UPPERCASE #55 (Oct-Nov-Dec 2022)

inspired by… for the CREATIVE and CURIOUS

ENCYCLOPEDIA Volume A The UPPERCASE Encyclopedia of Inspiration encyclopediaofinspiration.com PRODUCTSSTENCILGIRLBYARTBACKGROUND

After 55 issues of curating and designing this magazine, my motto “For the creative and curious” is just as relevant as ever. Curiosity keeps me inspired and drives me to create this magazine and all of my books in theofEncyclopediaInspirationseries.

True inspiration is never about copying. Rather, inspiration is a guiding force that ignites something unique inside of us: it’s a feeling of being energized and motivated by a visual language or a way of thinking.

I hope you will be inspired by this issue of UPPERCASE magazine. I invite you to take that feeling and do something with it. Because it’s what we do with our inspiration that matters most.

Inspiration can come from a person, an object or even sunlight dancing across the room. We can be inspired by the weight of history or we can be inspired by a fleeting moment.

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

mean to be “inspired by” someone or something?

PUBLISHER, EDITOR, DESIGNER

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Dear WhatReader,doesit

Sign up for my newsletter for free content and an introductory subscription offer: uppercasemagazine.com/free

Janine Vangool

Within this issue, you’ll meet designers, artists and craftspeople who are inspired by many things. You’ll see their original spark of inspiration and its results. Throughout, type design and the creation of letterforms is a recurring motif—demonstrating that even something as ubiquitous as the alphabet and the seemingly predictable forms of letters is open to creative reinterpretation and revival, in fact, creating a cycle of renewable and sustainable inspiration.

Contents October / November / December 2022

COVET 130

PERSPECTIVES . . . 80

Art & Design

Snippets 8

A Font for Mrs. Eaves by Correy Baldwin

PROCESS 84

Fine Print

BUSINESS 24 Brand Identity by Arianne Foulks illustration by Andrea D’Aquino

The Beauty in Antique Books of Letters by Mark E. Sackett and Melanie Roller

FRESH 14 Virginia Das Neves Ulrika AmandaJohnsonSheeren

TOGETHER . . . . . . . . . . 70 Behind the Book Cover Vi-An Nguyen and Dominique Jones by Joy Vanides Deneen

ABECEDARY 68 byInspiration!LydieRaschka

. . . .

LIBRARY . 22

Gatherings in the Maelstrom by Helen Hallows

EPHEMERA 26

INSPIRED 16 Cup Full 2022

Inspired by... Heather Moore 32 David Grimes 34 Christopher Rouleau 36 Carl Crossgrove 38 Laila Rezai 40 Tré Seals 42

HOBBY 124 Confessions of a Reluctant Typophile by Brendan Harrison Studio 126 Dagmar Leuenberger-Swift Jane Clark

Looking Forward 128 Shares 129

BEING 10

. . . . . . . . .

That’s Where the Beauty Is by Andrea Jenkins Today I Will Usha Mishra

This hand-cut and hand-stitched wall art was originally designed as part of a journal cover project for a Make Art That Sells class assignment. I combined my love of texture, pattern and bright colours for this motivational piece. As a surface designer, I am continually looking at ways to influence my drawn and painted work, and I usually turn to textiles and stitching for this inspiration. There is something very soothing to me about making a basic plan then letting my hands take over, in a freestyle fashion.

Inspiring Vulnerability: Creating Connection through Mental Health Content on Social Media by Danielle Ridolfi

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Lettering Sketchbooks by Chris Campe

Lettering as Meditation by Lilla Rogers

Craft Inspired by Type and Design by UPPERCASE readers

Welcome

MUSING 44 Inspired by Dreams by Kerrie More

ASK LILLA 58

Spilling the Tea with T: Historical Black Periodical Publishers by Tamisha Anthony

Subscriptions 7

ARCHIVE

Lindsay Schmittle

Snippets

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Peruvian Punctuation

This little tropical landscape print is a part of my Lungs of the Earth collection about my time spent deep in the Peruvian rainforest for an artist residency with the Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research (ACEER Foundation). My goal with this letterpress-printed collection was to share the story of the vulnerable biodiverse rainforest and the Indigenous Maijuna community in their fight against a proposed highway corridor threatening their land and livelihood. With the exception of the experimental torn paper block, I’ve constructed everything in this print with antique metal punc tuation, border rule and ornaments. The branches on the bare trees are backslashes, the leaves of the bamboo are parentheses and the canoe is an ornamental bracket. It is always a joy to discover new ways to use pieces from the physical type collection in my studio as imagery in my letter press-printed illustrations! gingerlypress.com

LETTERPRESS

Uruguayan Graphic Design Archive

Type Revivals

Taught by Juan Villanueva and Carl Crossgrove (see page 38), Type Revivals is a course with Type West Online—a full-year certificate program in typeface design at the Letterform Archive in San Francisco. “Over a period of ten weeks, twenty-two students from all over the world have been diligently researching, studying and digitizing text typefaces that—in most cases— haven’t been digitized before.” The online gallery shares the creative process of revivingtypefaces.historical typerevivals.com

HISTORY

Women in Type

She believes that adapting is the only way to survive during these uncertain times: “Being fluid and in motion, pivoting through difficulties and remaining hopeful under a warm and soft blanket.” Valentina’s lettering is woven in two colours of wool. It has been awarded a Certificate of Typographic Excellence by the Type Directors Club.

