Bradbury Thompson by jackiemonge

THOMPSON INSPIRATIONS

The Work of Bradbury Thompson

Credits Bennet, Audrey. “Bradbury Thompson’s Alphabet 26”: A font system for early readers?.” AIGA. www.aiga.org/bradbury-thompson-alphabet-26 “Bradbury Thompson.” Graphic Design Archive Online. www.library.rit.edu/gda/designers/bradbury-thompson “Bradbury Thompson.” The Art Directors Club. www.adcglobal.org/archive/hof/1977/?id=277 Hays, Todd. “Bradbury Thompson: Graphic Design as Artform.” Viewpoint. www.toddpr.com/articles/BradburyThompson.pdf Heller, Steven. “Bradbury Thompson’s Ga Ga Moment.” Print Magazine. www.printmag.com/daily-heller/bradbury-thompsons-ga-ga-moment/ Roey Pimentel. “Bradbury Thompson: A Biography.” Associated Content: Business & Finance. Wang, Susan. “Bradbury Thompson.” Widewalls. www.widewalls.ch/artist/bradbury-thompson

THOMPSON INSPIRATIONS The Work of Bradbury Thompson

CONTENTS 06

Introduction

Timeline

Westvaco

Mademoiselle

Alphabet 26

Stamps

Washburn College Bible

The Art of Graphic Design

BRADBURY

Introduction

Thompson Inspirations

THOMPSON Bradbury Thompson was, and still is, a very well known name among American graphic designers and art directors. His iconic achievements were recognized by every major American design organization including AIGA, National Society of Art Directors and Art Directors Hall of Fame. In 1911, Thompson was born in Topeka, Kansas. He received his art education from Washburn University and graduated in 1934. Three years later, Thompson joined Capper Publications where he thoroughly learned every aspect of the printing production. After a brief time, he left Capper Publications and moved to New York City. During this period, he embraced every graphic design opportunity that he could.

Over the next sixty-some years he unfurled an astonishing talent. He worked as art director at the Rogers-Kellogg-Stillson printing firm and then at Mademoiselle magazine, designed for Westvaco Corporation, designed a new typeface, and began a teaching career at Yale University, where he stayed for many years. Bradbury Thompson died in 1995 as one of the most genuinely admired and influential graphic designers of the twentieth century.

Chapter title

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

I believe an avid interest

â&#x20AC;?

in type necessarily includes a zest for everyday life.

TIMELINE

Timeline

Thompson Inspirations

1911-1934

1937

Thompson was born in Topeka, Kansas. He began designing for his high school’s yearbook and then on to do the same while attending Washburn University. In 1934, he received his college degree.

He briefly worked at Capper Publications where he was taught about the printing production. He also designed Washburn University’s mascot, “The Ichabod,” which a version of it is still in use today.

1938

He moved to New York City to begin his graphic design career at Westvaco Corporation. Thompson began designing spreads for their periodical, Inspirations for Printers. It was later renamed, Westvaco Inspirations.

Westvaco Inspirations Cover 208 (1938)

The Ichabod Mascot for Washburn University (1937)

Timeline

Thompson Inspirations

1945

1950

1969

He became the art director of Mademoiselle Magazine. As art director, Thompson designed the cover, as well as the layout and design of the entire magazine.

Thompson created a new font system called Alphabet 26. The font is a simplified plan for representing the English alphabet after observing his own son experience difficulty recognizing the similarity between certain upper and lowercase letters.

Thompson was hired to create a design for the Smithsonian Magazine. The design has been used for a quarter of a century.

WWII bond flyer (1945)

Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s envolvment in WWII marked a new era for graphic designers. Among other desginers, Thompson was commissioned by the Office of War Information to design propoganda and promotional material such asrecruitment posters, stamps and bond flyers.

Timeline

Thompson Inspirations

1969-1979

After ten years, Thompson, along with other designers, finished the Washburn College Bible. It was published by the Oxford Press in a limited edition of 400 copies.

Washburn College Bible (1979)

1939-1980

1956-1995

For years, Thompson had been obsessed with stamps. He designed stamps for the Office of War Information, and the United States Postal Service. Thompson is credited with creating over 90 stamps.

For nearly four decades, Thompson was an adjunct professor of graphic design at the Yale School of Art. His autobiography, The Art of Graphic Design, was published by Yale University Press in 1988.

Bradbury Thompson died on November 1, 1995 as one of the most appreciated and impressive graphic designers of the twentieth century.

Washburn College Bible (1979)

Chapter title

WESTVACO

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Type can be a tool, a toy, and a teacher; it can provide a mean of livelihood, a hobby for relaxation,

â&#x20AC;?

an intellectual stimulant, and spiritual satisfation.

