Hasta La Ideas

Printer’s sample brochure, cover detail, 1934

Starved of funds and resources in the 1930s, Spain’s printers found their own, ingenious way to respond to the avant-garde, write Mery Cuesta and Jordi Duró

La Inquisición en España en el siglo xvi (The Inquisition in Spain during the xvi century). Guia explicativa. No reference of authorship. Estudios ed. Valencia. Circa 1930

When the European avant-garde reached Spain in the 1930s, local printers found themselves ill-equipped to respond. Small printshops were mostly reliant on turn-of-the century typefaces: hardly fitting for expressing this bold new world. But, in a remarkable show of ingenuity, they found their own means of respond­ing to art deco, futurism et al: ‘type case art’.

Detail from an ad for a lightbulb brand, 1933

Printers found that they could imitate modernity by using the geometric shapes they already had in their jobbing cases. Bullets, dingbats, rules and ornaments were transformed into illustrations or letters aping the new styles. The younger generation of printers responsible would most likely have encountered such things as cubism through French magazines while Jan Tschichold’s New Typography was brought to Spain by the prominent German printing trade that had been established in the country. The printers’ enthusiasm to embrace this new world triumphed over their lack of means and, perhaps, their limited understanding. It would not be too unfair to say that, initially at least, the main goal was mimickry.

Small ad for a building company, 1933

Detail from an ad for a glass and window installer, 1933

Despite their make-do-and-mend origins, however, in many ways these humble pieces can
be seen as the most representative examples of Spanish design in the 30s, being symptomatic of both the prevailing working method and of the socioeco­nomic times. During the civil war, what had been merely a style was imbued with a new sense of idealism. As design historian Enric Satué stated in his book The Design Years. The Republican Decade: 1931–1939 (Turner ed. Madrid 2003): “In a society based – for the first time in its history– on freedom, workers delivered themselves to a great hope of change. Their ideals made them accept modernity as something inherent to the ideal state they craved. This utopian state seemed within reach of the younger generation, but also of the poorest in society.” Driven by the idealism of the Republic, the international avant-garde was adopted and embraced at surprising speed by a still widely illiterate society.

Almanac decoration, 1932

Masthead for an insurance company, 1933

There was another reason why the type case art phenomenon became more widespread: cost. Having a drawing engraved required both time and money. The printers’ instant compositions proved a much cheaper alternative. Therefore they were used princi­pally on ephemeral products – the typical fare of small print shops: brochures, stationery, envelopes, commercial cards and flyers, maps, almanacs, guides, invoices and so on.

As the style grew more popular, Madrid’s major type foundry Richard Gans (founded in 1878 by an Austrian immigrant, first as a machinery importer and later growing to become a fully-fledged type foundry) spotted a business opportunity. In 1933 Gans published a brochure illustrating what could be achieved using this new technique. Printed in spot colours, it seems, wittingly or not, to have been influenced by the Italian Futurist designer and artist Fortunato Depero in its proposals for lettering, logos and illustrations based on combi­nations of geometric characters.

Spreads from Las Figuras Geometricas, the brochure featuring examples of type case art produced by Madrid type foundry Richard Gans in 1933/4

In the post civil war early 40s, with the majority of the country’s most talented illustrators either in exile, in jail or dead and Spain in a deep economic depression, a new impetus was provided by Catalan typographer Joan Trochut. His father, the Barcelona printer Esteban Trochut Bachmann, was one of the many craftsmen to demonstrate an ingenious ability to conjure art from the farthest reaches of the typecase. To encourage others, Trochut Bachmann edited the ADAM (Archivo Docu­mentario de Arte Moderno) series of albums which, like Gans’ brochure, demonstrated the possibilities of using type as a decorative element. Joan Trochut took the idea one step further and designed a dedicated system of moveable ornaments specifically for combining into type or illustration.

In his modular Super Tipo Veloz system, a piece of metal type represented not a character but a part of a character. Different styles of letter could be constructed by combining different pieces of the set. Released in 1942, it was a commercial success and has been recently digitized by Andreu Balius and Trochut’s grandson the illustrator and designer Alex Trochut (see superveloz.net).

