It’s about time that Herb Lubalin, the American phototype pioneer, had a new monograph. And 2012 is a good time for Adrian Shaughnessy to have written it. The last and only one was published in 1985. The forthcoming 448-page volume, simply titled Herb Lubalin: American Graphic Designer, 1918—81—by Shaughnessy and edited by Shaughnessy, Tony Brook, and Alexander Tochilovsky for Unit Editions—will be shipped on August 13. It promises to be a worthy testament to the extraordinary professional life of the founder of U&lc, designer of Avant Garde, Eros, Fact, and Lubalin Graph, and the father of smashed and illustrative typography.
Herb Lubalin
This meticulously researched book offers a complete career overview of Herb Lubalin, beginning with his early days as one of the original Mad Men in the New York advertising world of the 50s and 60s, and continuing into the years of his greatest achievements as one of the world’s most influential typographers and graphic designers.
Only Lubalin could make his ligatures work well
But please, one favor: If you cannot use Lubalin’s Avant Garde ligatures as well as he did, don’t think this book is an opportunity to revive them. Lubalin created them for a purpose, and the rampant, widespread misuse back in the late ’60s and ’70s gave him heartburn.
Go here to pre-order this important monograph.
Smashed and intersecting letters were his trademark
Lubalin used type as language and made letters speak
.For more Steven Heller, don’t miss his live DesignCast, “Researching Design History: From a Personal Perspective,” taking place on Wednesday, June 27.