Advance Information Pointed Leaf Press, LLC. 136 Baxter Street New York, NY 10013 (212) 941-1800 [email protected] www.pointedleafpress.com For press, please contact: Kelly Koester [email protected] (212) 941-1800 TEACHING TYPE TO TALK By Alan Peckolick $50 USD October 2013 Graphic Design ISBN: 978-1-938461-06-4 168 pages / Over 180 Illustrations Accompanying the revolutionary spirit taking hold of American culture OPPOSITE AND RIGHT These two book jackets succeeded in very different ways. Both involved facial hair. In Beards, the title lettering supports my in the mid-1960s and 1970s, American graphic designer Alan Peckolick philosophy of letting type talk. In The Bedside Book of Bastards, I used a villain’s mustache to illustrate the point. heralded a movement in graphic design, known as expressive typography. Along with his mentor and icon Herb Lubalin, Peckolick called for a new caliber of design: Dreaming up and hand-drawing letterforms that had never existed before, with type, which once exclusively played a support- 35 ing role to the graphic image, now taking center stage. Calling for concep- _AP34_.indb 34-35 3/27/13 2:42 PM tual typography over a standardized format, Peckolick gave letterforms OPPOSITE a presence on the page, and also an attitude: His designs will talk back, From 1950 to 1975, the Container Corporation of America commissioned ONE designers and artists to participate in the now­ famous poster series, WHO WISE Great Ideas of Western Man� In 2012, the Harold LEARNS FROM Grinspoon Foundation asked 18 designers to and always speak up. Teaching Type to Talk is the first-ever compendium create a series entitled ALL PEOPLE. “Visions and Voices,” devoted to great Jewish ideas� We were asked to choose from a selection of quotes� In my solution, I felt an illustrative element was necessary to making the poster look immediately “Jewish�” The silver, pointed finger—a to span the typographer’s career. Peckolick’s work is equal parts witty, yad—is a pointer used when reading the Torah� ABOVE RIGHT The Center for Jewish History’s mark was also to be used as building signage� It was to be ONE discreet and elegant, and I wanted it to be vertical� shrewd, and impeccable, and is accompanied by original anecdotes as WHO HONORED Hand­lettering was the only solution� Every letter HONORS was hand­drawn to create custom ligatures and combinations to form EVERYONE. a perfect square� My letterforms were based BEN-ZOMA, PIRKE AVOT 4:1 on classic Roman letters� insightful and tongue-in-cheek as his designs. 55 _AP34_.indb 54-55 3/27/13 2:44 PM Alan Peckolick was an internationally recognized graphic designer and art- ist. His projects included logo designs, posters, packaging, annual reports, corporate identity, and annual reports for a wide range of organizations, such as New York University, Revlon, General Motors, and AT&T. His designs have earned him over 500 design awards worldwide, including six gold medals R36_AP_TEXT.indb 98-99 5/7/13 6:22 PM from the Art Directors Club of New York..