As the economy picked up and printers were able to afford both engravings and new display typefaces, the use of type case art declined. With their humble purpose and throwaway nature, most examples have been long-since lost. All the examples shown here were collected at Barcelona’s Sant Antoni Market over the last 10 years. This 125 year-old book market is open every Sunday morning of the year in the heart of town, acting as a depository of the country’s graphic heritage: a living museum of such humble but historically relevant graphics as the examples produced by those ingenious printers of the 30s. 

This article appears in the current (April) issue of CR. Mery Cuesta is an art curator based in Barcelona. Graphic designer Jordi Duró heads Barcelona-based Estudi Duró

Spreads from Las Figuras Geometricas, the brochure featuring examples of type case art produced by Madrid type foundry Richard Gans in 1933/4

Detail from ad for a transport company, 1932

Hironao Tsuboi’s Faceless LED watch where the spaces between the bracelet’s links form the characters of the display

The first event in D&AD’s new talent scheme, Creative Faces To Watch, showcased the work of some of Japan’s most exciting design talent

D&AD plans to stage Creative Faces To Watch evenings in different regions around the world. The first was in Tokyo last month where a panel of luminaries each nominated someone they thought was producing great creative work in Japan.

Joe Ferry, Head of Design at Virgin Atlantic, chose Hironao Tsuboi: “He has the ability to look at everyday objects in a completely new way. Only a real design talent could breath new life into mundane objects such as umbrellas and light bulbs.

Lamp/Lamp – a lamp-shaped lamp

“He refrains from adding unnecessary details. In fact making simple designs look good is one of the most difficult things to do. Who would ever have thought that a watch could become exciting if you entirely remove the watch face – this guy clearly did. He turns a negative into a positive. Hironao Tsuboi’s glass design creates a beautiful detail from essentially a condensation drip. I feel this glass captures his positive take on life, which is both admirable and infectious.”

The Cherry Blossom (Sakura) glass – when wet, the base leaves the pattern of cherry blossom on a surface

Rubber calculator

D&AD President and Creative Director at Williams Murray Hamm, Garrick Hamm chose GT: “It’s a brave team that sets up their own, but to have done so and won a D&AD nomination and a host of other awards within the first couple of years of operation is a real achievement. Some may feel that GT’s collection of international awards doesn’t make them a ‘face to watch’, but I’m really impressed by their determination to be recognised on an international level. It shows a real sense of self-belief, which is a critical element to the success of any studio.”

GT’s PikaPika film, in which 16000 still photos were animated to promote So-net’s online entertainment services

Gt was also behind the Uniqlo March website

Takayuki Soeda, Founder of Soeda Design Factory, chose Home Inc: “A few years ago I was asked to judge at the Sapporo Art Director’s Club. I was really impressed by the work from Home Inc, the design studio that is home to Ryohei ‘Wabi’ Kudow and Kazushi ‘Sabi’ Nakanishi. In Japanese, ‘wabisabi’ means imperfect or impermanent beauty and this ethos flows through all of their work. Their graphics have such a distinct ‘Japanese’ style, but I think they can be understood by anyone.”

And Koichiro Tanaka (see CR Jan), Creative Director of Projector, chose W0W: “W0W try to re-define how images are used. Their work is like a journey discovering a new relationship between images and the media in which they’re used. I’m passionate about W0W.”

Nearly 60% of UK design consultancies employ fewer than five people, yet two of the world’s leading practitioners say 12 is the ideal number of staff to have. So, what is the best size for a design studio?

The question arose at yesterday’s Podge lunch – an annual event that this year marked Lynda Relph-Knight’s 20 years as editor of Design Week. Neville Brody and Erik Spiekermann were having one of those ’so, how are things with you?’ conversations that, right now, tend to involve much nervous touching of wood and finger-crossing. So I asked them, what do you think is the right number of people to have in a studio? Both, without hesitation, gave the same answer – 12. Why? It means you are big enough to take on major projects but small enough to stay in control: any larger and you have to start taking on the kind of work that you’d rather not do just to way the bills.