Westvaco

Thompson Inspirations

Below: Horsepower; Westvaco Inspirations spread (1956) Next page: Liberty; Westvaco Inspirations spread (1956)

Baroque; Westvaco Inspirations spread; 1956

Westvaco Inspirations Westvaco Inspirations was a graphic arts publication issued by Westvaco Corporation, formerly named the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, with the objective of showing typography, photography, art work and other graphic inventiveness on papers manufactured at its mills. Since Westvaco Inspirations was intended to demonstrate the printing process and its papers, the primary audience consisted of thirty-five thousand designers, printers,

Westvaco Inspirations utilized a variety of printing methods, including letterpress and offset lithography. Thompson and the Westvaco leaders all believed that such a publication should be a living example of good graphics. From its founding in 1925 to its discontinuation in 1962, Westvaco Inspirations was a leading corporate contributor to graphic design. It remains unsurpassed as an example of promotional graphics, as an a unique living record and

teachers and students.

anthology of advertising and commercial art.

Chapter title

Thompson Inspirations

Westvaco

Thompson Inspirations

Westvaco Inspirations cover; issue 148

Westvaco Inspirations cover; issue 161

The Westvaco advertising director reserved the right, in the early years of Thompson's work, to decide upon a painting for the cover of each issue. This divergence explains the frequent disconnect between the traditional covers and the modernist designs found inside. Aside from that, Thompson had no constraints except financial ones. The budget limited him mainly to borrowed plates and separations of graphic

work from publications, and the elements of the typecase and print shop. "The printing press and the print shop were my canvas, easel, and second studio," he would later declare. Early issues manifested Thompson's interest in publication and advertising art, whereas the later ones tended to emphasize the fine arts.

Westvaco

Thompson Inspirations

This imaginative design titled, Westvaco Mask (left), was inspired by a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drawing of a large oval face with a large oval mouth. Thompson used two symmetrical letters for the eyes. The letter â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sâ&#x20AC;? fortunately produced a winking eye that animated the page. As was intended, type was used to visually suggest an idea, in this case, primitve art.

Westvaco Mask, Westvaco Inspiration issue 161

Westvaco

From 1938 to 1962, Thompson was the art director for Westvaco Inspiration. It was at this time that he developed his unique style of visual graphic design, which included the experimental use of four-color printing, typography, and photo reproduction. Westvaco provided him with unlimited paper stocks and advanced printing processes, however, the company's budget for illustration was nonexistent. Thompson creatively solved this problem by adapting engravings, photographs, and artwork from advertising agencies, museums, and magazines.

Thompson Inspirations

An example of his technical inventiveness is the Rock and Roll design (below) that gives theillusion of color in motion on the whirling record. Instead of process plates, just one half tone plate was printed with three process inks and on three different angles to avoid a moire pattern.

top left: (close up) Westvaco Inspirations issue 146 top right: Victory, Westvaco Inspirations spread (1958)

Rock Roll, Westvaco Inspirations spread (1958)

Westvaco

“

Thompson Inspirations

When it came to the blending

In his own way, he expanded

of photography, typography

the boundaries of the printed

and color, nobody did it better

page and influenced the design

than Bradbury Thompson.

of a generation of art directors. —Communication Arts

”

Westvaco Inspirations spread; issue 158 (1958)

Next page: Westvaco Inspirations cover; issue 156

Chapter title

Westvaco Inspirations cover; issue 216

Westvaco Inspirations spread issue 216

Westvaco Thompson Inspirations

Westvaco

Thompson Inspirations

Westvaco Inspirations spread issue 218

Westvaco Thompson Inspirations

36 37

Chapter title

“

I get inspiration from so many

Basically, they were women

different things. [Thompson’s]

shot on a seamless background

ideas were always incredibly

and type, yet he managed to

simple but executed in innova-

mix up elements in such a way

tive and truly ground breaking

that they were innovative and

ways. I reference his Mademoi-

ahead of their time pieces of art.

selle cover designs.

MADEMOISELLE

”

Mademoiselle

Thompson Inspirations

Mademoiselle Magazine With all Bradbury Thompson‘s typographic accomplishments as art director of Westvaco Inspirations, design of the “Washburn Bible” and countless other works, it’s easy to forget he was also art director of Mademoiselle magazine for fifteen years. Thompson claimed magazines added so much to his involvement in graphic design. In high school, Thompson would hang out at the drug store in the neighborhood and pour over all the wonderful magazines like, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Bazaar. He recalls his friends sitting at the counter having a Coke, while he sat over by the magazine stand.

