University of California Berkeley Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Books and Printing in the San Francisco Bay Area Wolfgang Lederer BRIDGING TWO WORLDS IN GRAPHIC DESIGN, EDUCATION, AND ILLUSTRATION With an Introduction by Steve Reoutt Interviews Conducted by Harriet Nathan in 1988 Copyright 1992 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the Nation. Oral history is a modern research technique involving an interviewee and an informed interviewer in spontaneous conversation. The taped record is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The resulting manuscript is typed in final form, indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ************************************ All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Wolfgang Lederer dated December 21, 1989. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. The legal agreement with Wolfgang Lederer requires that he be notified of the request and allowed thirty days in which to respond. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Wolfgang Lederer, "Bridging Two Worlds in Graphic Design, Education, and Illustration," an oral history conducted in 1988 by Harriet Nathan, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1992. Copy no . Wolfgang Lederer, 1991 Photograph by Thomas Lederer Cataloging Information LEDERER, Wolfgang (b. 1912) Graphic designer Bridging Two Worlds in Graphic Design. Education, and Illustration. 1992 xi, 161 pp. Family and citizenship in Austria, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and the United States; background in art, music, theater; professional education in art, graphic arts and design, book crafts at Leipzig, Paris, and Prague; Naziism; Vienna book publishers; to New York, 1939, and San Francisco, 1941; US publishers, package design, book jackets, greeting cards; Arts and Crafts movement; California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, 1941-1980: teaching advanced design and advertising art as chair, Department of Graphic Design and director, Division of Design; free-lancing: California wine industry, labels, publications, illustration work, designing journals and prize -winning books. Introduction by Steve Reoutt, artist and professor. Interviewed 1988 by Harriet Nathan for the Books and Printing in the San Francisco Bay Area Series. Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. The Regional Oral History Office would like to express its thanks to the following individuals and organizations whose oral encouragement and support have made possible this history memoir of Wolfgang Lederer. Mariedi Anders Harold A. Berliner T.B. and Joan L. Brown Priscilla and Michael Bull Dr. Elaine Dallman, Women- In-Literature, Inc. Editorial Board of Representations Dale Hamilton Cotton and Maria Poythress Epes Alfred Fromm Hans U. and Lily R. Gerson Hellmut E. and Claudine Gerson Alfred E. Heller Maria Luise Huntington Kenneth and JoAnn Lavey Andrew and Janet R. Lederer Thomas F. Lederer Michael Manwaring Edward Nathan Dunbar and Annegret Ogden Kurt E. Ostwald Alton R. Raible Steve Reoutt Edward W. and Maxine G.A. Rosston San Francisco Study Center Paul and Dorothy Schmidt Melvin A. Schuler Jr. Lore S. and H. Hans Shaper Karl and Maria Strauch University of California Press Patricia R. Walsh Oliver P. and Peggy Webb Jean R. Wente Mrs. E.B. Wienand TABLE OF CONTENTS --Wo Ifgang Lederer PREFACE i INTRODUCTION- -by Steve Reoutt iv INTERVIEW HISTORY viii BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION xi I FAMILY AND EARLY YEARS 1 Parents' Background and Interests 1 School System in Germany 3 Life in Saarbrucken 5 Exhibitions: Posters, Typography 7 II LEIPZIG AKADEMIE; ACADEMIE SCANDINAVE, PARIS (1931-1934) 10 Training of Artists and Crafts People 10 Leipzig Akademie for Graphic Arts and Book Production 11 Comment on Two Systems of Art Education 12 Classes in Drawing, Applied Arts, Lettering 13 Concerts 13 Observing Nazi Beginnings (1931-1933) 14 A Chief Rabbi of Prague 15 Leaving Germany 16 Painting in Paris 17 The Experience of Paris 17 Nazis and Normalcy 18 III HUGO STEINER-PRAG AND