ART DIRECTOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER AND TYPOGRAPHER LAIA COROMINAS ROSEL VAN DEN BERG
biography A prominent American typographic designer working across many graphic fields including posters, advertising, signage, postage stamp, typeface and editorial design. Herb Lubalin was recognized as an innovator and iconoclast, particularly with the advent of phototypesetting in the 1960s. This allowed him considerable licence to play with words, images and scale on the page.
Herb Lubalin (1918) entered Cooper Union College at the age of seventeen, and quickly became entranced by the possibilities presented by typography as a communicative implement. During this period Lubalin was particularly struck by the differences in interpretation one could impose by changing from one typeface to another, “He was always fascinated by the look and sound of words as he expanded their message with typographic impact”1. Before graduating in 1939, he won second prize in a poster competition. It was this event that proved to be the start for his career. After 20 years at big companies such as at Reiss Advertising and Sudler & Hennessey, he left in 1964 to start his own design consultant firm, which was designing posters, magazines, packaging, and identity solutions2. After five years, he was joined in business by Ernie Smith, Tom Carnase (with whom he created ITC Avant Garde) and Roger Ferriter. Together they formed LSC Inc, and within one year several subsidiaries were added to the company. During this period, he worked on some famous creative work. Among his major contributions to graphics were his designs for Eros, Fact, and Avant Garde magazines, two redesign attempts for the Saturday Evening Post, Air Mail stamps for the U.S. Post Office, a poster for the American Exhibition in Moscow, a few articles for the USIA publication and one of his favorite works ‘Mother & Child’ made for a Curtis Publication2,3. In 1970, together with Aaron Burns and Ed Rondthaler, he founded the International Type Corporation. The company was one of the world’s first type foundries to have no history in the production of metal type. It is now a wholly owned brand or subsidiary of Monotype Imaging. The company’s typography magazine, U&lc (Upper & lower case), acted as a showcase for his designs and typographic experimentation2. His work was internationally recognized through his many designs for publication as well as numerous exhibitions and awards. During his lifetime, Lubalin received more than 300 awards from the New York Art Directors Club, The Type Directors Club, the AIGA and other professional bodies. He died in 19813.
“What I do is not really typography, which I think of as an essentially mechanical means of putting characters down on a page. It’s designing with letters. ”
1 Snyder, Gertrude. “Herb Lubalin: Art Director, Graphic Designer and Typographer.” Graphis 41 (Jan-Feb 1985): 56-67. 2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Herb_Lubalin 3 http://www.adcglobal.org/archive/hof/1977/?id=276
main contributions Lubalin’s vision about fonts and typographic composition is unique in a sense that his designs go beyond only communicating words in a beautiful way. His designs are based on the meaning, look and sound of the words, and therefore can be seen as a piece of art related to the meaning.
INTERACTION BETWEEN CHARACTERS A good example of the influence of Herb Lubalin can be seen in the Avant Garde Font, where characters are perfectly related to each other. This all-cap typeface was a landmark design of the late 60’s. It was a very new approach for this time to think about the interaction between characters and therefore it became a typographic icon of this period. The Avant Garde font could be described as a post-modern interpretation of art deco. Its major influence can be seen in logos created in the 1990s and 2000s. From this moment in time, many font designers have been inspired by this and still are. MAKING TYPOGRAPHICAL IMAGES On of the strengths of Herb Lubalin was to develop designs which emphasized the impact of the word. In his typographic compositions he played with forms, images and icons to symbolize and emphasize the message. Good examples of this are No more war, Beards, Mothers, Marriage and Families. DESIGNING A FONT IN A COMPACT FORM Herb Lubalins font designs are so strong in a sense that a simple typed word looks like a sort of logo/image. His designs are all compact, but still have their own character. In his magazine U&lc Lubalin explored these kind of fonts intensively. USING ELEMENTS IN COMPOSITIONS IN A DIFFERENT WAY When Herb Lubalin was working at Eros his focus was already at fonts and compositions, but he still used images to emphasize his message. In this period he starts with designing fonts in a ‘imagery’ way. By the time he was working at U&cl he was so skilled in this, that he didn’t barely use any images to explain or emphasize his message anymore. His typographic compositions are already beautiful & meaningful enough on their own. For many typographical composers this was an inspiration of their work.