ValentinaBelieveCasali

“Do you believe in magic?

The Women in Type research project and website aims to highlight women’s contribution to type design history. We often assume that a typeface is the work of a single designer (historically, most often a man). But as Alice Savoie writes, these industrial processes required many people with diverse skills. “Typemanufacturers employed women as part of departments that were variously known as ‘drawing studios,’ ‘type drawing offices’ or ‘departments of typographic development.’ These women worked daily on developing and producing typefaces that were, eventually, almost always attributed to male designers. They merit attention as key contributors to the design process of many renowned typefaces that emerged throughout the twentieth century.”

tipofili.com

typophrenic.com

Renowned graphic designer Louise Fili has created a type foundry with partners and type designers Andy Anzollitto and Matthew Smith. “Building on over thirty years of custom lettering, typography and brand experience, Tipofili was launched as a complementary foundry to Louise Fili Ltd. Inspired by elegant and classic Italian letterforms, our typefaces strike a balance between the ornate nature of our historic references and the demands of contemporary graphic design. Aligned with the values of our design studio, we believe in capturing a sense of beauty and sophistication in our work.”

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A Type Foundry from Louise Fili

“Do you believe in ghosts?” asks Italian designer Valentina Casali.

Do you believe in yourself?”

women-in-type.com

BLANKETFOUNDRY

Do you believe in miracles?

REVIVALS

10 ||| UPPERCASE notes on inspiration: finding your own through line BEING MOTHER’S1940)(1879–KLEEBYRHYTHMSYELLOWVIOLET-ANDREDGREENPAULKISS BY MARY(1844–1926)CASSATTSNOW STORM IN VERMONT BY MARY ALTHA NIMS (1817–1907)

When creating a new piece of work, I try to locate where the heart lives—is it in the story? Is it in the colour or atmosphere? It’s only after I recognize the most important part of the image—the essence of what I’m trying to capture—that I’m able to shape, hone and then preserve it.

Reworkings

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meeralee.com

What do I see? Why do I like it? What feelings are conjured within me? What story is this art telling? What stories am I interested in telling? Is there a specific story or image that this art draws out of me?

nspiration propels us to act. Within the world of creativity, it is something that stirs us to create, experiment or expand the way we think. While plagiarism merely replicates another person’s work, inspiration motivates us to thoughtfully collect elements of an artwork that reso nates with us, to create something new— something that previously did not exist. At its most genuine, inspiration guides us towards innovation and natural evolution.

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meera lee patel |||

When I am drawn towards a particular piece of art, I study it and try to understand what it is I’m captured by. I consider three specific areas and mark my observations in my journal or sketchbook. What I’m looking for is a through line—the line tying my sources of inspiration to the art that I would like to create. Pinpointing this is es sential in making work that is original and honest—that carries the spirit of you, de spite who or what it is inspired by.

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What would I do differently if I made this piece? What technique or mood do I want to carry from it, and what do I want to leave behind? AND ILLUSTRATION BY

The strongest art has its own heart. Its truth can’t be replicated or transferred from one piece to another. Inspiration can lead you towards a new style, skill or meth od of making, but only you can construct the heart behind each new piece.

||| Reflections

Examinations

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design for good

Using our creativity for good is one of the best ways we can make a difference. Through design, art and craft—and with our hands and hearts—we can effect change. However small it may seem at first, each incremental effort is still significant.

STORY BY amelia woodbridge

UK graphic designer and creative consultant Greg Bunbury connects clients with their unique audience to raise awareness, increase donations or build a movement. “I use my voice to educate, engage and share my experience, amplifying Black voices on diversity and inclusion through design,” he says.

WORTHWHILE

Greg also curates and designs for the Black Outdoor Art project, in partnership with Brotherhood Media, which uses donated billboard space as a platform for positive Black expression in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.

The creative agency Loop: Design for Social Good uses design to help nonprofit and social impact organizations tell their stories and inspire people to take action. From helping wildlife thrive and working to end violence against women to reforming the criminal justice system and advancing human rights, Loop helps its clients magnify their impact on the world with strategic design. “Humans and their needs are central to the agency’s design approach,” says cofounder and creative director Joshua Layton. “We see our clients and their audiences as partners in our collective mission to address some of humanity’s most pressing challenges.”

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nspiration comes from any number of sources: people, nature, books and experiences. Being inspired sparks new ideas and the enthusiasm and energy to act upon them. There is no more meaningful way for graphic designers to act—and inspire others to take positive action—than in support of social causes. By using their talents to educate the public, designers can disrupt the status quo, give voice to a cause and become a force for change.

I

ArtOverMatter Creative is one example. This purpose-driven creative studio is inspired to develop campaign branding and communications solutions for organizations representing a wide range of social concerns, from diversity and inclusion, human rights, mental health and climate change to marginalized communities, social justice, education and public health. “Partnering with community organizations and changemakers gives us an opportunity to use our creative talents to advocate for causes we believe in, amplify diverse voices and bring further positive impact to our community,” says founder and creative director Mel Sutjiadi.

Creatives around the globe use their art to inform and inspire us all to listen, share and act on the missions of social causes, with the hope of making lasting change in the world.

bunbury.coweareloop.comartovermatter.com

WHETHER YOU’RE A FRESH GRADUATE OR MATURE ARTIST, IT IS OFTEN A DREAM TO BE PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME!

bioarchaeologist in Belize and Peru; a costume designer and maker in theatre, film, opera and television; and a textile designer creating my own fabrics to make lampshades, cushions, bags and clothing. I create digital illustrations from my original pencil sketches and love to work with colour and shape. My work is detailed but I love the flat planes of colour that working in Illustrator allows. I’m still finding my style and hope to one day get published in a magazine and show other women my age that we can still dream big!