This 1952 issue (left) is an important example of how he steered this magazine for young women into the calm waters of economical typography, while emphasizing smart visuals. His signature co-mix of old and contemporary graphic elements is nicely presented on the cover and a few of the interior spreads (at a time before color for the run-of-the-book was economically feasible).

Left: Mademoiselle Magazine Cover (1952) Below: Mademoiselle Magazine spread (1952)

Mademoiselle Magazine spread (1952)

Mademoiselle

Thompson Inspirations

He designed this cover (below), with two titles and two photographs. His design goals were to intrigue a young woman interested in current fashion trends and, on the newstand, to please the sales manager.

Mademoiselle Magazine cover (1950)

Mademoiselle Magazine spread (1952)

Mademoiselle Magazine cover (1952)

Mademoiselle Thompson Inspirations

00 45

Thompson Inspirations

ALPHABET 26

Chapter title

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Type is a thing of constant interest to me. It is sometimes a serious and useful tool, employed to deliver a

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message, sell a specific article, or give life to an idea.

Alphabet 26

Thompson Inspirations

Above: Alphabet 26 uppercase (1950) Right: Alphabet 26 lowercase (1950)

Alphabet 26

Thompson Inspirations

Alphabet 26

Early readers are faced with the daunting task of memorizing an abundance of characters—26 uppercase letters, 26 lowercase letters, 10 numbers and over a dozen basic punctuation marks and monetary symbols. This task is daunting on its own, but becomes even more challenging for

Educational psychologist Guy Bond, confirms that being able to identify each letter of the alphabet is critical to becoming a fluent reader. Most children learn to read by mastering letter identification, sound connotation, word recognition, spelling, reading and writing. In 2004,

early readers who are dyslexic. A big problem for early readers is the identification of letters. In addition to being dissimilar across the upper and lowercases, some of the letters mirror each other. For instance, the lowercase "b" typeset in a sans serif font becomes a lowercase "d" when flipped across a vertical axis (top left). Also, the lowercase "u" typeset in a sans serif or serif font and handwritten becomes a lowercase "n" when flipped across a horizontal axis. Consider even the uppercase "I" that becomes the lowercase of "L" when typeset in a sans serif font like Arial.

design researcher Audrey Bennett stated that the design of a font compiled of discriminable characters would ease, if not eradicate, the difficulty that early readers have when learning how to read. However, Alphabet 26 is a simplified English alphabet system that was designed by Thompson in 1950.

The fact that a single letter can be mistaken for another letter depending upon the font is a serious problem that will continue to compromise literacy development among English speaking early readers.

Above: Alphabet 26 “dbqp” (1950) Right: Alphabet 26 “BDQP” (1950)

Alphabet 26

With Alphabet 26, Thompson proposed a simplified plan for representing the English alphabet after observing his own son experience difficulty recognizing the similarity between "Run" and "run" in "Run pal. See him run." (below). Thompson believed then that his son became confused because of the change from a capital "R" to a lowercase "r"—two different symbols that represent the same phonetic sound. Noting that the alphabet contained 19 other instances of dissimilar upper and lower case symbols that slowed the reading process, Thompson set out to remedy this problem by simplifying the alphabet.

Thompson Inspirations

Based upon his own theory that a graphic symbol must be consistent to be efficient, Thompson designed Alphabet 26—a font system made up of only 26 upper and lower case characters typeset in Baskerville (right). He kept the lowercase version (and discarded the uppercase version) of the seven characters of the alphabet that are the same across cases— Cc-Oo-Ss-Vv-Ww-Xx-Zz. Of the remaining 19 dissimilar characters of our alphabet, he kept the uppercase version of them—Bb-Dd-FfGg-Hh-Ii-Jj-Kk-Ll-Pp-Qq-Rr-Tt-Uu-Yy—and the lowercase version of four—Aa-Ee-Mm-Nn.

Alphabet 26 upper and lowercase (1950)

Alphabet 26 as a font, instead of a font system, would have 26 characters made up of both uppercase and lowercase letters. The large letter style set in the original version of Alphabet 26 would come in handy for use at the beginning of a sentence or a pronoun. The selection of letters that are either uppercase or lowercase would have to be carefully considered in relation to letter identification problems experienced by early readers and those with reading disabilities.

Alphabet 26 Run example (1950)

Some might argue that the introduction of Alphabet 26 for early reading would be complicated to implement, extremely costly, or even that the degree of unfamiliarity would be too difficult a challenge. However, as Thompson once argued, all of the individual characters of the Alphabet 26 font have been in use through 500 years of printing. Through common usage, the Alphabet 26 font could easily be conceived as both easier to read and write and simpler to teach and typeset.

