The New Typography [Reprint 2020 ed.] 9780520355019

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THE N E W T Y P O G R A P H Y

W E I M A R A N D N O W : G E R M A N CULTURAL CRITICISM E d w a r d D i m e n d b e r g , M a r i n Jay, a n d A n t o n Kaes, G e n e r a l E d i t o r s 1. Heritage

of Our Times, by Ernst Bloch

2. The Nietzsche 3. The Weimar

Legacy

in Germany,

Republic

1890-1990,

Sourcebook,

by Steven E. A s c h h e i m

e d i t e d by A n t o n Kaes, M a r t i n Jay. and Edward

Dimendberg 4. Batteries

of Life: On the History

of Things and Their Perception

in Modernity,

by

Christoph Asendorf 5. Profane

Illumination:

Walter Benjamin

and the Paris of Surrealist

Revolution,

by

M a r g a r e t Cohen 6. Hollywood

in Berlin:

7. Walter Benjamin:

American

8. The New Typography,

10.

Germany,

by Thomas J. Saunders

by Richard Wolin

Siege: Selected

Essays of Franz L. Neumann

and

Otto

e d i t e d by William E. S c h e u e r m a n

The Dialectical Social

and Weimar

of Redemption,

by Jan Tschichold, t r a n s l a t e d by Ruari M c L e a n

9. The Rule of Law under Kirchheimer,

Cinema

An Aesthetic

Imagination:

Research,

A History

1923-1950,

11. Women in the Metropolis:

of the Frankfurt

School

and the Institute

of

by M a r t i n Jay

Gender

and Modernity

in Weimar

Culture,

e d i t e d by

Katharina von A n k u m 12. Letters

of Heinrich

and Thomas Mann.

1900-1949,

e d i t e d by Hans Wysling, t r a n s l a t e d

by Don Reneau 13. Empire

of Ecstasy:

Nudity

and Movement

in German

Body Culture,

1910-1935,

by Karl

Toepfer 14. In the Shadow

of Catastrophe:

Enlightenment,

German

Intellectuals

Between

Apocalypse

and

by A n s o n Rabinbach

15. Walter Benjamin's

Other History:

Of Stones,

Animals,

Human

Beings,

and Angels,

by

Beatrice Hanssen 16. Exiled in Paradise:

German

1930s to the Present, 17. Cool Conduct:

Refugee

Artists

and Intellectuals

in America

from

the

by A n t h o n y Heitbut

The Culture

of Distance

in Weimar

Germany,

by Helmut Lethen, t r a n s -

lated by Don Reneau 18. In a Cold Crater:

Cultural

and Intellectual

Life in Berlin,

1945-1948,

by W o l f g a n g

S c h i v e l b u s c h , t r a n s l a t e d by Kelly Barry 19. A Dubious

Past: Ernst Jünger

and the Politics

of Literature

after Nazism,

by Elliot Y.

Neaman 20. Beyond

the Conceivable:

Studies

on Germany,

Nazism,

and the Holocaust,

by Dan

Diner 21. Prague Siècle, 22. Munich

Territories:

National

Conflict

and Cultural

Innovation

in Franz Kafka's

Fin de

by Scott S p e c t o r and Memory:

Architecture,

Monuments,

and the Legacy

of the Third Reich,

Film Company,

1918-1945,

by

Gavriel D. Rosenfeld 23. The UFA Story: A History

of Germany's

Greatest

by Klaus

Kreimeier, t r a n s l a t e d by R o b e r t and Rita Kimber 24. From Monuments 25. We Weren't

to Traces: Artifacts

Modern

Enough:

of German

Women Artists

Memory,

and the Limits

1870-1990, of German

by Rudy Koshar Modernism,

Marsha Mesklmmon 26. Culture

and Inflation

27. Weimar Surfaces:

in Weimar

Urban

Germany,

Visual Culture

Bernd W i d d i g

in 1920s Germany,

by Janet Ward

by

28. Graphic

Design

29. Expressionist

in Germany:

Utopias:

1890-1945,

Paradise,

by Jeremy Aynsley

Metropolis,

Architectural

Fantasy,

by Timothy 0 .

Benson, w i t h c o n t r i b u t i o n s by Edward D i m e n d b e r g , David Frisby, Reinhold Heller, A n t o n Kaes, and lain Boyd W h y t e 30.

The Red Count:

32.

The Dark Mirror:

33. Rosenzweig

The Life and Times of Harry Kessler, by Laird M . Easton German

Cinema

and Heidegger:

between

Between

Hitler

Judaism

and Hollywood,

and German

by Lutz K o e p n i c k

Philosophy,

by Peter Eli

Gordon 34.

The Authority Design,

35.

of Everyday

Objects:

A Cultural

History

of West German

Industrial

by Paul Betts

The Face of East European

Jewry,

by A r n o l d Z w e i g , w i t h f i f t y - t w o d r a w i n g s by

H e r m a n n S t r u c k . Edited, translated, and w i t h an I n t r o d u c t i o n by Noah Isenberg 36. No Place Like Home:

Locations

37. Berlin Alexanderplatz:

Radio,

38. Berlin

Electropolis:

39. A Concise 40. Germany

History

Shock,

of Heimat

in German

Cinema,

Film, and the Death of Weimar

Nerves,

and German

Modernity,

by Johannes von M o l t k e Culture,

by Peter Jelavlch

by A n d r e a s Killen

of the Third Reich, by Wolfgang Benz, t r a n s l a t e d by Thomas D u n l a p

in Transit: Nation

and Migration,

1955-2005,

e d i t e d by Deniz G ö k t ü r k , David

Gramling, and A n t o n Kaes 41.

Weimar

on the Pacific:

Modernism,

German

by Ehrhard Bahr

Exile Culture

in Los Angeles

and the Crisis

of

JAN TSCHICHOLD

THE NEW TYPOGRAPHY A HANDBOOK FOR MODERN DESIGNERS Translated by Ruari McLean WITH A N INTRODUCTION BY ROBIN KINROSS

WITH A NEW F O R E W O R D BY RICHARD HENDEL

CP UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY

LOS ANGELES

LONDON

The p u b l i s h e r g r a t e f u l l y a c k n o w l e d g e s r e c e i p t o f a translation grant from Inter Nationes.

U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a Press, o n e of t h e m o s t d i s t i n g u i s h e d u n i v e r s i t y p r e s s e s in t h e

United

S t a t e s , e n r i c h e s lives a r o u n d t h e w o r l d by a d v a n c i n g s c h o l a r s h i p in t h e h u m a n i t i e s , s o c i a l s c i e n c e s , a n d n a t u r a l s c i e n c e s . Its a c t i v i t i e s a r e s u p p o r t e d by t h e U C Press F o u n d a t i o n a n d by philanthropic contributions from Individuals and i n s t i t u t i o n s . For m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n , v i s i t www.ucpress.edu. U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a Press B e r k e l e y a n d Los A n g e l e s , C a l i f o r n i a U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a P r e s s , L t d . London,

England

© 1 9 9 5 , 2 0 0 6 by T h e R e g e n t s of t h e

University

of C a l i f o r n i a F i r s t p a p e r b a c k p r i n t i n g In 1 9 9 8 L i b r a r y of C o n g r e s s

Cataloglng-in-

Publication Data Tschichold, Jan,

1902-1974.

[Neue Typographic.

English]

The new t y p o g r a p h y : a h a n d b o o k for m o d e r n d e s i g n e r s / Jan T s c h i c h o l d ; t r a n s l a t e d by R u a r i M c L e a n ; w i t h an I n t r o d u c t i o n by R o b i n K i n r o s s ; w i t h a n e w f o r e w o r d by R i c h a r d p.

Hendel.

c m . — ( W e i m a r a n d n o w ; 8)

Includes bibliographical

references.

I S B N - 1 3 : 9 7 8 - 0 - 5 2 0 - 2 5 0 1 2 - 3 [ p b k . : alk. p a p e r ) I S B N - 1 0: 0 - 5 2 0 - 2 5 0 1 2 - 5 [ p b k . : a l k . p a p e r ) 1. P r i n t i n g . II.

2. G r a p h i c d e s i g n .

I.

Title.

Series.

Z116.T7513

2006

686.2'2-dc22

2006042070

M a n u f a c t u r e d In C a n a d a 18 1 0

9

8

7

6

5

T h e p a p e r u s e d In t h i s p u b l i c a t i o n m e e t s t h e m i n i m u m r e q u i r e m e n t s of A N S I / N I S O Z 3 9 . 4 8 - 1 9 9 2 (Permanence

of

Paper).

[R1997]

CONTENTS Translator's Foreword Ruari M c L e a n Introduction to the English-Language Edition Robin Kinross Foreword to the 2006 Edition Richard Hendel THE NEW TYPOGRAPHY Jan Tschichold

TRANSLATOR'S FOREWORD RUARI M c L E A N Jan Tschichold's first book. Die neue Typographie,

was p u b l i s h e d in Berlin

in 1928. Its design was not only startling, w i t h its famous frontispiece of solid black facing the title, but also extremely elegant, in a soft black linen case blocked in silver. This was six years after D. B. U p d i k e ' s Printing was published in the United States, t w o years before Stanley article "First Principles of Typography" appeared in The Fieuron years before Eric Gill's Essay on Typography.

Types

Morison's

7, and three

It was out of print by 1931 and

remained out of print for fifty-six years, until the Brinkmann & Bose facsimile reprint of 1 987. Tschichold was recognized by a few people in Britain and the USA before 1939. A small exhibition of his w o r k was held in the London office of a f o r w a r d - l o o k i n g printer, Percy Lund Humphries, b e t w e e n 27 November and 14 December

1935

[probably

at the suggestion

of

Edward

McKnight

KaufferJ; an article on his w o r k by Robert Harling appeared in Printing

in

January 1936; and in 1937 Tschichold himself read a paper "A New A p proach to Typography" to the Double Crown Club in London. The design of the menu for that dinner s h o w e d how little Tschichold's ideas, and those of the modern movement generally, were u n d e r s t o o d in Britain at that time. He c o n t i n u e d to be s u p p o r t e d by Lund Humphries, for w h o m he designed the firm's letterhead, in use from 1936 to 1948, and the 1938 edition of the Penrose

Annual.

In March 1947 Tschichold came to England to overhaul the t y p o g r a p h y of the f a s t - g r o w i n g paperback publisher Penguin Books [ f o u n d e d in 1935) — where he stayed for three years. But it was not until 1967 that any book of his appeared in English translation. This was his sixth book, Gestaitung,

Typographische

originally published in Basel in 1935 and now appearing under

the title of Asymmetric

Typography.

It had been translated by the present

w r i t e r in 1945, but remained w i t h o u t a publisher until Cooper & Beatty, the Toronto typesetters, sponsored it for distribution in the USA by Reinhold and in Britain by Faber & Faber. In the

same

Typographie.

year,

1967, Tschichold

asked

me to

translate

Die

neue

He planned it as a second, revised edition. He gave me a copy

of the text w i t h numerous corrections, editorial revisions, and deletions of matter he considered to be no longer relevant or now out of date: for example the entire section on standardization was taken out. It should be remembered that in a speech made to the Type Directors Club of New York in 1959 C'ater printed in Print under the title "Quousque Tandem . . ."], he

s a i d : " W h a t I do t o d a y is n o t in t h e line of my o f t e n m e n t i o n e d b o o k Die n e u e T y p o g r a p h i c , s i n c e I am t h e m o s t s e v e r e c r i t i c of t h e y o u n g T s c h i c h o l d of 1 9 2 5 - 8 . A C h i n e s e p r o v e r b says ' I n h a s t e t h e r e is error.' So m a n y t h i n g s in t h a t p r i m e r are e r r o n e o u s , b e c a u s e my e x p e r i e n c e w a s t o o small." I t r a n s l a t e d t h e g r e a t e r p a r t o f Die neue

Typographie

i n c o r p o r a t i n g all t h e

r e v i s i o n s , b u t a g a i n no p u b l i s h e r c o u l d be f o u n d . W h e n T s c h i c h o l d d i e d in 1974, I p l a c e d t h e d r a f t of my t r a n s l a t i o n in t h e St B r i d e P r i n t i n g L i b r a r y in L o n d o n w h e r e it c o u l d be c o n s u l t e d by a n y o n e w h o w i s h e d t o r e a d it. N o w t h e U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a Press has e n a b l e d t h e b o o k t o a p p e a r a t last in English, b u t in a n e w t r a n s l a t i o n m a d e e x a c t l y f r o m t h e o r i g i n a l t e x t . It is t h e r e f o r e t r e a t e d as a t e x t of h i s t o r i c a l i m p o r t a n c e r a t h e r t h a n t h e l a t est p u b l i c a t i o n of T s c h i c h o l d ' s t h o u g h t s . A l l t h e s e l f - c r i t i c a l c o m m e n t s w r i t t e n by T s c h i c h o l d on his r e v i s e d

proofs

are p r i n t e d b e l o w , a n d t w o of his o r i g i n a l p a g e s are r e p r o d u c e d . The o r i g inal p a s s a g e s o f t e x t w e r e t o s t a n d u n a l t e r e d . It w a s n o t f e a s i b l e t o s h o w here the cuts and other corrections, w h i c h a l t h o u g h numerous w e r e not of serious textual importance. planned, there would

In t h e s e c o n d e d i t i o n w h i c h T s c h i c h o l d

certainly

have b e e n t y p o g r a p h i c a l

changes:

had para-

g r a p h s w e r e t o be i n d e n t e d , a n d b o o k a n d m a g a z i n e t i t l e s i t a l i c i z e d ,

in

a c c o r d a n c e w i t h m o d e r n p r a c t i c e . I n d e n t e d p a r a g r a p h s have n o t b e e n i n t r o d u c e d in t h e p r e s e n t t r a n s l a t i o n , a n d t h e i l l u s t r a t i o n s , s o m e of w h i c h T s c h i c h o l d i n t e n d e d t o c h a n g e or o m i t , are u n a l t e r e d . T s c h i c h o l d ' s t e x t w a s e p o c h - m a k i n g w h e n f i r s t p u b l i s h e d . Its f u n d a m e n t a l t e n e t s are still a b s o l u t e l y v a l i d : t h e b o o k is as w e l l w o r t h r e a d i n g t o d a y as it ever w a s . For h e l p i n g me at v a r i o u s t i m e s w i t h my t r a n s l a t i o n I m u s t e x p r e s s my g r a t i t u d e f i r s t t o t h e late H a n s U n g e r , a n d later t o H a n s D i e t e r R e i c h e r t , J o s t H o c h u l i , R o b i n K i n r o s s , a n d my C a l i f o r n i a n c o p y e d i t o r N i c h o l a s G o o d h u e . B u t any g r i e v o u s e r r o r s m u s t be my o w n . April 1993

x

ISLE OF M U L L

REVISIONS TO DIE NEUE TYPOGRAPHIE J A N TSCHICHOLD, 1967. P. 30: as governing design in general [Gesetze der Gestaltung ü b e r h a u p t * } . ' D e r Autor, 1967: Das stimmt tenden

Einfluss

typographie

auf die

nicht.

Typographie

Die Malerei ausüben,

kann zwar einen doch

sind

befruch-

die Gesetze

der

autonom.

The author, 1967: That is not right. Painting can indeed have a fruitful influence on typography, but the laws of typography are its own. P. 67. and therefore

must be inorganic

(und

darum

unorganisch

sein

muss*]. *Die Autor. 1967: Dieses

Urteil

über den zentrierten

Büchtitel

ist

reichlich

ungerecht. The author, 1967: This p r o n o u n c e m e n t on centered book t i t l e - p a g e s is substantially unjust. P. 68. Every piece of t y p o g r a p h y w h i c h originates in a preconceived idea of form, of whatever kind, is w r o n g (Jede Typographie die von einer vorgefassten Formidee — gleichviel welcher A r t — ausgeht, ist falsch*]. ' D i e Autor,

1967: Das ist ein allzu

typographische

rigoroser

Spiel, an dem wir uns gelegentlich

Standpunkt. freuen,

Er würde

das

verurteilen.

The author, 1967: That is altogether too narrow a view. It w o u l d c o n t r a d i c t the freedom for t y p o g r a p h i c jokes w h i c h we sometimes enjoy. P. 71. a fear of pure appearance (indem man ihn " s c h m ü c k t " * ] . •Der Autor, 1967: So einfach elementar

und nicht

ist das nicht.

Das Bedürfnis

nach Schmuck

ist

kindlich-naiv.

The author, 1967: It is not so simple. The desire for ornament is elemental and not childish-naive. P. 75. also the classical typefaces (will] disappear, as completely as the c o n t o r t e d furniture of the eighties (etwa den M u s c h e l m ö b e l n der achtziger Jahre zuteil w i r d * * ] . "Die

Prognose

über die Zukunft

der klassischen

Schriften

hat sich als

irrig

erwiesen. The forecast about the future

of classical typefaces

has been

proved

wrong.

xi

P. 76. among whom I expect there must be an engineer Gunter denen sich wohl auch ein Ingenieur befinden müsste*). •Der Autor, 1967: Die Situation

ist heute

ganz anders.

aus der dieses Buch gesetzt ist, eine der besten heutigen stellt dar, was ich 1928 erträumt

So ist die

Univers,

Endstrichiosen

und

habe.

The author, 1967: The situation today is quite different. Univers, in w h i c h this book is set, is one of the best sanserifs, and is w h a t I dreamed of in 1928. P. 77. Their use for parody, in the sense described above, of course remains legitimate [oben bezeichneten S i n n e bleibt natürlich offen*]. *Der Autor, 1967: Diese

Meinung

hat sich als viel zu streng

erwiesen.

The author, 1967: This opinion now seems far too strong. P. 78. It will remain the exception [eine A u s n a h m e bilden*). *Der Autor, 1967: Das war

einmal.

The author, 1967: That w a s in the past. P. 78. would

hardly

have brought them

back again

Ckaum w i e d e r

ans

Tageslicht gezogen**). "Der

Autor,

1967: Die Assoziation

stören auch diese

stellen

sich

nur bei wenigen

ein und

nicht.

The author, 1967: The associations have little real influence and do not harm these types. P. 80. or an industrial catalogue (oder ein Industriekatalog*). *Der Autor, 1967: Hier wird das Kind mit dem Bade

ausgeschüttet!

The author, 1967: Here, the baby is thrown out with the bathwater! P. 80. it is totally unsuitable for the 20th century Cheute noch zu verwenden**). CDer A u t o r ) "Auch

hier!

Here too! P. 96. the luxury-concept of the " B o o k Beautiful" belongs to the past Cder Vergangenheit angehört). Der Autor, 1967: Welch

ein

Irrtum!

The author, 1967: W h a t a mistake!

xii

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A l d u s M a n u t i u s w a s the first to r e c o g n i z e that printed b o o k s had a c h a r a c ter of their own a n d were different from m a n u s c r i p t s . A l d u s c a n therefore be s e e n as the b e g i n n e r of the new t y p o g r a p h i c age in book

design;

G u t e n b e r g by c o m p a r i s o n w a s more the imitator of medieval m a n u s c r i p t s . In the R e n a i s s a n c e and the B a r o q u e and R o c o c o p e r i o d s deriving from it, the t y p e s c o r r e s p o n d i n g to the two gothic faces Ctextura a n d S c h w a b a c h e r ) were

the

so-called

Medieval-Antiqua

(roman)

and

the

cursive

[italic)

d e v e l o p e d by A l d u s from a c u r s i v e v e r s i o n of the roman. In G e r m a n y at the b e g i n n i n g of the 16th century, V i n z e n z R o c k n e r , the emperor M a x i m i l i a n ' s private secretary, d e v e l o p e d from the textura face a G e r m a n R e n a i s s a n c e type: fraktur. It is a partially s u c c e s s f u l attempt, in the context of the R e n a i s s a n c e , to give the c l u m s y gothic letters s o m e of the f l u e n c y a n d e l e g a n c e of the new f o r m - w o r l d . J u s t as the latest G e r m a n Gothic, b y - p a s s i n g the true R e n a i s s a n c e , led to B a r o q u e , i n d e e d almost German title-page. Black and red.

lerlerti#tt, _

i v H i^CHCtiC

Cfiii?

m

u

m

, n.trc ¡»tip arantsifcf m

,

t - k fce p t ^

i J^ontKinn iui^apucii:ci,/

Qktei in Otm

wm i»-. Jn -uj i a ¿jrtr:-e JVfvfitup*

' ' PnxUfgt*

Si *

already is Baroque (Tilman Riemenschneider), so the types of the German Renaissance are really baroque. This can be seen in the curly ornamented movements of the main stems, the snouts of the capital letters, indeed in the h a n d w r i t i n g of the time [ w h i c h is still today the official German hand!} with its over-decoration of large initial letters. In the Baroque and Rococo periods following the Renaissance,

fraktur

changed very little; not until the end of the 18th century were attempts made to reform it. Fraktur was used almost only in Germany: other c o u n tries either never used it, or gave it up after a short time. Books of the Renaissance, the Baroque, and the Rococo, set in fraktur, all look pretty much alike, and are differentiated from the books set in roman only by their type. The domination of centred setting sometimes

gives

German books a stronger, more "colourful" appearance because of the nature of fraktur type. Proportions and general style were the same in German and Latin-style books. Title-pages of books set in fraktur often looked garish and clumsy because of the use of too many type sizes and too many lines in red - but this also happened in books set in roman. Not until the end of the 18th century did a lighter look come into both kinds of book, with more leading, less complicated headings, smaller sizes of type, etc. Towards the end of the 18th century the p u n c h - c u t t e r s

Didot,

Walbaum,

the

and

others

completed

the

transformation

of

Bodoni,

Medieval-

Antiqua into the so-called Französische Antiqua. The success of A n t i q u a Croman) types on the Continent at this time was due not only to their clarity but to the influence of the French Rococo in the so-called

culture-

countries. Under its influence Peter the Great in Russia at the beginning of the 18th century caused the cyrillic types to be b r o u g h t closer to the Latin forms. Leading German typecutters already saw the fraktur types as oldfashioned, medieval. The efforts of Linger CUnger-fraktur) and

Breitkopf

Cthe so-called Jean-Paul-fraktur) show how concerned the feeling then was to bring the external appearance of fraktur closer to roman. The characteristic

quality

of the

Französische

Antiqua types

showed

itself

in

their

increasing departures from pen forms. If the older romans and their italics show clearly, in their details, their imitation of pen and occasionally chisel strokes, the types of Didot are the archetype of the engraved letter — no c o r r e s p o n d i n g w r i t t e n or chiselled forms exist. The complicated individual movements of the M e d i e v a l - A n t i q u a are replaced by the simpler, "regular" line of the D i d o t - A n t i q u a . The letters convey a much

more

clearer

effect, closer to their essential characters. The new "Empire" style, w h i c h b r o u g h t in the Didot types with it, led to a certain t y p o g r a p h i c a l revival, a 19

Jt—'.*.

-

P irv-rvrvrvT-i-ViTv-« VT»V^TvrvfvfVrtf?vj

ffiSSIEüRS ET DAMES *

^ T V RCR; !

*

I

i.-i1;.

I

1 i» •if C

(J

• 5

— O

N S ± s i/t « vi o

63

retreated into a s i l e n c e that meant a c c e p t a n c e , b e c a u s e they had nothing to say. T h e outcome of the s t r u g g l e reveals o n c e more how little w e i g h t is c a r r i e d by o p i n i o n s of a few d i s s e n t i n g bigots. It would be naive and s h o r t - s i g h t e d to think that the N e w T y p o g r a p h y , the result of the collective efforts of a w h o l e generation of artists, is only a temporary fashion. T h e break with the old typography, made c o m p l e t e by the new movement, m e a n s nothing less than the total d i s c a r d i n g of d e c o rative c o n c e p t s and the turn to functional d e s i g n . T h i s is the f u n d a m e n t a l mark of the modern movement; a n d the New Typography, no less than the new technology, the new a r c h i t e c t u r e , and the new music, is not a mere fashion but the e x p r e s s i o n of a newly o p e n i n g e p o c h of E u r o p e a n culture. Its aim, to d e s i g n every j o b as c o m p l e t e l y and c o n s i s t e n t l y as p o s s i b l e with c o n t e m p o r a r y m e a n s , i n t r o d u c e s a fresh attitude towards all work; s i n c e t e c h n i q u e s and r e q u i r e m e n t s are in a state of c o n s t a n t c h a n g e , f o s s i l i z e d rigidity is u n t h i n k a b l e . T h i s is the s t a r t i n g - p o i n t for new

developments:

t h e s e are b a s e d not so much on artistic e x p e r i m e n t s as on the new m e t h ods of r e p r o d u c t i o n w h i c h together with s o c i a l n e e d s created the new requirements.

THE PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW T Y P O G R A P H Y M o d e r n man has to a b s o r b every d a y a m a s s of printed matter w h i c h , whether he has a s k e d for it or not, is delivered through his letter-box or confronts him e v e r y w h e r e out of doors. At first, today's printing differed from that of previous times less in form than in quantity. But as the q u a n tity i n c r e a s e d , the "form" also b e g a n to c h a n g e ; the s p e e d with w h i c h the modern c o n s u m e r of printing has to a b s o r b it m e a n s that the form of p r i n t ing also must adapt itself to the c o n d i t i o n s of modern life. A s a rule we no longer read quietly line by line, but g l a n c e q u i c k l y over the whole, a n d only if our interest is a w a k e n e d do we s t u d y it in detail. The old t y p o g r a p h y both in feeling a n d in form was a d a p t e d to the n e e d s of its readers, who had plenty of time to read line by line in a leisurely m a n ner. For them, function could not yet play any s i g n i f i c a n t role. For this r e a son the old t y p o g r a p h y c o n c e r n e d itself less with function than with what w a s c a l l e d "beauty" or "art." Problems of formal a e s t h e t i c s (choice of type, mixture of t y p e f a c e s a n d ornament] d o m i n a t e d c o n s i d e r a t i o n s of form. It is for this r e a s o n that the history of t y p o g r a p h y s i n c e M a n u t i u s is not so much a d e v e l o p m e n t towards clarity of a p p e a r a n c e Cthe only

exception

being the period of Didot, Bodoni, Baskerville, and WalbaurrO as an e m b o d iment of the d e v e l o p m e n t of historical t y p e f a c e s a n d ornaments.

64

retreated into a s i l e n c e that meant a c c e p t a n c e , b e c a u s e they had nothing to say. T h e outcome of the s t r u g g l e reveals o n c e more how little w e i g h t is c a r r i e d by o p i n i o n s of a few d i s s e n t i n g bigots. It would be naive and s h o r t - s i g h t e d to think that the N e w T y p o g r a p h y , the result of the collective efforts of a w h o l e generation of artists, is only a temporary fashion. T h e break with the old typography, made c o m p l e t e by the new movement, m e a n s nothing less than the total d i s c a r d i n g of d e c o rative c o n c e p t s and the turn to functional d e s i g n . T h i s is the f u n d a m e n t a l mark of the modern movement; a n d the New Typography, no less than the new technology, the new a r c h i t e c t u r e , and the new music, is not a mere fashion but the e x p r e s s i o n of a newly o p e n i n g e p o c h of E u r o p e a n culture. Its aim, to d e s i g n every j o b as c o m p l e t e l y and c o n s i s t e n t l y as p o s s i b l e with c o n t e m p o r a r y m e a n s , i n t r o d u c e s a fresh attitude towards all work; s i n c e t e c h n i q u e s and r e q u i r e m e n t s are in a state of c o n s t a n t c h a n g e , f o s s i l i z e d rigidity is u n t h i n k a b l e . T h i s is the s t a r t i n g - p o i n t for new

developments:

t h e s e are b a s e d not so much on artistic e x p e r i m e n t s as on the new m e t h ods of r e p r o d u c t i o n w h i c h together with s o c i a l n e e d s created the new requirements.

THE PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW T Y P O G R A P H Y M o d e r n man has to a b s o r b every d a y a m a s s of printed matter w h i c h , whether he has a s k e d for it or not, is delivered through his letter-box or confronts him e v e r y w h e r e out of doors. At first, today's printing differed from that of previous times less in form than in quantity. But as the q u a n tity i n c r e a s e d , the "form" also b e g a n to c h a n g e ; the s p e e d with w h i c h the modern c o n s u m e r of printing has to a b s o r b it m e a n s that the form of p r i n t ing also must adapt itself to the c o n d i t i o n s of modern life. A s a rule we no longer read quietly line by line, but g l a n c e q u i c k l y over the whole, a n d only if our interest is a w a k e n e d do we s t u d y it in detail. The old t y p o g r a p h y both in feeling a n d in form was a d a p t e d to the n e e d s of its readers, who had plenty of time to read line by line in a leisurely m a n ner. For them, function could not yet play any s i g n i f i c a n t role. For this r e a son the old t y p o g r a p h y c o n c e r n e d itself less with function than with what w a s c a l l e d "beauty" or "art." Problems of formal a e s t h e t i c s (choice of type, mixture of t y p e f a c e s a n d ornament] d o m i n a t e d c o n s i d e r a t i o n s of form. It is for this r e a s o n that the history of t y p o g r a p h y s i n c e M a n u t i u s is not so much a d e v e l o p m e n t towards clarity of a p p e a r a n c e Cthe only

exception

being the period of Didot, Bodoni, Baskerville, and WalbaurrO as an e m b o d iment of the d e v e l o p m e n t of historical t y p e f a c e s a n d ornaments.

64

It was left to our age to achieve a lively focus on the problem of "form" or design. While up to now form was considered as something external, a p r o d u c t of the "artistic imagination" CHaeckel even i m p u t e d such "artistic intentions" to nature in his Art Forms in Nature),

today we have moved con-

siderably closer to the recognition of its essence t h r o u g h the

renewed

study of nature and more especially to technology [ w h i c h is only a kind of second nature]. Both nature and technology teach us that "form" is not independent, but g r o w s out of function ( p u r p o s e ) , out of the materials used (organic or technical), and out of how they are used. This was how the marvellous forms of nature and the equally marvellous forms of t e c h nology originated. We can describe the forms of t e c h n o l o g y as j u s t as "organic" Gin an intellectual sense) as those of nature. But as a rule most people see only the superficial forms of technology, they admire their "beauty" — of aeroplanes, cars, or ships — instead of recognizing that their perfection of appearance is due to the precise and economic expression of their function. In the process of giving form, both t e c h n o l o g y and nature use the same laws of economy, precision, minimum friction, and so on. Technology by its very nature can never be an end in itself, only a means to an end, and can therefore be a part of man's spiritual life only indirectly, while the remaining fields of human creativity rise above the purely f u n c tional of technical forms. But they too, following the laws of nature, are drawn towards greater clarity and purity of appearance. Thus architecture discards the ornamental facade and "decorated" f u r n i t u r e and develops its forms from the f u n c t i o n of the building — no longer from the

outside

inwards, as determined by the facade-orientation of p r e - w a r t i m e days, but from the inside outwards, the natural way. So too t y p o g r a p h y is liberated from its present superficial and formalistic shapes, and from its so-called "traditional" designs w h i c h are long since fossilized. To us, the succession of historic styles, reactions against Jugendstil, are n o t h i n g but proof of creative incompetence. It cannot and must not be our wish today to ape the t y p o g r a p h y of previous centuries, itself c o n d i t i o n e d by its own time. Our age, with its very different aims, its often different ways and means and highly developed techniques, must dictate new and different visual forms. Though

its

Gutenberg

significance Bible

remains

represents

undeniable,

an achievement

to

think

today

that

the

that

can

never

again

be

reached is both naive and romantic rubbish. If we w a n t to "prove ourselves w o r t h y " of the clearly significant achievements of the past, w e must set our own achievements beside them born out of our own time. They can only become "classic" if they are unhistoric.

