Herb Lubalin
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Herbert F. Lubalin (; March 17, 1918 – May 24, 1981) was an American
graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...
. He collaborated with Ralph Ginzburg on three of Ginzburg's magazines: ''
Eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...
'', ''Fact'', and ''Avant Garde''.


Biography

Herb Lubalin was born March 17, 1918, in New York. There he lived with his parents, older sister, and twin brother. His parents were very appreciative of the arts and were supportive of his artistic capabilities and talent. Early into his education, his parents realized that he was color blind.


Education and early career

Lubalin entered
Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...
at the age of seventeen, and quickly became interested in typography as a communicative implement. Gertrude Snyder notes that during this period Lubalin was particularly struck by the differences in interpretation one could impose by changing from one typeface to another, always “fascinated by the look and sound of words (as he) expanded their message with typographic impact.”Snyder, Gertrude. “Herb Lubalin: Art Director, Graphic Designer and Typographer.” ''Graphis: International Journal for Graphic and Applied Art'' 41 (Jan-Feb 1985): 56-67. After graduating in 1939, Lubalin had a difficult time finding work; he was fired from his job at a display firm after requesting a raise from $8/week (around US$100 in 2006 currency) to $10.“Pioneers: Herb Lubalin,” ''Communication Arts Magazine'' 41 (Mar-Apr 1999): 159. Lubalin would briefly land at Reiss Advertising, and then (in 1945) at Sudler & Hennessey, where he worked for 19 years. Lubalin and
John J. Graham John J. Graham (September 25, 1923 – June 12, 1994) was an American graphic artist who designed and created both the NBC NBC logos, peacock logo (1956) and the NBC "snake" logo (1959). Biography Graham was born in New York City, where he atte ...
created the original NBC Peacock in 1957 at Sudler. The Cooper Union web book, ''100 Days of Herb Lubalin'' (day 46), displays a Sudler ad from the 1950s that shows
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
,
Art Kane Art Kane (born Arthur Kanofsky; April 9, 1925 – February 3, 1995) was an American fashion and music photographer active from the 1950s through the early 1990s. He created many portraits of contemporary musicians, including Bob Dylan, Jefferson A ...
and John Pistilli were among his employees. Pistilli Roman (1964) was Lubalin's first typeface. Google Images show it later comprised the trademarks of Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic from 1978 to 1985. In 1961 Lubalin designed the trademark for the ''
Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...
,'' which it used for several years. His work redesigning the magazine was portrayed in a cover painting by
Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...
. Lubalin left Sudler to start his own firm, Herb Lubalin, Inc., in 1964.


Private practice

Lubalin created the trademark for the World Trade Center at its opening (1973). He designed versions of ''
Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
'', ''
New Leader ''The New Leader'' (1924–2010) was an American political and cultural magazine. History ''The New Leader'' began in 1924 under a group of figures associated with the Socialist Party of America, such as Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas. It w ...
'' and the entire series of ''Eros'' magazine, the last of which was the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case on obscenity, '' Ginzburg v. United States'' 383 U.S. 463 (1966).


''Eros Magazine'' and ''Fact Magazine''

In Lubalin's private studio, he worked on a number of wide-ranging projects, from poster and magazine design to packaging and identity solutions. It was here that he became best known for his work on a series of magazines published by Ralph Ginzburg: ''Eros'', ''Fact'', and ''Avant Garde''.Meggs, Philip B. “Two Magazines of the Turbulent ‘60s: a ‘90s Perspective.” ''Print'' 48 (Mar-Apr 1994): 68-77 . ''Eros'' (four issues, Spring 1962 to 1963) devoted itself to the beauty of the rising sense of sexuality and experimentation, particularly in the burgeoning
counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...
. It was a quality production with no advertising, and the large format (13 by 10 inches) made it look like a book rather than a quarterly magazine. It was printed on varying papers and the editorial design was some of the greatest that Lubalin ever did. It quickly folded after an obscenity case brought by the US Postal Service. Ginzburg and Lubalin followed with ''Fact'', largely founded in response to the treatment ''Eros'' received. This magazine's inherent anti-establishment sentiment lent itself to outsider writers who could not be published in mainstream media; ''Fact'' managing editor Warren Boroson noted that “most American magazine, emulating the ''
Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
'', wallow in sugar and everything nice; ''Fact'' has had the spice all to itself.” Rather than follow with a shocking design template for the publication, Lubalin chose an elegant
minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...
palette consisting of dynamic serifed typography balanced by high-quality illustrations. The magazine was printed on a budget, so Lubalin stuck with black and white printing on uncoated paper, as well as limiting himself to one or two typefaces and paying a single artist to handle all illustrations at bulk rate rather than dealing with multiple creators. The result was one of dynamic minimalism that emphasized the underlying sentiment of the magazine better than “the scruffy homemade look of the underground press r thescreaming typography of sensationalist tabloids” ever could. ''Fact'' itself folded in controversy as ''Eros'' before it, after being sued for several years by Barry Goldwater, the Republican presidential candidate, about whom Fact wrote an article entitled “The Unconscious of a Conservative: A special Issue on the Mind of Barry Goldwater.” Goldwater was awarded a total of $90,000, effectively putting ''Fact'' out of business.


