Here is the newest addition to my library: U&lc: Influencing Design and Typography. A bit late, I know… the book was published back in 2004, and since then I’ve seen it numerous times at various conferences and bookstores. I kept putting an acquisition off; I figured, there would always be time (and money!) to buy it later. Luckily, my parents swooped in. They saw it on my Amazon.de wishlist, and sent it to me for Christmas. Now my list is just a bit shorter… at least until I discover that next hard-bound gem.
However, this new tome posses a bit of a problem. It is big and beautiful, but it is also quite heavy! When I came to England from Germany September–October, I brought too much with me. Specifically, I brought too many books. You cannot bring too much on a flight to or from England anymore… if you overpack, you pay penalties. Every airline is a bit different in this regard. A cheap airline like RyanAir only allows 15 kg in your checked bag, whereas Lufthansa always you 20 kg, and British Airways 23 kg! I’ve got about 30 kg in books alone, not counting U&lc. Since I paid a naughty fee on my first trip here from Frankfurt, I vowed not to buy any books during my year in the UK! This is quite a tall over, now sort of already broken.
Enough of my worries. Below are photos of a few of the books spreads and gems. Interested? You can purchase it yourself, too. Copies are available on Amazon, and well… everywhere!
What was U&lc? Well, if you are reading this blog, I probably don’t have to tell you! U&lc was the in-house magazine of ITC for almost three decades. Any foundry today would kill for its mailing list, not to mention its reputation! U&lc’s design influenced trends around the world, and many of the issues became collector’s items long ago.
A fold out showing some of the many U&lc covers. There are four of these to see in the book.
John D. Berry, the book’s author and last editor of U&lc, explains the change in logo and size toward the end of the magazine’s near 30-year run.
How the magazine looked back in the olden days.
Brilliant article on the development of Cyrillics for ITC. This may be read elsewhere, too.
Makintosh, not Macintosh.
From the smaller-sized magazine, an article about ITC Founder’s Caslon.