65

T h e e s s e n c e o f t h e N e w T y p o g r a p h y is c l a r i t y . This puts it into deliberate opposition to the old typography whose aim was "beauty" and whose clarity did not attain the high level we require today. This utmost clarity is necessary today because of the manifold claims for our attention made by the extraordinary amount of print, which demands the greatest economy of expression. The gentle swing of the pendulum between ornamental type, the (superficially understood] "beautiful" appearance, and "adornment" by extraneous additions (ornaments) can never produce the pure form we demand today. Especially the feeble clinging to the bugbear of arranging type on a central axis results in the extreme inflexibility of contemporary typography. In the old typography, the arrangement of individual units is subordinated to the principle of arranging everything on a central axis. In my historical introduction I have shown that this principle started in the Renaissance and has not yet been abandoned. Its superficiality becomes obvious when we look at Renaissance or Baroque title-pages [see pp. 17, 18). Main units are arbitrarily cut up: for example, logical order, which should be expressed by the use of different type-sizes, is ruthlessly sacrificed to external form. Thus the principal line contains only three-quarters of the title, and the rest of the title, set several sizes smaller, appears in the next line. Such things admittedly do not often happen today, but the rigidity of central-axis setting hardly allows work to be carried out with the degree of logic we now demand. The central axis runs through the whole like an artificial, invisible backbone: its raison d'être is today as pretentious as the tall white collars of Victorian gentlemen. Even in good central-axis composition the contents are subordinated to "beautiful line arrangement." The whole is a "form" which is predetermined and therefore must be inorganic. We believe it is wrong to arrange a text as if there were some focal point in the centre of a line which would justify such an arrangement. Such points of course do not exist, because we read by starting at one side (Europeans for example read from left to right, the Chinese from top to bottom and right to left). Axial arrangements are illogical because the distance of the stressed, central parts from the beginning and end of the w o r d sequences is not usually equal but constantly varies from line to line. But not only the preconceived idea of axial arrangement but also all other preconceived ideas — like those of the pseudo-constructivists — are diametrically opposed to the essence of the New Typography. Every piece of typography which originates in a preconceived idea of form, of whatever kind, is wrong. The N e w T y p o g r a p h y is d i s t i n g u i s h e d f r o m t h e o l d by t h e f a c t t h a t i t s f i r s t o b j e c t i v e is t o d e v e l o p i t s v i s i b l e f o r m

66

B AU-AUSSTELLUNG

STUTTGART 1»*4 E.V.

EINLADUNG ZUR TEILNAHME AN OER ERÖFFNUNGSFEIER OER

BAU* AUSSTELLUNG

STUTTGART I M 4

AM SONNTAG, DEN 19. JUNI 1024, MITTAGS 12 UHR IN OER HALLE DES H A U P T R E S T A U R A N T S OER AUSSTELLUNG (EINGANG SCHLOSS-STRASSE)

v. JEHLE P R Ä S I D E N T D E S WÜRTT. LANDES6EWERBEAMTS E S WIRD H Ö F t . G E B E T E N . DIESE K A R T E A M EINGAN6 VORZUZEIGEN

WILLI B A U M E I S T E R : I n v i t a t i o n c a r d . E x a m p l e o f r e a d i n g - o r d e r .

o u t of t h e f u n c t i o n s of t h e t e x t . It is essential to give pure and direct expression to the contents of whatever is printed; j u s t as in the works of t e c h n o l o g y and nature, "form" must be created out of f u n c t i o n . Only then can we achieve a t y p o g r a p h y w h i c h expresses the spirit of modern man. The f u n c t i o n of printed text is communication, emphasis [ w o r d value], and the logical sequence of the contents. Every part of a text relates to every other part by a definite, logical relationship of emphasis and value, predetermined by content. It is up to the t y p o g r a p h e r to express this relationship clearly and visibly, t h r o u g h type sizes and weight, arrangement of lines, use of colour, photography, etc. The t y p o g r a p h e r must take the greatest care to study how his w o r k is read and o u g h t to be read. It is true that we usually read from top left to b o t t o m right — but this is not a law. It is shown at its clearest in Willi Baumeister's invitation card. There is no d o u b t that we read most printed matter in successive steps: first the heading Cwhich need not be the opening w o r d ] and then, if we continue to read the printed matter at all, we read the rest bit by bit a c c o r d i n g to its importance. It is therefore quite feasible to start reading a text at a different point from the top left. The exact

place

depends entirely on the kind of printed matter and the text itself. But w e must admit that there are dangers in departing from the main rule of read67

ing from the t o p to the bottom. One must therefore, in general, not set a following body of text higher than the p r e c e d i n g one — assuming that the arrangement of the text has a logical sequence and order. Working t h r o u g h a text according to these principles will usually result in a rhythm different from that of former symmetrical typography. Asymmetry is the rhythmic expression of functional design. In addition to being more logical, asymmetry has the advantage that its complete appearance is far more optically effective than symmetry. Hence the predominance of asymmetry in the New Typography. Not least, the liveliness of asymmetry is also an expression of our own movement and that of modern life; it is a symbol of the changing forms of life in general w h e n asymmetrical movement in t y p o g r a p h y takes the place of symmetrical repose. This movement must not however degenerate into unrest or chaos. A striving for order can, and must, also be expressed in asymmetrical form. It is the only way to make a better, more natural order possible, as o p p o s e d to symmetrical form w h i c h does not draw its laws from within itself but from outside. Furthermore, the principle of asymmetry gives unlimited scope for variation in the New Typography. It also expresses the diversity of modern life, unlike central-axis t y p o g r a p h y w h i c h , apart from variations of typeface Cthe only e x c e p t i o n ) , does not allow such variety. While the New Typography allows much greater flexibility in design, it also encourages "standardization" in the c o n s t r u c t i o n of units, as in building.

BUCHVERTRIEB

G

M

B

H

DAS P O L I T I S C H E B U C H BERLIN-SCHMARGENDORF

1 3 . 1 2 . 1 9 2 6 . B . H . / S c h .

C e n t r e d l a y o u t u s i n g l i g h t w e i g h t sanserif has no visual e f f e c t i v e n e s s a n d r e a c h e s a " t y p o g r a p h i c l o w " f o r t o d a y ( l e t t e r h e a d for a b o o k s h o p ) .

68

The o l d t y p o g r a p h y d i d t h e o p p o s i t e : it r e c o g n i z e d o n l y o n e b a s i c f o r m , t h e c e n t r a l - a x i s a r r a n g e m e n t , b u t a l l o w e d all p o s s i b l e a n d i m p o s s i b l e c o n s t r u c tion elements [typefaces, ornaments, etc.]. The n e e d f o r c l a r i t y in c o m m u n i c a t i o n raises t h e q u e s t i o n of h o w t o a c h i e v e clear and u n a m b i g u o u s form. A b o v e all, a f r e s h a n d o r i g i n a l i n t e l l e c t u a l a p p r o a c h is n e e d e d , a v o i d i n g all s t a n d a r d s o l u t i o n s . If w e t h i n k c l e a r l y a n d a p p r o a c h e a c h t a s k w i t h a f r e s h a n d d e t e r m i n e d m i n d , a g o o d s o l u t i o n w i l l usually r e s u l t . The m o s t i m p o r t a n t r e q u i r e m e n t is t o be o b j e c t i v e . This h o w e v e r d o e s n o t m e a n a w a y of d e s i g n in w h i c h e v e r y t h i n g is o m i t t e d t h a t u s e d t o be t a c k e d o n , as in t h e l e t t e r h e a d " D a s p o l i t i s c h e B u c h " s h o w n h e r e . The t y p e is c e r t a i n l y l e g i b l e a n d t h e r e are no o r n a m e n t s w h a t e v e r . But t h i s is n o t t h e k i n d of o b j e c t i v i t y w e are t a l k i n g a b o u t . A b e t t e r n a m e f o r it w o u l d be m e a g e r n e s s . I n c i d e n t a l l y t h i s l e t t e r h e a d also s h o w s t h e h o l l o w n e s s o f t h e o l d p r i n ciples: w i t h o u t "ornamental" typefaces they do not w o r k . A n d yet, it is a b s o l u t e l y n e c e s s a r y t o o m i t e v e r y t h i n g t h a t is n o t n e e d e d . The o l d i d e a s of d e s i g n m u s t be d i s c a r d e d a n d n e w i d e a s d e v e l o p e d . It is o b v i o u s t h a t f u n c t i o n a l d e s i g n m e a n s t h e a b o l i t i o n of t h e

"ornamentation"

t h a t has r e i g n e d f o r c e n t u r i e s . The use of o r n a m e n t , in w h a t e v e r s t y l e or q u a l i t y , c o m e s f r o m an a t t i t u d e of c h i l d i s h naivety. It s h o w s a r e l u c t a n c e to use " p u r e d e s i g n , " a g i v i n g - i n t o a p r i m i t i v e i n s t i n c t t o d e c o r a t e — w h i c h reveals, in t h e last r e s o r t , a f e a r of

pure

a p p e a r a n c e . It is so easy t o e m p l o y o r n a m e n t t o c o v e r up b a d d e s i g n !

The i m p o r t a n t a r c h i t e c t A d o l f Loos, o n e of t h e f i r s t c h a m p i o n s o f p u r e f o r m , w r o t e a l r e a d y in 1 8 9 8 : "The m o r e p r i m i t i v e a p e o p l e , t h e m o r e

extrava-

g a n t l y t h e y use o r n a m e n t a n d d e c o r a t i o n . The I n d i a n o v e r l o a d s e v e r y t h i n g , e v e r y b o a t , e v e r y r u d d e r , e v e r y a r r o w , w i t h o r n a m e n t . To i n s i s t o n d e c o r a t i o n is t o p u t y o u r s e l f on t h e s a m e level as an I n d i a n . The I n d i a n in us all m u s t be o v e r c o m e . The I n d i a n says: This w o m a n is b e a u t i f u l b e c a u s e s h e w e a r s g o l d e n r i n g s in her nose a n d her ears. M e n of a h i g h e r c u l t u r e say: This w o m a n is b e a u t i f u l b e c a u s e s h e d o e s not w e a r r i n g s in h e r n o s e o r her ears. To s e e k b e a u t y in f o r m i t s e l f r a t h e r t h a n make it d e p e n d e n t on o r n a m e n t s h o u l d be t h e aim of all m a n k i n d . " Today w e see in a d e s i r e f o r o r n a m e n t an i g n o r a n t t e n d e n c y w h i c h o u r c e n t u r y m u s t r e p r e s s . W h e n in e a r l i e r p e r i o d s o r n a m e n t w a s u s e d , o f t e n in an e x t r a v a g a n t d e g r e e , it only s h o w e d h o w little t h e e s s e n c e of t y p o g r a p h y , w h i c h is c o m m u n i c a t i o n , w a s u n d e r s t o o d . It m u s t be u n d e r s t o o d t h a t " o r n a m e n t " printers'

flowers

but

also

includes

is n o t o n l y d e c o r a t e d

all c o m b i n a t i o n s

of

rules.

rules

and

Even

the

69

thick/thin rule is an ornament, and must be avoided. [It was used to disguise contrasts, to reduce them to one level. The New Typography, on the

other hand, emphasizes contrasts and uses them to create a new unity.]

"Abstract decorations" which some foundries have produced under different names are also ornaments in this sense. Unfortunately many people have thought the essence of the New Typography consists merely in the use of bold rules, circles, and triangles. If these are merely substituted for

the old ornaments, nothing is improved. This error is forgivable since, after

all, all former typography was oriented towards the ornamental. But that is

exactly why the utmost care must be taken to avoid replacing the old floral or

other

Typography

ornamentation

with

has absolutely

abstract

nothing

ornaments.

to do with

Equally

"pictorial"

the

New

typesetting

CBildsatz) which has become fashionable recently. In almost all its exam-

ples it is the opposite of what we are aiming for.

But it is not enough to dispense with ornament in order to create a mean-

ingful form. We have already seen that even the old form that dispenses

with ornament is ineffective because it is still based on the effect of ornamental types. The form of the old typography could be taken in at a glance, even though this does not correspond with the reading process. Even if I

succeed in recognizing the outline of the type matter I have not really read anything. Reading presupposes eye movement. The New Typography so

designs text matter that the eye is led from one word and one group of

words to the next. So a logical organization of the text is needed, through

the use of different type-sizes, weights, placing in relation to space, colour, etc.

The real meaning of form is made clearer by its opposite. We would not recognize day as day if night did not exist. The ways to achieve contrast are endless:

the

simplest

are

large/small,

light/dark,

horizontal/vertical,

square/round, smooth/rough, closed/open, coloured/plain; ail offer many possibilities of effective design.

Large differences in weight are better than small. The closer in size differ-

ent types are to each other, the weaker will be the result. A limit to the

number of type sizes used — normally three to not more than five — is always to be recommended. This has the additional advantage of being

easier both in designing and in setting. Variations in size should be

emphatic: it is always better for the headline to be very large and the remaining text noticeably smaller.

It is vital that all contrasts, for example in type sizes, should be logical. For

example, a forename should not have a much larger initial letter if the 70

STATISTIK DER

EHESCHEIDUNGEN

«EHE-BUCH Z E I G E N 24 F U H R E N D E GEISTER DEN A U S W E G A U S DIESER KRISE # J E D E R W I R D I N DIESEM W E R K A U F DEN TIEFEN S I N N S E I N E R PERSONLICHEN FRAGE DIE ANTWORT U N D EINEN RAT F I N D E N MITAÄBEITERJ

GRAF KEYSERLING

( — • > » T H O M A S

MANN • RICARDA HUCH • JACOB WASSERMANN • HAVELOCK ELUS • RABINDRANATHTAGORE»FURSTINLICHNOWSKY«A.W.NIEUWENHUIS»LEOFROBENIUS • ERNST KRETSCHMER • BARONIN LEONIE UNGERN-STERNBERG » RICHARD WILHELM» BEATRICE HINKLE9HANS VON HATTINGBERG» MATHILDE VON KEMNITZ • GRAF THUN-HOHENSTEIN • MARTA KARLWEIS • ALPHONS MAEDER» LEO BAECK • JOSEPH BERNHART» PAUL E R N S T » ALFRED ADLER • C.&IUNG • PAUL DAHLKE

PREIS: MAIBUININ: JAN TSCHICHOLD:

Poster

1926.

Normformat

OAMZLEINEN:

17*

MAIBUDIR:

20.°°

A

71

b e g i n n i n g of t h e p r i n c i p a l name is not specially i n d i c a t e d . All f o r m m u s t c o r r e s p o n d w i t h m e a n i n g and n o t c o n t r a d i c t it. In a s y m m e t r i c d e s i g n , t h e w h i t e b a c k g r o u n d plays an active part in t h e d e s i g n . The t y p i c a l

main display of t h e old t y p o g r a p h y , t h e

title-page,

s h o w e d its b l a c k t y p e on a w h i t e b a c k g r o u n d t h a t played no p a r t in t h e d e s i g n Csee t h e r e p r o d u c t i o n s on pp. 2 0 - 2 7 ] , In a s y m m e t r i c t y p o g r a p h y , on t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h e p a p e r b a c k g r o u n d c o n t r i b u t e s t o a g r e a t e r or lesser d e g r e e to t h e e f f e c t of the w h o l e . The s t r e n g t h of its e f f e c t d e p e n d s on w h e t h e r it is d e l i b e r a t e l y e m p h a s i z e d or n o t ; b u t in a s y m m e t r i c d e s i g n it is always a c o m p o n e n t . The N e w T y p o g r a p h y uses t h e e f f e c t i v e n e s s of t h e former

"background"

quite

deliberately,

and c o n s i d e r s t h e

blank

white

spaces on t h e p a p e r as f o r m a l e l e m e n t s j u s t as m u c h as t h e areas of b l a c k t y p e . In t h i s way t h e N e w T y p o g r a p h y has e n r i c h e d t h e art of p r i n t i n g by g i v i n g it a n e w m e d i u m of e x p r e s s i o n . The p o w e r f u l e f f e c t in many e x a m ples of t h e N e w T y p o g r a p h y d e p e n d s d i r e c t l y on t h e use of large areas of white:

white

is always

stronger

than

grey

or

black.

Strong

contrasts

b e t w e e n w h i t e a n d black, in t h e f o r m of t y p e or rules, e m p h a s i z e t h e w h i t e areas and greatly assist t h e t o t a l e f f e c t . A c o m m o n m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g of w h a t w e are a b o u t can be seen w h e n t h e area of w h i t e has b e e n d e c i d e d b e f o r e h a n d and t h e t e x t c o m p r e s s e d into it. It is equally w r o n g to s u p p o s e t h a t areas of w h i t e are ever more i m p o r t a n t t h a n t h e w o r d s of t h e t e x t . W h e n t h e d e s i g n of a piece of t y p o g r a p h y is l o o k e d at — and all t y p o g r a phy has a d e s i g n , of v a r y i n g nature and q u a l i t y — m o d e r n t y p o g r a p h y is d i s t i n g u i s h e d by its f o r m a l use of t h e w h i t e and b l a c k areas. Of c o u r s e , l o g ically only t h e t y p e is i m p o r t a n t . The p u r s u i t of g r e a t e r e f f e c t i v e n e s s and clarity in t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n b l a c k and w h i t e areas o f t e n leads to a n o t i c e a b l e r e d u c t i o n of m a r g i n s [ a l w a y s p r o m i n e n t in t h e old t y p o g r a p h y ] . In t h e N e w T y p o g r a p h y m a r g i n s o f t e n a l m o s t e n t i r e l y d i s a p p e a r . Of c o u r s e t y p e c a n n o t in m o s t cases be set r i g h t up to t h e e d g e of t h e paper, w h i c h w o u l d h i n d e r l e g i b i l i t y . In small items of p r i n t e d m a t t e r , 1 2 to 24 p o i n t s are t h e m i n i m u m m a r g i n r e q u i r e d ; in p o s t e r s 48 p o i n t s . On t h e o t h e r hand, b o r d e r s of solid red or b l a c k can be t a k e n r i g h t up to t h e e d g e , since unlike t y p e t h e y do not r e q u i r e a w h i t e m a r g i n to achieve t h e i r best e f f e c t . Blocks t o o can be b l e d o f f t h e p a g e p r o v i d e d t h e t r i m is a c c u r a t e . Colour In c o n t r a s t w i t h t h e old t y p o g r a p h y , in w h i c h c o l o u r as w e l l as f o r m w a s always used d e c o r a t i v e l y , in t h e N e w T y p o g r a p h y c o l o u r is used f u n c t i o n 72

ally. I.e. the physiological effect peculiar to each colour is used to increase or decrease the importance of a block of type, a photograph, or whatever. White, for example, has the effect of reflecting light: it shines. Red comes forward, it seems closer to the reader than any other colour, including white. Black on the other hand is the densest colour and seems to retire the furthest. Of the other colours, yellow, for example, is close to red, and blue to black. [We do not accept a "literary" identification of colours, for example red = love, yellow = envy, as not being natural.) We have today a strong feeling for light, therefore for white, which explains its importance in the New Typography. The liveliness of red corresponds to our own natures, and we prefer it to all other colours. The already strong contrast between black and white can be greatly enhanced by the addition of red. (This is admittedly not a new discovery: but we have perhaps made sharper use of this combination than the earlier typographers, who also much enjoyed using black-red on white, especially in the Gothic and Baroque periods.) The combination of black-red is of course not the only possibility, as is often mistakenly supposed, but it is often chosen because of its greater intensity. Colour should be used, in general, to help express the purpose of the w o r k : a visiting-card does not require three colours, and a poster generally needs more than just black and white. Pure red, yellow, and blue, unmixed with black, will generally be preferred, because of their intensity, but other mixed colours need not be excluded. Type None of the typefaces to whose basic form some kind of ornament has been added Cserifs in roman type, lozenge shapes and curlicues in fraktur) meet our requirements for clarity and purity. Among all the types that are available, the so-called "Grotesque" [sanserif) or "block letter" ["skeleton letters" would be a better name) is the only one in spiritual accordance with our time. To proclaim sanserif as the typeface of our time is not a question of being fashionable, it really does express the same tendencies to be seen in our architecture. It will not be long before not only the "art" typefaces, as they are sometimes called today, but also the classical typefaces, disappear, as completely as the contorted furniture of the eighties. There is no doubt that the sanserif types available today are not yet wholly satisfactory as all-purpose faces. The essential characteristics of this type have not been fully worked out: the lower-case letters especially are still too like their "humanistic" counterparts. Most of them, in particular the 73

newest d e s i g n s s u c h as Erbar a n d Kabel, are inferior to the old a n o n y m o u s s a n s e r i f s , a n d have m o d i f i c a t i o n s w h i c h p l a c e them b a s i c a l l y in line with the rest of the "art" f a c e s . A s b r e a d - a n d - b u t t e r f a c e s they are less g o o d than the old s a n s f a c e s . Paul R e n n e r ' s Futura m a k e s a s i g n i f i c a n t step in the right direction. But all the attempts up to now to p r o d u c e a type for our time are merely "improvements" on the p r e v i o u s s a n s e r i f s : they are all still too artistic, too artificial, in the old s e n s e , to fulfil what we n e e d today. P e r s o n a l l y I believe that no s i n g l e d e s i g n e r c a n p r o d u c e the t y p e f a c e we need, w h i c h must be free from all p e r s o n a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s : it will be the w o r k of a group, among w h o m I think there must be an engineer. For the time being it s e e m s to me that the j o b b i n g s a n s e r i f s , like those from B a u e r & Co. in Stuttgart, are the most s u i t a b l e for u s e today, b e c a u s e of their f u n c t i o n a l i s m a n d quiet line. L e s s g o o d is V e n u s a n d its c o p i e s , owing to the bad d e s i g n of c a p s E and F and the l o w e r - c a s e t with its ugly slanted crossbar. "painterly"

In third

place,

[malerischen)

when

nothing

b l o c k letters

better

is

available,

come

the

[light a n d bold, etc.3 with their

s e e m i n g l y g n a w e d - o f f e d g e s a n d r o u n d e d finials. Of the roman types, the bold romans [the A l d i n e , a n d bold E g y p t i a n s ) , with their exact d r a w i n g , are best, as far as t y p e s for e m p h a s i s are required. T h e e s s e n t i a l limitation of this restricted r a n g e of t y p e f a c e s d o e s not mean that printers who have no or too few s a n s e r i f f a c e s c a n n o t p r o d u c e good c o n t e m p o r a r y t y p o g r a p h y while using other f a c e s . But it must be laid down that s a n s e r i f is a b s o l u t e l y and a l w a y s better. I am aware that to lay down the law like this will offend the romantic p r e d i l e c t i o n s of a large part of the printing trade a n d the p u b l i c for the old "decorative" faces. T h e s e old t y p e s c a n however from time to time find a new u s e in modern t y p o g r a p h y : for fun, for example in order to make a t y p o g r a p h i c a l parody of the "good old days"; or as an e y e - c a t c h e r — for example by using a bold fraktur B in the middle of s a n s e r i f — j u s t as the p o m p o u s uniforms of V i c t o r i a n

generals

and a d m i r a l s have b e e n d e g r a d e d for f l u n k e y s and f a n c y d r e s s . W h o e v e r is so a t t a c h e d to fraktur — this s i x t e e n t h - c e n t u r y c l e r k ' s type — that he c a n not let go of it, s h o u l d also not do v i o l e n c e to it by using it in m o d e r n t y p o g r a p h y w h e r e it c a n never be comfortable. Fraktur, like g o t h i c a n d S c h w a b a c h e r , has so little to do with us that it must be totally e x c l u d e d as a b a s i c type for c o n t e m p o r a r y work. T h e e m p h a t i c a l l y national, e x c l u s i v i s t c h a r a c t e r of fraktur — but also of the e q u i v a l e n t national s c r i p t s of other p e o p l e s , for example of the R u s s i a n s or the C h i n e s e — c o n t r a d i c t s p r e s e n t - d a y t r a n s n a t i o n a l b o n d s b e t w e e n p e o -

74

graftin:

@n>abad>er (ßotffty Griechisch Cyrillisch ( = Russisch und Bulgarisch) Türkisch (= Arabisch)

= NATIONALISMUS

Chinesisch ( = Japanisch) Indisch Schriften der Exoten (Zulukaffern, Papuas usw.)

pie and forces their inevitable elimination.* To keep to these types is retrograde. Roman type is the international typeface of the future. These important changes must come, since they express the actual spirit of our age and are required by the technical forms of the present and indeed the future. As undesirable as fraktur are those roman types with extraordinary forms, such as script and decorated, like Eckmann and others. The details of these faces distract from the meaning and thus c o n t r a d i c t the essence of t y p o g raphy, w h i c h is never an end in itself. Their use for parody, in the sense d e s c r i b e d above, of course remains legitimate. As a b r e a d - a n d - b u t t e r type today's sanserifs are only partially suited. A bolder face is out of the question because continuous reading matter in bold sanserif is not easy to read. I find the best face in use today is the socalled ordinary j o b b i n g sanserif, w h i c h is quiet and easy to read. In using it for this book I wanted to show how readable it is; but I still have certain reservations. However it is preferable to all the romans. On the particular choice of type for this book I was limited to what the printer held.) The main reason why sanserif is so seldom used today for normal text setting is that in general there is not enough of it available. So for much printed matter and books like the present one, entirely set in sanserif, it

• There are movements in Russia, Turkey, and China today to do away with nationalistic typefaces and replace them with roman. In Germany, on the contrary, railway-station lettering in roman is being replaced by gothic — which for foreigners is virtually unreadable!

75

will remain t h e e x c e p t i o n . In s u c h c a s e s t h e text f a c e will be a g o o d roman, a n d s a n s e r i f will b e r e s e r v e d for e m p h a s i s . E v e n more than t h e historic t y p e f a c e s , t h e " a r t i s t s ' " t y p e f a c e s are disturbing b e c a u s e of their strongly individual c h a r a c t e r , w h i c h is in direct opposition to t h e spirit of our a g e a n d

m a k e s them

u n s u i t a b l e for

properly

d e s i g n e d printing today. N o p e r i o d w a s so p r e o c c u p i e d w i t h individualism as that from t h e b e g i n n i n g of t h e p r e s e n t c e n t u r y up to t h e o u t b r e a k of war. The "artists'" t y p e s of this p e r i o d r e a c h e d their l o w e s t point. N o n e a r e in any w a y better t h a n their p r e d e c e s s o r s , w h i c h are p r e f e r a b l e for their s u p e r i o r quality. N e v e r t h e l e s s t h e c l a s s i c f a c e s like W a l b a u m ,

Didot, B o d o n i , etc.

cannot

s e r v e as b r e a d - a n d - b u t t e r t y p e s today. In t e r m s of their c o n c e p t i o n they p o s s e s s romantic a s s o c i a t i o n s , they divert t h e r e a d e r ' s a t t e n t i o n into certain e m o t i o n a l and intellectual s p h e r e s a n d c l e a r l y b e l o n g to a past w i t h w h i c h w e have no c o n n e c t i o n . A natural d e v e l o p m e n t — not a f o r c e d o n e — w o u l d hardly have b r o u g h t t h e m b a c k again. To my mind, looking at t h e m o d e r n romans, it is t h e u n p r e t e n t i o u s w o r k s of t h e a n o n y m o u s t y p e - d e s i g n e r s that h a v e b e s t s e r v e d t h e spirit of their a g e : Sorbonne,

Nordische

Antiqua,

Französische

Antiqua,

and

so on.

These

t h r e e t y p e f a c e s and their d e r i v a t i v e s a r e t h e b e s t d e s i g n s from t h e p r e - w a r p e r i o d . * They are easily l e g i b l e ; they a r e also a b o v e all in a t e c h n i c a l s e n s e useful a n d free from p e r s o n a l i d i o s y n c r a s i e s — in t h e b e s t s e n s e of t h e w o r d , uninteresting. They c a n t h e r e f o r e be u s e d e v e r y w h e r e , w h e n a roman t y p e has to be u s e d b e c a u s e no a p p r o p r i a t e s a n s e r i f is available. On the expressiveness of type T h o s e w h o claim t h a t s a n s e r i f is t h e t y p e f a c e of our o w n a g e a r e often told that it d o e s not e x p r e s s a n y t h i n g . Do o t h e r t y p e f a c e s e x p r e s s a n y t h i n g ? Is it really a t y p e f a c e ' s job to e x p r e s s spiritual m a t t e r s ? Yes and no. T h e w i d e l y held belief that e v e r y t y p e f a c e has s o m e " s p i r i t u a l " c o n t e n t is certainly not t r u e of either g o t h i c t y p e Ctextura) or sanserif. T h e enormous

number

of t y p e f a c e s

available

today,

which

express

only

an

a b s e n c e of creativity a n d a r e t h e result of t h e feebly e c l e c t i c n a t u r e of t h e pre-war

period, may lead to t h e e r r o n e o u s

conclusion that gothic

type

• In the postwar period, the type foundries repeated their old mistakes in an even w o r s e form; their daily "best sellers" have not the slightest importance for the future.