''Avant Garde''


Logo

The creation of the magazine's
logogram In a written language, a logogram (from Ancient Greek 'word', and 'that which is drawn or written'), also logograph or lexigraph, is a written character that represents a semantic component of a language, such as a word or morpheme. Chine ...
proved difficult, largely due to the inherent difficulties presented by the incompatible
letterform A letterform, letter-form or letter form is a term used especially in typography, palaeography, calligraphy and epigraphy to mean a letter (alphabet), letter's shape. A letterform is a type of glyph, which is a specific, concrete way of writing a ...
combinations in the title. Lubalin's solution consisted of tight-fitting letterform combinations to create a futuristic, instantly recognizable identity. The demand for a complete typesetting of the logo was extreme in the design community, so Lubalin released ITC Avant Garde from his
International Typeface Corporation The International Typeface Corporation (ITC) was a type manufacturer founded in New York in 1970 by Aaron Burns, Herb Lubalin and Edward Rondthaler. The company was one of the world's first type foundries to have no history in the production of ...
in 1970. Steven Heller, one of Lubalin's fellow
AIGA The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, user experience, branding and identity. The ...
medalists, notes that the “excessive number of ligatures . . . were misused by designers who had no understanding of how to employ these typographic forms,” further commenting that “Avant Garde was Lubalin’s signature, and in his hands it had character; in others’ it was a flawed Futura-esque face.”Heller, Steven. “Herb Lubalin: Rule Basher.” ''U & lc'' 25 (Summer 1998): 8-11.


Page design

''Avant Garde'' (14 issues, January 1968 to summer 1971) also provided Lubalin with a large format of wide typographic experimentation; the page format was an almost square 11.25 by 10.75 inches bound in a cardboard cover, a physical quality that, coupled with Lubalin’s layouts, caught the attention of many in the New York design scene. Ginzburg, who held some experience as a photographer, gave Lubalin total control over the magazine’s look: “Herb brought a graphic impact. I never tried to overrule him, and almost never disagreed with him.” Other issues included a portfolio of
Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
's oft-neglected erotic
engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...
s, which Lubalin willingly combined with his own aesthetic, printing them in a variety of colors, in reverse, or on disconcerting backgrounds. Unfortunately, ''Avant Garde'' again caught the eye of censors after an issue featuring an alphabet spelled out by nude models; Ralph Ginzburg was sent to prison, and publication ceased with a still-growing circulation of 250,000.


ITC Avant Garde

In 1970, ITC Avant Garde Gothic was released as part of ITC's first typeface release with ITC Souvenir. The font was created by Lubalin and Tom Carnase based on their wordmark for the ''Avant Garde'' magazine. Condensed styles were drawn by
Ed Benguiat Ephram Edward Benguiat (; October 27, 1927October 15, 2020) was an American type designer and lettering artist. He designed over 600 typefaces, including Tiffany, Bookman, Panache, Souvenir, Edwardian Script, and the eponymous Benguiat and Bengu ...
in 1974.


''U&lc'' Magazine

Lubalin spent the last ten years of his life working on a variety of projects, playing a key role in the
International Typeface Corporation The International Typeface Corporation (ITC) was a type manufacturer founded in New York in 1970 by Aaron Burns, Herb Lubalin and Edward Rondthaler. The company was one of the world's first type foundries to have no history in the production of ...
and its typographic journal ''U&lc'' (short for ''Upper and lower case''). Steven Heller argues that ''U&lc'' was the first ''Emigre'', or at least the template for its later successes, for this very combination of promotion and revolutionary change in type design. Heller further notes, “In ''U&lc'', he tested just how far smashed and expressive lettering might be taken. Under Lubalin’s tutelage, eclectic typography was firmly entrenched.” Lubalin enjoyed the freedom his magazine provided him; he was quoted as saying “Right now, I have what every designer wants and few have the good fortune to achieve. I’m my own client. Nobody tells me what to do.”David R. Brown, “Herb Lubalin,” ''AIGA'' (1981), http://www.aiga.org (accessed August 15, 2006).


References

New York Times, 9-2-88, p. A 3, corrections


Further reading

*Gertrude Snyder; Herb Lubalin; Alan Peckolick. "Herb Lubalin: art director, graphic designer, and typographer". New York: American Showcase (1985) *Adrian Shaughnessy
"Herb Lubalin: American Graphic Designer"
London: Unit Editions (2012).


External links



Herb Lubalin's Final U&lc
An Interview with Mr. Herb Lubalin
1969)
"Individualism Squelchers" by Herb Lubalin
1966)
Art Directors Club biography, portrait and images of work''Eros'' magazine
– all four issues with various related resources, archival project by Mindy Seu
The life, work, and afterlife of Herb Lubalin
by the Herb Lubalin Study Center {{DEFAULTSORT:Lubalin, Herbert 1918 births 1981 deaths AIGA medalists American graphic designers Cooper Union alumni Logo designers American typographers and type designers American magazine founders