BASELINE 41: 2003

International Typographics Magazine

Photographie: Kerry William Purcell  |  Herbert Matter Grosse Pointe Public Library Mural, etc.

Hans Dieter Reichert: BASELINE 41. London: Bradbourne Publishing, 2002. Original edition. Folio. Thick printed stapled wrappers. Printed dust jacket.  52 pp. Elaborate graphic design and typography in full color throughout. Cover: Enlargement from Photographie 1932. Photograph by André Vigneau, Pierre Lefébure. A fine copy.

9.5 x 13.75 saddle-stitched magazine with 52 elaborately-designed pages. From the current Publishers: "During 21 years of publication, 'Baseline' has become the leading international magazine about type and typography. It began life in 1979, published by the graphics arts products manufacturer, Letraset. It was originally intended as mainly a vehicle to promote new typeface designs, made available under licence to typesetting system manufacturers. Published "when available material allowed," 'Baseline' nevertheless gained an immediate reputation despite only appearing on average once a year for its first 10 years of existence. Its editorial content, despite the obligatory typeface promotion, struck a chord with the typographic community, because of its objective, and informed approach.

  Contents:

• Editorial: Hans Dieter Reichert & Mike Daines. “Ingenious design, definitive photography, propoganda, typographic antecedents – they are all here in another eclectic issue. Young Chilean designer, Francisca Prieto, deconstructs the book, the poster and the typeface, then reconstructs them in a unique way, guided by principles of mathematics and origami. Meanwhile, Martin Andrews completes his examination of book illustration, with more fine art (work). Our first article to extend to 12 pages is more than justified by stunning images from Photographie magazine, (published originally by the studio company of Paris typefounder Deberny & Peignot), described by Kerry William Purcell. Steve Heller considers paper propoganda (the Coalition’s recent Weapons of Mass Persuasion), while Jeffrey Head writes on Herbert Matter’s famous mural for the Grosse Point, Michigan Public Library, reproducing Matter's own descriptions for the first time. As David Jury unearths the bills and billheads that were the early ancestors of corporate stationery, we begin a new Baseline lexicon – on digital typefoundries.”
• Reviews: Editorial team
• Antimatter: Francisca Prieto
• Artwork or works of Art? Part 2: Dr. Martin Andrews
• Photographie: Kerry William Purcell.  In 1925, the critic, poet, and one of the founders of Surrealism, Andre Breton, posed the question: when would ‘all the books that are worth anything stop being illustrated with drawings and appear only with photographs?’ A few short years after this statement, the photographic image had established itself as one of the most provocative, poetic, and radical forms of representation in modern society. A plethora of groundbreaking exhibitions, books and publicity, the work of some of the most influential figures in history of photography, ushered in the creative flowering of the medium across Europe. Unquestionably the increasingly effective presence of photography was tied to the emergence of these new recruits and their passionate conviction regarding its creative worth . . . It was out of this hotbed of revolution in the photographic form, that one of the most influential photographic annuals of the 20th century was published in Paris on the 15 March 1930. Photographie began life as a one off special issue of the graphic arts bimonthly magazine Art et métiers graphiques (No 16). Art et métiers graphiques (AMG) had been launched three years earlier in 1927 by the owner of the Deberny and Peignot type foundry, Charles Peignot. Under Peignot’s guiding hand, AMG went on to became one of the most luxurious and stimulating publications ever produced in commercial art.’…
• Paper Bombs – the art of psychological warfare: Steven Heller
• History of Writing – non-alphabetic systems of writing (Herbert Matter): Jeffrey Head. The Central branch of the Grosse Pointe Public Library was designed by architect Marcel Breuer and opened in 1953 in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. The library’s art collection includes the mural The History of Writing by Herbert Matter: “Matter’s mural, twenty-five feet long and nine feet high, for the new Grosse Pointe, Michigan Public Library designed by Marcel Breuer, portrays the history of the alphabet. Starting with the prehistoric stone scribblings, it follows the development of our letters through pictographs—cave drawings, hieroglyphs, Easter Island and Mayan markings—early communications from Crete, China, Arabia, and right up to the present-day letter form we term “Egyptian” to be seen on the locomotives and cars of the New Haven Railroad.” According to library information, W. Hawkins Ferry felt it would be appropriate for the library to have art depicting the development of the written word (the idea was Matter’s concept) and commissioned Matter to do the mural. The mural, completed in 1955 for the adult reading room, is a photomontage—Matter’s preferred medium. The work displays a pattern of communication symbols and illustrates the evolution of writing from 12,000 B.C. It includes elements of Greek, Roman, Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, Chinese and the typeface of the Gutenberg Bible.
• Corresponding to form – early business stationery: David Jury
• Lexicon – An A–Z of digital typefoundries (A–C): Editorial team

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