76

e x p r e s s e s p e a c e , solemnity a n d religion, a n d italic, on the contrary, e x p r e s s e s c h e e r f u l n e s s a n d joy. However, all the i n n u m e r a b l e t h i n g s that c a n be e x p r e s s e d in writing, of whatever kind, at any time, are set d o w n in one — or at most two — k i n d s of lettering or type. Y e s , the c h a r a c t e r of g o t h i c is religious a n d solemn, that of r o c o c o [as far as the w e a l t h y c l a s s is c o n c e r n e d ] is l i g h t - h e a r t e d , but the t y p o g r a p h y of t h o s e times, e v e n w h e n e x p r e s s i n g s o m e t h i n g contrary to the "Zeitgeist," is a l w a y s l o g i c a l and s t y listically c o n s i s t e n t . In the G o t h i c period even profane texts w e r e s e t in t e x tura, a n d in the R o c o c o period an invitation to a funeral looks in no w a y different from any l i g h t - h e a r t e d printed matter of the s a m e period [cf. illustration on p. 20], All lettering, e s p e c i a l l y type, is first a n d foremost an e x p r e s s i o n of its own time, j u s t as every man is a s y m b o l of his time. What textura and a l s o r o c o c o type e x p r e s s is not religiosity, but the Gothic, not c h e e r f u l n e s s , but the R o c o c o ; and w h a t s a n s e r i f e x p r e s s e s is not l a c k of feeling but the twentieth century! T h e r e is no p e r s o n a l e x p r e s s i o n of the d e s i g n e r , nor w a s it ever his aim, e x c e p t in the first y e a r s of our century. T h e different k i n d s of type get their c h a r a c t e r from the different i d e a s of form in every a g e . Every p u n c h - c u t t e r w i s h e d to c r e a t e the best p o s s i b l e t y p e f a c e . If Didot did s o m e t h i n g different from F l e i s c h m a n n , it w a s b e c a u s e times had c h a n g e d , not b e c a u s e he w a n t e d to p r o d u c e s o m e t h i n g " s p e c i a l , " " p e r sonal," or "unique." T h e c o n c e p t i o n of what a g o o d t y p e f a c e s h o u l d look like had simply c h a n g e d . T h e e c l e c t i c nature of the p r e - w a r period led p e o p l e to play with t y p e f a c e s of every period, thus revealing their own artistic poverty. A b o o k a b o u t the Thirty Y e a r s ' War had to be set in a different f a c e from M o r i k e ' s p o e m s or an industrial c a t a l o g u e . But S t A u g u s t i n e w a s set in textura, not in uncial! All printed matter of w h a t e v e r kind that is c r e a t e d today must bear the hallmark of our a g e , a n d s h o u l d not imitate printed matter of the past. T h i s a p p l i e s not only to the t y p e f a c e but of c o u r s e to every element of the m a n ufacture: the illustrations, the b i n d i n g , etc. Earlier p e r i o d s , unlike us ever c o n s c i o u s of t h e m s e l v e s , a l w a y s d e n i e d the past, often very c r u d e l y ; that c a n be s e e n in the building of c a t h e d r a l s , in the g e n e r a l d e v e l o p m e n t of culture, a n d in t y p o g r a p h y . T h e p u n c h - c u t t e r U n g e r , creator of U n g e r fraktur [c. 1 8 0 0 ] a n d a f a m o u s t y p o g r a p h e r , d e c l a r e d that S c h w a b a c h e r w a s an ugly type and i n t r o d u c e d l e t t e r - s p a c i n g for e m p h a s i s in fraktur [previously, S c h w a b a c h e r had b e e n u s e d for e m p h a s i s in fraktur]. He w a s a b s o l u t e l y right. His a g e , the R o c o c o , found that gothic, and its w a y s of e x p r e s s i o n , i n c l u d i n g S c h w a b a c h e r , were out of harmony with their own

77

t i m e s , a n d h e n c e u g l y : Linger w a s merely its m o u t h p i e c e in o u r f i e l d of typography. A n art h i s t o r i a n may prize t h e g o o d q u a l i t i e s of t h e o l d S c h w a b a c h e r t y p e , and w e t o o can see t h a t it was an e x c e l l e n t f a c e of its p e r i o d , b u t w e m u s t not use it t o d a y , it is t o t a l l y u n s u i t a b l e f o r t h e 2 0 t h c e n t u r y . So are all t h e other historical typefaces. Like everyone else, w e t o o must look for a t y p e f a c e expressive of our o w n age. Our age is c h a r a c t e r i z e d by an a l l - o u t search for clarity and t r u t h , for purity of a p p e a r a n c e . So t h e p r o b l e m of w h a t t y p e f a c e to use is necessarily d i f f e r e n t from w h a t it was in previous times. We require from t y p e plainness, clarity, t h e rejection of e v e r y t h i n g t h a t is s u p e r f l u o u s . That leads us t o a g e o m e t r i c c o n s t r u c t i o n of f o r m . In sanserif w e f i n d a t y p e t h a t c o m e s very close t o t h e s e r e q u i r e m e n t s , so it must b e c o m e t h e basis for all f u t u r e w o r k to create t h e t y p e f a c e of o u r age. The c h a r a c t e r

of an age c a n n o t

be

e x p r e s s e d only in rich a n d o r n a m e n t a l forms. The simple g e o m e t r i c f o r m s of sanserif express s o m e t h i n g t o o : clarity and c o n c e n t r a t i o n on essentials, and so t h e essence of our time. To express this is i m p o r t a n t . But it is not i m p o r t a n t to create special t y p e s for a d v e r t i s i n g p e r f u m e m a n u f a c t u r e r s a n d fashion shops, or for lyrical o u t p o u r i n g s by poets. It was never t h e task of p u n c h - c u t t e r s of t h e past t o create a t y p e for a single k i n d of e x p r e s s i o n . The best t y p e f a c e s are t h o s e w h i c h can be used for all p u r p o s e s , and the bad ones t h o s e w h i c h can be used only for v i s i t i n g - c a r d s or hymn b o o k s . A g o o d letter is one t h a t e x p r e s s e s itself, or rather " s p e a k s , " w i t h u t m o s t d i s t i n c t i v e n e s s and clarity. A n d a g o o d t y p e f a c e has no

the

purpose

b e y o n d b e i n g of t h e h i g h e s t clarity. Sanserif, l o o k e d at in detail, is a d m i t t e d l y c a p a b l e of i m p r o v e m e n t ,

but

th ere is no d o u b t t h a t it is t h e basic f o r m f r o m w h i c h t h e t y p e f a c e of t h e future will grow. O t h e r i n d i v i d u a l expressive p o s s i b i l i t i e s of t y p e have n o t h i n g t o do w i t h t y p o g r a p h y . They are in c o n t r a d i c t i o n to its very n a t u r e . They h i n d e r d i r e c t a n d t o t a l l y clear c o m m u n i c a t i o n , w h i c h must always be t h e f i r s t p u r p o s e of typography. O r t h o g r a p h y as a t p r e s e n t or all in l o w e r case? In roman t y p e a n d its s i m p l e r f o r m , sanserif, w e possess faces t h a t have been made out of n o t one b u t t w o a l p h a b e t s . This c o m b i n a t i o n t o o k place in t h e 15th c e n t u r y . The one a l p h a b e t , t h e c a p i t a l s , k n o w n as m a j u s c u l e s , w a s made by t h e o l d Romans as a f o r m s h a p e d by t h e chisel, at t h e b e g i n n i n g of our era. The o t h e r a l p h a b e t , t h e small or l o w e r - c a s e l e t t e r s , called

78

minuscules,

dates from

the time

of the emperor

Charlemagne,

about

A.D. 800; the so-called Carolingian minuscule, a w r i t t e n letter made with a pen. with ascenders and descenders. This script too was originally complete in itself. The c o n c e p t of "capital letters" was foreign to it. It was during the Renaissance that these t w o forms of letter, the roman capitals and the Carolingian minuscules, were combined to make one alphabet, the "Antiqua" or "roman." This is the explanation of the dichotomy, especially noticeable in German, between the capitals and the smaller letters. It is much less noticeable in other languages, especially French and English, because they use capital letters much less often than in German. Settings in roman type in English always look better than in German because they employ fewer accents and in particular do not use capitals for the first letters of nouns. For a long time now there have been efforts to abolish the use of capital initial letters for nouns and make German w r i t i n g c o n f o r m w i t h the international style. This signalling of nouns with capitals started in the Baroque period and seems to us now no longer useful. The rules governing our use of capitals make t e a c h i n g at school more difficult and also present p r o b lems in later life because of the many exceptions. Jakob Grimm, one of the founders of German studies, advocated its abolition already a hundred years ago, and referred to the Old and M i d d l e High German literature in w h i c h capitals were used only for proper names and beginnings of sentences. Following him, capitals have been used by Germanic scholars only in this way. The aesthetic critic finds this mixture of t w o such differently designed faces unpleasing. For this reason many artists prefer to use capitals only, to avoid mixing them with lower case. In France recently there have been many examples of the i n d e p e n d e n t use of lower case only [see the advertisement on this page] — mainly in fashion publicity and the announcements in fashion-shop w i n d o w s . Besides the exclusive use of lower case for text can be seen the use of capitals alone for headings — and vice-versa, capitals for text and lower case for headings. From this one can see that it is now recognized that the t w o alphabets of roman are really t w o different styles, and should be used in parallel, but not mixed. The New Typography does not accept either of these alternatives to the previous system — adjustment to the international w r i t i n g method, or division of roman type into capitals and lower case and regarding them as separate alphabets, even if this is against current opinion. It accepts neither the view of the Germanists nor that of the artists following the eclectic

79

tout» le§ eleqants connaissent

pmn,.,;;^

fmt&i C ml:, >

^ ^

/

/ cl eest

/ dernier / parfum / de / r o s i n e A d v e r t i s e m e n t f r o m t h e French f a s h i o n magazine

Vogue.

A l l w o r d s are set in lower case.

F r e n c h fashion. T h e N e w T y p o g r a p h y d e m a n d s economy

in type design.

To

r e d e s i g n our letters c o m p l e t e l y — as in s h o r t h a n d and lettering for the b l i n d — w o u l d be quite i m p r a c t i c a l and u n a c c e p t a b l e . So w e have to make do with the type w e have, the c a p i t a l s and the l o w e r c a s e . To d e c i d e w h i c h to c h o o s e is not difficult, b e c a u s e c a p i t a l s in c o n t i n u o u s text are too difficult to read. L o w e r - c a s e letters are far easier to read, b e c a u s e of the a s c e n d e r s and d e s c e n d e r s w h i c h make c o m p l e t e w o r d s easier to r e c o g n i z e . A c o m p l e t e l y o n e - t y p e system, u s i n g l o w e r c a s e only, w o u l d be of great a d v a n t a g e to the national e c o n o m y : it w o u l d entail s a v i n g s a n d s i m p l i f i c a tions in many areas; and w o u l d also result in great s a v i n g s of spiritual a n d intellectual energy at p r e s e n t w a s t e d : w e c a n m e n t i o n here the t e a c h i n g of w r i t i n g and o r t h o g r a p h y , a great s i m p l i f i c a t i o n

in t y p e w r i t e r s a n d t y p i n g

t e c h n i q u e , a relief for memory, type d e s i g n , t y p e - c u t t i n g , t y p e - c a s t i n g , and all c o m p o s i t i o n m e t h o d s — a n d so on. A t the s a m e time as e c o n o m i c a d v a n t a g e s , the use of m i n u s c u l e w o u l d give us a stylistically faultless letter, so s c i e n t i f i c a d v a n t a g e w o u l d be c o m b i n e d with a e s t h e t i c .

80

So there cannot be any c h a n g e in orthography if it means abandoning the c o n c e p t of capitals and lower case. We can go on using the small letters, only the use of capitals is discontinued. CA s u b s e q u e n t continuance of c a p itals in some special kinds of writing could be considered.) But whether roman and also modern sanserif lower c a s e can continue to express the opinions and claims of the present is open to doubt. Their form has always too much of writing and too little of type, and the efforts of the future will be directed towards s u p p r e s s i n g their written character and bringing them closer to true print form. German orthography if it is to be truly contemporary must see c h a n g e s , which will undoubtedly influence typeface design. Above all we must lose the burden of too much heavy philology in linguistics, and provide o u r selves with self-explanatory signs for sch, ch, dg, drop the u n n e c e s s a r y letters [z, q, c) and aim at the rule "Write as you speak!" and its c o u n t e r part "Speak as you write!" On this basis a new and more practical orthography could be achieved, without which literature cannot s u c c e e d . Of c o u r s e s u c h a revolution in orthography and type will not happen in a day, but its time will assuredly come. Whether c o n s c i o u s l y or u n c o n sciously, cultural developments take place and men c h a n g e with them. The typeface of the future will not come from a single person but from a group of people. It is significant that one of the best new books on speech, type, and orthography has been written not by an architect or a philologist but by an engineer: Sprache und Schrift [ S p e e c h and writing) by Dr W. Porstmann. A n y o n e interested in these problems will find this essential reading. At the s a m e time, while the New Typography regards the removal of c a p i tals as desirable, it is not an absolute demand. But it lies, like a more logical design for our orthography, in our path: an unmistakable d e s i g n for typography that is in harmony with the desires and d e m a n d s of our time. Mistakes often met In the beginning, many saw a new formalism in the New Typography; that is, they adopted some of its most obvious features — circles, triangles, rules — as geometrical features and used them as if they were the old kinds of ornament. The "elementary ornaments" [itself a contradiction in terms) brought out by some foundries under various names further helped to spread this misunderstanding. T h e s e basic geometric forms w h i c h we like to use must however be functional: they must emphasize words or paragraphs or be justified by the formal harmony of the whole. But instead of

81

this

we

still f i n d

truly

childish,

pseudo-constructive

shapes,

which

are

t o t a l l y c o n t r a d i c t o r y t o t h e s p i r i t of t h e N e w T y p o g r a p h y . T h e n e w s p a p e r a d v e r t i s e m e n t s h o w n h e r e is a t y p i c a l e x a m p l e o f p s e u d o c o n s t r u c t i v i s m , f o u n d all t o o c o m m o n l y . Its f o r m is n o t n a t u r a l b u t f r o m an i d e a b e f o r e it w a s s e t . T h e a d v e r t i s e m e n t is n o l o n g e r

comes

typography

b u t p a i n t i n g w i t h l e t t e r s , it t u r n s g o o d t y p o g r a p h y i n t o b o r r o w e d ,

misun-

derstood, and thoughtless shapes. A

similar

example

is in t h e t w o - c o l o u r

business

announcement

on

this

p a g e . A g a i n , a p r e v i o u s l y c o n c e i v e d a n d m e a n i n g l e s s s h a p e is u s e d , w h i c h h a s n o c o n n e c t i o n w i t h t h e t e x t o r its l o g i c a l a r r a n g e m e n t a n d in f a c t c o n f l i c t s w i t h it. A n o t h e r s e r i o u s f a u l t is t h e l a c k o f c o n t r a s t in c o l o u r ,

which

e m p h a s i z e s t h e b l a n d a n d b o r i n g l o o k of t h e w h o l e . The

magazine

cover

on the

facing

page

is a n

even

worse

example.

It

a t t e m p s to be " t e c h n i c a l " b u t c o n t r a d i c t s t h e w h o l e n a t u r e of w h a t a c t u a l l y

MUSIK DER ZEIT WORT DER ZEIT T A N Z DER ZEIT BUCHELER.GERFIN P A M E L A WEDEKIND L A S A R G A L P E R NI

24

DONNERSTAG, DEN B i • . FEBR., 8 UHR ABENDS S T S D T . KAUFHAUS ÜBT. HIT«. O. SCHULE FÜR TMZKULTUR

k i r t i i m , 4 , i l t i a r t j«st, th. «ltwoft u n M HR AHSMMM. KMXUTWRUTlOfl * MMWMKT J A N TSCHICHOLD: T y p o g r a p h i c poster for a concert. Red a n d b l a c k on silver.

82

is t e c h n i c a l . H e r e w e see the m i x i n g - i n of that "art" against w h i c h w e are f i g h t ing — an artificiality w h i c h n e g l e c t s truth and merely makes a "pretty s h a p e " w h i c h fails to e x p r e s s the p u r p o s e of the d e -

l c id ,

sign. Imagination must be used on the

' 10o c

basis of actual p u r p o s e , if truth in d e s i g n

E^cooSo»! I . c ® ££ ¡5 »*"•

is to be a c h i e v e d . On painting it is different:

no

restrictions

are

laid

down,

: P> ID

b e c a u s e the w o r k d o e s not have a fixed O n e also often finds the use of historical t y p e f a c e s CSchwabacher, gothic, fraktur) in the manner of c o n t e m p o r a r y t y p o g r a phy. But it is w r o n g to use these historical forms in this w a y — they are foreign to o u r time and s h o u l d be used only in a manner suitable to their o w n age. Can

s

(

,cSocoio§ai| r i s i q i c : 0 .1 - r «1 lr 2 £0 : (0 ( oo»F

mzliu

op? SO" Ira .. J c £ o3r' Isisfs&cV ^ 0) 0 ® r 10 c l oOO £O fer

y o u imagine an airline pilot with a beard? T h e j u x t a p o s i t i o n of positive and n e g a introduced

by

commercial

found

in

purely

artists,

can

typographic

w o r k . T h e r e is no o b j e c t i o n to this if it is b a s e d on logic Can important part of a w o r d can be e m p h a s i z e d in this w a y ) — but that is not often the case. A w o r d is often b r o k e n for purely formal reasons. This is not a sign of the N e w

>t o

•C — a. -o a x) =} >> m £ E.

(Biol

tive [ r e v e r s e d black to w h i t e ) t y p e , first be

o

2C

purpose.)

also

1

"D

\

Oill

r »1 .1

0 2 a;

®>-.

(0 01

III

a. S E o- J n e

Typog-

raphy. I n d e p e n d e n t negative lines can of c o u r s e be beautiful and are usually very effective. Equally, setting in w h i c h blocks of text are a r r a n g e d alternately on the left and right of an imaginary vertical line usually has a f o r c e d and unsatisfactory The

resulting

uneven

spacing

effect.

and

the

v i o l e n c e of the b l o c k - s h a p e s are merely unpleasing repetitions of old mistakes.

83

Wrong! It looks functional but when examined more closely we find it is superficial and does not express the text. In the middle, it is very difficult to find where to go on reading. Certain forms of abstract painting, understood only superficially, have been used in this piece, but typography is not painting!

J. H E R R M A N N

JUNIOR

MÜMCHEN SCHIllEBS'BASSE J*. 14 - TEl 9}«38S43iS SCHAUFENSTER- U LADENEINRICHTUNGEN

EW. HOCHWOHLGEBOREN Wenn Ihr« Entwürfe Klr Innenarchitektur geschlftlietwr Art ausgeführt werden sollen. wird Ihnen die Zusammenarbeit mit einer leistungsfthigen Firma erwünscht «ein, die besondere Erfahrung auf diesem Speiialgebiet hat und die peinlich bemüht ist, auf ade Ihre Wärt »che und Ideen genau eintugehen

•

Untere »eil dem Jahre >686 bestehende Firma fabriiiert in ihrer modern eingerichteten Möbelfabrik in er t l i r Linie alle Arten «on (.ADEN • UNO

• fürGeechtfte aller Art, Mode-v.

Sie hat durch jahrelange SCHAUFENSTER- Kaufhäuser.Konditoreien.FeinP m i e wertvolle technische EINRICHTUNGEN kosthandlungen u. Gaststttten Erfahrungen gesammelt und kann mit tahlreiehtn Emtefungamuatem fOr Spetiai schränke u. -Tisch*. Ulf Stelagen und Warenaufbauten aufwarten. Wir bitten 8ie deshalb, eich bei der Ausführung Ihrer Arbeiten mit uns in Verbindung t u selten oder unsere Firma tu empfehlen und sind mit Vergnügen bereit, Ihnen in diesem Falle besonder« Vergünstigungan einturtumen. Kostenvotanschltge und beste Referenten jederlei! gerne tu Diensten.

Mit vortQgKcher Hochachtung

J. H E R R M A N N

84

JUNIOR

But no o n e will hold the N e w T y p o g r a p h y made the

u n d e r its n a m e . T h e v a l u e

typographical

expression

a l w a y s i n h e r e n t in a n y n e w

r e s p o n s i b l e for all t h e

of t h e w o r k o f p r i n t e r s

of our t i m e

cannot

be

striving

lessened

mistakes to

by

create failures

movement.

Wrong! The word "Revue" is hard to read because of the complicated type: and the abstract forms are used thoughtlessly, purely for decoration, including the crossed thick-thin rules. The white paper background plays no part in the design. The whole shows a complete misunderstanding of the aims of the New Typography—which does not arrange decorative forms, but designs—that is, it resolves the given text, which itself must show the simplest forms, into a harmonious whole.

85

Away w i t h Scheme F! A n ornamental scheme much loved in w o u l d - b e c o n t e m p o r a r y t y p o g r a p h y . A square is often f o u n d instead of the circle shown at the top. It is c o n s i d e r e d especially beautiful if the square is not in the same w e i g h t as the "conventional" bold rules b u t is in t h i c k / t h i n or some other "more i n t e r e s t i n g " variety of rule. How subtle is the blank magic square w h e r e the rules cross! This schematic f o r m has n o t h i n g t o d o w i t h designed typography!

86

PHOTOGRAPHY A N D TYPOGRAPHY The artistic value of photography has been argued about ever since it was invented. First it was the painters, until they realized that it presented no threat to them. To this day. the art historians argue about some of the p r o b lems which photography has t h r o w n up. Book craftsmen still deny p h o t o g raphy the right to form any part of a "beautiful book." They base their objection on the alleged aesthetic dichotomy between the purely graphic and material form of type and the more visibly "plastic" but weaker halftone block. They see the greatest importance

materially

in the

outer

appearance of both printing surfaces, and find the halftone block

not

"bookish." Their objection is really not valid, since the halftone block is composed of many little raised dots, to which type is in fact related. All these theories, however, especially after the war, have been unable to stop the unique triumphal progress of photography into book p r o d u c t i o n . Its greatest purely practical advantage is that by a simple

mechanical

method — certainly easier than any manual method — a true r e p r o d u c t i o n of an object can be obtained. The photograph has become such a remarkable characteristic of our age that it is now impossible to imagine its nonexistence. The p i c t u r e - h u n g e r of modern man is satisfied today chiefly by p h o t o - i l l u s t r a t e d newspapers and magazines; and advertising, especially in the USA, including more and more the poster, is making ever-increasing use of photography. The great demand for good photography has advanced p h o t o g r a p h i c technology and art to an extraordinary degree: in France and America there are fashion and advertising p h o t o g r a p h e r s who many painters Huene, Scaioni,

in quality Luigi

CParis: Paul Outerbridge,

Diaz; America: Sheeler,

O'Neill,

surpass

Hoyningen-

Baron de Meyer,

Ralph

Steiner, Ellis, and o t h e r s ] . The w o r k of the mostly anonymous p h o t o g r a p h i c reporters is of the highest standard: their pictures, not least in purely phot o g r a p h i c terms, often give more pleasure than the allegedly artistic prints of professional portrait photographers and amateurs. It w o u l d be absolutely impossible today to satisfy the enormous demand for printed illustrations with drawings or paintings. There w o u l d be neither enough artists of quality to produce them, nor time for their creation and reproduction. Without photography we would never know very much of what is happening in the w o r l d today. Such an extraordinary c o n s u m p t i o n could never be satisfied except by mechanical means. General social conditions have changed considerably since the middle of the 19th century, the number of consumers has g r o w n enormously, the spread of European urban culture has greatly increased, all means of communication

have

advanced, and these changes demand u p - t o - d a t e processes. The medieval 87

w o o d c u t , w o r s h i p p e d as an ideal by book craftsmen, is now obsolete and can no longer satisfy our demands for clarity and precision. The special charm of photography lies precisely in its great, often miraculous, clarity and its incorruptibility. As a consequence of the purity of its appearance and of the mechanical p r o d u c t i o n process, photography

is

becoming the obvious means of visual representation in our time. That photography by itself, even almost accidental photography, is an art, may be disputed. But does art matter, in every case when photography is used? Straightforward and often completely inartistic p h o t o g r a p h y is often all we want from reporters or p h o t o g r a p h e r s of objects: because what is w a n t e d is information in visual form, not art. Where higher requirements exist, a way to satisfy them will be found.

However

little

photography

at the

moment is an art, it contains the seed of an art w h i c h must of necessity be different from all other art forms. On the borderline of art is the " p o s e d " p h o t o g r a p h . The effects of lighting, arrangement, and composition can come very near to fine art. A simple example is the w h o l e - p a g e advertisement in the Paris magazine

Vogue

shown opposite. It is remarkable purely as a photograph, but also especially interesting as an advertisement, since no lettering is used except that on the objects p h o t o g r a p h e d — yet the result is perfect and successful. There are t w o forms in w h i c h photography can become art: p h o t o m o n t a g e and photogram. By photomontage we understand either an assembly of separate photos w h i c h have been mounted together, or the use of a photo as one

element

in c o n j u n c t i o n

with

other

pictorial

elements

Cphoto-

drawing, p h o t o - s c u l p t u r e ) . There are many overlaps between these methods. In photomontage, w i t h the help of given or selected p h o t o g r a p h s , a new pictorial unity is created, w h i c h , being deliberate and no longer accidental design, has an axiomatic claim to the title of art. Naturally not all photomontages are works of art, any more than all oil-paintings. But the works

in

this

medium

of

Heartfield

[who

invented

photomontage),

Baumeister, Burchartz, Max Ernst, Lissitzky, M o h o l y - N a g y , VordembergeGildewart. certainly deserve that title. They are not random assemblies but logical

and

harmonious

constructed

pictures.

An

ordinary

photograph

starts w i t h accidental form Cgrey tonal values, structural effect, movement of line) but achieves artistic meaning from the composition of the whole. What differentiates photomontage from previous art is that the object is missing. Unlike earlier art it is not a statement about an objective fact but a w o r k of imagination, a free human creation i n d e p e n d e n t of nature. The "logic" of such creation is the irrational logic of a w o r k of art. montage achieves a really "super-natural" effect t h r o u g h the 88

Photo-

deliberate

Whole-page photo-advertisement (without any additional lettering) f r o m the French p e r i o d i c a l Vogue. 1926.

89

contrast of plastic photographs against an area of dead white or colour. This effect could never have been achieved by drawing or painting. The possibilities of contrast in size and shape, in closeness and distance of objects represented, and in flat or three-dimensional form, allow infinite variations in this art-form, making it highly suitable for t h o u g h t f u l advertising. It is only rarely that a " w o r k of art" will emerge t h r o u g h the balance achieved by relating each individual part to equilibrium in the whole — because the restrictions imposed by the necessary logical consistency of the whole, the logic of size, the given type, etc. can be very inhibiting. In any case the commercial artist's j o b is not to create a w o r k of art but a g o o d advertisement. It may, or may not, be both. In the field of advertising p h o t o m o n t a g e , among the best examples are the Malik b o o k - b i n d i n g s by MAX BURCHARTZ: Jacket of a folder for leaflets. Silver background, white lettering on red. Photomontage: reproductions of typical products of the Bochum Association. Format DIN A4.

90

John

Heartfield

and

the

industrial

advertisements

designed

by

Max

Burchartz. We show here a good example: the cover of a folder for industrial leaflets designed by Burchartz. The illustration sadly gives only a hint of the intense and rich effect of the original. Further examples of p h o t o m o n t a g e will be found elsewhere in this book. Photograms are photos created with the use of light-sensitive paper w i t h out a camera. This simple t e c h n i q u e is not new; photograms of flowers, for example, made by simply laying the object on p h o t o g r a p h i c paper, have been k n o w n for a long time. The inventor of the photogram as an art form is the American Man Ray, now living in Paris. He published his first works in this field in 1922 in the American magazine Broom.

They reveal an unreal, supernatural w o r l d cre-

ated purely by photography. These poetic images have nothing in common with reporters' or ordinary p h o t o g r a p h e r s ' w o r k , w i t h w h i c h they have as much connection as poetry has w i t h daily speech. It w o u l d be naive to call these productions either accidental or clever arrangements: any expert will recognize the difference. In them, the potentials of autonomous p h o t o g r a phy [ w i t h o u t camera] have for the first time been realized in pure form: by the use of modern materials the p h o t o g r a m has become the modern poetry of form.* Photograms, too, can be used in advertising. El Lissitzky was the first to make photogram advertisements, in 1924. A splendid example of his w o r k in this field is the photogram for Pelikan ink [see opposite). Even the lettering is p h o t o - m e c h a n i c a l . • • A l t h o u g h the mechanics of making a p h o togram are simple, they are nevertheless too complicated to describe in a few words. Anyone w h o sets himself such a task will, by his own experiments, find a way to achieve the desired effect. All that is needed is lightsensitive paper and a darkroom. We may mention here the book Photographie,

Malerei,

Film by L. M o h o l y - N a g y , which deals w i t h this subject at

length and most instructively. The t y p o g r a p h e r w h o has to integrate halftone p h o t o g r a p h i c blocks w i t h given type must ask w h a t typeface should be used in these conditions. The pre-war artists w h o rejected photography, as I described above, t r i e d to

• Two of M a n Ray's p h o t o g r a m s are s h o w n on p p . 48 a n d 49. • • Only an u n t h i n k i n g o b s e r v e r c o u l d a r g u e t h a t t h e use of r o m a n t y p e f o r o n e w o r d in t h i s p h o t o g r a m w a s i l l o g i c a l . The d e s i r e t o use s i m p l e m e a n s for t h e d e s i g n l e d t o t h e use of a n o n m a n u a l s t a n d a r d t y p e — a s t e n c i l l e t t e r , w h i c h had t o be in r o m a n b e c a u s e s t e n c i l s a n s e r i f is n o t yet a v a i l a b l e .

91

solve this problem but could not do so because they regarded all c o m b i n a tions of type and photos as compromise. We today have recognized photography as an essential t y p o g r a p h i c tool of the present. We find its addition to the means of t y p o g r a p h i c expression an enrichment, and see in photography exactly the factor that distinguishes our t y p o g r a p h y from everything that w e n t before. Purely flat t y p o g r a p h y belongs

to the

past. The introduction

of the

photographic

block

has

enabled us to use the dynamics of three dimensions. It is precisely the c o n trast between the apparent three dimensions of photography and the plane form of type that gives our typography its strength. The question, w h i c h type should be used with photographs, used to be answered in the most obvious way by choosing type that looked grey or was even printed in grey; also by using very thin or very individualistic types, and other methods. As in other kinds of w o r k , the solution was superficial, reducing everything to one level: everything became a uniform grey, which hardly concealed the compromise. Uninhibited and so contemporary, the New Typography found the solution at once. Since its aim was to create artistic unity out of contemporary and fundamental forms, the problem of type never actually existed: it had to be sanserif. A n d since it regarded the p h o t o g r a p h i c block as an equally f u n damental means of expression, a synthesis was achieved: photography + sanserif! At first sight it seems as if the hard black forms of this typeface could not harmonize with the often soft greys of photos. The t w o t o g e t h e r do not have the same w e i g h t of colour: their harmony lies in the contrast of form and colour. But both have t w o things in common: their objectivity and their impersonal form, w h i c h mark them as suiting our age. This harmony is not superficial, as was mistakenly t h o u g h t previously, nor is it arbitrary: there is only one objective type form — sanserif — and only one objective representation of our times: photography. Hence t y p o - p h o t o , as the collective form of

graphic

art,

has

today

taken

over

from

the

individualistic

form

handwriting-drawing. By t y p o - p h o t o we mean any synthesis between t y p o g r a p h y and p h o t o g r a phy. Today we can express ourselves better and more quickly with the help of photography than by the laborious means of speech or w r i t i n g . The phot o g r a p h i c halftone block joins letters and rules in the c o m p o s i t o r ' s case as a contemporary

but differentiated t y p o g r a p h i c

element in design. In a

purely material sense it is also basically similar, since, at least in letterpress printing, it shares the same kind of relief printing surface and t y p e - h e i g h t . In the modern printing processes of gravure and offset-litho this is not so:

92

EL LISSITZKY 1924: P h o t o g r a m (advertisement)

here a completely opposite kind of material form does not support any supposition of inequality. The integration of halftone blocks in typesetting is a condition of good typography and harmonious design. Since we of today do not recognize the old book-designers' rejection of photography in book production and the luxury-concept of the "Book Beautiful" belongs to the past, the modern book designer sees the photographic block as equal in value to type in the production of fine books. A splendid example of typo-photo in advertising is shown facing, designed by Piet Zwart. Here also is a photogram used for publicity Cpaper-insulated high-tension cables}. The word "High"

begins

with a tall H, the word "Low" with a small L. The balance of the chosen

93

PIET ZWART (Holland): A d v e r t i s e m e n t l e a f l e t . Black and red on w h i t e . F o r m a t A4.

types and the areas of black and red are superb and the w h o l e is a composition of enchanting beauty. The two red rules show how the effectiveness of a photo can be increased by the use of colour. Equally, the flat red area of the bold L contrasts well with the delicate plastic forms of the photogram. The typography and the photo echo each other: the centre of N K F with the centre of the cable cross-section, the red lines of type with the cable circumference, and so on. It can be affirmed that typo-photo is one of the most significant means of graphic expression in today's typography and advertising. It will not be long before the popular forms of typo-photo, particularly in n e w s p a p e r s and some advertising, by means of conscious and logical

contemporary

design, reach the cultural highlights of the present time. The enormous possibilities of photography itself have so far hardly been recognized, outside a small group of a few specialists, and certainly not exhausted. There is no doubt that the graphic culture of the future will make a far greater use of photography than today. Photography will be as expressive of our age as the w o o d c u t was of the M i d d l e A g e s . For this reason it is absolutely n e c e s s a r y for every graphic professional, even today, to develop creatively all the techniques of photography and reproduction as far as possible and prepare them for the higher demands that will surely be made of them in the near future.

SASCHA STONE: Advertisement (photomontage)

HBflTSCHflRJ C'CSflReTTES

ME«CEOES

95

NEW TYPOGRAPHY A N D S T A N D A R D I Z A T I O N The New Typography, in its concern to satisfy the needs of our own period and to make sure that every single piece of printing is in harmony with the present, has always taken the greatest interest in every move towards standardization. The need for standardization, in whatever area, derives from the problems of today, w h i c h it aims to solve. The use of standard practices in the book trade is therefore an integral necessity in modern t y p o g r a p h y : no piece of printing can be called satisfactory if it ignores such an outstanding element in the organization of book p r o d u c t i o n . It is indeed an economic necessity. This applies above all to formats, where for a long time the lack of standardization has been conspicuous. Choice of format used to be made primarily on aesthetic grounds, but must now be revised and made on higher grounds, because of the enormous increase — in the 19th and especially the 20th centuries — in the amount of printed matter. Until now the rationalization of paper sizes played a minor role, since the number of pieces of p r i n t i n g was so much less. Each document and piece of printing was individually planned: the result, to our eyes, often makes them appear to be a r t - o b j e c t s of their time. The personal taste of the author, and chance, determined their format. Sheets of paper were made by hand singly in various sizes; but parchment sheets d e p e n d e d entirely on the size of the skin and could never be planned in advance. The resulting chaos was recognized by f o r w a r d - l o o k i n g minds. Already in 1796 the German Lichtenberg recommended the i n t r o d u c t i o n of some kind of standardization. Lichtenberg proposed a basic rule that formats should always be decided by successive halving of the original sheet size. In the early years of the French Revolution the principle that he discovered was given partial recognition, for the French authorities made a rule about the formats of official documents and forms that, in mathematical terms, every page size should be in the p r o p o r t i o n s of 1:^2 or 1:1.41. The French linked this with the metric system they had j u s t introduced, and by o r d e r ing the original size of sheets to be 1 m 2 and the proportions to be 1 :V2, they arrived at exactly the same scheme as today's A-series in D I N formats.* But the French attempts to introduce standardization had no permanent result; it was not until the 20th century that the great research scientist Wilhelm Ostwald, t h r o u g h "Die Briicke" [The Bridge], the international institute f o u n d e d by him and K. W. Buhrer in 1912 in Munich, made a new

• D I N = Deutsche Industrie-Normen

96

advance in regulating format sizes. Ostwald likewise proceeded from the Lichtenbergian principle of constant ratio but depended on measuring in centimetres. The proposed "World-formats," to be adopted worldwide, did not however win many friends; probably because the main format 230x320 mm (letterheads) turned out to be rather unpractical. Nevertheless the work of "Die Brücke," whose work was interrupted by the war, had the very great merit of making people think. The publications of "Die Brücke" are among the most interesting studies in this field. Soon after the war the German Standards Committee introduced the metric-based D I N * 476 paper standardization system. It was evolved after lengthy discussions involving government departments, business interests, printers, and paper merchants and manufacturers. Government and industry agreed that DIN formats were to be the basis for all questions of format. The new DIN system has now for some time replaced the old "folio" system. The old "quarto format" is also disappearing. DIN formats are being used not only in Germany but also in many other European countries. Everyone concerned in the ordering or production of print should now use only DIN formats, which have the following a d v a n t a g e s , among others [from the book Formate und Vordrucke]: FOR THE USER: Paper ordering will be simpler and cheaper. The storing of all printed matter will be easier and more practical. Organization in the paper trade will be more sensible, and as the manufacture of large quantities will now be easier, paper must become cheaper. FOR THE PRINTER: Paper ordering will be easier. DIN formats allow simultaneous printing in different sizes, leading to better use of machine time — also a saving of time and materials in the composing and machine rooms. More productivity will be achieved in the bindery owing to repetition of identical sheet sizes. FOR THE T R A D E S M A N : Unnecessary investment in seldom-used sizes will be avoided. Fewer paper sizes will save space in stock rooms: attention to customers will be speeded up. Price lists will be simplified.