The question of how to grow (or, this year, more likely how to cut back) without undermining your business seems to be a constant problem for design studios. As we reported recently, Ian Anderson felt that one of the contributory factors to the demise of the Designers Republic was that it had grown too big and had ceased to be the company that he wanted it to be. It’s a familiar tale.

According to the Design Council, 82% of UK design studios have ten or less employees, so the prevailing view is definitely against Spiekermann and Brody. Many of the leading lights in graphics have surprisingly modest operations – Farrow, for example, is just three people, including Mark Farrow himself.

So, in these times when everyone is considering cutting staff numbers and how to re-shape their business, what is the optimum size to be?

CR understands that, later today, the official typeface for the 2012 London Olympics will be announced. Among those being considered are a bespoke face, Gill Sans and Times, but the current favourite is thought to be Comic Sans.

A source at the Olympic Delivery Authority has revealed that a number of routes had been considered by the ODA’s committee, including commissioning a bespoke typeface but that this latter idea was rejected on grounds of cost. A quintessentially British typeface, such as Times or Gill Sans was also considered but the former was rejected due to its association with a particular media outlet that was not one of the Games’ founding media partners, the latter was also rejected due to what CR understands were “concerns over the private life of its creator”.

The committee, made up of Olympics stakeholder groups including community leaders, faith groups and sponsors’ representatives is thought to favour Comic Sans because it meets many of the benchmarks laid out for Olympic projects. “London 2012’s ambition is to create a Games for everyone, so what better than a typeface that is used by everyone? The committee felt that this particular font had a friendly, universal appeal that would ensure maximum buy-in across all stakeholder groups,” says our source. “Its form is inclusive yet consistent and has incredible flexibility to encourage access and participation. This font sums up what London 2012 is all about – an inclusive, welcoming and diverse Games that involves the whole country. It builds upon everything that the organising committee has said about reaching out and engaging young people, which is where our challenge is over the next three years.”

It was also felt that Comic Sans would be particularly suitable to work with the Olympics logo and that its use would represent considerable cost savings due to the fact that it is already installed on most computers. The committee also felt that Comic Sans would represent a more sustainable alternative over a serif face in that “it would need far less ink to print each letter without all those little feet at the bottom”.

We have had no official statement from the ODA to confirm the story at this time but expect news later today.

UPDATE
CR reader Sander Baumann has contacted us with what purports to be a leaked preview of the wayfinding system which may have been designed for the games

Farrow resumes its longstanding relationship with the Pet Shop Boys with the sleeve for the duo’s latest album, Yes.

“When we had our first meeting about this album, Neil and Chris said that this was their most ‘pop’ album in a long time and the idea of creating something very bright and colourful – as we had for their ‘Introspective’ album – really appealed to them,” says Mark Farrow. “They had also been inspired by the Gerhard Richter 4900 exhibition at the Serpentine gallery which featured panels of brightly coloured squares.”

Gerhard Richter 4900 Colours: Version II, 2007, Enamel paint on Aludibond, 49 Panels, each 97 × 97 cm, La Collection de la Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la création, © 2008 Gerhard Richter

“Although the Richter paintings look stunning on a gallery wall, as an idea for a CD cover it felt a little tired and we felt we had ‘been there’,” Farrow says. “The tick was obviously inspired by the album’s title ‘Yes’. Reducing the title to a symbol that encompassed the other elements the band had requested just seemed to work; it’s instant and memorable and pop. The tick is made up of eleven coloured squares, one for each track on the album. It’s made up of eleven coloured squares, one for each track on the album.”

While the standard version of the album has a white background (shown top) a limited edition double disc version comes in black.

The coloured blocks continue on the inside of the package where the tick deconstructs and both merges and clashes with photographs of the band.

In addition, there will be a highly limited edition vinyl version of the album which will consist of the album tracks split over eleven separate vinyl records, each in a coloured sleeve, all housed in a smoked Perspex case.

When correctly arranged the eleven album sleeves will allow you to make up your own tick, measuring some eight feet in length.