Milton Idesignsfamouscreateddesignerwas(1929-2020)GlaserapioneeringwhosuchiconiclikeNY,andthepsychedelicposterofBobDylan.Glaserdesignedover450postersinhislifetime,rangingfrommusicposterstoartexhibitionposters. FRESH

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

I’ve just completed a diploma in graphic design, and freelance as an illustrator and textile designer. I hope to inspire women who are 50 and above, that it is never too late to follow a long-held dream to enter into another field and to challenge yourself to start at the bottom again. I went to university for the first time at the age of 33 to train as an archaeologist, and whilst I felt like an imposter throughout my degree, I went on to do a master’s and excelled in my studies. I’ve worked as a

virginiadasneves.myportfolio.com@vector_and_pencil

You’re welcome to submit your work for consideration. uppercasemagazine.com/participate

fresh

talentVirginiaDasNeves

@thesoberillustrator

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Ulrika Johnson

Amanda Sheeren

I am originally from Sweden, but I currently reside in New York City. Ever since I was old enough to choose my own clothes, I’ve stood out for my bold and colourful choices. Just over five years ago, I made my boldest decision yet. I left my legal career behind to study graphic design. In doing so, I embraced who I truly am—a person obsessed with colour, shapes and the way specific combinations create an explosion of universal joy and well-being. Bold patterns and bright designs have had a great impact on my own life and mental health, and for many years I’ve had a dream to give back by sharing my own designs with the world. In October of 2020, I pursued this dream and started my own company, Belle Belette. My company was founded on the belief that bright colours make us happier. I would say that I design after both principles “less is more” and “more is more” at the same time. Growing up in Sweden, a country well-known for its minimalist and neutraltoned designs, I often felt like an outsider in my eyecatching and eclectic choices. However, I do think that the Scandinavian aesthetic has had a great impact on my style and choice of using clean lines and colours.

bellebelette.com@bellebelettedesign

FAIRFAX, CALIFORNIA, USA

RICHMOND HILL, NEW YORK, USA

I didn’t discover illustration until I was in my mid-30s. I always assumed art was for other people. It wasn’t until my pursuits in computer science morphed into an interest in UX design that I finally realized: I really just love making things pretty. After working in the music industry designing infographics, merch and tour art for a few years, I finally found my own artistic path. The Sober Illus trator is a project I created when I was two years into sobriety and seeking an outlet for sharing my experiences. My initial goal was to connect with other sober people and bring some levity to what can be a very complicated and nu anced transition. While the project began as a way to share insights and connect, it quickly trans formed to become something else entirely. After a few members of the community reached out to commission custom illustrations, the project took on new life. The Sober Illustrator has now become a resource guide, each illustration representing a powerful voice within the sober community. Also woven in are my insights into the sober experience, navigating life with ADHD/anxiety/depression, and what it feels like to break free from societal norms.

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—MARY

inspirationisn’teasy

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TEXT BY cedric victor

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I

was 18 when I was first visited by inspi ration. The whole experience took less than a quarter of an hour and my life was never the same after. In fact, the entirety of it was so secretive, that I spent the better part of a quarter century figuring out what exactly had happened that day, how it changed my fundamen tal understanding of what could be in the world, and how I could be part of it.

One afternoon, in the college library where I worked as a library assistant, I discovered a VHS tape of a 12-minute documentary about an Italian immigrant, Simon Rodia, who had come to the US in the late 19th century. He was a tile setter by trade but otherwise a generally uneducated man with no particular wealth. In 1921, he moved to Watts, Los Angeles, fired by a de sire to design and build on his land towers of various sizes, the tallest of which would stand at 99.5 feet high. He laboured over the project daily after returning home from his regular jobs. Almost always working in pover ty, he relied on found materials—discarded glass, pieces of pottery, concrete and wire-bound steel rebar that he could bend himself.

the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own OLIVER

Rodia built the structures alone, and did so entirely by hand. It took 33 years.

In the ordinary course of our lives, we will come across personalities who have full portfolios of impressive art, resonant music, unbelievable precision in their skill, superhuman strength and remarkable solutions to very important problems of the world. They are all special

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26 ||| UPPERCASE EPHEMERA

f we notice typefaces at all today, it is usually in regards to the font bar in a Word document or creative program, or a bill board or headline. Our society has become so acclimated to the abundance of lettering styles and faces all around us, that we take for granted the incredible journey the combination of language and design have undertaken to become what they are today.

the beauty in antique books of letters

I

TEXT BY mark sackette. AND rollermelanie

For all that the rest of us have forgotten or overlooked the role of type in our lives, it continues to find cham pions in modern letterpress printers, calligraphers and graphic designers. Working in a specialty ephemera store like The Box SF, we are often visited by a vari ety of creators and enthusiasts who are self-professed “typography nerds.” These visitors enthusiastically praise the intricate text on an antique label, advertise ment or document, while lamenting how things are not designed the way they once were. There was an inherent beauty and high degree of artistry that went into the hand-drawn letters that make up these antique words and alphabets. It took not only time and skill, but practice, precision, an artistic eye and a steady hand to produce these original pieces. The effect they produce is notable, in that even some of the most unfinished or

As with world history as a whole, Gutenberg’s inven tion of the printing press completely changed the role of language in society, as well as the way it was produced. Printing originally started as a way to help book scribes shorten their laborious transcription work. Some of the earliest books, printed in Latin, had typefaces that were imitations of the handwritten work of these scribes. It was not until later that printing became its own dis tinct art form and replaced hand copying completely.