The s p e c i f i c a t i o n s h e e t s of D I N 476 and 198 f o l l o w , w i t h t h e a p p r o v a l of t h e G e r m a n S t a n d a r d s C o m m i t t e e [ D I N ] . The latest a u t h o r i t a t i v e S t a n d a r d p u b l i c a t i o n s are o b t a i n a b l e f r o m B e u t h v e r l a g , B e r l i n S14, D r e s d e n e r S t r a s s e 97.

97

ORMUNG

\

\

V x 4os '90 x 1 7 6 6

1 1 4 x (63 106x148 96 x 136 88 x 12a

7

01 x I U 74x105 68 * 96

FOr a b h ä n g i g e Papiergröflen, wie O r d n e r . M a p p e n , g e l t e n die

F o r m a t e dor Z u s a t z r e i h e n B, C, Einzelhelten entnehmen

sind

folgenden

63X88

BriefhUiien.

Normblattern

D I N 678

BrtefhOllenformate

D I N 880

FensterbriefhUHen

0 1 N 828

M I K r o p h o t o g r a p h l s c h s Bilder

0 1 N 829

Buehformate

8

D

2

Ausgabe

S2X74 48X68

zu

9 10 11 12

Juif 1 9 2 5

67 x 81

44 x 63 37x52 31 X44 26x37 33X31 18x26 10x32 13x18

(erweitert)

101

feeling that here is a c i r c u m s t a n c e w h i c h will make our inner life poorer, more o n e - s i d e d and l e s s d e s i r a b l e . But w h e n we look c l o s e r into this we s e e that man c a n only develop his personality in the present state of c i v i lization a n d culture if he stops w e a r i n g himself out in an unprofitable s t r u g gle a g a i n s t u s e l e s s detail but m a k e s himself free to find the time a n d m e a n s for d e v e l o p i n g his true personality. "We must be clear that c o u n t l e s s t h i n g s today in their i l l - f o u n d e d

and

largely i n a p p r o p r i a t e complexity are not at all the result of an earnest s t r i v ing to form a personality, but simply the p r o d u c t of a f a r - r e a c h i n g a n d a r b i trary t h o u g h t l e s s n e s s in m a n u f a c t u r e r s a n d c o n s u m e r s . We must further a c c e p t that the overwhelming number of o b j e c t s of daily n e e d are e a s i e r to c o p e with under the law of pure e x p e d i e n c y than under the d e m a n d s of p e r s o n a l taste. "All the o b j e c t i o n s that make b o g e y s out of s e n s i b l e a n d tasteful d i s c i p l i n e fall apart w h e n we examine them. It is no less than a d e c e p t i o n of p u b l i c opinion w h e n it is s a i d that u n p l a n n e d p r o d u c t i o n has more p e r s o n a l value than the p r o d u c t i o n of g o o d s on an honest functional b a s i s a n d by the c o l laboration of m a n u f a c t u r e r s a n d consumers."

102

E X P L A N A T I O N S [ t o D I N 476 page 2}

BASIC

PRINCIPLES

1. FORMULA OF HALVING RANGES Each consecutive f o r m a t evolves through doubling or halving the previous one. The areas of b o t h f o r m a t s relate as

1:2.

2. FORMULA OF SIMILARITY IN RANGES

The f o r m a t s are s i m i l a r t o each other. Nos. 1 a n d 2 in t h e r a n g e give, for t h e t w o sides of x a n d y of o n e f o r m a t , t h e p r o p o r t i o n s X:Y = 1 :-*/2

—•

Both sides are t h e r e f o r e in p r o p o r t i o n

to

each o t h e r as t h e sides of a s q u a r e are to its d i a g o n a l .

3. FORMULA OF CONNECTED RANGES The f o r m a t s are c o n n e c t e d to the

metric

s y s t e m : t h e area of t h e basic norm equals t h e area of a s q u a r e m e t r e , i.e. x X y = 1.

[Continuation of explanations to Norm D I N 476] ORIGINAL FORMAT

For the original format with sides x and y the same two equations apply because of the above 3 principles x:y = 1 :V2 x X y = 1 The original format, rectangle w i t h area of 1 m 2 , has sides of x = 0.841 m

y = 1.189 m

ORIGINAL RANGE A ( P r e f e r r e d r a n g e )

Following equation 1, the range in original format continues by consecutive halving to make original range A. A D D I T I O N A L RANGES B C D

For c o n n e c t e d paper sizes, e.g. envelopes, booklets, wallets, etc., the additional ranges B C and D are listed. The B range formats are the geometric means of the A range. The C and D ranges are again the geometric means of the A and B ranges. STRIP FORMATS

Strip formats are made by halving, quartering, etc. the main format length:

Format Half length A4 Quarter length A4

Abbreviation

mm

V2A4

105 X 297

A4

52 X 297

Eighth length A7

Va A7

Half length C4

V2C4

9 X 105 114 X

324

etc. A p p l i c a t i o n s : Envelopes, labels, tickets, coupons, technical drawings, etc. 104

5TB

Papierformate nach DIN 4 7 6

198

Anwendungen der A-Reihe o> Abmessungen der Formate

X •q-

Kurzzeichen der Formate AbreiSkaiender, Block* . . „ UAtertftgen Adreßbücher . . Amtsblatt Akten Aktien Anlagemarken . . Bescheinigungen • Bestellzettel - • • Besuchskarten • . Betriebsvordrucke Brief ElnhrttebrlefBAbt« Halbbrtef . . . BUcher (8roach0ren) • Durchschlagpapier Einheitsbrief . . . Fahrpl&ne Fe rnsprechb Ucher • Fotogramme, technische Geschäftsbücher • Geechäftspapiere Karteikarten . . . Kataloge . . . . Klbemerken . . . Klebezettel . . . . Kostenanschläge • Kurvenblätter . Landkarten . . . . Mitteilung Halbbrief Normblatt (•. oin eao) Notizblocks und Notizzettel Paketadressen (tum Aufki«b«n) Patent- u. Musterzeichnungen Plakate Postkarte Preislisten Quittungen • Rechnungen Rundschrelben Scheck . Zeltschriften (a. oin sm> . . . Zeitungen

O

ä> CO in « X X X O 0> CS Ol IO * d

Ol c« X o

O 4 CN X X

O X

o

«

fX

IO X

IO

m

f* m X

M X

CO X

(0 X 0>

AO A 1 A 2 A 3 A 4 AS A 6 A 7 A 8 A 9 A I O A l l A i a A i a A4 A2 A3 A4 A4 A4 A4 A3 A4

A3

AO A I A3 A 3 A3 A3 A 3 A3

A3 AO A I A 2 A 3

A3 AO A1 A2 A 3

AO A 1 A 2 A 3

A3 AO A I A2 A 3 AO A I A2 A 3 A3 A I A2 A3

AB AS A7 AR AS AB A 6 A7 AB AB AB

A 4 AB A 6 A 4 AB A 6 AS A 7 A 4 AB A 6 A7 A4 AB A 4 AB A 6 A7 A 4 AB A4 A 4 AB A 6 A7 A 4 AB A 4 AS A S LA7 A 4 AB A 4 AB A 6 A7 A 4 AB AS A7 A 4 AB A 6 A 7 AS A 7 A6 A7 A 4 AB A4 A 4 AB A 6 AS A4 A 4 AB A 6 A7 AB AS A4 A 4 AS A6 A 4 AB AS A7 AB A 6 A 4 AB A 4 AB AS A 4 AB A 4 AB A 6 A 7 A 4 AS AB A 6 A7 A 4 AB AS A 4 AB AS A 4 AS A 6 A7 A 4 AS A 6 A 4 AB A 6 A 4 AB

AS AS A t O A l l A8 AS A 9 A I O A l l A8

8 e l Bedarf kann die Anzahl der vorgesehenenGröfien durch Formate der gleichen Reihe vermehrt oder verringert werden. Schmale Formate (fUr Fahrscheine, Listen, Schilder, 8treifen, Zinsscheine) werden durch Längshälften.längsvierteln, Längsachteln usw der A-Formate gewonnen. BrlefhUllen (Reihen B und C) siehe OIN 678 Fensterbriefh U l l e n s l e h e DIN680 Buchformate (Reihen A und siehe OIN 829

AS AS A 9 A 1C A 11 A 15 A 13 AS AS

B)

Aktendeckel, H e f t e r und O r d n e r werden der C-Reihe entnommen: C 4 229X324 C 5 162X229

A S AS A I O A 11 A 12

A 8 AS A 10 A l l A 12 A 13

Oktober 1923

105

[ C O N T I N U A T I O N of e x p l a n a t i o n s t o N o r m D I N 476) PADS, INDEX CARDS. BOOKLETS W i t h t e a r - o f f pads a n d d u p l i c a t e - b o o k s , t h e pages d e t a c h e d m u s t be in n o r m size, so t h e p a d or d u p l i c a t e - b o o k w i l l be t a l l e r or w i d e r t h a n t h e norm. Index cards w i t h o u t t a b s are in exact n o r m sizes CA4, A 5 , A 6 , A 7 ) . Index c a r d s w i t h t a b s are larger by t h e size of t h e t a b . B o o k l e t s , w a l l e t s , a n d files are naturally w i d e r t h a n t h e n o r m - f o r m a t sheets t o be i n s e r t e d in t h e m . Their sizes s h o u l d as far as p o s s i b l e be c h o s e n f r o m t h e f o u r ranges. FURTHER A I M S FOR N O R M FORMATS Since f o r some s p e c i a l p u r p o s e s no n o r m sizes are yet fixed, t h e ranges A t o D d e f i n e limits for norms for [ f o r e x a m p l e ] s h e e t s of paper, e n v e l o p e s , o f f i c e f u r n i t u r e , t y p e areas, p r i n t i n g s t o c k sizes, etc. The aim for t h e s e c i r c u m s t a n c e s is t o e s t a b l i s h s p e c i a l n o r m s later. N O R M FORMATS ABROAD D I N f o r m a t s agree in g e n e r a l w i t h s t a n d a r d f o r m a t s in t h e f o l l o w i n g c o u n t r i e s : S w i t z e r l a n d , A u s t r i a , H u n g a r y , C z e c h o s l o v a k i a , Holland, a n d Belgium. DINBOOK 1 For e x a c t d e r i v a t i o n a n d h i s t o r y of f o r m a t s and i n f o r m a t i o n on p a p e r a n d p r i n t i n g t e c h n o l o g y , see D I N b o o k Berlin S14).

106

1, Papierformate

[Beuthverlag

GmbH,

THE T Y P O G R A P H I C S Y M B O L A g o o d s y m b o l is usually, but not always, the e x p r e s s i o n of a unified d e s i g n for advertising a n d manufacture. It must be original a n d s i m p l e in form, have a very high d e g r e e of memorability, a n d be easily r e c o g n i z e d

and

noticeable. By no m e a n s every symbol has these c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , a proof of how difficult it is to d e s i g n a really good symbol for a firm or a r a n g e of g o o d s . A brisk p r o p a g a n d a for this elementary method of a d v e r t i s e m e n t has resulted in a real flood of new symbol d e s i g n s . So truly effective s y m bols are now doubly rare. S y m b o l s are mostly d e s i g n e d a n d drawn today by g r a p h i c artists. T h e s e drawn d e s i g n s have no t e c h n i c a l restrictions except that as a rule they must be in b l a c k a n d white, without halftones. A s y m b o l need not be only drawn. It is also p o s s i b l e to d e s i g n s y m b o l s , s o m e t i m e s even more effectively, by using t y p o g r a p h y . T h e a d v a n t a g e of s u c h " t y p o - s y m b o l s " are: no block costs, the facility for reduction e n l a r g e m e n t , a n d the strength inherent in all t h i n g s w h o s e

and

appearance

c o m e s from a t e c h n i c a l manufacturing p r o c e s s . T h e m e a n s a v a i l a b l e to the printer

for

designing

symbols

are

the

typographic

contents

of

the

HI XH composing-room:

JOHANNES M O L Z A H N : Type-symbol f o r t h e W i l h e l m Heunert Soest Ironworks

rules, straight a n d c u r v e d , g e o m e t r i c a l

shapes,

letters

and — not least — imagination. W i t h o u t that, even t h e latest materials a n d types are of no use. A symbol either b r i n g s letters t o g e t h e r to make a n e w form, or illustrates the p r o d u c t , or d o e s both. T h e e f f e c t of the Pelikan s y m b o l d e p e n d s on t h e use

of

the

simplest

type-forms

in

strong

contrast

and

movement.

The

" H e u n e r t " s y m b o l is a r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of the firm's p r o d u c t s , m a d e out of the initials of the firm's name. W i t h t h e initial of t h e f o r e n a m e Piet a n d the b l a c k s q u a r e C"Zwart" is the D u t c h w o r d for the G e r m a n " S c h w a r z , " b l a c k ] an u n f o r g e t t a b l e d e v i c e is made. H e r b e r t B a y e r ' s d e s i g n for a g l a s s - p a i n t e r

HERBERT BAYER: S y m b o l f o r a glass-pajnter/artist

no

represents, like the Heunert symbol, the client's profession with an abstraction of a w i n d o w frame. A l t h o u g h it w o u l d be g o o d to see printers t u r n i n g more and more to the design of symbols, a w a r n i n g must be given against the use of type alone (i.e. monograms) for this purpose. A symbol is something completely different and of higher importance than a monogram, and a faulty symbol is far w o r s e than none at all. Printers today are often t e m p t e d to use a type monogram in place of some previous ornament. But in advertising, only a true symbol is suitable; monograms today do not make sense. A monogram as the symbol of a p r o d u c t is always worse than a proper symbol. A n d a bad symbol can be disastrous to a product. For this reason it is better not to substitute a monogram for a symbol, when there is not enough time to design a symbol, but to use simply type. In any case the design of a type symbol gives the printer the o p p o r t u n i t y of a fascinating and welcome job, and the difficulties of making a g o o d symbol should only be a stimulus to their overcoming.

PIET Z W A R T : P e r s o n a l m a r k ( t y p e - s y m b o l )

m

THE BUSINESS LETTERHEAD* A letterhead is one of the most important tasks for the j o b b i n g printer and deserves the most careful attention. Even today most letterheads are p r o d u c e d in the most varied styles and sizes. A collection of contemporary business letterheads w o u l d show most of them in the old quarto format, some in miscellaneous "private" sizes, and a small minority in D I N formats. The variation in sizes of the old letterheads was because no recognized standard sizes existed. The letter is not only the most important instrument of business c o m m u n i cation. More than this, it often contains price offers, contracts, and agreements w h i c h can make critical its retrieval from the file in w h i c h it is placed after arrival. Thus the letter becomes part of a multiplicity, i.e. of a c o r r e spondence. W i t h o u t order, such a multiplicity becomes unmanageable. The old quarto and the various other unique formats, among w h i c h the old folio format was an attempt at standardization, were — because of all their different dimensions — difficult if not impossible to file and therefore find. So the first requirement for the expedient design of business letterheads was the laying d o w n of a single format. This was achieved by the Standards Committee in the 476 Standard. For business letterheads the most suitable format is A4 C2 I0 x 297 mm}, a practical and pleasant size. The authorities have used it for many years for government documents, instead of the old folio sizes, and businesses are now using it more and more. Even private individuals are now going over to it. A4 is a bit deeper than the old quarto size and is the same w i d t h as folio. It fits comfortably into the old filing systems. A letterhead designed in the New Typography Cin old quarto f o r m a t ] by Theo van Doesburg is shown here as an example of a standard but o t h e r wise contemporary heading. At the time it was made, the standard D I N sizes were not yet recognized, and France, where this letterhead was o r i g inated, has not yet joined with the other European countries that have introduced it. The old formats will presumably remain in use for some time to come, so our example can be justified.

• In t h e f o l l o w i n g s e c t i o n s of t h i s c h a p t e r w e are g r a t e f u l t o t h e G e r m a n S t a n d a r d s C o m m i t t e e ( D I N ) for p e r m i s s i o n t o r e p r o d u c e t h e i l l u s t r a t i o n s . The l a t e s t e d i t i o n of t h e D I N f o r m s s h o u l d be c o n s u l t e d a n d is o b t a i n a b l e f r o m B e u t h v e r l a g , B e r l i n S14, D r e s d e n e r S t r a s s e 97. The b o o k l e t Formate und Vordrucke is also a v a i l a b l e f r o m t h i s p u b l i s h e r , p r o v i d i n g a u s e f u l e x t e n s i o n of t h e p r e s e n t w o r k [ p r i c e 1.20). It is f r a n k l y of a s t o n i s h i n g l y l o w t y p o g r a p h i c q u a l i t y a n d t h e e x a m p l e s s h o w n s h o u l d n o t be used as m o d e l s . But t h e u s e f u l n e s s of b o t h p u b l i c a t i o n s is n o t in q u e s t i o n .

112

< »• m 3

1

m z

P 1 P

O ->

S" e» 2 m ClO I O flt ï 1

a o -S a »

Ï>5_ Z Œ> » CI

Z m

z Î ! m ZI

- r

THEO V A N DOESBURG: L e t t e r h e a d ( n o t i n s t a n d a r d s i z e )

113

But the A4 format C21 0x297 mm] should be used in all new w o r k . It has the advantage of being the same size as nearly all new business literature, periodicals, etc., w i t h w h i c h it will be sent out. It can hardly be t h o u g h t that the old formats are in any way better or more attractive than the new. When A4 is found to be too large for private use Cwhich is however hard to j u s t i f y ] , A5 0 4 8 x 2 1 0 mm] can be used upright or horizontal.

C o m p o n e n t parts o f DIN l e t t e r h e a d s Besides the format, there are also standards for the placing of the c o m p o nent parts of business letterheads, e.g. the size of the space for the firm's name, and so on. The authority for all these standards is D I N sheet 676: w e show examples on the f o l l o w i n g pages. Standards exist for: 1. The position of the address, on the left, because once the letter has reached the addressee, it has served its purpose and can therefore be placed in a relatively u n i m p o r t a n t position close to the margin. 2. Position for receipt- and t r e a t m e n t - m a r k s [receipt stamp etc.], on the same level, on the right. This space is more important than the address, and must be easy to find and read. 3. Sequence and position for the four main pieces of information: your ref., your letter of, our ref., date. The advantage of the standard over the previous methods is that these can all be t y p e d in one line [ b e n e a t h the headings]. Earlier, such information was usually set in a column, requiring endless readjustments of the t y p e w r i t e r . The standard avoids this nicely, in that neither the height of the line nor the b e g i n n i n g of the t r e a t m e n t - m a r k s is in the way of careful entries. The form also ensures that these items are not overlooked. 4. Sequence and position of the firm's particulars: sender's address, telegraphic address, telephone, business hours, etc. It is a main failing in most of the old "artistic" letterheads that the visibility and clarity of these details was sacrificed to the "artistic" effect. In many of the old letterheads these particulars occupied several long lines: the individual groups were not clearly distinguished from each other; when looking for a particular item one had to read t h r o u g h the whole lot. In standardized headings these items are clearly arranged in specified positions. The standardization of the sequence is another advantage. 5. Side margin of at least 20 mm. In older letterheads this margin was often ignored. This c o n t i n u e d not to be noticed because in those days letters 114

r

H

Afclegewopt1)

Firma

Htftnad I 20-—» Klcia*ta*6

Erzeugnisse I

d«a Absender« Poctanachrift

Abbildungen

,I

Ihf ¿«icher»

Drahtwort

usw

Famruf

GMChiftzalt

Banken

Eingang- u. Bearbeitungvermerke

Anschrift des Empfingen

r«ltm*rke 3

-62

Ihre N a c h r i c h t

i_

vom

Unter«

Xifl

Zatchon

Betreff

Leitsätze für den Brief Vordruck 1 Die Linien deuten lediglich die Abgrenzung der einzelnen Felder an; auf dem Geschäftsbrief selbst sollen nur der Hefttand (möglichst such suf der Rückselte, dort rechts), Schluß-, Falt- und Lochmarken sowie des Anschriftfeld durch feine Linien, Eckzeichen, Punkte usw kenntlich gemacht werden. 2

Unbedingt einzuhalten sind ein Heftrand oon mindestens 20 mm Lage und Abmessungen der Felder für Anschrift das Empfängers, für Eingangvermerke und für des Absendert Postanschrift die Reihenfolge der Post• und Oeschäftangaben (Fernruf, Banken) die Reihenfolge der Zeichen- und Tagangaben.

3 Nur die unterstrichenen Inschriften sollen wörtlich oder sinngemäß abgedruckt werden. Die anderen Inschriften haben lediglich erläuternden Zweck. 4 In der Zeile für Post• und Oeschäftangaben (Fernruf, Banken) können einzelne Angaben weggelassen oder neue zugefügt werden.

Sdii uh-

uri»

5 Es ist empfehlenswert, die Leitworte für Zeichen• und Tagangaben so zu setzen, daß die zugehörigen Eintragungen nicht daneben, sondern darunter erfolgen, um wiederholtes genaues Einstellen der Schreibmaschine zu oermeiden. A us demselben Grunde sollte die Jahreszahl bei der Tagangabe nicht oorgedruckt werden. Unter „Ihre Zeichen" und „Unsere Zeichen" sind Aktenund Ansage- (Diktier) Zeichen zusammenzufassen. $ (siehe

Fortsetzungsblatt)

Dio format A 4 (210x297)

CiuchitobrtoKordrech nach DIN «7>

!) Zweckmäßig wird der Schriftwechsel nach den Einheits-ABC-Regeln abgelegt Lochabstand 8 0 m m (nach Beschluß der Briefordnerkonvention). Geschäftsbriefe, Halbbriefe Format A 5 siehe DIN 6 7 7. Briefhüllen siehe DIN 6 7 8 . Fensterbriefhüllen siehe DIN 6 8 0

Mai 1924

Ausschuß für wirtschaftliche Verwaltung (AWV) Fachausschuß für Bürowesen

Fortsetzung Seite 2

115

Seite 2

Fortsetzungsblatt (zweites Blatt u n d weitere Glätter)

T»a

Firma

Betrtff

Blatt

Empfang»«»

0

lat der Absendeort oom Sitz der Finna verschieden, so kann statt des corgedruckten Wortes „Tag" der Absendeort porgedruckt werden.

7

Der Betreff and Angaben aber die Art der Mitteilung (zB AuftragbestStlgung) sind links oberhalb des Textes zu schreiben. Anlagen, Verteilpermerke, sowie Angaben Über die Art der Versendung (zB einschreiben") sind links unter dem Text anzugeben. — Die Unterschrift tat rechts unter den Text zu setzen.

8

Die Lochung erfolgt zweckmäßig im voraus. Die Lochmarke wird dadurch überflüssig.

9 Auf dem Heftrand können Druckpermerke (Auflagehohe, Auflagetag), Blattgewicht, Felder für Gegenzeichnung usw aufgenommen werden. 10 Faltmarken Die Faltmarken sind nur zu drucken, wenn der Brief in Fensterhalle oerschickt werden aoU. tt

Fortsetzungsblatt Unbedingt einzuhalten ist die Reihenfolge der Angaben auf dem Fortsetzungsblatt und zwar auch dann, wenn für die FortsetzungsblStter Papier ohne jeden Aufdruck oerwendet wird. Bei Anfertigung eines Vordrucks Mnnen die Angaben „Firma", ,JJetreff" und .JSmpfSnger" ' weggelassen oder neue Angaben zugefügt werden.

12 Dem Werbfachmann und dem Künstler sind alle Freiheiten eingeräumt, die den Sitzen 2 und 11 nicht widersprechen.

Dtafc—1 A4 glOX»7)

116

CtiAlMofcfrwdnKfc —db DIN CT*

5. S i d e m a r g i n of at least 20 mm. In o l d e r l e t t e r h e a d s t h i s m a r g i n w a s o f t e n i g n o r e d . This c o n t i n u e d n o t t o be n o t i c e d b e c a u s e in t h o s e days l e t t e r s d i d n o t n e e d t o be so s y s t e m a t i c a l l y o r g a n i z e d as t h e y are t o d a y . A s t a n d a r d i z e d l e t t e r h e a d , b e f o r e it is w r i t t e n , o f t e n g i v e s t h e

impression

t h a t n o t e n o u g h r o o m has b e e n l e f t f o r t h e l e t t e r itself. This is a d e c e p t i o n , c a u s e d by t h e line of " y o u r r e f " e t c . People f o r g e t t h a t t h e a d d r e s s of t h e a d d r e s s e e g o e s a b o v e : t h e r e m a i n i n g s p a c e for t h e a c t u a l l e t t e r is l a r g e r t h a n in m a n y o l d l e t t e r h e a d s .

Typographic design of standard letterheads Printers must now find a t y p o g r a p h i c form that fits the standards for letterheadings and looks well. The n e c e s s a r y l e f t - h a n d m a r g i n by i t s e l f p o i n t s t o an a s y m m e t r i c d e s i g n . It is really a g a i n s t s e n s e , in o r d e r t o a c h i e v e s y m m e t r y , t o r e p e a t t h e m a r g i n on t h e r i g h t p u r e l y f o r d e c o r a t i v e r e a s o n s . W h y s h o u l d t h e d e t a i l s of a l e t terhead

be

made

hard

to

read?

If t h e

two

punch-holes

for

filing

are

i n c l u d e d , s y m m e t r y is in any case i m p o s s i b l e [ a s s u m i n g t h a t a p a r t f r o m a f e w s n o b s n o b o d y w r i t e s a l e t t e r i t s e l f s y m m e t r i c a l l y . In g e n e r a l , t h e t y p o g r a p h y of t h e o l d l e t t e r h e a d s t o o k no n o t i c e of t h e f a c t t h a t t h e l e t t e r as r e c e i v e d w o u l d be w r i t t e n , s i g n e d , a n d f o l d e d . Only w h e n it is a c o m p l e t e d w h o l e c a n it l o o k b e a u t i f u l ! ) . The m a r g i n s h o u l d n o t be m a r k e d by a f i n e rule or a n y t h i n g else, b u t s h o u l d be l e f t w h i t e . T h e l i n e s of t y p e b e g i n on its l e f t - h a n d e d g e , a n d

aligned

e x a c t l y b e l o w t h e m t h e t y p i n g s t a r t s . In this w a y t h e t y p e d l e t t e r has a p l e a s a n t a n d p r o m i n e n t w h i t e s t r i p e [ p r o v i d e d t h a t t h e w r i t i n g c o n t i n u e s to t h e e d g e of t h e p a p e r on t h e r i g h t , a n d d o e s n o t s t o p 2 or 3 c e n t i m e t r e s f r o m it, w h i c h is q u i t e u n n e c e s s a r y ) . The p u n c h - h o l e s c a n be m a d e in a d v a n c e , if d e s i r e d , as t h e S t a n d a r d r e c o m m e n d s , a n d it is e v e n p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e h o l e s , as a c o n s c i o u s p a r t of t h e d e s i g n , c a n e n r i c h t h e g e n e r a l e f f e c t . I f i n d it d e s i r a b l e so t o p o s i t i o n t h e l e f t - h a n d e d g e of t h e t y p e m a t t e r t h a t t h e holes are e x a c t l y in t h e m i d d l e of t h e w h i t e m a r g i n . T h a t u s u a l l y m a k e s a m a r g i n of 25 mm n e c e s s a r y . The s p a c e for t h e f i r m ' s n a m e e t c . s h o u l d p r e f e r a b l y be f i l l e d as c o m p l e t e l y as p o s s i b l e , t h e w h i t e s p a c e s b e t w e e n t h e l i n e s h a v i n g t h e s a m e w e i g h t as t h e b l a c k lines of t y p e . T h e p r i n t n o t only c a n b u t s h o u l d e x t e n d t o t h e r i g h t - h a n d e d g e of t h e p a p e r , l e a v i n g only o n e pica of s p a c e t h e r e . Only in t h i s w a y w i l l t h e l e f t - h a n d m a r g i n have its full e f f e c t . T h e r e is also b a s i c a l l y no r e a s o n f o r b e g i n n i n g t h e d e s i g n m o r e t h a n o n e pica d o w n f r o m t h e t o p

117

of the page, but it depends on the shape of the main heading and the g e n eral design w h e t h e r it is desirable to start so close to the t o p . Because the letter will finally be folded [asymmetrically, for standard w i n d o w envelopes] it is necessary, to achieve a g o o d total effect, to relate the t y p e - s e t t i n g to the position of the folds, i.e. to avoid lines of type in the heading being on the fold-lines, and other vertical divisions [see the letterhead "Arbeitsgemeinschaft" on p. 120). For letters that are to be put in w i n d o w envelopes this is vital: for letters sent in ordinary envelopes it is not vital, but the central fold-line must be observed. This fold-line is also important when we come to the firm's particulars. It w o u l d be w r o n g , and against the whole principle of standardization, to set these details in long lines, as they used to be in the old letterheads. They should be placed in groups and in columns, rather than in continuous lines. It neither looks well nor is it clear to centre the lines in the individual groups. In an asymmetric design it w o u l d be a c o n t r a d i c t i o n of style. The best solution for columns is to align them left, ragged right. These groups will usually go in t w o lines: the title [ " s e n d e r ' s address,"

"telegraphic

address," etc.) comes above, the information in the second line below Csee the " G e b ü h r e n - R e c h n u n g " heading by Molzahn, p. 126). The groups can be separated by fine vertical rules if this seems necessary, but about 1 pica space between them should

make f u r t h e r separation

unnecessary.

For

example:

The main division is shown in the centre of the page by a p i c a - w i d e w h i t e space that begins either to the left or to the right [ b e t t e r right) of the c e n tre

[see

the

letterheads

"Arbeitsgemeinschaft"

and

"das

bauhaus

in

dessau"). The central dividing line should never be allowed to come in the middle of the white pica-space. To show a solution for more complicated groups of this kind, we give here a design for the letterhead of the Deutsche Werke with the groups in a b e t ter and clearer form. Postanschrift: Kiel. Schließfach 152/162

Drahtwort : Deweka (ABC-Code 5th Ed.) Ingenieur-CodeGallanö

Telefon: 6300-14

Banken: Kiel: Reichsbank Vereinsbank Commerz - u.Privatbk, Berlin: Reichs-Kredit-Ges. AG

Postscheckkonto: Hamburg 36175

A further problem is how to define the position of the w i n d o w space for the address. The four corners of the space can be shown by angles T or points

118

• unless it is desired not to use these means and indicate its position less directly. The latter is preferable. It is possible, if for example the line con-

taining the sender's address can be continued to the page centre [which

can often be done by abbreviation or judicious expansion — but also the

next groups, telegraph address, telephone, etc., may be moved to the left half of the page] and the group "your communication of" can end at the

middle Csee the "das bauhaus in dessau" and "Arbeitsgemeinschaft" head-

ings]. The beginning and end of the address line and the beginning of

"your ref" and end of "your communication of" will then themselves define

the window.