“

Bradbury Thompson was truly of the design profession. —Unknown

STAMPS

”

a master of almost every aspect

Stamps

Thompson Inspirations

Left: Westvaco Inspiration spread (1952) Above: War Stamp for Office of War Information (1952)

During World War II Bradbury Thompson, like many other designers, worked for the Office of War Information. Among his many tasks was the design of U.S.A., a magazine aimed at Americans and allies (including the Arabic and French editions shown below), as well as the occasional enemy too. The U.S. government produced a lot of low and high-impact propaganda. U.S.A. fell somewhere in between, classically designed while vociferously propagating American values. Along with propaganda, Thompson began designing war stamps.

War Stamps for Office of War Information (1952)

Stamps

Stamp for Department of Education (1960)

Thompson Inspirations

Stamp for Department of Education (1960) 59 Lafayette Stamp (1958)

Stamp for Department of Education (1960)

In 1958 he received his first commission to design a United States Postage Stamp. Through out Thompsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s career, he designed over 90 stamps. He approached stamp design with the eye of a typographer and the heart of an artist. This combination produced stamps that exposed images of fine art into the American household, and delivered it in a crisp, logical, well designed frame. Subjects from state birds and flowers, to American architecture, were represented. Works by artists such as Matthew Brady and Josef Albers were also used as subjects.

Stamps

Thompson Inspirations

Left: Love Stamp (1984) Above: Learning Never Ends Stamp (1980)

What sets Thompsons’ designed postage stamps apart from others is that they diligently capture the American history and culture. Some of his famous stamps’ designs include the 1984 ‘Love’ stamp and the 1980 colorful painting of Josef Albers, ‘Learning never ends’.

Thompson Inspirations

WASHBURN COLLEGE BIBLE

“

Thompson masterpiece is The Washburn College Bible, a work that has been proclaimed

”

the most important book of the century. —Douglass Scott

Chapter title

Thompson Inspirations

Left: Washburn College Bible Cover (1979) Above: Washburn College Bible spread (1979)

Washburn College Bible In 1979, drawing from the experience he had accumulated at Westvaco and in the magazine trade, Thompson completed the design of the Washburn College Bible in 1979. He used a flush left, ragged right style of modern typesetting, and the lines of text are broken into individual phrases according to speech cadences, making reading easier while also providing a clearer meaning. His significant contribution to this was to follow historical typographic traditions while also advancing typographic standards and incorporating them into modern visual themes.

Washburn College Bible

Thompson Inspirations

Washburn College Bible spread (1979)

Washburn College Bible

Thompson Inspirations

This Bible version was the most revolutionary development in Bible typography and graphic design since Gutenbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s version appeared in 1455. The bible was considered monumental in the field of graphic design. Thompson struggled with getting permission and support to even begin the project but was able to get the support and funding from his alma mater, Washburn College. The book features Jan Tschicholdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Renaissance-style typeface Sabon,

and each chapter opens with reproductions of paintings based on biblical stories. While keeping true to the Christian text, the book maintains a sacred tone and shows respect for the biblical text. Thompson arranged the text in phrases separating them where the reader naturally hesitated or stopped.

Washburn College Bible spread (1979)

Next Page: Washburn College Bible Logo Pattern (1979)

THE ART OF

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

A constant interest in work plus an interest in everyday things can give the artist and

â&#x20AC;?

designer endless numbers of fresh ideas.

GRAPHIC DESIGN

The Art of Graphic Design

Thompson Inspirations

The Art of Graphic Design Thompson’s artistic autobiography, “The Art of Graphic Design,” was published by Yale University Press in 1988. It won the Art Libraries Society of North America’s George Wittenborn Memorial Award as best art book of the year and was praised in The New York Times Book Review as a book in which “art and design are gloriously and daringly mixed.” The book consists of all of his work through out his successfull career. Thompson also used his artistic autobiography as a tool while teaching design at Yale University.

The Art of Graphic Design cover (1988)

Thompson Inspirations

The Art of Graphic Design spread (1988)

The Art of Graphic Design

The Art of Graphic Design spread (1988)

Chapter title

Thompson Inspirations

The Art of Graphic Design spread (1988)

The Art of Graphic Design

Thompson Inspirations

The Art of Graphic Design spread (1988)

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Type can be a tool, a toy, and a teacher; it can provide a mean of livelihood, a hobby for relaxation,

â&#x20AC;?

an intellectual stimulant, and spiritual satisfation.