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letters and messages with a carved stylus. Styles were also shaped and changed through the necessities of the writer and purpose of the writing. For example, scribes of the Roman Empire created lowercase letters, or semi-uncials, while attempting to quickly transcribe words through Old Roman Cursive—as using blockish capitals took too long.

basic examples look like incredible pieces of art com pared to what we see today.

Slowly, the general person became more literate and the printed word became more prevalent and acces sible, and new typefaces and styles were invented and put into use. As with clothing and interior design, type faces changed with the times, with the changing values, aesthetics and trends of each period.

Early typography was largely influenced by the kinds of writing implements available at the time. The letters produced by a chisel into rock would naturally be more square and linear than the elegant flourishes created by a quill pen dipped in ink. The Greeks acquired their own distinct style by using a board covered in wax to scratch

The original purpose of letters was, of course, to rep resent or symbolize an object or concept; in short, a way to transcribe something of meaning into a visual form. As Frederic Goudy wrote in his 1918 work, The Alphabet: “A letter is a symbol, with a definite shape and significance, indicating a single sound or com bination of sounds, and providing a means, through grouping, for the visible expression of words—that is, of thoughts.” The earliest examples of letters were small objects or blocks pressed into soft clay, paintings on the walls of caves and the ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs. The Western alphabet did not begin to appear until the Greeks adapted the Phoenician alphabet into their own writing system somewhere between the 11th and 7th centuries BC. This, in turn, eventually produced the root language Latin.

During the rise of mass literacy and the heavy inter est in commercial advertising in the 19th and 20th

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Design

Art &

The forms of writing that I’m most interested in are found in books and on papers written by other penmen over the last 200 years. I had a professor in design school who encouraged us to “feed our brain” as we left the studio each Friday afternoon. I have taken that saying to heart as an artist. I believe it is my responsibility to continue to educate myself about the history of the art of penmanship for as long as I am a participant in it. As a result, I strive to acquire historical resources to use as references in my work, inspiration for my practice and teaching models for my students. My inspiration is my archive of works on American penmanship.

a page from their books

How and why does it inspire you?

What are you inspired by?

BEAVERTON, OREGON, USA

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David Grimes

I’m what most people would call a calligrapher. I practice fine writing for a living—producing work for clients and teaching historical forms of American penmanship to students around the world. I call myself a penman

Please describe your background and profession.

Penmanship is a fascinating art. As penmen, we strive to produce writing outwardly that reflects the models that we see in our minds. Sometimes the hand obeys, and other times… not so much. To get the letterforms into our minds, we need to spend time with them—looking at them, feeling them and experiencing them in a variety of ways. Holding a sample of another penman’s work in my hands is the best way that I know to accomplish this. Thus, books are my constant companion. They’re where I go to find the answers to questions about obscure techniques or to dive into the differences between one historical script or another. They’re also the source of new, exciting lines of inquiry at every turn of the page. Through historical books I’m able to have a more intimate relationship with the art of penmanship and its forebearers. Through them, I can find my definition of “fine writing.” Without them, I wouldn’t be the penman I am.

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ceramic tiles inspired by typography

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40 ||| UPPERCASE collaborators across time

In the words of Jean-Michel Basquiat, “My subject matter is royalty, heroism and the streets.” For me, that means being inspired by history and the ways in which it informs our present and future. It means being inspired by people and the words they leave behind. I remember back in 2017, a site called Typeroom published the first article ever written about Vocal Type. The title was “Tre Seals’ Vocal Type transforms people’s voices into letterforms.” I think that summarizes my work and inspiration pretty well.

Inspired by the lack of diversity in the graphic design industry, I launched the diversity-driven font foundry known as Vocal Type. Through Vocal, each typeface highlights a piece of history from a different underrepresented race, ethnicity or gender—from the women’s suffrage movement in Argentina to the civil rights movement in America and beyond.

What are you inspired by?

I remember there was this panel of business owners during my junior year of college. There was this one guy, I don’t remember anything about him (nor do I remember anything else about that day), but I remember what he said: “Every class

As most of my typefaces are inspired by protest signs from different progressive movements, I love this idea of taking this thing that was meant to be temporary (protest signs), and turning it into something permanent (a typeface).

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WASHINGTON, DC, USA

Tré Seals

How and why does it inspire you?

Please describe your background and profession.

Since founding Vocal Type in 2016, my fonts have gone from being inspired by progressive movements to becoming a part of them: taking shape in the form of Black Lives Matter street murals, brand campaigns for the 2020 Virtual March on Washington, political campaigns like that of Stacey Abrams, logos like that of the Amazon Labor Union and so much more.

As creatives, how can we be inspired by something else while still making work that is original?

royalty, heroism and the streets

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After Baskerville himself died in 1775, Eaves, by now a talented printer in her own right, continued running his shop, printing his unfinished projects. Eventually she oversaw the sale of Baskerville’s shop and foundry, selling it to the French printer Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, who set out publishing Voltaire’s complete works using Baskerville’s lead type. Basker ville’s wish to have his typeface grace the words of Vol taire had come true, in the end.