The address of the recipient is best written thus:

An die Biichergilde Gutenberg Dreibundstr. S Berlin SW 61

The town name must for clarity be emphasized by a rule. [Do not letterspace; if need be use capitals, not letterspaced, for emphasis!]

This method has the advantage that it is clearer and easier to type than the

older method, in which for every line the carriage must be shifted to the right and cannot be brought back automatically. The beginning of the typed

lines must align with the printed lines, to give an even and satisfactory

appearance.

For the same reason it is not recommended to surround the address area with

a border, which would make perfect alignment of all the lines impossible.

It is generally the case — and especially with letterheads — that printed

matter looks better the less use is made of secondary matter such as rules,

points, and so on. A letterhead is already a complicated typographic job

whose clarity should not be hindered by trimmings.

With the name of the addressee, the contents of the letter begin, aligning

with the invisible vertical established by the print above. A typewritten let-

ter looks stronger when the typed lines are "solid," without spacing between the lines.

The end-point is best marked by a dot [see the

"Arbeitsgemeinschaft"

heading] rather than by a rule, which has no meaning and can be confusing above or below a word.

t19

G HliTELMAYB -faia'^p'xmrar... KAßi . 8E«rsC«

Arbeitsgemeinschaft

tüPASSSÄr, Qu.»

f-at'Ctit . UICMP la'ftfc«'. «•«»»«• If** «.rtachaHI«ha} m * *v> tin«« l»«l. »- fc a . 1 i n a l • < - ' *U1 »Oft. «••'um «•• io(H>«Ut moat IW"U«. wann * c Mlfla M u l t a ar.alcM »

HERBERT BAYER: S t a n d a r d i z e d l e t t e r h e a d . 1925.

124

nious design. This must be said, to comfort the d o u b t s of those w h o are w o r r i e d by the new problems they may now be facing. Invoices and order forms are treated also in D I N 676. Example: the invoice form by Molzahn Con the next page]. Because the DIN formats have proved themselves successful, more and more firms are going over to them. M u c h can be done by the printing trade to help spread the k n o w l e d g e of them: many firms, especially the smaller ones, still know nothing about them. A standardized letterhead will admittedly cost more than the ordinary kind because of the extra care and accuracy required. Their increased usefulness will compensate for that. Unprinted stock, in standard sizes, can be stored and used for later jobs, w h i c h will save money.

125

POWANSCHRlFTs JOHK MOLZAHMljbGl

FERHR.: C O M M E R Z

iTERNSTI

IN.40514

U. P R F V A T - B A N K

POSTSCHECK.

OEP.-KASSE H A S S E I B A C H P L .

MAOOEB19946

JOHANNES M O L Z A H N : Invoice f o l l o w i n g DIN 676. Grey a n d black t y p e o n w h i t e . The large device is t h e designer's personal mark.

126

THE HALF LETTERHEAD There is also a standard for the A5 format [148x210 mm}, for use both as u p r i g h t and horizontal. Standard 677 covers both, reduced reproductions of w h i c h are shown on the following pages. Neither of these alternatives is really practical. A5 used vertically is similar in general form to a letterhead in standard A4, but is obviously smaller and is therefore less easy to find in a file. In horizontal form it has only its w i d t h in common with A4, but loses in lucidity because the firm's name and details seem to be separated. The space for w r i t i n g on both is rather small, but since they are intended for shorter messages that is not a fault. A5 letterheads are used chiefly for t w o reasons: 1. A short message on an A4 page leaves a large space w h i c h may be t h o u g h t unsightly. But a letter is first and foremost a communication, and aesthetic appearances must be less important than the purpose of the document. We said above that the purpose of a letter is not finished when it has been received and read. It will be put aside and needed again, and must therefore be looked for. The more different formats and sizes the more labour! One format, one standard! 2. To save paper. But even on longer runs there will be little saved: the extra cost of paper is negligible. In shorter runs the cost of p r i n t i n g the other half of an A5 sheet will cost as much as an A4 sheet. It is therefore always better to use A4 rather than A 5 ! As for the t y p o g r a phy of A5 letterheads, the rules laid d o w n in the sections on A4 are just as binding. In both kinds of A5 a strict observance of the normal rules will bring an excellent t y p o g r a p h i c result.

127

DIN

Geschäftsbriefe

677

Halbbriefe Format A 5 (148X210) Maße in m m

Halbbrief hoch À

E r l ä u t e r u n g e n Seite 2

A

Ablegewort 1 )

Firma

Heftrand

Erzeugnisse, A b b i l d u n g e n

- < — 2 0 — Kleinstmaß Drahtwort

Fernruf

GeschafUeit

Banken

des A b s e n d e r s Postanschritt -43A n s c h r i f t des

Eingang- und

Empfängers

Bearbeitungvermerke

I— Ihre Zeichen Ihre Nachricht vom UneereZeichen Tag -Betreff

Schlußmarke

Dinformat A5 ( 1 4 8 X 2 1 0 )

Geschäftsbriefvordruck nach DIN 677 -148-

1) Nach den Einheits-ABC-Regeln. Lochabstand 8 0 m m (nach Beschluß d e r B r i e f o r d n e r k o n v e n t i o n ) . Geschäftsbrief A 4 siehe DIN 6 7 6 . Briethüllen siehe DIN 6 7 8 . F e n s t e r b r i e f h ü l l e n siehe DIN 6 8 0 .

April 1927

128

Ausschuß f ü r wirtschaftliche V e r w a l t u n g ( A W V ) Fachausschuß f ü r B ü r o w e s e n

Fortsetzung Seite 2

Seite 2

Geschäftsbriefe Halbbriete Format A S (148X210)

DIN

677

Leitsätze und Erläuterungen 1. Die Linien deuten lediglich die Abgrenzung der einzelnen Felder an i auf dem Halbbrief selbst sollen nur der Heftrand, die Schluß-, Falt- und Lochmarken sowie das Anschriftfeld durch feine Linien, Eckzeichen, Punkte usw. kenntlich gemacht werden. 2. Unbedingt einzuhalten sind: Heftrand von mindestens 2 0 m m Breite, Lage und Abmessungen der Felder für Anschrift des Empfängers, Eingangsvermerke und des Absenders Postanschrift, Reihenfolge der Post- und Geschäftangaben (Drahtwort, Fernruf usw.; das Wort Betreff kann in den Heftrand hineingerückt werden), Reihenfolge der Zeichen- und Tagangaben. 3. Nur die unterstrichenen Angaben sollen wörtlich oder sinngemäß eingedruckt werden, die andern Angaben des Normblattes dienen lediglich zur Erläuterung. 4. In der Zeile für Post- und Geschäftangaben (Drahtwort, Fernruf usw.) können einzelne Angaben weggelassen oder neue zugefügt werden. 5. Es ist empfehlenswert, die Leitworte für Zeichen und Tagangaben so zu setzen, daß die zugehörigen Eintragungen nicht daneben, sondern darunter erfolgen können. Dadurch wird wiederholtes genaues Einstellen der Schreibmaschine vermieden. Aus demselben Grunde soll die Jahreszahl bei Tagangaben nicht vorgedruckt werden. Unter „Ihre Zeichen" sind Akten- und Ansage-(Diktier-)Zeichen zusammenzufassen. 6. Ist der Absendeort vom Sitz der Firma verschieden, so kann statt des vorgedruckten Wortes „Tag" der Absendeort und dahinter das Wort „am" vorgedruckt werden. 7. Anlagen- sowie Verteilvermerke sind links unter dem Text, Angaben über die Art der Versendung (z, B. Einschreiben, Rohrpost) sind im Anschriftfeld über der Anschrift anzugeben. 8. Auf dem Heftrand können Druckvermerke (Auflagehöhe, Auflagetag), Blattgewicht, Felder für Gegenzeichnung usw. aufgenommen werden. 9. Beim Halbbrief quer kann die Zeile der Zeichen- und Tagangaben bis an den oberen Rand gerückt werden, wenn auf die Firmenangabe an dieser Stelle verzichtet wird. Dadurch wird Schreibfläche gewonnen.

Fortsetzung Seite 3

129

Seite 3

Geschäftsbrief Halbbriete Format A • (148X210) Maße in m m

Halbbriaf quar

Erläuterungen Seite 2

3

«i r U_

I £

yS H

-ef

1 v|--j--

s N -

8fl ' ) Nach den Einheits-ABC-Regeln Lochabstand 8 0 m m Cnach Beschluß der Briefordnerkonvention) -

130

ENVELOPES WITHOUT W I N D O W S For the standard letter size A4, the envelope size is D I N C6. Besides this main size other sizes are in use, for various reasons, to be seen in Standard 678 [see reproductions on the following pages}. A c c o r d i n g to the latest Post Office rules, the firm's address, and advertising matter, may be placed only on the left-hand t h i r d of the front, and on the back, where however a margin of not less than 2'A cm must be left at the top. It is recommended that about 3 cm be left free on the top margin on the front, in whatever size of envelope, to avoid the postmark obliterating any of the print. Stamps (including f r a n k i n g ] and address should be incorporated in the t y p o g r a p h i c design since that is how the addressee receives it. It is therefore desirable to stick a stamp down on the layout. Our reproductions show t w o good examples of typographically

designed

envelo pes. The envelope by Piet Zwart conforms to German Post Office rules except for the recommended but not obligatory 3 cm clear strip at the t o p ; it is a fine example of an envelope in C6 format. The envelope for Gerasch, because the design extends over half the front, admittedly does not conform to present Post Office rules, but is included here only as an example of design in general. ™

H

X

I

i

P

to I

33

C

u> w

•H > >

5? rr CD

to 8 > CO

ai > >

PIET ZWART: E n v e l o p e w i t h d e s i g n e r ' s d e v i c e ( r e d u c e d ) . Black a n d r e d o n g r e y . F o r m a t C6 ( 1 1 4 x 1 6 2 ) .

131

DIN

Briefhüllenformate

678

BtMlehfMftg «iner BrlefhOlla In» Format C « (114 X 162»

Hülle C 6 Briefhütlenformat Kurzzeichen

mm

Einlagenformat Kurzzeichen

Einlagenbeispiele

mm

C 7

81x 114

A7

74x105

Besuchskarten, Glückwunschkarten, Karteikarten. Anschriftkarten

C 6

114x162

A6

105x148

Postkarten, gefaltete Briefe und Akten, Broschüren, Werbsachen, Karteikarten

C 5

162x229

A5

148x210

C 4

229x324

A4

210x297

Briefe, Akten, Broschüren, Werbsachen, Karteikarten, Zeichnungen, Normblätter. Aktien

ViC4

114x324

•/a A4

86

125x176

B 5

105 x 297

lang gefaltete mate

C6

114x162

A 6-Formate mit C 6Deckel, Briefhüllen C 6, dicke A 6-Sendungen

176x250

C5

162x229

A 5-Formate mit C 5Oeckel, C 5-Briefhüllen, dicke A 5-Sendungen

B4

250x353

C4

229 x 324

Schriftstücke in C 4Mappen und -Aktendeckeln

Vi OB 4

136x353

VsC4

114x324

lang gefaltete mate

A 4-For-

C 4-For-

Bei der Bestellung sind Qualität, Farbe, Art und Ausführung anzugeben. C 7 ist die kleinste bei der Post aufzuliefernde Briefhülle. C 6 ersetzt Quart- und Foliobriefhüllen. Papierformate — Anwendungen der A-Reihe - siehe DIN 198 Papierformate — Metrische Formatordnung — siehe DIN 476 Fensterbriefhüllen siehe DIN 680 Ausführung: Umschlag, Tasche oder Beutel

November 1924

132

Siehe auch Seite 2

Briefhüllenformate

250 "353

B*

C«

229*321?

B5

BI.2

136 x 353

11**324

162 * 229

B6

C7

678

176*250

CS

CS

DIN

121

*m

114*162

i1r.11*

133

Wichtige Mitteilung, Messe betreffend!

JAN TSCHICHOLD: E n v e l o p e f o r a d v e r t i s i n g m a t t e r . Red o n w h i t e . R e d u c e d .

W I N D O W ENVELOPES To avoid repeating the address on the envelope and to make p u t t i n g a letter into a w r o n g l y addressed envelope impossible, w i n d o w envelopes are used, whose sizes are laid down in Standard 680 [see r e p r o d u c t i o n } . The common envelopes with rounded w i n d o w s should be replaced by w i n dows w i t h square corners. If the standard letter is folded in the simplest way — once across and once longways — the c o r r e s p o n d i n g w i n d o w envelope must have a horizontal w i n d o w . Since this is not yet agreed by the Post Office, the less convenient triple fold as shown in D I N 676 is necessary. The postal address of the sender appears in the standard window, so it is not absolutely necessary to print it on the envelope. But if the sender wishes to make his envelopes recognizable, the firm's address can of course be printed outside. Example: Tapetenhaus Ruhl. 134

Wichtige Mitteilung, Messe betreffend!

JAN TSCHICHOLD: E n v e l o p e f o r a d v e r t i s i n g m a t t e r . Red o n w h i t e . R e d u c e d .

W I N D O W ENVELOPES To avoid repeating the address on the envelope and to make p u t t i n g a letter into a w r o n g l y addressed envelope impossible, w i n d o w envelopes are used, whose sizes are laid down in Standard 680 [see r e p r o d u c t i o n } . The common envelopes with rounded w i n d o w s should be replaced by w i n dows w i t h square corners. If the standard letter is folded in the simplest way — once across and once longways — the c o r r e s p o n d i n g w i n d o w envelope must have a horizontal w i n d o w . Since this is not yet agreed by the Post Office, the less convenient triple fold as shown in D I N 676 is necessary. The postal address of the sender appears in the standard window, so it is not absolutely necessary to print it on the envelope. But if the sender wishes to make his envelopes recognizable, the firm's address can of course be printed outside. Example: Tapetenhaus Ruhl. 134

(OB

Fensterbriefhüllen

680

Faltung des Geschäftsbriefes Format A 4 DIN 676

Fensterbriefhalls

Format C 6 (114x162)

-1WHiadrift

Faltung der Halbbriefe Format A 5 DIN 677

I J.

Q

il

J

I? | fkatltrifl j

— w — 6*i«1cltr»ung : Fensterbriefhalle C 6 DIN 6 8 0

Î T§'

_L

rj »nichrift — TI T§

Format 114x229

*

1»

«ucV.// I 1

§ 1

SMAiehnung ; FensterbriefhOlle 114x 2 2 9 DIN 680

Format C S (162 x 229)

t

1 5u

1

•

3

H G

-titJL-ios— • > J

irr !..

S L

229 — eu.lchmjng : Fensterbriefhalle C 5 DIN i

Di» Formate C 6 und C S sind DIN 476 entnommen, das Format 114 x 229 Ist von diesen abgeleitet Ole Ecken der Fenster können gerundet seh. Die Breite der Fensterumrahmung Ist nicht festgelegt Für einwandfreie postliche Erledigung ist beste Durchsichtigkeit des Fensters erforderlich. Die Rückseite und das linke Drittel der Vorderseite dürfen für Firmen« und Werbeaufdruck benutzt werden Freimarken sind in die obere rechte Ecke zu kleben. Ausführung: Umschlag oder Tasche Bei Bestellung sind GOte, Farbe, Art und Ausführung anzugeben. Umschlag PaplergUten siehe DIN 827 BrlsfhDIIen ohne Fenster siehe DIN 678

H

Oktober 1926

Ausschuß für wirtschaftliche Verwaltung (AWV)

0

135

Also on the w i n d o w envelope, according to the latest rules of the Post Office for business addresses and advertising, only the left-hand third of the front may be used, and the back, where not less than 2% cm on the t o p must be left clear. A b o u t 3 cm is recommended to be left clear along the t o p on the front, on all sizes, to avoid a postmark obliterating any type. Stamps [ i n c l u d i n g franking)

should be incorporated in the

typographic

design, since the receiver usually receives franked envelopes.

HERBERT BAYER: S t a n d a r d w i n d o w e n v e l o p e ( r e d u c e d ) . W h i t e p a p e r . P r i n t i n g i n b l a c k a n d r e d . F o r m a t C6, D I N 6 8 0 .

THE POSTCARD A standard for postcards has been w i t h d r a w n , because the Ministry for Posts raised an objection. A new standard is in preparation. The standard for postcard sizes is D I N A6 [105x148 mm), the largest permissible in Germany and also the standard w o r l d size. Postcards in A6 can therefore be sent to any country. 136

Also on the w i n d o w envelope, according to the latest rules of the Post Office for business addresses and advertising, only the left-hand third of the front may be used, and the back, where not less than 2% cm on the t o p must be left clear. A b o u t 3 cm is recommended to be left clear along the t o p on the front, on all sizes, to avoid a postmark obliterating any type. Stamps [ i n c l u d i n g franking)

should be incorporated in the

typographic

design, since the receiver usually receives franked envelopes.

HERBERT BAYER: S t a n d a r d w i n d o w e n v e l o p e ( r e d u c e d ) . W h i t e p a p e r . P r i n t i n g i n b l a c k a n d r e d . F o r m a t C6, D I N 6 8 0 .

THE POSTCARD A standard for postcards has been w i t h d r a w n , because the Ministry for Posts raised an objection. A new standard is in preparation. The standard for postcard sizes is D I N A6 [105x148 mm), the largest permissible in Germany and also the standard w o r l d size. Postcards in A6 can therefore be sent to any country. 136

The Post Office prescribes that the right half of the card be left free. The left half is for the use of the sender. To print the w o r d " p o s t c a r d "

is

unnecessary. Since no standard for the layout of postcards is yet laid d o w n , the design is left almost completely to the individual. The following pages show some good t y p o g r a p h i c solutions for ordinary postcards. In the design of a postcard, as in letterheads, the w r i t i n g of the address and the stamp must be integrated in the design [ p o s t c a r d s are always received w r i t t e n ; only the sender and printer see them w i t h o u t w r i t i n g ) . It is better to stick a stamp on the actual design. Stamps must not have a border [for example, a t w e l v e - p o i n t rule] round them, w h i c h might make the postmark illegible. The most usual form of laying out the address:

Herrn

Fritz Meyer Berlin-Charlottenburg 2 Goethestrasse 4 0

based on handwriting, is unsightly and unsuitable for the t y p e w r i t e r . The aligned way:

Herrn Fritz Meyer Goethestr. 4 0 Berlin-Charlottenburg 8 is better: it is standard practice in the USA. Its clearer arrangement fits t y p o g r a p h i c design far better. It is advisable to leave a margin of at least 20 mm round both front and back of the postcard. Like every other kind of stationery it must be capable of being read in a file w i t h o u t having to take it out. In some of our examples this

recommended

margin

is left free. The upper

25 mm of the

Cgummed] address side is better left unprinted, as the postmark may make it unreadable. (The Postal authorities however guarantee that in the future this will not happen, on postcards.] The design of some of the postcards r e p r o d u c e d here has taken account of that. The use of bold rules to underline the main address in some of our examples has not proved to be very functional. It sometimes requires a time137

wasting adjustment of the typewriter. It is better to underline the address on the typewriter, as shown on the previous page. Type matter should not be "killed" by the typewriting — another reason for using sanserif, especially in semi-bold and bold weights. On ordinary postcards the writing side should be so written and printed that it can be read lengthways Cwith postcards with flaps that happens anyway]. Lengthways is the natural way to read: postcards are not book pages. A properly written postcard has the writing as on a book page turned sideways. FOR P O S T C A R D S W I T H F L A P S SEE PP. 1 4 4 - 1 4 7

138

K
O = -I «

I3 3S g I U

H

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l î i j ï f i l 1 Jí

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¡SSzïâïi ¡"VoS'f i SH£iS "S ° t É°? , ïSÏ * * *' a ,I *l £ r « o i s » . « « ¡ S í f « J | Í f i l l h l l ì £ J] ; si l i t u- cpx iV ! i j l î i 'S i • I ! =-J I », ' o M l f t H i £ s 1 1 l i s i ; I s I > ¿ ' I I El* j l i I I * I I i!i ïCi 3l " ET f« .24 = o 5. < u »'S i l j J s a i ; j ¥ 111! ¡t '-o• Se í: 1 1 f JHI ; a M C s * j ÍL-o Ü : s es ' l i I S s i 3 * 3

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157

w h e t h e r engraved, cut, or etched, can now be done better, faster, and usually more cheaply, by photos and blocks. Sadly the possibilities of p h o t o g raphy itself and p h o t o g r a p h i c techniques are still shunned by many, including even printers. My belief that photography is j u s t as much a part of t y p o g r a p h y as type and rules has been strongly opposed. Photographs, like letters, are a means of communication. The faster and simpler the means of communication the better. The development of our type from pictures to w r i t i n g was intended to increase, as much as possible,

understanding

between people. Today there is much that w e can "say" more simply w i t h photographs than w i t h words. A n d are not photographic blocks materially related to type? Certainly progress will bypass those who do not accept the p h o t o g r a p h i c block in typography, or p h o t o g r a p h y in general, and consider them a " n o n - a r t i s t i c form." [This problem is dealt with in the section on "Photography and Typography," p. 87.) In advertising, at all events, there is no question of an "artistic representation" of an object. Of these "artistic" forms and oil-paintings that so often w e r e completely "unreadable,"

we

have now had enough. The required o b j e c t must be shown as clearly, as perfectly, and as truthfully as possible, and nothing can do this so well as photography. Because photography, as a b l a c k - a n d - w h i t e form, w h e n combined w i t h type provides totally new possibilities of design by means of the

Tjge. M A X BURCHARTZ a n d JOHANNES CANIS: Reverse side of an advertising leaflet, i n D I N A 4 . Black a n d g r e e n .

158

M A X BURCHARTZ a n d JOHANNES CANIS: A d v e r t i s i n g leaflet in t w o colours. A4.

Clustav Kracke, Rehbura-Sladt

contrast between [apparent} plastic and flat, it can be said t h a t t o d a y ' s t y p o g r a p h y is completely different from everything in the past. Typography has thus become "three-dimensional" — an expression of our time, w h i c h seeks to conquer space. Photography has the advantage over drawing that it is free of the often overwhelming "personality" of the artist, whose individuality is out of harmony w i t h the spirit of our time. Indeed, every d r a w i n g contradicts the aim of g o o d advertising for greater objectivity and reality. People believe a p h o t o g r a p h — a drawing not entirely. A good example of the integration of photography w i t h t y p o g r a p h y is provided by the advertising leaflet for the old Bauhaus by Joost Schmidt shown opposite. The grey tones of the photographs combine well with the type. The apparently unnecessary vertical double rule in the middle was needed as a thin grey form in contrast with the heavier greys of the photography. When the available facilities of type are not exactly w h a t is required, phot o m o n t a g e can offer many possibilities for effective results in advertising design. On the t w o following pages the Gerasch fair-invitation shows a p r e m e d i tated composition of photographs on the inner pages w h i c h fits in nicely with the continuity of the whole. (Not only single pages must be legible 159

unities, but m u l t i - p a g e b o o k l e t s must be so d e s i g n e d that their a r r a n g e ment m a k e s the r e a d e r u n c o n s c i o u s l y read on. Printed matter of this kind in the past w a s j u s t a stringing together of c e n t r e d g r o u p s . ] T h e colour a r e a s on the inner p a g e s help the "plastic" form of the p h o t o g r a p h s . It is p e r h a p s interesting to note, in detail, how the c o m p u l s i o n to read on w a s a c h i e v e d on the first p a g e of the invitation. S o m e j o b s by their nature c a n n o t be e x p r e s s e d simply by photography, so c u r v e s , d i a g r a m s , a n d plans may be used. A n interesting borderline c a s e of this kind is the t y p o g r a p h i c plan by S e i w e r t for a gallery in C o l o g n e , w h i c h is as effective as the G e r a s c h invitation already mentioned. C u r v e s , d i a grams, a n d so on are s i g n i f i c a n t for our scientific age. T h e i r g r a p h i c form c a n e n r i c h our t y p o g r a p h y ,

as industrial

prospectuses

like

Burchartz's

W e i c h e n b a u and M o l z a h n ' s E l e k t r o d r e h b a n k p r o s p e c t u s e s Cboth on the following p a g e s ) show.

160

NEUE

SCHACHSPIELE

o«s.o«scHOTzr

Da» BAUHAUS-SCHACHSPIEL von JOSEF HARTWIG ist e i n Spiel mit NEUEN BRETTSTEINEN, die e n t s p r e c h e n d ihrer Funktion gestaltet sind. Sie unterscheiden eich grundsätzlich von den alten illustrierenden SpieJfiguren. die o f t sehr schön, aber sehr schwer spielbar und äußerst kostspielig herzuatellen waren. Ebenso vor» d e n h e u t e allgemein g e b r ä u c h l i c h e n gedrechselten Spielen, die-als em Gemisch von B r e t t s t e i n e n und Figuren ihren Sinn v e r l o r e n haben. OlE NEUEN SPIELSTEINE sind gebildet aus 3 s t e r e o m e t r i s c h e n G r u n d f o r m e n : Würfel, Cylinder und Kugel. Einzeln oder k o m b i n i e r t g e b e n sie durch ihre F o r m die Gangart, durch ihr Volumen den w e r t an.

Der Spielwert de» Steine ist d u r c h Höhe u n d V o l u m e n b e z e i c h n e t ; König und Dame s i n d am größten, d i e Bauern am kleinsten Laufer und Springet s i n d g l e i c h groß und haben |e das halbe Volumen des Turmes. Das bisherige Spielbrett isl ersetzt d u r c h eine GLASTAF£(_ Die Quadratischen Felder b i l d e » zusammen mit d e n kubischen Figuren eine Formeinheit von außerordentlicher Klarheit. W i c h t i g ist. daß die STEINE >n der A n s i c h t und n o c n Wichtiger in de» DRAUFSICHT d e u t l i c h zu unterscheiden s i n d und s i c h in i h r e ' mäßigen Höhe RELIEFARTIG Uber d i e S p i e i t a ' e i ausbreiten, ihre Größen sind so b e r e c h n e t , daß sie. in e i n e m k l e i n e n Kasten v e r p a c k t , den Raum gant ausnutzen und ihre Voiizaht klar ersehen lassen. JOSEF HARTWIG.

JOOST SCHMIDT 1 9 2 4 : A d v e r t i s i n g l e a f l e t ( l e t t e r f o r m a t )

161

£ S

C 0

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£ a a k 01 e •o c « * £

a «h 01 e a

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IWAN DER SCHRECKLICHE

JAN TSCHICHOLD: T y p o g r a p h i c c i n e m a poster, 1 9 2 7 . Black a n d r e d o n w h i t e .

177

assumption that a circle by itself can be an "eye-catcher," must be discarded. [Why are circles so often placed in the least important position?] Even if a circle has once w o r k e d as an "eye-catcher," when

continually

repeated as decoration it is not eye-catching but repellent. Effects must be reached w i t h other means, for example a large letter, a f i g ure, a special area of black or colour. Posters can be effective w i t h little or much text. While little text is always better than the b o o k - l e n g t h of certain posters, a long text can also be effective by means of contrasting type sizes and well-organized articulation. That is of course nearly hopeless when the client brings in a vast text and wants to have everything "big." Good poster designs are often prevented by unwise decisions. Variety and revue posters for example are lessons in ignorance about advertising in many of those w h o order them. Colour in design has much to offer t y p o g r a p h i c expression. The colour of the paper itself is important. It is best to choose a paper that provides the greatest contrast in colour to other posters in use at the time. Of course this is often a matter of luck, since the colours on a hoarding can change completely overnight. Unusual colours, like pink, English green, light blue, grey, etc., and mixed shades that are not often used, can all be most effective. A d m i t t e d l y papers in most of these uncommon colours are often more expensive, but their effect can be overwhelming, as they kill the monotony of the conventional yellows and violet-red. Besides the usual black appearance of most posters, a poster in one or more colours can be very attractive.

Printing a colour, say red, on a

coloured, perhaps green, paper, can give a result rarely seen on hoardings, w h i c h will greatly strengthen the poster's power. A poster can be distinguished from its neighbours by the p r i n t i n g of special colours and use of coloured papers. An additional and most effective means is in the use of white Cunprinted) paper, a characteristic feature of the new t y p o g r a p h i c poster. This device is eye-catching, since there is almost no unprinted paper on hoardings or poster-pillars. The normal t y p o poster on w h i c h every fraction of an inch is p r i n t e d can look only chaotic and is therefore useless. Empty space however helps legibility and adds to the aesthetic effect. The economy of its p r o d u c t i o n gives the t y p o - p o s t e r today an advantage for the future, w h i c h will benefit the c o m p o s i t o r -

and most of all the

printer — w h e n it is in c o m p e t i t i o n w i t h some of the d r a w n posters. Such is its power.

178

PHOEBUS-PALAST

DIE SUN DE A! IDE

uuueu usiti (unii 'P

A HONEGGER: PACIFIC 231

V

i l l Mht UN! KLKaitMC

JAN TSCHICHOLD: Typographic cinema poster. Black and blue on red-violet.

179

Vortraa mit Film

Münchner Bund STADTBAURAT

_

_

ERN8T

MAY-Frankfurt

26. Okt. 8 Uhr • 70

Die zeitgemäße

Organisation

Pfg.

des Wohnungsbaues

Wohnungsbeschaffung Auditorium Maximum der Technischen Hochschule, Eingang 2, Arcisstraße

How it should not be done! What looks

at first sight like a t y p e - p o s t e r

d e s i g n e d o n m o d e r n lines, w h e n

l o o k e d at

more

c l o s e l y is q u i t e u n r e a d a b l e . W h e r e d o e s o n e b e g i n r e a d i n g ? or c o n t i n u e ? Ten s i z e s of type are u s e d w h e n certainly six at m o s t w e r e n e e d e d . T h e u n n e c e s s a r i l y e n l a r g e d initials of s e v e r a l w o r d s i n t r o d u c e e v e n m o r e d i s t u r b a n c e to the w h o l e . W o r s t of all is the p r e c o n c e i v e d f o r m - i d e a (here, the t h r e e c o l u m n s ) w h i c h f o r c e s the lines into fixed s h a p e s a n d limits the l i n e - l e n g t h s .

Even centred design would have been better!

