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Typographica
—Rick Poynor
“I went to Peter Gregory,
who was the only person I knew at the time who could have helped
me, and told him—in the way one does when one is 24—that
I was going to publish this magazine, and that I wanted him
to distribute it. He said: ‘My boy, you’re going
to lose a lot of money. I’ll publish it for you.’
It was typical of the man that he didn’t say: ‘let
me think about it; come back tomorrow’, but made an immediate
decision—and that he and the firm stuck by it for 18 years.”
—Herbert Spencer, 1949
Typographica, authored by Rick Poynor, chronicles the
lifespan of the seminal magazine of the same name as well as
the life of its editor, Herbert Spencer. Published in London
in two series of 16 issues each, Typographica was published
from 1949–1967 |
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and made a quite an impact on Britain’s acceptance of
modernist design and typography.
What personally interested me most
was Spencer’s growth as an editor. A majority of the
book explains Spencer’s choice of editorial focus and
the outside influences that shaped it. From his initial crusade
in the late ‘40s to bring British typography into step
with modern design ideologies, to his exploration of visual
narrative in photography in the early to late ‘60s and
finally, to the late ‘60s where he focused on assimilating
the avante-garde while eschewing pop-art influences, Spencer
was the driving force of a highly influential magazine.
The pace and narrative of Typographica is very well
thought out and detailed, thanks, in part to Poynor’s
seven years worth of |
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interviews with Spencer himself. The reproductions
of various spreads from Typographica are good but hard to fully
make out at small sizes. A follow-up book reproducing
the two series to scale would be a very welcome addition.
Although, that’s not an easy nor inexpensive request
considering all the custom papers, overlays and attached
pieces that sometimes came with each issue, not to mention
the changes in size from series to series.
Anyone with an interest in design publishing, design
history, or the DIY ethos will find Typographica a very
inspiring read. Buy it.
Princeton Architectural Press
Review by: Jarrett Kertesz |