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hen Zuzana Licko released Mrs Eaves, her revival of the Baskerville typeface, in 1996, she opened her type specimen catalogue with a fictitious, playfully nonsen sical letter written to Voltaire from the typographer John Baskerville:

It was a rather mischievous way to mark a fairly mo mentous occasion: the launching of one of the first dig itally created traditional typefaces—and a soon-to-be much beloved one at that. But Licko, like Baskerville himself, had always had an irreverent streak.

The “her” of the fictional letter is Sarah Eaves—Mrs Eaves—Baskerville’s housekeeper turned printing as sistant turned wife.

s a typ E fac E d E sign E d by

Baskerville had hired Eaves as a live-in housekeeper around 1750, when he was setting up his printing and type business in Birmingham, England. Eaves’ husband had abandoned her (along with their children) prior to her being hired by Baskerville. When the estranged husband died in 1764, Baskerville and Eaves—by then romantic and lifelong partners—wasted no time, get ting married less than a month after the funeral.

W

The letter wasn’t completely fanciful; Baskerville, an admirer of Voltaire, had indeed written to the French author, keen to print his work. He never got the chance—though in a way, his typeface did.

Licko bas E d on th E d E sign of b ask E rvill FHFHFHFHFHFHFHFFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHEHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHFH

STORY BY correy baldwin |||

||| a font for Mrs.BASKERVILLEZUZANAEavesLICKO’SREVIVAL

ORIGIN

Mrs Eav E Zuzana

“Tell me, shall I put on my finest waistcoat and wade through the rivers held open by brasses, or shall I lay down in a fresh bed of italics and wait?” implores a passionate Baskerville. “Seriously, there is an alphabet of buttons sewn directly to my heart. Let me explain: I want to dazzle her face in a fury of letters read clearly as a landmark. But I am just a man, a more or less ten der thing, yet I will make letters for her to wear like the widest broaches! Yes, broaches!”

“When drawing a revival, I try to question the form of each character and element according to my own sensibilities, as though I were drawing it as an original design.”

The books he printed were ruthlessly criticized by his peers, particularly for the high contrast of his typefac es. “[One] gentleman … said you would be a Means of blinding all the Readers in the Nation; for the Strokes of your Letters, being too thin and narrow, hurt the Eye, and he could never read a Line of them without Pain,” wrote Benjamin Franklin, the American printer and politician (and, eventually, founding father), to

Type emigre.com.availableFree5.532byEssayRudyBookletZuzanadesignedMrsbooklet,specimen1996.EavestypefacebyLicko.designedbyVanderLans.“TheLetter”BrianShorn.pages,selfcover,x8.5inches.downloadfrom th E ro M JKLMNOPQRABCDEFGHIanSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz01234567893.a.

“To a great degree,” as Licko has said, “the critics were wrong.” Baskerville was a highly innovative printer, developing not just a new typographic aesthetic, but smoother, whiter printing papers and darker printing inks. His typefaces, however, were heavily criticized, and he saw only modest success during his lifetime— mostly in America.

—ZUZANA LICKO

shop in Birmingham, he adapted and altered these humanist typefaces to create a radically new aesthetic, and a wholly new approach to type design. Essentially, his designs allowed typography to begin divorcing itself from from the calligraphic tradition. After Baskerville, letters began to look (and act) much less like written letters and more like intentionally designed forms, made up of independent typographic

Baskervilleelements.

Sarah Eaves likely would have remained a historical footnote if it weren’t for Zuzana Licko’s tribute to her, in the naming of her digital typeface. Baskerville may have feared he would become little more than a histor ical footnote himself: though now regarded as a pivotal figure, he was vastly underappreciated in his day, and his work derided.

got rid of the tilted axis that was reminis cent of handwritten letters, standing his letters firmly upright. He was also fascinated by contrast and defi nition. His letters were crisp and sharp, featuring an intense contrast that was no longer modulated like the lines created by a nib pen.

Inthing.his

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The resistance to his work was, perhaps, understand able. Prior to Baskerville, a “humanist” style of typog raphy had dominated for roughly three centuries, ever since type designers influenced by the Italian Renais sance rejected the dense, heavy Gothic (or “blacklet ter”) type used in 1456 by Gutenberg for his original moveable type. They replaced it with something much more loose and open: typography that aimed to mim ic natural handwriting. Humanist letters were lightly tilted, with gently modulated thick-and-thin lines, as if written by a broad-nibbed pen. These letterforms established the mould for all typography that followed.

A Modern Design

In other words, Baskerville was messing with a good

Let’s Pour the Tea

—DANIEL ALEXANDER PAYNE MURRAY, ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

proudly define myself as female and Black. I have dark brown skin. I have coily hair. There is no mistaking my ancestry. My mother taught from a very early age to love and embrace myself wholeheartedly because my appearance, with dark skin, gapped teeth and tightly curled hair, is beautiful. This was still difficult to believe as a child of the nineties, because I didn’t see myself represented in the media very often. There was some Black repre sentation on television, in film and in books and magazines, but not a lot. Not enough to confirm that I, without blonde, straight hair or fair skin, was beautiful… and ordinary. Being ordinary or “fitting in” is a basic human desire we all yearn for at our core. But, there is a privilege in being

tamishaanthony

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CONVERSATIONAWITHHISTORICALBLACKPERIODICALPUBLISHERS

Before I can even “spill the tea,” let me pour a little tea into your cup by revealing why the background of Black literature is so important. As I peruse through vintage Black magazines and historical books, I think about how only a couple hundred years ago I wouldn’t have had the privilege to read. Or to even write this ar ticle.

