laser-lovers@uw-beaver (05/15/85)
From: Chuck Bigelow <CAB@SU-AI.ARPA>
In answer to request for information on Five Journals of Typography,
here are five serious journals that I have subscribed to. though my
subscriptions to two seem to have lapsed, or perhaps the journals have
stopped publishing:
VISIBLE LANGUAGE, c/o Cleveland Museum of Art, Box 1972,
Cleveland, OH 44106; $16 per year (4 issues).
An excellent journal overall, begun in 1967. Has published pioneering
studies of digital type quality, computer type design systems,
semiology, history, design education, theories of perception, etc.
Because of variety, not every issue will interest all readers.
FINE PRINT, P.O. Box 3394, San Francisco, CA 94119.
The most beautifully printed typographic journal still in print.
Mostly printed letterpress on special low-acid, archival quality paper.
Reviews of "fine printing", articles on modern and historical typeface
designs, book-binding, paper-making, history of printing, exhibition
announcements and reviews; contains much more poetry, arts and crafts
than science. Subscription $40 per year. (I have been an editor
of the Typography section since 1980).
TYPOGRAFISCHE MONATSBLAETTER / REVUE SUISSE de l'IMPRIMERIE,
Zollikofer AG, Fuerstenlandstrasse 122, CH-9001 St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Subscription 96 Swiss Francs per year (6 issues).
In German and French; usually contains the most avant-garde Swiss
ideas on typography, as well as detailed technical discussions of
hygroscopic measurements of paper or the modulation transfer function
of a new lens system for a typesetter, and of course innovations in
the erudite vocabulary of French printing terms. Some articles are
also in English. Copiously illustrated with photos and diagrams.
TYPOS, c/o The London College of Printing (at the Elephant & Castle),
London SE1 6SB, England. Subscription $38 for 3 issues per year.
A very well designed and well-written journal that expresses, shall we say,
the Anglo-Saxon perspective on modern tyopographic design.
COMMUNICATION et LANGAGE, Retz, 2 Roule du 75001, Paris;
Subscription 168 French Francs for 6 issues. Composed in, of course,
Univers, the sans-serif which the French overwhelmingly prefer to
Helvetica, which they regard as an abomination. Totally in French.
Not for the faint of heart or the non-Francophone. I sometimes find
the text obscure and difficult, but usually interesting if I can get
through it. It expresses, shall we say, the Gallic perspective on
typographic thought.
INFORMATION DESIGN JOURNAL, P.O. Box 185, Milton Keynes MK7 6BL, England.
Rather like VISIBLE LANGUAGE but from the UK. Scholarly articles on
various aspects of typography. My own subscription seems to have lapsed,
but I don't know if the journal is still being published.
ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale), Siege Social: Case
Postale 611, CH-4142 Muenchenstein, Switzerland.
This is not a journal (though you will wind up getting interesting
publications) but the major international professional association of
typographers, type designers, typesetting equipment manufacturers,
and typographic educators. Every two years it sponsors a seminar on
some aspect of Letterform research and education. The last one was
at Stanford ("The Computer and the Hand in Type Design" -- Proceedings
to be Published in Visible Language) and the next will be in Hamburg,
Germany in late September 1985 ("Handwriting Education"). Promotes
copyright protection and ethical licensing of typeface designs.
Membership fee is $35 per year for individuals. (I was formerly
President of the ATypI Committee on Research and Education in Letterforms.)
Note that most journals have a higher fee for institutions and libraries
than for individuals, so if you want your library to subscribe, be prepared
for a different price.
--Chuck Bigelow
$