[Upper and Lower Case:
Vol. 24, Number 4, Spring 1998]
The International Journal of Graphic Design and Digital Media, published by International Typeface Corporation.
The Spring 1998 issue of U&lc takes “Youth” as its theme, from the Youth Culture of the late ‘60s to the marketing and packaging aimed at the young consumers of today. This issue features a look at the graphic image of the “Sensation” exhibition in London and Damien Hirst’s sensational book, a scruffy retrospective of a designer’s life in the counterculture, victories (and defeats) in creating innovative packaging for contemporary music CDs, and the long view of the perpetual appeal of Levi’s jeans (and the stoking of that appeal through changing advertising), plus a nod to the seven ITC faces that took awards in the TDC type competition.
With this issue, U&lc itself takes on a new look and a new format, to complement its digital sibling, U&lc Online. The new full-color format is designed by Mark van Bronkhorst of MvB Design, who brings to the art of experimentation a rare respect for both the image and the text.
A Youth in the Youth Culture
“Between 1967 and 1972,” says Steven Heller, “when the counterculture was at its height, many lives were dramatically altered and futures were shaped. Mine was one of them.” Heller began his career, fresh out of high school, with a makeshift portfolio of twisted cartoons, peddling his work to four Manhattan-based underground papers: the New York Free Press, the East Village Other, the Rat, and the Avatar. From there, his career took off. “Art directing a sex paper is not exactly what parents want their kids to do when they grow up...”
Aural Fixations
Pushing through innovative CD package designs can be difficult, if not impossible. With a mix of cunning, luck, and resourcefulness, designers working both inside and outside record companies are still managing to circumnavigate the perilous straits of industry approval and set fresh designs afloat in the seas of retail. Peter Hall tracks CD package designs by Stefan Sagmeister and Deborah Norcross.
Levi’s Marketing: Always Riveting
Strong branding keeps Levi’s on kids of all ages. As Steve Goldstein, VP-marketing and research for Levi’s, said in a recent ad column in the New York Times, “Every rip has a story. That’s why the advertising has been much more about the wearer than the product.” Joyce Rutter Kaye looks at Levi’s ads and image over the years, from the beginning of the century to the recent ambiguous, allusive TV spots.
New From ITC
ITC introduces a new text typeface family, ITC Tyfa, plus five Fontek display faces, two ornament fonts, and a new DesignFont. New Fontek faces include: ITC Tremor™, ITC Gema™, ITC Roswell™ Three, ITC Roswell™ Four, ITC Scarborough™, ITC Scarborough™ Bold, and ITC Simran™. The two ornament fonts are ITC Japanese Garden™, ITC Seven Treasures™, and the new DesignFont is ITC Shadowettes™.
ITC Type Winners
Seven typefaces from ITC are winners in the Type Directors Club’s inaugural type-design competition: ITC Bodoni™, ITC Golden Cockerel™, ITC Woodland™, ITC Cancione™, ITC Humana Script™, ITC Braganza™, and ITC Vintage™.
Former Managing Editor Joyce Rutter Kaye presents her personal view on collaborating with the stellar designers of U&lc in Print Magazine. Kaye’s “Creative Collaborations” elaborates on the process (and problems) of working over six years with a roster of talented designers from WBMG (Walter Bernard and Milton Glaser) to Words + Pictures (Laurie Haycock Makela and P. Scott Makela).