Mediaordinary.has the power to dictate our beliefs and direct our outlook of what is ordinary or acceptable in society. And until at least the 1960s, what was deemed as “ordinary” was white, middle class and English speaking. But what happened between the cracks of what white men decided to promote in the mass media? What happened in cultures and communities outside this norm? If I could take a step back in time, I would sit and have afternoon tea with a stack of Black magazines from the past 100 years and “spill the tea” about the sig nificance of Black periodicals in American society.

“The true test of the prog ress of a people is to be found in their literature”

By 1831 almost every slave-holding state had made it illegal to teach enslaved people how to read or write. It was a way that enslavers controlled the en slaved population. By obliterating any form of educa tion and restricting basic social interactions, they kept enslaved people from being able to communicate, orga nize and rebel against their unjust way of life. We have come a long way since this era, but even now there are still injustices and unfair treatment of many people of colour, of different sexual orientations and of varying genders. But at least we all have the privilege to learn, write, protest, educate and counter any negative and inaccurate perceptions about our communities.

TEA WITH T

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IMAGINES

ILLUSTRATOR

spilling the tea with T

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Some of the very first Black magazines’ designs, visual languages and texts tied the Black community togeth er, giving them hope and enabling them to push beyond the limitations mainstream American society forced on them. These magazines helped Black people recog nize their worth and power—to see how life could be. Black magazines not only influenced Black people, but also white people who were blindly influenced by stereotypes and pro paganda depicting Black people as lazy, ignorant, poor and boorish. The development of Black magazines challenged these previous represen tations and took back some control of the Black narrative.

The Tea Spills

One of the first Black magazines, called the Colored American Magazine, made its debut in May of 1900. This magazine was created during a time when racial violence was increasing as a tool of racial terror. This magazine was significant in protesting these injus tices, connecting the Black community and restruc turing how Black culture was presented. At the turn of the century, most white people’s understanding of Black culture was shaped by the negative stereotypes of minstrel shows, while the actual history and culture of Black lives were not reported on accurately or even at all. But in this magazine, Black people could confront misconceptions and lies, and write the unwritten his tory initially left out of mainstream, mass-distributed periodicals. Talented Black writers and artists contrib uted their photography, portraits, biographies, poetry, fiction and news to this journal.

Let me take a moment and add a little hot water to my tea because it’s too sweet—it’s too sweet to even imagine how significant the following Black magazines were and still are to the Black community.

Browse the digital archive of Colored American Magazine in this open access project.

There is nothing I enjoy more than flipping through a magazine on a Sunday afternoon with a pot of tea. It is a casual but fulfilling way to absorb beauty and be in spired. But here’s the real “tea”: a hundred years ago, Black magazines were a needed nourishment in the Black community. After not having the privilege to read or write for decades, Black people were finally able to communicate, organize and rebel against their unjust way of life through the written word.

coloredamerican.org

This restriction on education did not only affect the enslaved, but generation after generation following. I remember being in elementary school and realizing that my grandfather, born a hundred years after the anti-literacy laws were passed, could not write his name—something that I, like many, learned in kinder garten. It was in 1867, after the Civil War, when the last anti-literacy law was repealed, but this did not au tomatically give Black people access to an education. Many Black people didn’t have the luxury of going to school. Even with their freedom, Jim Crow laws, seg regation and discrimination worked to keep Black peo ple less educated than their white peers. But similar to the Antebellum Era, when enslaved people found a way to create and learn, Black people continued to cleverly find ways to flourish and educate themselves.

Colored American Magazine (1900–1909)

Readers share crafts, textile artwork, sculpture, ceramics, etc. that have been inspired by typography, lettering and/ or graphic design.type + design

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INSPIRED BY

@playfordstudio jenniferplayford.com

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JenniferLOVEPlayford

VICTORIA, BC, CANADA

Made with Italian glass tiles, this handmade LOVE mosaic art was inspired by the mosaics in the New York City subway stations. Graphic and bold design combines with a complexity of vibrant colour that changes depending on the light and angle in which the art is viewed.

THIS IS A LOW RES PREVIEW OF A HIGH QUALITY QUARTERLY PRINT MAGAZINE PLEASE SUBSCRIBE

Textile and Wire CrystalLettersCawley

PORTLAND, MAINE, USA

YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN, USA

IngridQuiltLetterpressNo.02Ankerson

My work explores ideas of identity, time, memory and loss—some of what it is to be human—through the intersection of art, craft and traditional handiwork, like em broidery and tinkering with wire. I print letterpress and woodcuts on fabric—using letterforms as image and pattern. I embroider on paper, using a vocabulary of stitches as drawing and mark making. I like reusing things, and get inspired by materials that have been discarded or are somehow obsolete. I get satisfac tion from slow processes that re quire a particular kind of patience, repetition and commitment.