THE PICTORIAL POSTER W h e n e v e r a d v e r t i s i n g is required for an object w h i c h c a n be illustrated, the pictorial poster is e s s e n t i a l , b e c a u s e it is i n c o m p a r a b l y more m e a n i n g f u l than a n y poster c o n s i s t i n g only of w o r d s . T h e illustration itself must be as o b j e c t i v e as p o s s i b l e : above all, free from the p e r s o n a l "touch" of the artist. B e r n h a r d ' s " f a c t - p o s t e r s " [for Stiller Boots, etc.) w e r e already a s t e p in this direction long before the war, a n d it must be freely admitted that they w e r e not u n s u c c e s s f u l . But the individuality of the artist in those c l a s s i c e x a m ples w a s a bit e x c e s s i v e and has p e r h a p s now played itself out. T h e n e r v o u s h a n d of the painter w a s e c h o e d in the "nibbled" lettering so c h a r a c teristic of the p r e - w a r period, a n d w h i c h d e g e n e r a t e d into a m a n n e r i s m . The theories

of the

pre-war

artists

still influence

many

contemporary

d e s i g n e r s , a n d result in posters w h i c h — apart from the few with the extreme linear skill of artists like B e r n h a r d a n d H o h l w e i n — may interest a few for their a e s t h e t i c form but do not please the p u b l i c who really matter. A s no drawn posters of this kind existed at the b e g i n n i n g of the century, they c o u l d be effective. People h a d more time then than they have today, a n d the novel g r a p h i c forms led them to look at the posters. Today, c o n d i tions for posters are different. A poster, whether pictorial or lettered, must be a b s o r b e d at the moment of noticing or w a l k i n g past; or, if a longer text is n e c e s s a r y , must strike a n d attract by means of its total effect. T h e poster today is still a "fact-poster" [as L u c i e n Bernhard p r e a c h e d ] , but the o b j e c t being a d v e r t i s e d must no longer be artistically simplified C = d i s t o r t e d ) , but must be shown in the most factual, unmistakable, a n d i m p e r s o n a l form. A l l t r i m m i n g s w h i c h proclaim the h a n d of a particular artist c o n t r a d i c t the poster's e s s e n c e . From the m a s s of posters d e s i g n e d in the spirit of the earlier poster artists, hardly one stands out; the c h o i c e of c o l o u r

and

the painting or d r a w i n g of t h e s e i n d i v i d u a l - p a i n t e r l y posters have b e c o m e f o r m u l a - b a s e d and therefore uninteresting. T h e "hand" of the artist is s i m ply s u p e r f l u o u s , its p u r p o s e a p e r n i c i o u s w a s t e of the p u b l i c ' s time. W h e n we realize that for the poster that must be read q u i c k l y on a h o a r d i n g , only the s i m p l e s t and c l e a r e s t forms c a n be right, w e have to avoid strictly everything that is individual a n d u n c l e a r , b e c a u s e too s t r o n g l y artistic. T h e n e e d for the most objective, i n d e e d the intensely factual, d e s i g n is s h o w n by the appalling quantity of i n s c r i p t i o n s and posters in modern cities. If a poster or inscription is not crystal clear, it is u s e l e s s . For type, s a n s e r i f has in g e n e r a l the s h a r p e s t definition for u s e in p o s t e r s . Pictures however are stronger and q u i c k e r in their effect than type, a n d here a g a i n only the most o b j e c t i v e representation will c o m m u n i c a t e the poster's c o n t e n t s q u i c k l y a n d c l e a r l y to a p a s s e r - b y . That is why so many

181

possibilities exist for the increased use of p h o t o g r a p h y in poster design — although, w h e n it is a question of larger poster sizes, restrictions

are

imposed because on the one hand the techniques of p h o t o - r e p r o d u c t i o n have not yet advanced far e n o u g h Cup till now, to my knowledge, only a few firms in Berlin can produce posters in 84 x 120 cm format by rotary p r i n t ing) and on the other because the costs of screen exposures are still pretty high, admittedly significant only w h e n runs are short. More restrictive is the blind enmity, or at least hostile prejudice, of many artists against photography, w h i c h can only be explained by lack of imagination. The public's taste is of course influenced by the poor quality of much advertising in more or less inferior papers, w h i c h it takes to be g o o d but w h i c h leaves much to be desired. It is also a fundamental error of most artists to suppose that the use of p h o t o g r a p h y makes artists unnecessary. By so t h i n k i n g they must believe that they are seeing the end of their skills in the techniques of painting and drawing. Even a g o o d p h o t o g r a p h gives no guarantee of a g o o d poster, and, equally, from only average

pho-

t o g r a p h s good posters can be designed. It is always pictorial strength that provides the results. The suggestive power that gives p h o t o - p o s t e r s the advantage over so many other

kinds of poster

lies in the

extraordinary

contrast of the

richly

nuanced "plastic" grey of photographs with areas of colour Cor indeed pure w h i t e ] w h i c h only the use of p h o t o g r a p h y can give. Such a richly varied means of expression demands, contrary to usual opinion, at least as much imaginative ability as painting and drawing. In any case, a very highly developed feeling for harmony and p r o p o r t i o n is needed, w h e n posters or other printed advertising matter are being designed using these c o n t e m p o rary methods. It is surprising how well a small part of a single p h o t o g r a p h can sometimes w o r k as a poster, as in the PKZ poster by Baumberger. It is a pillar-poster made from a colour p h o t o g r a p h . A p a r t from the label sewn into the garment, no lettering is used. Since laying d o w n a colour p h o t o g r a p h on stone is today virtually impossible, the colour separations for lithography had to be made by hand. Developments in r e p r o d u c t i o n t e c h n i q u e in the near future will make mechanical r e p r o d u c t i o n possible.

M9

JAN TSCHICHOLD: F i l m p o s t e r

1927. O r i g i n a i in dark b r o w n and grey.

183

HERBERT BAYER: S h o p - w i n d o w p o s t e r in b l u e , red, a n d b l a c k o n w h i t e . H a n d - d r a w n t y p e . The line " A d l e r - C o m p a g n i e . A G " was a d d e d a n d does not b e l o n g to t h e original composition.

OTTO BAUMBERGER: PKZ pillar poster. Original in full colour.

The cigarette poster by Herbert Bayer is also very effective, the design being

developed

from the oblique

line of the

neck. The line

"Adler-

Compagnie, AG" was added later, presumably at the request of the firm. It does not belong to the original design fas can easily be seen by covering it u p ] and disturbs the dynamic of the whole. It is really astonishing that the film companies have up to now made so little use of photography for their posters. The few exceptions known to me are gravure posters w i t h a single large photograph, in format 84 x 120 cm, but w i t h absolutely no pretensions to any artistic form. But it is so obvious to use photography for film posters. For the posters w h i c h I was fortunate enough to design for the Phoebus-Palast in M u n i c h in 1927, I was able o w i n g to various circumstances to make use of only a few of the possibilities for composition and technique. The p r o d u c t i o n costs of these posters, made unfortunately for only one cinema, had to be kept extremely low. As 185

a result I had to be economical with the size and number of photographs. The posters changed every week and as a rule had to be produced in from two to four days C = design and two- or three-colour printing!], so that the film title (following the usual film practice] could be published from four to two days before the first showing. Obviously in such circumstances it was rarely possible to exploit the full possibilities of design. Nevertheless I believe that the Phoebus posters are the first practical attempt to make true film posters. Moholy-Nagy has also made very interesting designs for film posters. Developments in photographic and printing techniques will certainly influence poster design.* In spite of the many possibilities in photo-poster design, the drawn poster will probably not completely disappear. After the oil-painters of the prewar period have played themselves out and today, insofar as they still have a name from earlier, go on repeating themselves with process blocks, like Hohlwein, nevertheless the movement today is for exactness and geometry, as opposed to the brush-painting of the earlier masters. We now have a feeling for pure mass and proportion. The work of the Frenchman A. M. Cassandre is typical of this new poster design. He has produced some outstandingly drawn posters, full of the spirit of our times and already worthy to be called classical achievements. I end this section with statements about the new poster by two French painters, which I have taken from the monthly periodical Querschnitt. Both are founder members of the Cubist movement. Fernand Léger is, insofar as the expression "Cubism" still has validity, its foremost exponent.

• That from the point of view of the present it is an anachronism to cut posters in lino, like medieval woodcuts. I need hardly point out.

186

1

m

°VOu

1

WM

JAN TSCHICHOLD: Film poster 1927. The l o w e r half l i g h t blue, " C a s a n o v a " red. p a r t l y o v e r p r i n t i n g t h e blue. The picture a n d t h e rest o f t h e t y p e b r o w n - v i o l e t .

187

J A N T S C H I C H O L D : P h o t o - p l a s t i c c i n e m a poster. P h o t o l i t h o g r a p h y a n d d r a w i n g o n s t o n e . B l a c k a n d red o n w h i t e .

188

I 5

1 I t

T:

I 1

HQEBU: at act

JAN T5CHICHOLD: Film poster 1927. Ring and Phoebus-Palast panel in red. " N a p o l e o n " and photograph in blue; the vertical rule and arrow in red and blue overprinted.

189

J A N T S C H I C H O L D : F i l m p o s t e r 1927

190

FERNAND LÉGER: The eye, the mistress organ with a thousand responsibilities, rules the individual more than ever. From morning to evening it registers without stopping. Speed rules in the modern world. On the other hand the strain of commercialism has grown so far that a mannequin parade by a tailor may compete with, if not surpass, the shows of a dozen small theatres. A c cordingly, posters on the street must be better than an exhibition of paintings. Which makes it necessary to organize the street like a theatre. The street is altogether too dynamic, it is rapacious and wearing on the nerves. Our present life is so anxious and so frightening that we need quieter, better-ordered streets, where our nerves can be peaceful and not torn apart. The poster should therefore be thought of not as jazz but as orchestral music. ROBERT DELAUNAY: A poster is colour or nothing. Form is nothing but a dimension of colour. From a physical point of view, therefore, the best poster is that which we see most often and from farthest away, like a railway signal. How is the best result obtained? By each one of us, singly and alone, caring about the rhythm and interrelation of colours. Anything else can be forgotten. We must therefore stop using colours by chance or intuition, in order to make something "pretty" or "beautiful." We must be scientific and make them vibrate in harmony like music. And we must start from the beginning to make posters not a corruption of the eyes but an invitation or a source of information. Posters must be treated as such. No more trying to make them more or less seductive representations of objects, but have the aim of making them put us under their spell by their vibrating impressions of greater or lesser intensity. Poster Formats Standard sizes for posters are given on p.174.

191

LABELS, PLATES, A N D FRAMES Sizes of labels etc. in c a r d b o a r d or other materials should be chosen first of all from the A-range. But it often happens in particular circumstances that these formats do not fit, so standards for long and square shapes must be found. These standards are shown in D I N 825, w i t h directions for holes and margins. The Standards A u t h o r i t y has also provided standards for plates and frames, needed for exhibitions and fairs. Because up till recently no such standards existed, nearly every plate and frame in exhibitions etc. was in a different size, w h i c h was unsatisfactory on both practical and aesthetic grounds. Directors of exhibitions, also businesses and schools, should in future make more use of these standards, for their economic as well as practical advantages. There is no longer a need to search always for new shapes and sizes. The A - r a n g e is naturally the only choice for plates and items to be framed. Items w h i c h do not fit in one frame must be placed in the next size up. A n o t e w o r t h y advantage of the standard is the fixing of p u n c h - h o l e positions, made possible by the standard for rings. Of course, t h e standards for frames and plates are only for practical purposes. It is not to be expected that artists should paint their pictures in standard sizes and put them in standard frames. Pictures in houses will, as before, be in their own special sizes and frames. FOR S T A N D A R D D I N 6 8 2 (PLATES A N D F R A M E S ) SEE P. 1 9 4

192

DIN

Schildformate

825

Ohne Rand

» fi. «

*

^

e

b

»

J

Ir i

t

- Beieichnunfl «ine* Schlldformates 6 2 x 1 0 5 mm:

6.5

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641

1169 mm

Richtlinien für Befestigungslöcher und R a n d mm Verhältnis

1:1

Schild* format a x b

•

1 3 x 13 1 8 * 18 2 6 x 26 37 x 37 M x 65 7 4 x 74 105x106 148x148 210x210

2 2 2 4 4

fix 13 1 3 x 18

7 ?

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zahl

4 4 4

C

Löcher Abstand • I f

6 12 20 30

io 42 62 89 128 184

126 184

4

26

?4Xt06 195x149 148X210 210x297 2B7X420 420x694

4 4 4 4 4 4

«3 89 139 184 261 372

93 132 190 271 994 646

8.6X 13 9 x 18 13 x 26

2 2 5

9

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4 4 4 4

27 40 66 86 122 174 U Ü L

1=3^3 (1:3,83)

6.6x18 9 X26 13 X 3 7 • 16 X 6 2 26 X 7 4

3 2

2.B 3 3 33 6

ti

6 12 20 30 44

26 X 62 37 x 74 62 X I 0 6 74 X148 106 X 2 1 0 148 X 2 9 7 210 X 4 2 0

Rand 0

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' ) Werkstoff, Form und nicht angegebene Maße der Leisten sowie Ausführung und Farbe sind bei Bestellung anzugeben ) Die Formate der ungerahmten Tafeln und der Einlagen sind DIN 476 Papierformate Reihe A entnommen. Bei Rahmen- für Tafeln mit schweren Gegenständen sind die Osen an der Einlage (Holztafel) zu befestigen. Dicke der Einlagen sowie der ungerahmten Bilder und Tafeln gleich oder kleiner als q Deckgläser haben die Größe der Einlage und sind besonders zu bestellen. a

Beispiel für die

Januar 1926

194

Hakenanordnung

ADVERTISEMENTS What was said a b o u t the t y p e - p o s t e r applies to a d v e r t i s e m e n t s : the m a j o r ity of t o d a y ' s a d v e r t i s e m e n t s are b o r i n g and i n e f f e c t i v e because t h e y have not yet d i s c a r d e d t h e inflexible and unsuitable m e t h o d s of o u t - o f - d a t e c e n t r e d t y p o g r a p h y . This way of w o r k i n g has b e c o m e u n c o n s c i o u s l y w e a r i s o m e to p r i n t e r s ; and j u s t as in u n l o v e d t h i n g s s o m e t h i n g is e x p r e s s e d of t h e i r makers, so o r d i n a r y a d v e r t i s e m e n t s betray t h e c o m p o s i t o r ' s lack of joy. A few years ago one of the r e a c t i o n a r y M u n i c h papers made an a t t e m p t to p r o d u c e g o o d a d v e r t i s e m e n t pages On the old t y p o g r a p h y } . They gave the d e s i g n and a r r a n g e m e n t of these pages to a fairly w e l l k n o w n b o o k - a r t i s t . The a d v e r t i s e m e n t s themselves w e r e of course c e n t r a l l y d e s i g n e d , and the arrangement

of each w h o l e

page was symmetrical. Some

parts of

the

a d v e r t i s e m e n t s , i m p o r t a n t lines of t y p e , w e r e d r a w n by the artist. The i n t e n t i o n of the artist was actually pretty w e l l realized, w i t h i n the p o s sibilities of the c h o s e n f o r m ; but it must be said t h a t such an a t t e m p t , apart from b e i n g an i n t e r e s t i n g e x p e r i m e n t , has no p r a c t i c a l value. A b o v e all, t h e c e n t r e d t y p o g r a p h y of earlier a d v e r t i s i n g is unsuitable for our times because, b e i n g a p r e c o n c e i v e d external f o r m , it t e n d s to make reading more d i f f i c u l t , or at least does not make it easier, as the

New

Typography does. The s p e e d at w h i c h a d v e r t i s e m e n t s normally have to be made up makes it nearly always impossible to get g o o d line s e t t i n g on the KHMrOM3flaTeJlbCTBO

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CARL FR PLBI9CHSR. LEIPZIG

EL L I S S I T Z K Y : P u b l i s h e r ' s a d v e r t i s e m e n t o n b a c k c o v e r o f a j o u r n a l .

The main line "Skify" (name of publisher] is drawn. The axial arrangement of some of the paragraphs is due to the compositor. This example is shown only on account of the whole composition. The arrangement of the small paragraphs is poor.

198

l e t t e r s , w o r d s , a c c o m p a n y i n g heavy rules, and so on, to h e i g h t e n an a d v e r t i s e m e n t ' s e f f e c t . The e f f e c t c a n be f u r t h e r e n r i c h e d by f l a t t i n t - b l o c k s , as in B a u m e i s t e r ' s T i e t z - a d v e r t i s e m e n t CP- 2 0 5 ] , or t h r o u g h p h o t o g r a p h y a n d c o l o u r , as in B u r c h a r t z ' s a d v e r t i s e m e n t for " V i e r r a d b r e m s e P o u l e t " CP- 2 0 6 ] . Almost

more

important

than these

generalities

is t h e

question

of

a d v e r t i s e m e n t s are p l a c e d in r e l a t i o n t o each o t h e r . No o n e w o u l d

how agree

t h a t t h e u n i v e r s a l l y u s e d f i n e - r u l e s e p a r a t i o n s are p a r t i c u l a r l y b e a u t i f u l , b u t t h e y are o f t e n e s s e n t i a l . They s h o u l d h o w e v e r be a v o i d e d w h e n n e i g h b o u r i n g a d v e r t i s e m e n t s t h e m s e l v e s use r u l e s or s i m i l a r d e v i c e s w h i c h

might

lead to confusion. In s m a l l e r a d v e r t i s e m e n t s in N e w T y p o g r a p h y a r u l e Cas in B a u m e i s t e r ] is o f t e n u s e f u l . But o f t e n , e s p e c i a l l y in h o r i z o n t a l h a l f - p a g e a d v e r t i s e m e n t s , a p l a i n h o r i z o n t a l rule is e n o u g h — a n d is p r e f e r a b l e . See L i s s i t z k y ' s

pub-

l i s h e r ' s c a t a l o g u e , p. 197. In l a r g e r a d v e r t i s e m e n t s , b o r d e r s — w h i c h are in any case a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c e x p r e s s i o n of t h e e a r l i e r i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c e p o c h — s h o u l d be a v o i d e d . In n e w s p a p e r s w i t h t h e u s u a l h a l f - a n d

quarter-page

a r r a n g e m e n t , t h e use of f i n e r u l e s for s e p a r a t i o n is n e a r l y a l w a y s u n n e c e s sary, s i n c e t h e a d v e r t i s e m e n t s a r e u s u a l l y s e p a r a t e d by w h i t e m a r g i n s . The g r e a t e c o n o m i c a d v a n t a g e s t h a t w o u l d r e s u l t f o r t h e

advertisement

f r o m a u n i v e r s a l a c c e p t a n c e of s t a n d a r d s f o r f o r m a t s a n d t y p e areas

in

n e w s p a p e r s is d e s c r i b e d in t h e f o l l o w i n g s e c t i o n . T h e r e are a f e w n e w s p a p e r s t h a t a d o p t a c o n s i s t e n t s t y l e f o r t h e d e s i g n of all t h e i r a d v e r t i s e m e n t s . T h a t is of c o u r s e t h e h a p p i e r s o l u t i o n f o r t h i s d i f f i c u l t p r o b l e m . M a n y D u t c h a r c h i t e c t u r a l m a g a z i n e s have for l o n g u s e d o n l y s a n s e r i f , a n d t h e Prague j o u r n a l Stavba advertisements. combinations]

uses o n l y S o r b o n n e as t y p e f a c e f o r

In b o t h , e x c e p t f o r b o l d r u l e s , all o r n a m e n t are c o m p l e t e l y

e x c l u d e d . The a d v e r t i s i n g

[and

p a g e s of

rulethese

p a p e r s m a k e a very g o o d i m p r e s s i o n . It s e e m s , a b o v e all, t o be e x c e p t i o n a l l y d i f f i c u l t t o d e a l h a r m o n i o u s l y w i t h " s m a l l a d v e r t i s e m e n t s . " The o n l y p r a c t i c a l w a y is t o l i m i t t y p e sizes to o n e

199

fixed size of an ordinary face Coman or sanserif] and at most three sizes of a fixed heading type Cbold sans or bold roman], In order to get a good result, the often childish demands of advertisers may be ignored. These are the more unreasonable since small advertisements do not compete with each other but are read like a book. It is worth noticing that the small advertisements in Gartenlaube are up till now the best laid out, although in fra ktur. A justifiable complaint made against German newspapers and journals is that their advertising pages, with their great patches of black, are very ugly, and comparison is made with North America, whose newspapers by Newspaper advertisement (Münchener Neueste Nachrichten) Bad, because: unnecessary ornaments, t o o m a n y k i n d s of t y p e a n d t y p e s i z e s ( 7 ) centred design, w h i c h m a k e s reading difficult a n d is unsightly.

Kaufmännische Ausbildung Private kaufmflnnlsehe

Kurse

Dr. Säbel Inh. Therese Säbel München, Kaufingersir. 1412 Telefon 91064 7 a h r o « f e ö r s o ' f l r schulentlassene

janresRurse

u M a d c h e n

B e g i n n :

te.

Knaben April

Halbjahreskurse: Beginn: 1. Mal Unterricht in Einzelfächern. Anmeld, täglich. Angenehme

The same advertisement, redesigned (Jan Tschichold) Good, because: n o u s e of o r n a m e n t . clear type, few sizes. ( i n all, o n l y 5 d i f f e r e n t t y p e s ) g o o d legibility, good appearance.

«[18767J2-2

Zahlungsbedingung.

Kaufmännische Ausbildung Private kaufmännische Kurse

Dr. S ä b e l

Inh. T h e r e sTel. e S91064 äbel

München, Kaufingerstraße 14,2

Jahreskurse

für schulentlassene Knaben

und Mädchen

Halblahreskurse

Beginn

16. April

Beginn 1. M a i

Unterricht in Einzelfächern. Anmeld, täglich.

Angenehme Zahlungsbedingung. *[l8767]2-2

9AA

avoiding strong b l a c k - a n d - w h i t e contrasts are b e t t e r - l o o k i n g . W e

Euro-

p e a n s however have good reason to defend our E u r o p e a n culture a g a i n s t the invasion of A m e r i c a n " c l i c h é - c u l t u r e , " and must, if we wish to k e e p our end up, d e v i s e a good d e s i g n style of our own. In g e n e r a l , it is not the heavy b l a c k - a n d - w h i t e c o n t r a s t s in a n d among the a d v e r t i s e m e n t s t h e m s e l v e s that create a bad i m p r e s s i o n , it is the low quality of a d v e r t i s i n g d e s i g n in general, and above all how it is a r r a n g e d on p a g e s . That a d v e r t i s e m e n t s differing greatly in size a n d form c a n be

arranged

together in a really pleasing way is shown here by two p a g e s from a J a p a n e s e n e w s p a p e r . Its d e s i g n s h o w s paradoxically that J a p a n e s e culture is closer to the E u r o p e a n than is the North A m e r i c a n p s e u d o - c u l t u r e . In

201

any case, some of the Japanese advertisements are remarkable for their typographic design. The many-thousand-year-old collective mental attitude of the East reveals itself in the astonishing similarity of this typography to our own. The Japanese, for long masters in the use of space, have also in this area much to teach us. In a book Japanische Reklame in der Tageszeitung (Japanese advertising in daily papers] Dr Anna Berliner has written extremely well about this. THE PERIODICAL Whoever reads and has to work with many periodicals knows well their main failing: the lack of any unity in their formats. Since until recently no standard existed for them, they could be produced in any size. Everyone knows how inconvenient this is for their storing and arrangement. The German Standards Committee has now provided standards for periodicals and published the relevant details in Standard 826 [reproduced on p. 204 overleaf}. The format is A4: it fits in with the format of business letters, advertising matter, illustrations, etc. From this come advantages for distribution, storing, and cataloguing. In addition, type areas and block sizes are standardized. This makes it possible to move entire articles from one periodical to another. And special inserts have a unified appearance and can be collected together and put in order. Blocks in standard sizes can be moved to different positions without trouble. The exchange of illustrations is simplified. There are advantages, in the standardization of column widths and type areas, for all the firms who advertise in several periodicals. While in the past different block sizes were required for every periodical, now only one is needed, which will fit all standard periodical pages. This represents an often considerable economy in costs. The often-desired individuality of appearance in a particular periodical, seen from a higher point of view, is now undesirable. Standardization in periodicals is an important and necessary step on the way to a higher economy in intellectual work. A large number of all technical periodicals have already gone over to standardization. All industrial booklets and technical literature should finally decide to follow. The objection to be expected here, that the format will be too small, is not based on fact. The Deutsche Drucker and the Typographische Jahrbücher are both in approximate DIN sizes: similarly, the American Printers ink and Western Advertising, and the English Commercial Art [London], are very nearly the same. All five have frequent supplements and large illustrations, 202

any case, some of the Japanese advertisements are remarkable for their typographic design. The many-thousand-year-old collective mental attitude of the East reveals itself in the astonishing similarity of this typography to our own. The Japanese, for long masters in the use of space, have also in this area much to teach us. In a book Japanische Reklame in der Tageszeitung (Japanese advertising in daily papers] Dr Anna Berliner has written extremely well about this. THE PERIODICAL Whoever reads and has to work with many periodicals knows well their main failing: the lack of any unity in their formats. Since until recently no standard existed for them, they could be produced in any size. Everyone knows how inconvenient this is for their storing and arrangement. The German Standards Committee has now provided standards for periodicals and published the relevant details in Standard 826 [reproduced on p. 204 overleaf}. The format is A4: it fits in with the format of business letters, advertising matter, illustrations, etc. From this come advantages for distribution, storing, and cataloguing. In addition, type areas and block sizes are standardized. This makes it possible to move entire articles from one periodical to another. And special inserts have a unified appearance and can be collected together and put in order. Blocks in standard sizes can be moved to different positions without trouble. The exchange of illustrations is simplified. There are advantages, in the standardization of column widths and type areas, for all the firms who advertise in several periodicals. While in the past different block sizes were required for every periodical, now only one is needed, which will fit all standard periodical pages. This represents an often considerable economy in costs. The often-desired individuality of appearance in a particular periodical, seen from a higher point of view, is now undesirable. Standardization in periodicals is an important and necessary step on the way to a higher economy in intellectual work. A large number of all technical periodicals have already gone over to standardization. All industrial booklets and technical literature should finally decide to follow. The objection to be expected here, that the format will be too small, is not based on fact. The Deutsche Drucker and the Typographische Jahrbücher are both in approximate DIN sizes: similarly, the American Printers ink and Western Advertising, and the English Commercial Art [London], are very nearly the same. All five have frequent supplements and large illustrations, 202

203

Entwurf

Zeitschriften Format A4

Satzspiegel

Druckstockbreite

PIN

826

Das Format für technische Zeitschriften ist A4 (210x297) 167-:-171 Spiegelbreite

-•

• Druckstockbreite 167 -

-2I0Kormat der beschnittener» Zeitschrift 2 1 0 x 2 9 7 Satzspiegel Breite 1 6 7 - M 7 1 Höhe 250 Spaltenzwischenraum 5 Druckstöcke Breite zweispaltig 167 einspaltig 81 n Die Millimeterangaben gelten als Richtmaße, die durch typographische,Einheiten einzuhalten sind. 26, Juni 1924

204

möglichst

Deutscher Verband technisch-wissenschaftlicher Vereine

a n d give the i m p r e s s i o n that a smaller format b r i n g s no d i s a d v a n t a g e for the clarity a n d d e s i g n of s u p p l e m e n t s or illustrations. Very often a firm has to p l a c e a s u p p l e m e n t in, for example, every s i n g l e relevant p e r i o d i c a l . This u s e d to mean a d a p t i n g to the sizes of the smallest a n d l a r g e s t p e r i o d i c a l s ,

205

often widely different, from which followed

compromises

in d e s i g n

and

u n p r o d u c t i v e a d d i t i o n a l c o s t s in p a p e r . This in n o w u n n e c e s s a r y . T h e r e are also g r e a t a d v a n t a g e s in s t a n d a r d i z e d f o r m a t s f o r art m a g a z i n e s .

M A X BURCHARTZ a n d JOHANNES CANIS: W h o l e - p a g e a d v e r t i s e m e n t , black a n d red, w i t h p h o t o m o n t a g e . 1925. Page w i d t h of o r i g i n a l 30 cm.

206

Of t h e a r t a n d s i m i l a r m a g a z i n e s t h a t a p p e a r in s t a n d a r d f o r m a t s , I k n o w o f bauhaus

HO [ A m s t e r d a m ) , Das Form are

[Berlin). certainly

dardization

Werk

All four more)

magazines

show

typographic

(Dessau),

Die

[Zürich], and that

design

[and

there

despite

stan-

can

fault-

be

less. All n e w magazines and periodicals should certainly a d o p t s t a n d a r d sizes for t y p e area

and

LU«2K!

•m

f o r m a t . It is n o t l e a s t t h e d u t y o f t h e p r i n t f i r m s to a c q u a i n t t h e m s e l v e s w i t h the s t a n d a r d sizes: most

publishers

and

authors

know

nothing

about them.

• SoQ V x cow* /MUIKS

It is m u c h t o b e r e g r e t t e d t h a t a r t i c l e s are o f t e n of g r e a t i m p o r t a n c e

have

n o e f f e c t , b e c a u s e t h e f i n d i n g of a a r t i c l e a y e a r o r so l a t e r is v i r t u a l l y

which

eventually particular impossible.

T h e o n l y r e m e d y f o r t h i s is t o f l a g e v e r y i s s u e , as f o r e x a m p l e t h e Zeitschrift

für

Organisation

[ B e r l i n , S p a e t h & L i n d e ) has d o n e . T h e i r vidual

articles, flagged with

cards

in D I N

indiA6

size, p r o v i d e a s y s t e m a t i c index of s u b j e c t s a n d

N

a u t h o r s , w h i c h m a k e s it p o s s i b l e t o f i n d , y e a r s l a t e r , a n a r t i c l e o n a p a r t i c u l a r s u b j e c t o r by a particular author, w i t h o u t m u c h difficulty. Here therefore publishers,

is

an for

important example

task

the

for

periodical

Börsenverein

der

Deutschen Buchhändler. With appropriate stand a r d i z a t i o n a c r y i n g n e e d w o u l d be met.

•

K

M LJ I

2 ; z f i 3 . '

i l l

On t h e typographical design of periodicals T h e p r i m e r e q u i r e m e n t f o r t h e a p p e a r a n c e of p e r i o d i c a l s is a g o o d face. A m o n g t h o s e suitable are t h e g o o d o r d i n a r y r o m a n s of t h e

type-

present

day, for e x a m p l e N o r d i s c h e A n t i q u a , F r a n z ö s i s c h e A n t i q u a , S o r b o n n e , also t h e purely classical faces, for e x a m p l e G a r a m o n d , Baskerville,

but

Didot,

B o d o n i , as w e l l as g o o d c u t t i n g s o f o r d i n a r y M e d i e v a l a n d A n t i q u a . Fraktur, n o w for long out of date, must be avoided, and also w i t h o u t e x c e p tion the "artistic" types. For display

faces,

for titles, page n u m b e r s , etc., b o l d or s e m i - b o l d sanserif

is r e c o m m e n d e d , w i t h its c l e a r a n d p l a i n a p p e a r a n c e c o n t r a s t i n g

strongly

with the text.

Article

headings

s h o u l d no l o n g e r be c e n t r e d , b u t set full out to t h e

left.

This also of c o u r s e a p p l i e s to f i g u r e s like "1" a n d s u b t i t l e s w i t h i n an article. A s y m m e t r y m u s t never be d i s t u r b e d by c e n t r e d titles or f o r m s . *

Page numbers

s h o u l d a l w a y s Cas is n o r m a l p r a c t i c e t o d a y ] b e p l a c e d o n t h e

o u t s i d e o f t h e p a g e . T h e u s e o f s a n s e r i f f o r e m p h a s i s is g o o d . T h e v e r y u g l y u s e o f r u l e s s e p a r a t i n g c o l u m n s m u s t b e a v o i d e d . A n e m g u t t e r o r m o r e is all t h a t is n e e d e d t o s e p a r a t e c o l u m n s c l e a r l y . J u s t as u n a t t r a c t i v e a r e t h e s t a r s , a l w a y s in m y s t e r i o u s g r o u p s of t h r e e , a t t h e e n d s of a r t i c l e s . A p a r t f r o m usually b e i n g ugly, t h e y are q u i t e

unneces-

s a r y . J u s t a s m a l l s p a c e b e t w e e n t w o a r t i c l e s is e n o u g h t o s e p a r a t e t h e m ; e v e r y k i n d o f d e c o r a t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y o n e so q u e s t i o n a b l e , is s u p e r f l u o u s . If in s p e c i a l

cases for any reason

a strong

separation

is n e e d e d

between

s h o r t p i e c e s of text, a single r o u n d s i x - p o i n t s p o t may be u s e d . C e n t r e d r u n n i n g h e a d s a b o v e c o l u m n s m u s t be a v o i d e d : t h e y will not

go

w i t h a s y m m e t r i c a r t i c l e t i t l e s . T h e b e s t w a y is t o p l a c e t h e m o n t h e o u t s i d e — w i t h o u t a n y r u l e s b e n e a t h ! — s e t in s a n s e r i f . If a r u l e is u s e d , d o n o t u s e t h i c k / t h i n or d o u b l e rules. S i m p l e fine rules, up to s i x - p o i n t , are t h e best. A n y i n t e l l i g e n t p e r s o n c a n o n l y w o n d e r at t h e i m p o s s i b l e e f f e c t s o n b l o c k m a k i n g w h i c h r e s u l t f r o m t h e f o l l y o f c e n t r e d t y p o g r a p h y . In t h e t w o

exam-

ples s h o w n here I have tried to s h o w the difference b e t w e e n the old straitjacket and a sensible arrangement

of b l o c k s . I have i n t e n t i o n a l l y

shown

b l o c k s o f d i f f e r e n t a n d " a c c i d e n t a l " w i d t h s , s i n c e t h a t is w h a t u s u a l l y h a s t o b e c o n t e n d e d w i t h [ a l t h o u g h in t h e f u t u r e , w i t h s t a n d a r d b l o c k - s i z e s , it w i l l

• Absolutely to be avoided are the drawn titles for articles, to be seen so often today. They are expensive and neither good-looking nor appropriate. A periodical that is type-set requires typeset headings. Although there is no standard for all headings, an infinite variety of typographic headings can be thought of.