“Graphic Expressionism is my euphemism for the use of typography, or letterforms, not just as a mechanical means for setting words on a page, but rather as another creative way of expressing an idea, telling a story, amplifying the meaning of a word or phrase, to elicit an emotional response from the viewer.�
magazines
eros
1962 - 1963
An incredibly short-lived men’s magazine which devoted itself to the beauty of the rising sense of sexuality and experimentation, particularly in the burgeoning counterculture.
In Eros magazine we can see how Lubalin starts experimenting with compositions where not only the images are the main communicative element, but certain uses of type that can determine the voice, will and character of the specific message.
fact
1964 - 1967
This magazine lent itself to outsider writers who could not be published in mainstream media. The magazine was printed on a budget, so Lubalin stuck with black and white printing on uncoated paper, as well as limiting himself to one or two typefaces and paying a single artist to handle all illustrations.
“Even when Lubalin’s typography was quiet, it was never neutral.” Steven Heller
The end result was a dynamic minimalism consisting of dynamic serifed typography balanced by highquality illustrations, that emphasized the underlying sentiment of the magazine better than the homemade look of the underground press or the screaming typography of sensationalist tabloids ever could.
avant garde 1968 - 1971
Avant Garde also provided Lubalin with a large format of wide typographic experimentation. Often, the magazine would employ full-page typographic titles, which at the time was a largely new idea.
“The first time Avant Garde was used was one of the few times it was used correctly. It’s become the most abused typeface in the world.” Ed Benguiat
Lubalin designed the typeface Avant Garde for the logo. The designed letterforms with tightfitting combinations reflected the desire to capture “the advanced, the innovative, the creative.” The character fit was so perfectly tight that they created a futuristic, instantly recognizable identity for the publication. Later he worked to transform the idea into a full-fledged typeface.
U&lc 1974 - 1999
In U&lc Lubalin tested just how far smashed and expressive lettering might be taken. And it is in U&lc that a lot of threads in Lubalin’s life and career get pulled together.
“Right now, I have what every designer wants and few have the good fortune to achieve. I’m my own client. Nobody tells me what to do.” Herb Lubalin
U&lc served as both an advertisement for Lubalin’s designs and a further plane of typographic experimentation; U&lc was the template for future successful magazines, for this very combination of promotion and revolutionary change in type design.
“Typography can be as exciting as illustration and photography. Sometimes you sacrifice legibility to increase impact.�
logos & compositions
marriage mother families 1980 - 1965 - 1965
Lubalin at his best delivers the shock of meaning through his typography-based design. There is a couple in Marriage logo, a child in Mother & Child, and a family in Families. If words are a way of making meaning, then the shapes of their letters give voice, color, character and individuality to that meaning.
beards 1949
Continuing on his idea of letters not treated as merely vessels of form, but objects of meaning. It is a very clever design as the typography has been shaped so it looks messy and curly. Herb lubalin did not made it too obvious and complicated so this helps the design.
no more war 1968
The graphic strength of No More War, originally an advertisement for Avant Garde that featured block letters forming the pattern of an American flag, with a bold black exclamation point at the end, was one of the most iconographic visual statements issued during the Vietnam War era.
why we like Herb Lubalin
LUBALINS CREATION OF A VISUAL LANGUAGE GO BEYOND DISPLAYING SIMPLE LETTERS, NUMBERS AND SYMBOLS. The beauty of his designs is that he transforms them in a kind of image, which are pleasurable to look at. With this he enforces the message of the words. HE MAKES HIS DESIGN FOR A SPECIFIC PURPOSE AND THEREFORE CREATE UNIQUE DESIGNS. Lubalin did not design the full serie of every font he designed. This is because some of the fonts he designed were just for his own usage in specific typographic compositions or logos. His fonts are in a complete other ‘font group’ than for example Helvetica or New Times Roman. Lubalin concentrated on creating a unique solution that fits his designs which evolved in designs with a ‘soul’. It seems that he is not only communicating words in a beautiful way, but rather is making art with graphical elements. We think that this is why his designs distinguish him as a designer and why many other people like to use his fonts. LUBALIN SET A TONE IN THE GRAPHIC DESIGN WORLD. Lubalin has made designs which set a tone in the graphic design world, especially in the Sixties. For example, his Avant Garde font which could be described as a post-modern interpretation of art deco. But his traces can still be seen in graphic design work of today. It is a fact that he inspired a lot of designers with his work and still will do in the future.
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