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I am a graphic designer, letterpress printer and typography fanatic. In January 2022 I started sewing using a machine someone left in my basement, which very quickly lead to piecing fabric together and quilting. For this piece, I used vintage wood type and my Vandercook No. 4 press to print letters and numbers onto muslin fabric. I then cut the fabric into pieces and collaged them into this improv quilt. ankerson.com@ingrid_ankerson

crystalcawley.com

Move MarjorieMeRidgeway

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, USA

This abstract piece was an emo tional exploration into movement: movement in love, movement in life and mostly movement intellectually. I used vintage wood type to create my letters. Oddly enough, this seems chaotic, yet I am at peace and the happiest I have ever been. It’s a beautiful piece of organized chaos.

marjorieblume.com@marjorieblume

LAKE OSWEGO, OREGON, USA

Mini Hangul Rugs

Hangul, the Korean alphabet, has 24 phonetic letters that are configured in syllabic blocks to form words. These three mini rugs each stand for one letter of the alphabet and can be configured to form the name Hyun, which means worthy or wise—an apt descrip tion for the creator of Hangul, King Sejong. Each letter was crafted with yarn through linen cloth using punch needle techniques.

carolynyoo.com@caromakes

Carolyn Yoo

“Less than a fully adult human” was created in response to the jarring loss of women’s reproductive rights and a guaranteed right to an abortion in the US in 2022. Featuring the memorable quote by Ruth Bader Ginsburg from her Senate confirmation for the Supreme Court, the piece seeks to make a subversive statement about the status of women in the US. Inspired by the work of artists such as Barbara Kruger and Jenny Holzer, I’ve collected compelling texts and phrases that have inspired me from protest signs at marches for women, abortion rights and social justice to create my series, Women’s Work.

SAN CALIFORNIA,FRANCISCO,USA

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Less than a fully adult LorrainehumanWoodruff-Long

quiltinginthefog.com@quiltinginthefog

This series of art quilts contrasts harsh text and ideas about abortion and women’s rights with stereotypically soft, feminine pink/ pastel quilt tops that are embellished with overtly lacy, repurposed vintage doilies rescued from cast-off bins and estate sales.

This was my very first piece of stained glass. It was to commem orate my brother’s 50th birthday. He is a keen cyclist so I used photos of him out and about on his bike, in the Surrey Hills, UK, and cycling part of the Tour de France. The lyric from Queen seemed the perfect phrase to use to curve around the sun/wheel. I converted the photos into black-and-white bitmap images, and with the help of my excellent tutor James Cockerill from Halt Glass, had a silkscreen made up which I then used to screenprint the images onto the cut pieces of glass before assembling it with lead came. For the finishing touch I learned how to make a wooden frame so my brother could hang the piece in his workshop. I’m pleased to report that he was delighted with the present!

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Ward Maxwell TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA

GRAYSHOTT, SURREY, UK

anniechildsdesign.com

My work is created on photos that I have taken. I scratch, paint and colour the work. I have worked as a graphic designer my entire adult life, and my work reflects my love of hand-created type. With each of the pieces I have worked to create unique type.

Primary physical properties

I Want to Ride My AnnieBicycleChilds

FERGUS, ONTARIO, CANADA

blessinks.com@blessinks

Pretty letters for un-pretty feelings

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I created a series of around 20 hand-painted signs, deliberately rendered in bright and metallic paints, of all the loneliest and alienating feelings I’ve experienced.

Amber Ozols

amberozolsart.com@amberozolsart

My name is Marsha Baker. My logo is an M with a baker’s hat. I thought it might be fun to make my own stamp for the back of packages or gift tags for things I’ve made. It was really fun to create my own stamp.

ST. CHARLES, MISSOURI, USA

DIY MarshaStampsBaker

ydney-based artist Liz Payne explores shape, pattern, texture and form through a colour palette she describes as “kaleidoscopic.” Hand embroidery, beading and sequins bejewel and encrust painted cotton canvases and even clothing. “I am always striving for my work to not only question perceptions and expecta tions of the choice of mediums I use,” says Liz, “but of the everyday—and there is always a pursuit of breaking the rules, from the predictable to the conventional.”

“I am always looking at ways in which to push my textile practice by being contemporary in the field of textiles, whilst still recognizing and valuing their history. As such, I am drawn to incorporating as many techniques and skills as possible in my work, incorporating paint

ing, appliqué, varied textile manipulation and quilting, and relying on my background in art, craft and design.”

Underpinning her work is a fairly traditional process: first sketching and planning, then applying a founda tion of paint to a base fabric. “Even if sometimes you don’t necessarily see this background base of paint, for me it’s the underlying foundation for adding layers and dimension to the finished artwork,” Liz says. From there, her work veers from the expected. “Then comes the fun bit of switching tools from paintbrush to nee dle, and mediums from paint to thread, and I begin the long process of adding in texture, dimension, colour and detail to the painted fabric.”

Liz explores the intersection of what is considered art and what is considered craft. “I combine paint with various other materials, like wool, thread, beads and se quins, to create vibrant artworks that are meticulously detailed but are also explosions of colour and texture. I draw on my background of visual arts and design with my love of craft and textiles to produce pieces that put a contemporary twist on an old craft.”

S

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liz sayspayneyes

COVER ARTIST

Using a variety of wools and “every type of thread you can imagine,” Liz adds beads and textural stitches. “My pieces are all embroidered by hand, which to me just re iterates the uniqueness of the work. It’s a labour of love, and my happy place. I really enjoy it, even if sometimes it can take months to complete one work.”

“I am always striving for my work to exceed the expec tations of the materials it is made with and to challenge the notion between what is considered art or craft. I am always looking to surprise the viewer, think outside the box and deliver work that exceeds in colour, scale and composition whilst using an unexpected combination of materials. In my work, I like to incorporate as many techniques as possible to create a richly varied and vi brant surface of the fabric. By doing so I am hoping to achieve a celebration of the nature of textiles itself—its ability to shine; to be tactile and rich in so many differ ent textures, from the fabric itself to the beads I use; to create depth; to have movement; to be painted and to be manipulated.”