OFFICINA PRAGENSIS (1934-1936) 20 Steiner-Prag's Multiple Abilities 20 Graphic Arts in Czechoslovakia 21 A Teacher's Insight 23 Good Work and Decent Work 23 Assistant to Steiner-Prag 24 The Saar Vote and Family's Experience (1935) 25 IV VIENNA, AND A PROFESSION 27 Finding Book Publishers 27 A One -Man Show 28 A Meeting, and Hitler in Austria 28 To Prague, and an Affidavit for America 29 Hitler in Prague, and Time to Leave 31 Choosing America 31 The van Loon Letter 33 V GETTING STARTED IN AMERICA (1939) 35 Looking for Work 35 Dale Carnegie's Advice 36 Independence 37 A Room Near the Elevated First Job: Package Design 39 First Book Jacket 41 Technical Requirements 42 Salter, and the American Book Jacket 43 Simon and Schuster's Pocket Books 43 Columbia University Press 44 Jackets, Jackets, Jackets 44 Work Processes 45 Oddities in America 46 American Book Design 49 Selling Christmas Cards 50 Salter, Kredel, Eichenberg 50 WPA Murals 51 Drawing Bridges, and Meeting the Police 52 An Invitation to Visit San Francisco 54 VI THE CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF ARTS AND CRAFTS (1941-1980) 55 Attractions of the College 55 Teaching Advanced Design and Advertising Art 56 Assignments and Grades 57 Setup of the College 58 How the College Began 59 Hanni and Her Family 60 Students, Attitudes, and the College Calendar 60 The Arts and Crafts Movement 63 American Attitude Toward Change 64 Arrival of the GIs (1945-1946) 64 Basic Design Classes in a Foundation Program 66 Hiring Faculty and Creating the Graphic Design Program 66 Communication Arts 68 Focus on the Student at the Desk 68 Participation and Need for Control 71 Background and Feel for Materials 72 Catalog Description of Basic Courses 73 College Growth and Program Changes 74 Schools and Clear Choices 76 Talking to Administrators and Board Members 78 Design and the Visual World 79 The Approach to Design 81 Responsibility of the Designer 83 Student Responses: American and European 83 Fighting Shoddiness and Recognizing Limitations 85 The Average Student or the Elite 85 More on Attitudes and Issues in Graphic Design 87 Breadth of Viewpoint vs. Style 90 Design and Responsibility 91 Debate with Jo Sinel 92 Order, and the Danger of Absolutes 93 Teaching and Human Experience 94 Subject Matter, Nonobjective Art, and Illustration 96 Personnel Changes and Reorganization 98 VII LIFE IN ART, AND FREELANCE WORK 99 One -Man Shows 99 Europeans and the California Wine Industry 100 The Clients' Concerns 103 Words and Illustrations 103 Graphic Design and Inherent Conditions 104 Wine Labels and Product Use 105 Clients and Their Styles 107 Varied Design Tasks in the Wine Industry 108 and the Realm of Books 110 Career Changes , VIII BOOKS, CARDS, AND QUALITY OF PRODUCTION 111 Back to Book Design 111 The Glories of Letterpress 112 Travels and Graphic Design (1955) 113 Volunteering in Graphic Design 115 Fascination with Magazines 116 Designing .Representations 118 Vitality of American Graphic Design 120 Books and Illustration 123 Outlets for Illustrations 125 Attitudes Toward Book Design 126 Working with Book Publishers 127 Choice of Typeface 130 Working with Authors 131 Some Practical Factors 132 Hermann Zapf and the Development of Type Faces 133 Literary Architecture and Its Awards 134 Collection: Cry California Articles 137 Giovanni and Lusanna 138 University Press Style 138 Harold Berliner, Letterpress and Fine Editions 139 Finding the Appropriate Style 141 Concern for Quality 142 APPENDICES 144 A. Wolfgang Lederer- -Biographical Data Sheet 145 B. Wolfgang Lederer- -Items Deposited in The Bancroft Library 146 C. Interview with Wolfgang Lederer from Snappy Patter. AIGA San 151 Francisco Newsletter, Volume I Number 4 1990 D. Interview with Wolfgang Lederer from California College of 154 Arts and Crafts Review. Winter 1971 INDEX 159 PREFACE The art and business of printing in the San Francisco Bay Area are significant in the history of printing in the United States and have been an integral part of the cultural development of California. This series of interviews with people who have been participants in and observers