the Phoenician character, and flopped it ITC Avant Garde Gothic® Book so that its arms were pointed to the E right. The end result looked remark- While simple answers ably like the E found in typefaces may be becoming a rare occur- like Helvetica - or ITC Avant Garde rence, the simple beauty of our Gothic!' The final version was given the name epsilon and represented a alphabet endures. short e sound. — Allan Haley HEADLINE ITC GALLIARD BOLD ITALIC WITH ROMAN TEXT ITC STONE SANS MEDIUM. ITC STONE SERIF BOLD ITALIC BYLINE: ITC STONE SERIF BOLD CAPTIONS: ITC FRANKLIN GOTHIC BOOK recent exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt Pied* Museum in New York lieoPn City reviewed 475 years of annual reports. What Ai prior - started as a simple, hand-written financial statement has evolved into a super graphic challenge for designers— „).ty and made... co02 06" 00 a-2, C oar a3 : 03 co 0 o 02, oo -40a .-oZ, oo o o ac ad' WORKHOUSE. ", rue g 1.061.1,1{ the great Number of 'Pr.e, yeri alto of the other ,rryry And her ter sad 1.b, Edheateri, tinintarned, arid hyployed by the fb .Yor ,irer- the I' 00 I( of the City of Lmi. the We: ta-ti Quote (IINGORPOkAl "The Company OF the People Y ASSETS. px aicipal and R. R. Bonds , and Stocks .. $150,530,10', As and Mortgages. , 140,343,953.89 .1 Estate ..