208

NEW

YORK

a

1922 NO

B

R VOL.

a

o

O w

'I O A

O ON

M ZZ&l >RIOA

M.3N

EL LISSITZKY 1922: C o v e r o f a n A m e r i c a n m a g a z i n e (reduced)

209

H o w b l o c k s u s e d t o b e a r r a n g e d in m a g a z i n e s . Schematic, thoughtless centring of blocks. "Decorative." impractical, uneconomic (= u g l y ) .

h a p p e n less often]. S t a n d a r d - s i z e b l o c k s will make i h e p r o b l e m m u c h simpler. T h e left-hand example s h o w s clearly to w h a t c o m p l i c a t e d l e n g t h s the old d e s i g n e r had to go. T h e c e n t r e d illustrations are c r a m p e d a n d require c o s t l y and ugly n a r r o w i n g of the measure. T h e r e d e s i g n on the right s p e a k s for itself: it is o b v i o u s h o w much simpler a n d so more b e a u t i f u l the

new

form is. T h e mostly dark b l o c k s c o n t r a s t w e l l with the grey type, and the b l o c k s w h i c h d o not fill the m e a s u r e leave p l e a s a n t w h i t e s p a c e s , w h e r e a s formerly the type r o u n d the b l o c k s , often of only d i c t i o n a r y - c o l u m n w i d t h , gave an i m p r e s s i o n of m e a n n e s s . W h e r e p o s s i b l e , b l o c k s s h o u l d be p l a c e d c l o s e to their relevant text. Like article h e a d i n g s , c a p t i o n s b e n e a t h illustrations Cas in this b o o k ] must no l o n g e r be c e n t r e d but must range left. To set them in b o l d or s e m i - b o l d s a n s e r i f will s t r e n g t h e n t h e g e n e r a l a p p e a r a n c e of the page. That they c a n also often be set at the side of a b l o c k is in a c c o r d a n c e w i t h our m o d e r n practice. As

regards

the

blocks

themselves,

they

must

not

be

surrounded

unsightly rules. B l o c k s trimmed f l u s h look better. The r e m a r k a b l e

with

"clouds"

(uneven dot patterns in halftone b l o c k s ] on w h i c h not only small items but

The s a m e b l o c k s , c o r r e c t l y a r r a n g e d i n t h e s a m e t y p e - a r e a . C o n s t r u c t i v e , m e a n i n g f u l , and e c o n o m i c a l (= b e a u t i f u l ) .

e v e n h e a v y m a c h i n e s t r y t o f l o a t , a r e t o be a v o i d e d b o t h o n a e s t h e t i c a n d practical printing

grounds.

M a g a z i n e c o v e r s t o d a y a r e m o s t l y d r a w n . T h a t j u s t as e f f e c t i v e r e s u l t s c a n be o b t a i n e d

by p u r e l y t y p o g r a p h i c

means

is s h o w n

by t h e

examples

of

Broom

and

Proletarier.

Broom

is t y p i c a l of t h e o n l y k i n d o f s y m m e t r i c a l d e s i g n p o s s i b l e in t h e N e w

T y p o g r a p h y . W e l e a v e b e h i n d t h e t w o - s i d e d s y m m e t r y of o l d t i t l e - p a g e s as an e x p r e s s i o n of t h e past i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c e p o c h . Only c o m p l e t e

quadrilateral

s y m m e t r y can express our aims for totality and universality. The

cover

of t h e

magazine

Proletarier

is a n

interesting

example

of

dynamic effect that comes from oblique typesetting. Both examples

the have

a c h i e v e d t h e i r s t r o n g e f f e c t s w i t h o u t a n y u s e o f t r i m m i n g s s u c h as r u l e s o r points. T h e e n o r m o u s i m p o r t a n c e o f m a g a z i n e s t o d a y r e q u i r e s us t o g i v e t h e m t h e m o s t c a r e f u l a t t e n t i o n . Since t o d a y m o r e m a g a z i n e s are r e a d t h a n

books,

a n d m u c h i m p o r t a n t m a t t e r a p p e a r s o n l y in m a g a z i n e s , t h e r e a r e m a n y n e w p r o b l e m s , of w h i c h t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t is h o w t o f i n d a c o n t e m p o r a r y

style

for their p r o d u c t i o n . This c h a p t e r attempts to s h o w the way.

211

THE NEWSPAPER A l t h o u g h n e w s p a p e r t y p o g r a p h y is, in g e n e r a l , c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of o u r t i m e , a n d , at least in p r i n c i p l e , s h o w s h o w g o o d t y p o g r a p h i c o r g a n i z a t i o n c a n be, t h e r e are also m a n y e x a m p l e s w h e r e n e w s p a p e r s e t t i n g c o u l d be r a i s e d to a level really e x p r e s s i v e of o u r t i m e s . A p a r t from our now much heavier headlines, modern n e w s p a p e r s are not very d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h o s e of, say, 1850. The f i r s t n e w s p a p e r s w e r e like t h e f l y s h e e t s a n d p a m p h l e t s of t h e 17th c e n t u r y , w h i c h t h e m s e l v e s w e r e s e t like b o o k t i t l e s a n d p a g e s . N e w s p a p e r s r e m a i n e d even u n t i l t o d a y in t h e i r original

dependence

on b o o k t y p o g r a p h y .

But as t h e t e m p o

of

reading

b e c a m e f a s t e r , g r e a t e r or l e s s e r e m p h a s i s in p a r t s of t h e t e x t b e c a m e n e c essary. This is d o n e t o d a y

by v a r i e d t y p e sizes, l e t t e r - s p a c i n g ,

heavier

w e i g h t s of t y p e , l e a d i n g , a n d o t h e r uses of s p a c e . M a n y of t h e s e m e t h o d s are m u c h o v e r u s e d , b u t t h i s is n o t o u r s u b j e c t h e r e . S u c h m e t h o d s based on sensible considerations

w i t h w h i c h w e have no q u a r r e l .

are They

m a k e it p o s s i b l e t o d a y f o r a n e w s p a p e r , w h o s e c o n t e n t s are a b o u t e q u a l t o a m e d i u m - s i z e d b o o k , t o be " r e a d " in a f e w m i n u t e s , i.e. t o f i n d a n d a b s o r b w h a t t h e i n d i v i d u a l r e a d e r h i m s e l f w a n t s . This is w i t h o u t d o u b t t h e w a y of our time. But in t h e p a s t , w h a t all n e w s p a p e r s h a d in c o m m o n w a s t h e t y p e f a c e s t h e y u s e d . We f i n d , w h e n w e l o o k at o l d i s s u e s , t h e s t a p l e t y p e of t h e p o l i t i c a l pages, the broadsheets, and advertisement pages was always fraktur. One has t o l o o k o n l y o n c e at t h e t r a d e p a r t of a p a p e r [ n o r m a l l y set in r o m a n ) . f o r e x a m p l e t h e Berliner

Tageblatt,

a n d lay it b e s i d e t h e p o l i t i c a l p a g e s of

t h e s a m e p a p e r , a n d c o m p a r e t h e m , t o see i m m e d i a t e l y h o w m u c h p l e a s a n ter

roman

looks and

r e a d s . The s u p p o s e d

lesser

legibility

of r o m a n

in

G e r m a n , c o m p a r e d w i t h f r a k t u r , is a n a t i o n a l o l d w i v e s ' t a l e . A l l p r o g r e s s i v e p a p e r s s h o u l d t a k e t h e f i r s t s t e p a n d set t h e w h o l e p a p e r in r o m a n .

How

s p l e n d i d , for e x a m p l e , t h e D u t c h n e w s p a p e r s l o o k ! They use s a n s e r i f for h e a d l i n e s a n d o t h e r w i s e n o r m a l r o m a n . I n d e e d t h e t r a d e p a r t of n e a r l y all G e r m a n n e w s p a p e r s is set in r o m a n ; a n d in o t h e r p a r t s , c h i e f l y t h e m o r e modern

parts, the technical, sport, film, and literature

pages, fraktur

is

b e i n g m o r e a n d m o r e p u s h e d o u t by t h e L a t i n t y p e — g r e a t l y t o t h e p a g e s ' a d v a n t a g e ! It is to be h o p e d t h a t s o o n all t h e r e m a i n i n g p a g e s w i l l be set in r o m a n — s a n s e r i f w i l l no d o u b t e v e n t u a l l y f o l l o w as t h e n o r m a l

reading

f a c e . For t h e t i m e b e i n g w e have no really s u i t a b l e a p p r o p r i a t e f a c e . But for headings,

sanserif

Frankfurter

Zeitung

is

outstandingly

suitable.

Many

sections

of

the

use it w i t h e x c e l l e n t r e s u l t s . H e a d l i n e s set in c a p s m u s t

be a v o i d e d , t h e y are m u c h t o o h a r d to r e a d . For t h i s p u r p o s e I f i n d t h a t

212

ANONYMOUS: Magazine cover

213

b o l d s a n s is m o r e s u i t a b l e t h a n s e m i - b o l d : t h e l a t t e r is n o t d i f f e r e n t e n o u g h f r o m t h e g r e y of t h e t e x t . In t h e f r a k t u r p a g e s o f n e w s p a p e r s , most commonly basic

one.

furter

Zeitung

title

B e r n h a r d or similar f r a k t u r t y p e s

It is c o m p l e t e l y

incomprehensible,

uses the a n t i q u a t e d and

masthead.

It

really

is

difficult

however,

hardly more

to

decipher

when

legible

these

to present a really g o o d t y p o g r a p h i c

Frank-

the

gothic for

hieroglyphs!

a s t o n i s h i n g t o s e e t h i s in a p a p e r t h a t h a s t r i e d h a r d , o f t e n w i t h

Our

typography

has

enough

variety

to

meet

all

m a s t h e a d . Its be

of

old

papers,

should

not

drawn

exceptional

particularly

case

is

appearance.

requirements. That applies also to the n e w s p a p e r ' s in t h e

its

It

success,

I b e l i e v e t h a t it is n o t r i g h t f o r a n e w s p a p e r s e t in t y p e t o h a v e a masthead.

are

u s e d f o r i m p o r t a n t l i n e s . T h e o n l y o b j e c t i o n t o t h i s is t h e

changed,

design, even

to

r o m a n , f o r it is t h e " t r a d e m a r k " o f t h e p a p e r . O f c o u r s e e v e r y t h i n g t h a t is n o t t h e a c t u a l t i t l e c a n b e s e t in r o m a n o r s a n s e r i f , b u t t h e m a i n t i t l e masthead,

for

unchanged.

example

Berliner

Tageblatt,

It d o e s n o t f o l l o w t h a t n e w

h e a d s in s o m e k i n d o f f r a k t u r —

should

keep

newspapers

its

original

m u s t set t h e i r

s a n s e r i f a l o n e is r i g h t . O n a

or

form mast-

newspaper

s t a n d it w o u l d h i t t h e c o u n t l e s s o t h e r m a s t h e a d s in f r a k t u r l i k e a b o m b ! It is t i m e t o g i v e u p t h e c e n t r e d h e a d i n g s i n h e r i t e d f r o m t h e 1 9 t h [before that, there were hardly any), and introduce

r a n g e d left

century

headings,

w h i c h e x p r e s s t h e s p i r i t o f o u r t i m e , as in t h i s b o o k . T h e w h i t e s p a c e

fol-

l o w i n g m o s t r a n g e d left h e a d i n g s has a g o o d e f f e c t , a n d by its so to s p e a k automatic allusion to n e i g h b o u r i n g headings gives a better organization

of

t h e t e x t . T o d a y c e n t r e d h e a d i n g s m a k e a d i s t u r b i n g g r e y ; t h e b l a c k t y p e is mixed up w i t h t h e s u r r o u n d i n g w h i t e , instead of s t r e n g t h e n i n g t h e p a g e by pure

Das

separation.

Technische

B/att,

a s u p p l e m e n t o f t h e Frankfurter

left h e a d i n g s and has b e c o m e a very h a n d s o m e

Zeitung,

has

V e r t i c a l r u l e s b e t w e e n c o l u m n s s h o u l d b e a b a n d o n e d ; t h e y a r e as essary

as t h e y

are

ugly. A

newspaper

page

ranged

newspaper. looks

really

lighter

unnecwithout

t h e m . In p l a c e o f t h e s t i l l m u c h - u s e d t h i c k / t h i n r u l e s b e n e a t h t h e t i t l e

and

above

news

six-

point)

should

unbeautiful Halftone

and be

advertisements, used. Thick/thin

simple rules

bold are

rules

[about

obtrusive

and

foura

or

superfluous

ornament.

blocks

in

newspapers

look

much

better

without

the

usually

i n e v i t a b l e s u r r o u n d i n g r u l e . A l s o p i c t u r e s in g r a v u r e p a p e r s s h o u l d b e f l u s h . A l l r u l e s a n d e s p e c i a l l y b o r d e r s s h o u l d be

cut

discarded.

T h e d e s i g n o f a d v e r t i s i n g p a g e s is d e a l t w i t h in t h e s e c t i o n o n

advertising.

It w o u l d b e a g r e a t a d v a n t a g e f o r n e w s p a p e r f o r m a t s a n d t y p e a r e a s t o b e

214

standardized: many mistakes arising out of today's format chaos w o u l d be avoided. The t w o pages from the Japanese paper Osaka Asahi

Cpp. 203, 204] show

how beautiful a newspaper can look. Our newspapers naturally look different, but do not achieve the aesthetic effect of the Japanese paper. In any case, the beauty of the paper of the future will meet the needs of our time by striving t o w a r d s better clarity and a f a r - s i g h t e d , consciously

planned

design.

THE ILLUSTRATED PAPER In recent years the number of illustrated papers has increased enormously. This impresses on us the need of modern man for pictures, because lack of time makes reading the daily papers more troublesome. Besides satisfying genuine curiosity, illustrated papers often give real pleasure from their technically and visually excellent reporters'

photographs.

If the

literary

level of most papers of this kind is low, it is probably due to the similarity of the literary sources on which nearly all these papers depend. It is c e r tainly true that the lack of difference between these sources is more and more evident. This problem however is not one for us to consider here. It must be said that the optical appearance of these papers, although a phenomenon of our time, does not fully express its spirit. Illustrated papers are still comparatively y o u n g ; as far as one can j u d g e from their external appearance, they are very little dependent on "traditional" concepts. Such a dependence can be seen only in their actual t y p o g r a p h y ; the arrangement and composition of their pictures is by and large contemporary. Most of the article headings and all the picture captions are still in the old centred typography, while on the contrary the picture arrangement is completely asymmetric. Symmetry in the pictures nevertheless does sometimes occur, and may even be originally always intended, but the dimensions and sizes of the pictures make this hardly possible. The intrinsic asymmetric form of the pictures is very much disturbed by centred captions. If a harmonious design is wanted, the captions too must be asymmetric. They should be set flush left, but there are plenty of other possibilities. For display faces [headings and captions), sanserif [ b o l d or semi-bold) is the most suitable type. Its clarity and precision make it the contemporary type to be used above all in these documents of everyday use and activity. A clever and imaginative t y p o g r a p h e r can find delightful solutions for every kind of title by purely t y p o g r a p h i c means. The use of d r a w n headings must 215

standardized: many mistakes arising out of today's format chaos w o u l d be avoided. The t w o pages from the Japanese paper Osaka Asahi

Cpp. 203, 204] show

how beautiful a newspaper can look. Our newspapers naturally look different, but do not achieve the aesthetic effect of the Japanese paper. In any case, the beauty of the paper of the future will meet the needs of our time by striving t o w a r d s better clarity and a f a r - s i g h t e d , consciously

planned

design.

THE ILLUSTRATED PAPER In recent years the number of illustrated papers has increased enormously. This impresses on us the need of modern man for pictures, because lack of time makes reading the daily papers more troublesome. Besides satisfying genuine curiosity, illustrated papers often give real pleasure from their technically and visually excellent reporters'

photographs.

If the

literary

level of most papers of this kind is low, it is probably due to the similarity of the literary sources on which nearly all these papers depend. It is c e r tainly true that the lack of difference between these sources is more and more evident. This problem however is not one for us to consider here. It must be said that the optical appearance of these papers, although a phenomenon of our time, does not fully express its spirit. Illustrated papers are still comparatively y o u n g ; as far as one can j u d g e from their external appearance, they are very little dependent on "traditional" concepts. Such a dependence can be seen only in their actual t y p o g r a p h y ; the arrangement and composition of their pictures is by and large contemporary. Most of the article headings and all the picture captions are still in the old centred typography, while on the contrary the picture arrangement is completely asymmetric. Symmetry in the pictures nevertheless does sometimes occur, and may even be originally always intended, but the dimensions and sizes of the pictures make this hardly possible. The intrinsic asymmetric form of the pictures is very much disturbed by centred captions. If a harmonious design is wanted, the captions too must be asymmetric. They should be set flush left, but there are plenty of other possibilities. For display faces [headings and captions), sanserif [ b o l d or semi-bold) is the most suitable type. Its clarity and precision make it the contemporary type to be used above all in these documents of everyday use and activity. A clever and imaginative t y p o g r a p h e r can find delightful solutions for every kind of title by purely t y p o g r a p h i c means. The use of d r a w n headings must 215

be avoided, as out of date and untypographical. Headings do not have to express the nature of the contents, but say what they have to say as clearly and simply as possible, nothing more. Unfortunately fraktur is still the almost universal text type in use. The Illustrierte Blatt [Frankfurt) has set a good example and gone over to roman. This has made a great improvement in the paper's appearance. For the need to use sanserif for display purposes, one can cite the further reason that it is the only face that truly matches photography, and has the same essential objectivity. The hooks and tendrils of fraktur, the type of 16th-century officials, do not belong to our time and cannot ever be suitable in such uncompromising expressions of the present as illustrated magazines and newspapers. Because at present a really good sanserif for everyday use does not yet exist, the next most simple face, roman, has to be used. The factual-impersonal roman faces, Garamond, Bodoni, Französische Antiqua, Nordische Antiqua, Sorbonne, and others, are better than all the art and jobbing faces; their outer form Cunlike the latter faces) does not dominate their content. Photographic blocks are improved when used without ugly border rules. The borders, often centimetres thick, to be seen in many newspapers, must absolutely be avoided. They are neither attractive to our eyes nor helpful to the effect of the pictures, but unsympathetic. There are no laws for the placing of pictures on the page. Strong contrasts in size and form Clarge-small, tight-loose, dark-light, vertical-horizontal, deep-shallow, etc.) are easy to achieve and attractive. Photomontage can be used effectively in many ways. In view of all these rich possibilities, it is astonishing how poor is the design of most of our illustrated papers. The appearance of even the most important of them is really provincial. Sportspiegel and Der Weltspiegel have made good efforts to improve their arrangement of pictures. As well as the above-mentioned items, the totally unnecessary framing of picture pages must take part of the blame. These frames should be discarded, making the pictures larger and more effective. A further advantage for our time is the unified format, which was previously lacking. The DIN format A3 C297 x 420 mm) should be considered here, as most suitable for this purpose. Finally we must mention the printing techniques of illustrated papers. We can certainly expect an ever-increasing use of rotary gravure. It is undoubtedly the most suitable process for illustrated papers. Offset-litho, because of the lack of depth in its printed images, cannot compare with it; in this connection it is in the same class as ordinary rotary letterpress, which also 216

c a n no longer c o m p e t e with gravure. The rich depth a n d g e n e r a l effect of gravure are enticing to c u s t o m e r s . D o u b t l e s s more a n d more

illustrated

p a p e r s will go over to it, u n l e s s , as is possible, a new, p e r h a p s more b e a u tiful a n d equally rational p r o c e s s is d i s c o v e r e d .

TABULAR MATTER In tabular matter, the u s u a l t h i c k / t h i n and fine d o u b l e rules, a n d i n d e e d all k i n d s of rule c o m b i n a t i o n s , must at last be got rid of. With s i m p l e rules, from fine to t w e l v e - p o i n t size, even the narrowest c o l u m n - s p a c i n g s c a n be made c l e a r a n d better than with the old r u l e - c o m b i n a t i o n s . T a b l e - h e a d i n g s , as long as they are outside the table itself, must not be c e n t r e d but p o s i t i o n e d left or right. S m a l l e r h e a d i n g s i n s i d e tabular matter, on the other hand, s h o u l d usually as an exception be c e n t r e d , b e c a u s e othe r w i s e they t e n d to look untidy. To a c h i e v e the greatest clarity it is a g a i n s a n s e r i f that must be u s e d in t a b ular matter for e m p h a s i s . O l d - s t y l e [ n o n - r a n g i n g ] f i g u r e s must never be u s e d . T h e y are an u n p r a c t i c a l a n d o u t - o f - d a t e historical form. E n - b o d y f i g u r e s without a s c e n d e r s or d e s c e n d e r s are the only right o n e s for tabular matter — a n d e l s e w h e r e . A s g u i d e l i n e s for handwritten entries fine rules are more p r a c t i c a l a n d b e t t e r - l o o k i n g than dotted rules. S i n c e these entries are today usually t y p e written, g u i d e l i n e s are often u n n e c e s s a r y a n d d i s t u r b i n g . Tabular matter need no longer be a rather u n p l e a s a n t j o b to d e s i g n , if one c a n be free of rigid rules; on the contrary, it c a n b e c o m e a really c h a r m i n g and artistic exercise, in no way less interesting than any other area of j o b bing setting.

THE NEW BOOK In the area of book d e s i g n , in the last few y e a r s a revolution h a s taken place, until recently r e c o g n i z e d by only a few, but w h i c h now b e g i n s to i n f l u e n c e a m u c h w i d e r r a n g e of action. It m e a n s placing much greater e m p h a s i s on the a p p e a r a n c e of the book a n d a wholly c o n t e m p o r a r y u s e of t y p o g r a p h i c a n d p h o t o g r a p h i c m e a n s . Before the invention of printing, literature of that time w a s s p r e a d a r o u n d by the mouth of the author himself or by p r o f e s s i o n a l bards. T h e b o o k s of the M i d d l e A g e s — like the " M a n n e s s i s c h e L i e d e r h a n d s c h r i f t " — had 217

c a n no longer c o m p e t e with gravure. The rich depth a n d g e n e r a l effect of gravure are enticing to c u s t o m e r s . D o u b t l e s s more a n d more

illustrated

p a p e r s will go over to it, u n l e s s , as is possible, a new, p e r h a p s more b e a u tiful a n d equally rational p r o c e s s is d i s c o v e r e d .

TABULAR MATTER In tabular matter, the u s u a l t h i c k / t h i n and fine d o u b l e rules, a n d i n d e e d all k i n d s of rule c o m b i n a t i o n s , must at last be got rid of. With s i m p l e rules, from fine to t w e l v e - p o i n t size, even the narrowest c o l u m n - s p a c i n g s c a n be made c l e a r a n d better than with the old r u l e - c o m b i n a t i o n s . T a b l e - h e a d i n g s , as long as they are outside the table itself, must not be c e n t r e d but p o s i t i o n e d left or right. S m a l l e r h e a d i n g s i n s i d e tabular matter, on the other hand, s h o u l d usually as an exception be c e n t r e d , b e c a u s e othe r w i s e they t e n d to look untidy. To a c h i e v e the greatest clarity it is a g a i n s a n s e r i f that must be u s e d in t a b ular matter for e m p h a s i s . O l d - s t y l e [ n o n - r a n g i n g ] f i g u r e s must never be u s e d . T h e y are an u n p r a c t i c a l a n d o u t - o f - d a t e historical form. E n - b o d y f i g u r e s without a s c e n d e r s or d e s c e n d e r s are the only right o n e s for tabular matter — a n d e l s e w h e r e . A s g u i d e l i n e s for handwritten entries fine rules are more p r a c t i c a l a n d b e t t e r - l o o k i n g than dotted rules. S i n c e these entries are today usually t y p e written, g u i d e l i n e s are often u n n e c e s s a r y a n d d i s t u r b i n g . Tabular matter need no longer be a rather u n p l e a s a n t j o b to d e s i g n , if one c a n be free of rigid rules; on the contrary, it c a n b e c o m e a really c h a r m i n g and artistic exercise, in no way less interesting than any other area of j o b bing setting.

THE NEW BOOK In the area of book d e s i g n , in the last few y e a r s a revolution h a s taken place, until recently r e c o g n i z e d by only a few, but w h i c h now b e g i n s to i n f l u e n c e a m u c h w i d e r r a n g e of action. It m e a n s placing much greater e m p h a s i s on the a p p e a r a n c e of the book a n d a wholly c o n t e m p o r a r y u s e of t y p o g r a p h i c a n d p h o t o g r a p h i c m e a n s . Before the invention of printing, literature of that time w a s s p r e a d a r o u n d by the mouth of the author himself or by p r o f e s s i o n a l bards. T h e b o o k s of the M i d d l e A g e s — like the " M a n n e s s i s c h e L i e d e r h a n d s c h r i f t " — had 217

c a n no longer c o m p e t e with gravure. The rich depth a n d g e n e r a l effect of gravure are enticing to c u s t o m e r s . D o u b t l e s s more a n d more

illustrated

p a p e r s will go over to it, u n l e s s , as is possible, a new, p e r h a p s more b e a u tiful a n d equally rational p r o c e s s is d i s c o v e r e d .

TABULAR MATTER In tabular matter, the u s u a l t h i c k / t h i n and fine d o u b l e rules, a n d i n d e e d all k i n d s of rule c o m b i n a t i o n s , must at last be got rid of. With s i m p l e rules, from fine to t w e l v e - p o i n t size, even the narrowest c o l u m n - s p a c i n g s c a n be made c l e a r a n d better than with the old r u l e - c o m b i n a t i o n s . T a b l e - h e a d i n g s , as long as they are outside the table itself, must not be c e n t r e d but p o s i t i o n e d left or right. S m a l l e r h e a d i n g s i n s i d e tabular matter, on the other hand, s h o u l d usually as an exception be c e n t r e d , b e c a u s e othe r w i s e they t e n d to look untidy. To a c h i e v e the greatest clarity it is a g a i n s a n s e r i f that must be u s e d in t a b ular matter for e m p h a s i s . O l d - s t y l e [ n o n - r a n g i n g ] f i g u r e s must never be u s e d . T h e y are an u n p r a c t i c a l a n d o u t - o f - d a t e historical form. E n - b o d y f i g u r e s without a s c e n d e r s or d e s c e n d e r s are the only right o n e s for tabular matter — a n d e l s e w h e r e . A s g u i d e l i n e s for handwritten entries fine rules are more p r a c t i c a l a n d b e t t e r - l o o k i n g than dotted rules. S i n c e these entries are today usually t y p e written, g u i d e l i n e s are often u n n e c e s s a r y a n d d i s t u r b i n g . Tabular matter need no longer be a rather u n p l e a s a n t j o b to d e s i g n , if one c a n be free of rigid rules; on the contrary, it c a n b e c o m e a really c h a r m i n g and artistic exercise, in no way less interesting than any other area of j o b bing setting.

THE NEW BOOK In the area of book d e s i g n , in the last few y e a r s a revolution h a s taken place, until recently r e c o g n i z e d by only a few, but w h i c h now b e g i n s to i n f l u e n c e a m u c h w i d e r r a n g e of action. It m e a n s placing much greater e m p h a s i s on the a p p e a r a n c e of the book a n d a wholly c o n t e m p o r a r y u s e of t y p o g r a p h i c a n d p h o t o g r a p h i c m e a n s . Before the invention of printing, literature of that time w a s s p r e a d a r o u n d by the mouth of the author himself or by p r o f e s s i o n a l bards. T h e b o o k s of the M i d d l e A g e s — like the " M a n n e s s i s c h e L i e d e r h a n d s c h r i f t " — had 217

m e r e l y t h e f u n c t i o n of b e i n g a c o p y of t h e s p o k e n w o r d . P r i n t i n g h o w e v e r h a d t h e i m m e d i a t e r e s u l t of t r a n s f e r r i n g t h e s p r e a d of l i t e r a t u r e f r o m b e i n g spoken to being read.* The m a n of t h e

15th c e n t u r y s t o o d e r e c t in f r o n t of t h e d e s k a n d

aloud. That was the

reason for the

large

letters characteristic

read

of

most

g o t h i c b o o k s . It w a s n o t u n t i l l a t e r t h a t t h e t e m p o of r e a d i n g a c c e l e r a t e d and made smaller type possible and necessary. R e a d i n g a l o u d s l o w l y , " f e e l i n g " e a c h s e p a c a t e l e t t e r a n d w o r d , has

now

g i v e n w a y to s k i m m i n g t h e t e x t . M o d e r n r e a d i n g t e c h n i q u e o w e s its n a t u r e t o t h e w a y n e w s p a p e r s are set, t h e i r l a r g e a n d small lines, t h e i r d i f f e r e n t w e i g h t s of t y p e s , t h e s p a c i n g of s i n g l e w o r d s a n d w h o l e p a s s a g e s ,

the

m a k i n g p a s s a g e s p r o m i n e n t by w i d e s p a c i n g a n d l e a d i n g , a n d so o n . T h e o p t i c a l a p p e a r a n c e of n e w s p a p e r s is e v i d e n c e of t o d a y ' s s p e e d of life. In l i t e r a t u r e itself, s i m i l a r c h a n g e s have t a k e n p l a c e . T h e w r i t e r of t o d a y no l o n g e r d e s c r i b e s at e p i c l e n g t h , like t h e p o e t of t h e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , t h e f e e l i n g s of his h e r o e s a n d t h e l a n d s c a p e s of his s t o r y . The s p e e d a n d u r g e n c y of f i l m s has also i n f l u e n c e d l i t e r a t u r e in t h e d i r e c t i o n of s e c o n d - b y - s e c o n d a c t i o n . The n o v e l has b e e n r e p l a c e d by t h e s h o r t s t o r y . In t h e i r s e a r c h f o r n e w w a y s of e x p r e s s i o n s o m e w r i t e r s of t o d a y have t u r n e d to t y p o g r a p h y . They have t r i e d t o t r a n s f e r t h e w a y s of e x p r e s s i n g

modern

prose

from

acoustic to visual effects. The F r a n c o - P o l e G u i l l a u m e A p o l l i n a i r e w r o t e his " C a l l i g r a m m e s " in

"con-

c r e t e " f o r m . His v e r s e d e s c r i b e d t h e o u t l i n e s of s p e c t a c l e s , c l o c k s , b i r d s , f l o w e r s , h o r s e s , men, e t c . Its p u b l i c a t i o n w a s d e p e n d e n t on p h o t o m e c h a n ically r e p r o d u c e d h a n d w r i t i n g . The I t a l i a n f u t u r i s t

F. T. M a r i n e t t i t o o k a f u r t h e r s t e p in t h e t o t a l

g r a p h i c d e s i g n of p o e t r y in his b o o k Les mots

en liberté

futuristes

typo-

C1919].

By u s i n g d i f f e r e n t w e i g h t s of t y p e a n d d i f f e r e n t t y p e s , by p l a c i n g t h e m in s p e c i a l p o s i t i o n s , by r e p e t i t i o n of c o n s o n a n t s a n d v o w e l s a n d a n o v e l use of t y p o g r a p h i c s i g n s , he t r i e d t o give a p h o n e t i c e f f e c t t o t h e s p o k e n w o r d by t h e i n c i s i v e o p t i c a l e f f e c t of t y p o g r a p h i c f o r m s . T h e p r i n t e d w o r d as t h e m e a n s of e x p r e s s i o n w a s e n r i c h e d by t h e s p e c i f i c a l l y o p t i c a l e f f e c t of his t y p o g r a p h i c d e s i g n . A l l e a r l i e r b o o k s c o u n t on r e a d i n g a l o u d or l e i s u r e l y r e a d i n g w e l l d i s t a n c e d f r o m t h e w o r l d . The b o o k of t o d a y ' s a c t i v e

man.