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How can designersgraphicusetheir skills and their profession to fight climate change?

Making informed and responsible decisions about paper stocks, production process and distribution are integral to reducing our carbon footprint as much as possible. “Graphic designers can use their design skills to support projects that fight climate change. We can make decisions to reduce paper/material waste or experiment with more sustainable materials,” says graphic designer Charity Ellis of San Dimas, “I’veCalifornia.always been pretty eco-conscious, but I’m being extra thoughtful about paper use and choices, reusing packaging or choosing recycled/recyclable options, things like that,” explains Californiabased Jeni Paltiel, graphic designer and illustrator at Lellobird.

Considered creation

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“As graphic designers, we need to highlight the problem with our work,” says Debra Knight of Knight Design Studio in Colorado. “We also need to rethink design, its purpose and its position in society. Do we really want to spend our days designing advertising to sell people things they really don’t need, and that creates a tremendous burden on the planet? Could we be doing something better with our time?”

and market ideas and products in practical ways. Traditionally, graphic designers make things. Posters, books, websites, experiences and other products—things that necessarily consume energy and require resources.

designer solutions

Kimberley Wilson, founder of Mellow Ground in Wiltshire, England, is a designer and engineer with decades of experience in manufacturing. “I have a really good understanding of supply chains, shipping and logistics, designing out waste, efficiency, product quality,” she explains. However, when she decided to pursue her own surface pattern textiles venture, she encountered a problem. “With my deep knowledge of how things are sourced, made and transported, I knew I didn’t want my work to contribute to more ‘stuff’ in the world—we actually need to consume much less, and me putting my patterns on to products wasn’t going to help.”

And that’s the dilemma that many designers face: how can we sustainably produce more things?

Kelly Anderson, artist and illustrator at Acorn and Thistle Design, is also taking care at managing resources. “[Climate change] has made me rethink resources, such as paper usage, manufacturing, shipping methods, recycling and packaging options.” She considers the toxicity of art supplies and the sustainability of the materials that she uses. “We can reduce our personal and professional climate footprints by reducing waste, being conscious consumers, buying sustainable and non-toxic art supplies, and using paper from alternative and recycled sources.”

Creative director Lizzie Clark (Lizzie Clark Designs, in Pennsylvania) has worked sustainability into her brand values. “By offering products that are functional and beautiful, we help reduce landfill deposits. By offering shipping that manages the carbon footprint, we help reduce greenhouse gases. By using post-

raphic designers are problem solvers by nature. Using words and pictures and visual strategies, communicate,designersillustrate

“Initially overwhelmed, it prevented me from completing my first collection,

literally stopped my dream in its tracks.” Kimberley has since been investing time into understanding the climate crisis “by learning everything I can about the multi-layered and connected world of sustainability and regeneration.” She believes it is possible to use our talents whilst treading more lightly. “We need to stay curious and think a little more critically about how the products we put our art onto impact not just the environment but the entire value chain, from sourcing raw materials to the people who make and ship them, their working and pay conditions, factory setups, CO2 emissions, packaging use, closed-loop systems and circular economy.”

When posed this question, many designers in the UPPERCASE community replied that they have begun to think differently about their profession. Designers are becoming more conscious about the kinds of projects they take on, being careful to work with clients whose environmental values align with their own. They are making less, with the intention of creating more impact.

PRACTICAL THINGS CREATIVES CAN DO TO HELP OUR WORLD

Limited consumption

The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology, and Design by Lance Hosey

Penina Finger

“Decide that your design processes and lifestyle will support all eco-friendly ways of being,” says Diane Hellner of Detroit Malletworks. “Design is reflected in everything we do, right? Our creations are extensions of all we do in daily living, from composting to making healthy food selections, transportation options, household buying, studio tool selections and the supplies we purchase, and even how we treat our bodies and each other. We do these things through informed decisions and by design.”

RESOURCESDESIGNERS

“Climate change has affected my daily life through everyday activities,” says Charity Ellis: “when I plan my cleaning chores (peak rates versus non-peak rates), laundry (the frequency impacts water use) and the length of my showers (the duration of time impacts water use). These may sound minor, but the collective little decisions add up over time.”

LIZZIE CLARK DESIGNS lizzieclarkdesigns.com

“I try to make designs that connect people to nature and educate them about it,” says Jeni Paltiel. “Living in Northern California, we’re learning to deal with drought that’s

Lizzie Clark

CARBON OFFSETS treeera.comwren.co

Activism

SHOPIFY APPS

“As artists and designers, we sit in a beautiful sweet spot between science, data and knowledge, and, through our hands, connecting to human emotions,” says Kimberley Wilson. “We have enough data; what we need now is creativity to visualize that data in a way that connects and changes behaviours. Generally, positivity works best—it’s too easy to fall into the doom and gloom and then desensitize or switch off. People need to be shown what they can do and easily model that behaviour. As designers, understanding what the pillars of sustainability are is a good place to start, then identifying causes, organizations and brands inside those pillars that designers feel connected to.”

consumer recycled papers, or alternative papers (e.g., bamboo) we reduce the need for tree harvesting and all of its concomitant climate change implications.”

Kelly Anderson