• The s p e a k e r d i d n o t d i s a p p e a r s u d d e n l y . Only in t h e last f e w years has t h e p u b l i c ' s i n t e r e s t in him d i m i n i s h e d . For s u c h w o r k s of l i t e r a t u r e , d e p e n d i n g on a c o u s t i c e f f e c t — in w h i c h t h e s p o k e n w o r d is e s s e n tial — t h e g r a m o p h o n e r e c o r d is still a relatively p e r f e c t p o s s i b i l i t y : K u r t S c h w i t t e r s a n d J o a c h i m R i n g e l n a t z have c o n s e q u e n t l y s p o k e n s o m e of t h e i r " a c o u s t i c " c r e a t i o n s on r e c o r d s .

218

EL LISSITZKY ( 1 9 2 2 - 1 9 2 3 ) : The M a y a k o v s k y b o o k s h o w n o p e n ( p h o t o b y Lissitzky)

w h o s e eye is his m o s t v a l u e d i n s t r u m e n t of r e c e p t i o n , has b e e n d e s i g n e d for t h e f i r s t t i m e by M a r i n e t t i . B e s i d e s t h e p u r e " l e t t e r - b o o k , " a n e w b o o k - f o r m has a r r i v e d , t h e " p i c t u r e b o o k , " i.e. a c o m b i n a t i o n of b o t h f o r m s . M o d e r n man has f o u n d in i l l u s t r a t e d n e w s p a p e r s a n d m a g a z i n e s a n e w s o u r c e of d e l i g h t . The i m p e r s o n a l c l a r i t y a n d p r e c i s i o n of p h o t o g r a p h i c r e p o r t i n g o f t e n c o m m u n i c a t e s far b e t t e r a n d f a s t e r t h a n an a r t i c l e d e a l i n g w i t h t h e s a m e s u b j e c t . In m a n y p a p e r s p h o t o g r a p h s are a l r e a d y m o r e i m p o r t a n t : t e x t has t a k e n a s t e p b a c k . T h e

219

f o r m e r r e l a t i o n s h i p has n o w b e e n c o m p l e t e l y r e v e r s e d : earlier, t h e r e w a s less i l l u s t r a t i o n t h a n t e x t CI 00 lines of t e x t =

1 p i c t u r e ) : t o d a y t h e r e are

m o r e p i c t u r e s t h a n t e x t CIO p i c t u r e s = 10 l i n e s ) . In a w e l l - k n o w n n e w his-

FEUERSTEIN-KREJCARSIMA-TEIGE: C o v e r of a n a l m a n a c (1922)

tory of art, the pictures are the major part of the book: in large picturebooks about Germany and many other countries, illustrated with p h o tographs COrbis Terrarum], the only text is a short foreword. After the Futurists, the D a d a i s t s explored the possibilities of t y p o g r a p h i c technique in their magazines. Kurt Schwitters in his magazine Merz used typographic and varied photographic components w h i c h were unified by his typographic design. In Dadaistic designs the previous apparent i n c o m patibility of reproductions in book design has d i s a p p e a r e d and blocks, whether from photographs or drawings, have become an integrated part of the book.* The s p e c i a l [for example apparently plastic] form of a halftone

• The artists of the pre-war period denied the possibility of artistic unity in books using halftone blocks. This is in contradiction to the needs of our own time; and now also handmade paper and hand-coloured woodcuts belong to the past.

221

b l o c k is n o h i n d r a n c e t o its u s e . O n i n d i v i d u a l p a g e s , a n d in t h e b o o k as a w h o l e , h a r m o n y in d e s i g n c o m e s f r o m t h e u s e of l a r g e r a n d s m a l l e r

"plas-

t i c " a n d f l a t e l e m e n t s , v a r i e d l i n e s of m o v e m e n t ( V e r t i c a l , h o r i z o n t a l , s l a n t ing], and not least the positive value of u n p r i n t e d space, w h i c h

formerly

m e a n t n o t h i n g a n d n o w is as m u c h a p r o p e r e l e m e n t as p r i n t e d

matter.

These ideas c o i n c i d e w i t h t h e p r i n c i p l e s of " a b s o l u t e " p a i n t i n g , w h o s e init i a t o r s are c o n t e m p o r a r y w i t h t h e o r i g i n a t o r s of t h e N e w T y p o g r a p h y . T h e R u s s i a n El L i s s i t z k y , o n e o f t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t p r e s e n t - d a y a r t i s t s in R u s s i a , has a l s o d o n e v a r i e d a n d s i g n i f i c a n t w o r k in t h e f i e l d of t y p o g r a p h y : in 1 9 2 2 in B e r l i n in t h e R u s s i a n / G e r m a n / F r e n c h m a g a z i n e

Gegenstand,

N A VLNACH

T1 C J Cr

£ o e sie

J a r o s] av a S e i f e r t a

Typogra'ficki Gprava a ob&lka Karla Telgftho

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NAKLADATELSTVi VÄCLAVA PETRA PRAHA-BUBENEC Socharskä, 334

Tiskem F. Obziny ve Vyskove Morava PRAHA

1925 KAREL TEIGE: Imprint of a poetry book

222

X

0 1

o

D CQ K

LJ D

1

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Dia Buchformate sind DIN 4 7 6 - Papierformate - entnommen.

Dia F o r m a t e d e r A-Reihe, n a c h d e r GeschSftepapiere, W e r b sachen, Akten, K a r t e i k a r t e n festgelegt sind, sind a u c h fOr Bücher zu bevorzugen. Für G e s c h ä f t s b ü c h e r werden alle Formate der A-Reihe von A 2 bis A 7 verwendet. Für Fälle, in denen sich die A-Formate nicht verwenden lassen, sind die Formate der B-Reihe zulässig. Die Formate können hoch und quer verwendet werden. G e h e f t e t e b e s c h n i t t e n e Bücher (und Zeitschriften) haben genau Normformat. Bücher mit austrennbaren Blättern sind um den Blockrand breiter als Normf o r m a t ; das ausgetrennte Blatt muß Normformat haben. Ist beim B i n d e n ein weiterer Beschnitt notwendig, so werden die Blätter etwas kleiner als Normformat. Dafür steht der Deckel entsprechend über. Die Höhe des Deckels muß genau dem Normformat entsprechen, die Breitö ist durch das Bindverfahren bedingt. Über Rohbogen und Satzspiegel liegen noch keine Normen vor, sie sind so zu wählen, daß das geheftete Buch auf Normformat beschnitten werden kann.

Oktober 1 9 2 6

226

Since to this form of a book its type is particularly significant, one change, namely the discarding of historical and historical-seeming typefaces, must be striven for. While in all other areas there are signs of movement towards modernization, our modern books on the contrary are still using the historical forms of fraktur and roman. The present universal and exaggerated obedience to the pre-1914 w a t c h w o r d "material quality!" has meant, among other things, that German books are the most expensive in the world. So for someone of even average income, the German book has become an almost unattainable luxury object. It follows that we want today: 1. a contemporary (therefore not historical) t y p o g r a p h i c form; 2. inexpensive books for people, not luxury books for snobs. Concerning the letterform of the text typeface, one can refer to the section in the present book that deals with this topic. But certainly one will be t h i n k i n g of a roman designed not by any one person: a classic typeface — say Garamond — or a contemporary typeface such as Nordische Antiqua. This will be so as long as one cannot get hold of a sanserif in quantities that make its use as a text face possible. It is obviously not good to set a whole book in bold or semi-bold sanserif, since these types in quantity are not easily legible. For everyday use, light or ordinary sanserif should be used, and the present book shows that sanserif can be read as easily as any other typeface. For display, semi-bold and bold sanserif, Egyptians and bold roman are the most suitable. The text of travel books or novels can also be organized visually w i t h larger and smaller bold sanserif for headings. The photographic block is being introduced into the book as a new element. The Renaissance ideal — a book page of even grey — is finished: instead we have harmony from contrasting typographic and p h o t o g r a p h i c elements using brightness, space, and direction. Contemporary bindings and b o o k jackets similarly show an increasing use of photography. It is already clear today that a new form of book exists.

Book formats The standard book formats on the facing page are not suitable for imaginative literature — for novels and similar books w h i c h are held in the hand for reading, they are too wide and therefore uncomfortable — but they certainly are for larger books, scientific works, catalogues in book form, handbooks (the present book is in A5), and are also suitable for smaller books CA6). The format A4 is very good for art books, monographs, etc. 227

It seems necessary to find a standard format also for novels, c o r r e s p o n d i n g w i t h the way they are used. The D I N - f o r m a t page p r o p o r t i o n is not suitable for these books. Perhaps we should standardize only their page depths, e.g. 176 mm depth for novels.

228

BIBLIOGRAPHY In c h r o n o l o g i c a l o r d e r w i t h i n t h e d i f f e r e n t l a n g u a g e g r o u p s . The b o l d l e t t e r s f o l l o w i n g i n d i c a t e : b = wholly illustrated books d = poetry t = i n c l u d e d only for t h e i r t y p o g r a p h y Books

marked

with

*

are

especially

recommended

for

the

reader.

I n f o r m a t i o n on p r i c e s can be o b t a i n e d f r o m t h e p u b l i s h e r s and b o o k s e l l e r s . Periodicals f o r m o d e r n d e s i g n (in alphabetical order)

A B C . Beiträge zum Bauen. Basel, A u g u s t i n e r g a s s e 5. DER ARARAT. Glossen, Skizzen und Notizen zur N e u e n Kunst. Goltzverlag, München, 1919-1921. DER S T U R M . H e r a u s g e b e r H e r w a r t h Waiden. Berlin. Potsdamer Str. 136a. DE STIJL. Z e i t s c h r i f t f ü r Neue Gestaltung. H e r a u s g e b e r Theo van D o e s b u r g . Kommissionsverlag für D e u t s c h l a n d : Ernst W a s m u t h AG, Berlin. •GG.Zeitschrift

für

elementare

Gestaltung.

Herausgeber

Hans

Richter,

B e r l i n - G r u n e w a l d , Trabenerstraße 25. •GEGENSTAND. Internationale Herausgeber

El

Lissitzky

Rundschau

und

11 ja

der

Erenburg.

Kunst

der

Verlag

Gegenwart.

Skythen,

Berlin-

G r u n e w a l d , Karlsbader Straße 16. Only nos. 1/2 and 3 [ 1 9 2 2 ] a p p e a r e d . L'ESPRIT NOUVEAU. Revue Internationale illustrée de l'activité contemporaine. Directeurs: Ozenfant et Jeanneret. Paris, Jean Budry et Cie, 1 9 2 1 - 1 9 2 5 . M A . Zeitschrift für aktive Kunst. Herausgeber L. Kassâk. Wien XIII, Amalienstraße 26. • M E R Z . H e r a u s g e b e r Kurt S c h w i t t e r s , Hannover, W a l d h a u s e n s t r a ß e 5, II. P A S M O . H e r a u s g e b e r A r t u â Cernik, Brno-Juliänov, Husovo nabr. 10. Special n u m b e r s (in chronological order)

•JUNGE MENSCHEN.

Bauhausheft.

November

1924.

Typography: Joost

S c h m i d t . H a m b u r g 13, Johnsallee 54. DAS N E U E R U S S L A N D . S o n d e r h e f t Russisches Theater. 1925, 3/4. H e r a u s g e b e r Erich Baron, B e r l i n - P a n k o w , Kavalierstraße 10. • D E R B Ü C H E R K R E I S . S o n d e r h e f t Neue Kunst. 1925, Heft 12. Verlag des B ü c h e r k r e i s e s , Berlin SW68, Belle-Alliance-Platz 8. LES CAHIERS D U M O I S .

Nos.

16/17: Cinéma. Editions

Emile-Paul

Frères,

14, rue de l'Abbaye, Paris, 1925. LES FEUILLES LIBRES. S o n d e r h e f t M a n Ray, M a i - J u i n 1925. Paris, Librairie Stock. 229

QUALITÄT. S o n d e r h e f t Das Bauhaus in Dessau. 1925, 5 / 6 .

Internationale

P r o p a g a n d a - Z e i t s c h r i f t für Q u a l i t ä t s e r z e u g n i s s e , B e r l i n - C h a r l o t t e n b u r g 9, Redaktion C. E. Hinkefuß. • T Y P O G R A P H I S C H E M I T T E I L U N G E N . Sonderheft e l e m e n t a r e

typographie.

1925. heft 10. r e d a k t i o n jan t s c h i c h o l d . verlag des b i l d u n g s v e r b a n d e s d e r d e u t s c h e n b u c h d r u c k e r , berlin. • A B C . Serie 2, Nr. 2. S o n d e r h e f t Neue Kunst. Redaktion Hannes

Meyer,

Basel. A u g u s t i n e r g a s s e 5, 1926. • D A S WERK.

Sonderheft

Die

Neue

Welt.

Juli

1926.

Redaktion

Hannes

Meyer. Verlag Gebr. Fretz AG, Z ü r i c h . •OFFSET, B U C H - U N D W E R B E K U N S T . Bauhausheft. 1926, Heft 7. Leipzig, S e e b u r g s t r a ß e 57. Czech Z I V O T I I . S b o r n í k nové krásy. T y p o g r a p h y : Karel Teige. P h o t o m o n t a g e cover: Feuerstein

—

Krejcar

—

Sima-Teige.

Vylvarny

odbor

on

umelecké

besedy, Praha II, 1922. MTESLAV N E Z V A L : Pantomima. Cover: J i n d r i c h Styrsky. T y p o g r a p h y : Karel Teige. Praha, 1924. d K A R E L TEIGE: Film.

Cover

and

typography

by the

author.

Václav

Petr,

P r a h a - B u b e n e c , 1925. J. H O N Z L : Roztocené jeviste. Cover: Styrsky and Toyen. T y p o g r a p h y : Karel Teige. Jan Fromek, Praha, 1925. J A R O S L A V SEIFERT: Na vinách TSF. Typography and cover: Karel Teige. Václav Petr. P r a h a - B u b e n e c , 1925. d VITESLAV N E Z V A L : M e n s í

ruzová

zahrada.

Cover: Styrsky

and

Toyen.

T y p o g r a p h y : Karel Teige. Odeon. Praha, 1926. d Danish H A R A L D L A N D T M O M B E R G : A k t i v Reklame. Nye p r i n c i p e r i a n n o n c e r i n gens

kunst,

Köbenhavn-Kristiania-Berlin,

Det

Ny

Studentersamfunds

Forlag, 1924. Dutch EL L I S S I T Z K Y : S u p r e m a t i s c h w o r d e n van t w e e q u a d r a t e n . Verlag De Stijl, Clamart CSeine), Frankreich, 64 av. Schneider, 1922. b d French F. T. M A R I N E T T I : M a n i f e s t e du f u t u r i s m e Cpublié par le „Figaro" le 20 février 1 9 0 9 ] , Leaflet. M i l a n o , n.d. 230

B A L I L L A PRATELLA: M a n i f e s t e des musiciens f u t u r i s t e s .

Leaflet.

Milano,

1911. F. T. M A R I N E T T I : S u p p l é m e n t au manifeste t e c h n i q u e de la l i t t é r a t u r e f u t u riste. Leaflet. M i l a n o , 1912. UMBERTO BOCCIONI: Manifeste

technique

de

la

sculpture

futuriste.

Leaflet. M i l a n o , 1912. L U I G I R U S S O L O : L'art des bruits. Leaflet. M i l a n o , 1913. F. T.

M A R I N E T T I : Les

mots

en

liberté

futuristes.

Edizioni

futuriste

di

„Poesia". M i l a n o , 1919. TRISTAN T Z A R A : cinéma c a l e n d r i e r du coeur abstrait, maisons, bois

par

arp. c o l l e c t i o n dada, au sans pareil, 37 avenue kléber. paris, 1920. d b F. T. M A R I N E T T I : Le tactilisme. Leaflet. M i l a n o , 1920. J E A N EPSTEIN: Cinéma. Paris, Editions de la Sirène, 1921. M A X ERNST: Les malheurs des immortels, révélés par Paul Eluard et Max Ernst. Paris, Librairie Six, 1922. d b M A N RAY: Champs délicieux. A l b u m de p h o t o g r a p h i e s avec un p r é f a c e de Tristan Tzara. Paris, 1922. b TRISTAN T Z A R A : sept

manifestes

dada,

quelques

dessins

de

francis

picabia. é d i t i o n s du diorama. jean b u d r y & co, 3, rue du c h e r c h e - m i d i , paris, n.d. [ 1 9 2 5 ] , A N D R É BRETON: M a n i f e s t e du surréalisme. Pöisson soluble. Paris, Simon Kra C l 9 2 5 ] , LE C O R B U S I E R : Vers une a r c h i t e c t u r e . Paris, G. Crès & Cie, n.d. [ 1 9 2 4 ] , LE C O R B U S I E R : U r b a n i s m e . Paris, G. Crès & Cie, n.d. C l 9 2 5 ] . LE CORBUSIER: L'art décoratif d'aujourd'hui. Paris, G. Crès & Cie, n.d. [ 1 9 2 5 ] , LE C O R B U S I E R : La p e i n t u r e m o d e r n e . Paris, G. Crès & Cie, n.d. C1925], LE C O R B U S I E R : A l m a n a c h

d'architecture

moderne.

Paris, G. Crès & Cie,

n.d. ( 1 9 2 5 ) . German DIE S C H R I F T E N DER „ B R Ü C K E " , Internationales I n s t i t u t zur O r g a n i s i e r u n g der g e i s t i g e n A r b e i t . M ü n c h e n 1 9 1 1 - 1 9 1 2 . MANIFEST

DES

FUTURISMUS.

Katalog

der

Ausstellung

„Der

Sturm".

Berlin. Der Sturm, 1912. H A N S A R P : die w o l k e n p u m p e . paul s t e e g e m a n n . verlag. hannover, 1920. d R I C H A R D H U E L S E N B E C K : En avant dada. Eine G e s c h i c h t e des Dadaismus. Paul S t e e g e m a n n , Hannover, n.d. CT9203. ' D R . W. P O R S T M A N N : s p r ä c h e u n d schritt. B e u t h v e r l a g . Berlin, 1920. GEORGE GROSZ: M i t Pinsel und Schere. 7 M a t e r i a l i s a t i o n e n . Berlin, M a l i k Verlag, 1922. b 231

M A - B U C H NEUER KÜNSTLER CI00 pictures]. Redigiert von L. Kassäk und L. Moholy-Nagy. Ma-Verlag L. Kassäk, Wien XIII, Amalienstr. 26, 1922. KURT SCHWITTERS: Anna Blume, Paul Steegemann, Hannover, 1922. d EL LISSITZKY: Figurinen. Die plastische Gestaltung der

elektromechanis-

chen Schau: Sieg über die Sonne. 10 original lithographs. Hannover, 1923. b EL LISSITZKY: Proun. 6 original lithographs. 1. Kestnermappe.

Hannover,

Ludwig Ey, 1923. b STAATLICHES B A U H A U S IN W E I M A R 1919-1923. Typography: L. M o h o l y Nagy. Bauhausverlag. Weimar-München, 1923. S A M M L U N G GABRIELSON-GÖTEBORG. Erwerbungen 1922/23 Berlin. M i t Beiträgen von A d o l f Behne, Ludwig Hilberseimer, S. Friedländer-Mynona, N.p., n.d. PRESSESTIMMEN

[ A U S Z Ü G E ) FÜR DAS S T A A T L I C H E

BAUHAUS

W E I M A R . Typography and jacket: L. Moholy-Nagy. Weimar, n.d. [ 1 9 2 4 ) . PROF. DR. C. A U G U S T EMGE: Die Idee des Bauhauses. Kunst und Wirklichkeit. Pan-Verlag Rolf Heise, Berlin, n.d. [1924). •INTERNATIONALE AUSSTELLUNG NEUER THEATERTECHNIK WIEN 1924.

Katalog,

Programm,

Almanach.

Herausgegeben

von

Friedrich

Kiesler. Typography: Friedrich Kiesler. Verlag Würthle & Sohn Nachf., Wien I, Weihburggasse 9, 1924. LU MÄRTEN: Wesen und Veränderung der Formen -

Künste. Taifun-Verlag,

Frankfurt a.M., 1924. BRUNO TAUT: Die neue Wohnung.

Die Frau als Schöpferin. Cover: Jo-

hannes Molzahn. Klinkhardt & Biermann, Leipzig, 1924. L. TROTZKI: Literatur und Revolution. Verlag für Literatur und Politik. Wien, 1924. WERBWART

WEIDENMÜLLER:

gesang

vom

werbewerk.

Stettin,

willy

puppe, 1924. A L M A N A C H EUROPA 1925. Gustav Kiepenheuer, Potsdam, 1924. HANS ARP: der pyramidenrock. eugen rentsch verlag, münchen, 1925. d • A D O L F BEHNE: Von Kunst zur Gestaltung.

Einführung

in die

moderne

Malerei. Cover: Oskar Fischer. Arbeiter-Jugend-Verlag, Berlin, 1925. DR. A N N A BERLINER: Japanische Reklame in der Tageszeitung. Stuttgart, C.E. Poeschel Verlag, 1925. M A X BURCHARTZ: Folder with Mining

and

Cast-Steel

leaflets for the Bochum Association

Production

[typography

with

for

photomontage).

Bochum, 1925. t L U D W I G HILBERSEIMER: Großstadtbauten (Neue A r c h i t e k t u r 1). A p o ß verlag, Hannover, 1925. 232

•EL LISSITZKY U N D H A N S ARP: Kunst-Ismen

1914-1924.

Typography: El

Lissitzky. Eugen Rentsch Verlag, München, 1925. DIE SCHEUCHE. Märchen. Typographisch gestaltet von Kurt

Schwitters,

Käte Steinitz, Theo van Doesburg. Apoßverlag, Hannover, 1925. d KURT SCHWITTERS

UND

KÄTE STEINITZ: Die

Märchen

vom

Paradies.

Typography: Kurt Schwitters. Apoßverlag, Hannover, 1925. d COLIN ROSS: Fahrten- und Abenteuerbuch. Typography and cover: Jan Tschichold. Verlag der Büchergilde Gutenberg, Berlin, 1925. t GUTEN BERG FESTSCHRIFT 1925. Herausgegeben von A. Ruppel. Verlag der Gutenberg-Gesellschaft, Mainz, 1925. ARTHUR SEGAL U N D N I K O L A U S BRAUN: Lichtprobleme der bildenden, Kunst. Berlin, 1925. DIE B A U H A U S B Ü C H E R : 1 Walter Gropius: Internationale Architektur 2 Paul Klee: Pädagogisches Skizzenbuch 3 Ein Versuchshaus des Bauhauses 4 Die Bühne im Bauhaus *5 Piet M o n d r i a n : Neue Gestaltung *6 Theo van Doesburg: Grundbegriffe der neuen gestaltenden Kunst 7 Neue Arbeiten der Bauhauswerkstätten *8 L. M o h o l y - N a g y : Malerei, Photographie, Film 9 W. Kandinsky: Punkt und Linie zu Fläche 10 Oud, Holländische A r c h i t e k t u r 11 Maläwitsch, Die gegenstandslose Welt Albert Langen, Verlag, München, 1925/28. LE CORBUSIER: Kommende Baukunst C= Vers une architecture). Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart, 1926. 50JAHRESTADTTHEATER IN MAGDEBURG. Festschrift. Gesamtausstattung: Johannes Molzahn. Verlag: Mitteldeutsche

Reklame-Gesellschaft

m.b.H.,

Magdeburg, 1926. t DIE FORM. Zeitschrift für gestaltende Arbeit. Verlag Hermann Reckendorf Berlin W 35. 1926. RUDOLF KURTZ: Expressionismus und Film. Berlin, Verlag der

Lichtbild-

bühne, 1926. KATALOG 1926/1 der Richmod-Galerie Casimir Hagen, Köln, Richmodstr. 3. Typography: A n t o n Räderscheidt. Köln, 1926. t SIEGFRIED EßELING: Der Raum als Membran. Dessau, 1926, C. Dünnhaupt Verlag. KARL SCHEFFLER: Zeit und Stunde. Leipzig, Insel-Verlag.

233

(Normwesen:) DR. P O R S T M A N N : Die Kartei. Beuthverlag, Berlin. DR. P O R S T M A N N : Papierformate CDINbuch 1], Beuthverlag, Berlin, 1923. • K I E N C K E U N D F R A N K : Formate u n d V o r d r u c k e . Beuthverlag, Berlin, 1926. DEUTSCHE I N D U S T R I E - N O R M E N [ D e u t s c h e r N o r m e n a u s s c h u ß ] : D I N 198 Papierformate nach D I N 476, A n w e n d u n g e n der A - R e i h e D I N 476 Papierformate D I N 676 G e s c h ä f t s b r i e f D I N 677 H a l b b r i e f e D I N 678 B r i e f h ü l l e n f o r m a t e D I N 682 Tafeln und Rahmen für Bilder und M u s t e r D I N 827 Papier: Stoff, Festigkeit, V e r w e n d u n g B e u t h v e r l a g , Berlin SW 19. M I T T E I L U N G E N DES D E U T S C H E N N O R M E N A U S S C H U S S E S 22. A u g u s t 1923: S c h e c k v o r d r u c k 26. Juni 1924: Z e i t s c h r i f t e n 9. A p r i l 1925: B u c h f o r m a t e 17. S e p t e m b e r 1925: Fensterhüllen Beuthverlag, Berlin SW19. Italian I N U O V I POETI FUTURISTI: ( a n t h o l o g y , ed. F. T. M a r i n e t t i ) . Edizioni f u t u r i s t e di „Poesia", Roma, 1925, d Polish A N A T O L STERN -

B R U N O J A S I E N S K I : Ziemia na lewo. Typography

and

c o v e r : M . Szczuka. W a r s a w , Verlag Ksiazka, 1924. d Russian ILJA E R E N B U R G : A w s e - t a k i ona w e r t i t s j a ! [ B u t it does m o v e ! ]

Helikon-

Verlag. L. Ladyshnikoff, Berlin, 1922. ILJA E R E N B U R G : Sehest p o w e s t e j o l e g k i c h konzach. Cover and illustrat i o n s : El Lissitzky. Helikon-Verlag, M o s c o w and Berlin, 1922. d EL L I S S I T Z K Y : Pro d w a k w a d r a t a COf t w o s q u a r e s ] , Verlag S k y t h e n , Berlin, 1922. b d W L A D I M I R M A Y A K O W S K Y : Dlja gölossa CFor r e a d i n g a l o u d ] . T y p o g r a p h y : El Lissitzky. Russian State Publishing House, M o s c o w , 1923. d W L A D I M I R M A Y A K O W S K Y : Pro eto. M i t P h o t o m o n t a g e n von R o d t s c h e n k o . Russian State Publishing House, M o s c o w , 1923. d KTO, TSCHTO,

K O G D A W K A M E R N O M TEATRE.

G. S t e n b e r g . M o s c o w , C h a m b e r theater, n.d. 234

Typography

and

cover:

LIST OF ADDRESSES Willi B a u m e i s t e r

Frankfurt a.M., Neue M a i n z e r Str. 47

H e r b e r t Bayer

Dessau, Bauhaus, F r i e d r i c h s a l l e e 12

Max Burchartz

B o c h u m , Herner Str. 42

Dr. W a l t e r Dexel

Jena, F u c h s t u r m w e g 15

Theo van D o e s b u r g

Clamart CSeine), Frankreich, 64, avenue S c h n e i d e r

Lajos Kassäk

Wien X I I I , A m a l i e n s t r . 26

El Lissitzky

M o s k a u , S t r o m i n k a 26, Q u a r t i e r 50

Läszlö M o h o l y - N a g y

Dessau, B u r g k ü h n a u e r A l l e e 2

Johannes Molzahn

M a g d e b u r g , Sternstr. 24

Joost Schmidt

Dessau, Bauhaus, F r i e d r i c h s a l l e e 12

Kurt S c h w i t t e r s

Hannover, W a l d h a u s e n s t r . 5, II

Franz W. S e i w e r t

Köln a. Rh., Eigelstein 147, III

Jan T s c h i c h o l d

M ü n c h e n , Pranckhstr. 2

Karel Teige

Praha, T s c h e c h o s l o w a k e i , Cerna 12 a

Tristan Tzara

Paris XIV, 15, rue D e l a m b r e

Piet Z w a r t

Wassenaar, Holland, R i j k s s t r a a t w e g 290

For t h e use o f s o m e blocks in t h i s b o o k , t h e p u b l i s h e r t h a n k s t h e generosity

of

other

publishers

and

bodies.

Permissions

were

given by t h e Galerie A r n o l d , D r e s d e n , t h e Verlag Gebr. Fretz, A . - G . , Z ü r i c h , t h e p e r i o d i c a l Gebrauchsgraphik, t h e p e r i o d i c a l Das Neue

Frankfurt,

Berlin, Frankfurt a.M.,

t h e Insel-Verlag, Leipzig, t h e Verlag Gustav K i e p e n h e u e r , Potsdam, t h e Verlag K l i n k h a r d t & B i e r m a n n , Leipzig, t h e Verlag der L i c h t b i l d b ü h n e , Berlin, t h e D e u t s c h e r N o r m e n a u s s c h u s s , Berlin, t h e P h o t o g r a p h i s c h e G e s e l l s c h a f t , B e r l i n - C h a r l o t t e n b u r g 9, the Verlag H e r m a n n R e c k e n d o r f , Berlin, t h e p e r i o d i c a l Typographica,

Prague.

NOTE TO PAGE 2 1 0 D u r i n g t h e p r o d u c t i o n of this b o o k , the Berliner

Tageblatt

was t h e first

i m p o r t a n t daily p a p e r to go over to roman t y p e for its e n t i r e c o m p o s i t i o n .

235

A N O T E O N THE B O O K A N D ITS D E S I G N This f i r s t p u b l i c a t i o n of an E n g l i s h - l a n g u a g e v e r s i o n of Jan T s c h i c h o l d ' s neue

Typografie

Die

C I 9 2 8 ] has a t t e m p t e d to f o l l o w t h e a u t h o r ' s o r i g i n a l p a g e

l a y o u t s a n d d e s i g n p r e c e p t s as c l o s e l y as p o s s i b l e . A u r o r a G r o t e s k , s h o w n in t h e B e r t h o l d P h o t o t y p e s E l c a t a l o g 0 9 7 4 ) , w a s i d e n t i f i e d as t h e t y p e f a c e c l o s e s t to t h a t u s e d in t h e o r i g i n a l G e r m a n e d i t i o n ; t h i s t y p e f a c e , h o w ever, h a d n o t b e e n d i g i t i z e d at t h e t i m e t h e C a l i f o r n i a e d i t i o n w a s

pro-

d u c e d . T h e t e x t w a s set in 7.75 I m a g o L i g h t E x t e n d e d w i t h 1 1.6 p o i n t l e a d ing. The t y p e f a c e w a s r e v i s e d by e x t e n d i n g its o v e r a l l set w i d t h s by 1 12 percent; character spacing was e x p a n d e d to a Quark XPress t r a c k i n g value of 16. D i s p l a y f o n t s w e r e s e t in F r u t i g e r Ultra B l a c k w i t h a t r a c k i n g v a l u e of 19. I l l u s t r a t i o n s w e r e s c a n n e d f r o m t h e r e p r i n t i s s u e d by B r i n k m a n n & Bose CBerlin: 1 9 8 7 ) , a n d f r o m Leben

und

Werk

des

Typographien

Jan

Tschichold

C M u n i c h : G. K. Saur, 1 9 8 8 ) . Paper a n d b i n d i n g m a t e r i a l s w e r e s e l e c t e d t o a p p r o x i m a t e t h o s e u s e d in t h e B r i n k m a n n & Bose e d i t i o n . S p o n s o r i n g E d i t o r : E d w a r d D i m e n d b e r g , U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a Press, Los A n g e l e s . tion Editor: Rebecca Production Berkeley.

Coordinator: Research

Produc-

Frazier, U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a Press, Los and

Danette

Davis,

Design:

Steve

University Renick,

of

Angeles.

California

University

Press,

of

California

Press, B e r k e l e y . R e s e a r c h a n d C o m p o s i t i o n : H a s s a n Herz, T B H

Typecast,

Cotati, California. Image Scanning: ScanArt, Richmond, California.

236