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Under the Radar:
Underground Zines and Self-Publications, 1965-1975

The mid-1960s witnessed a boom in underground and self-published works. Hectographs, mimeographs, and offset printing not only allowed for the production of small, low-cost print runs but also promoted a unique aesthetic; using wild mock-ups, messianic amateurs combined typescript blocks of text, handwriting, scribbled drawings, assemblages of collaged visuals, porn photos, snapshots, and comic strips. The typography freed itself, in parallel with a liberalization of linguistic and visual forms of expression in the name of a new sensibility.

This book (which appeared in conjunction with an exhibition at the Weserburg in Bremen in 2017) is the first to present the underground and self-published works that came out of West Germany in such depth, while also showing the international context in which they emerged-not as an anecdotal history but as an attempt to tap into the aesthetic cosmos of a Do-It-Yourself rebellion, one that also challenges us to take a new look at the current boom in independent publishing, the popularity of Risography, contemporary zine-making, and other related topics.

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NEW!
Design School Reader:
Course Companion for Students of Graphic Design

Offered as a primer for undergraduate and graduate students,?Design School Reader?presents more than forty essays on subjects such as: the role of design in politics; visual culture and the social impact of design; key moments in the history of typography; technological innovations; the power of branding and logos; ethical considerations and dilemmas; and important figures in the design world.

Divided into five parts-Design Language; Design Dialects; Politics, Ideology, Design; Business and Commerce; and Inspiration and Discoveries-each section features a collection of essays culled from Heller's extensive publications from the past several decades.

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BACK IN STOCK!
Extra-curricular

A?collection of texts on and around the topic of self-organized learning, curriculum, experiments, and alternatives in graphic design education.?Occurring both within and separate from existing institutions, these other forms of learning and organization question how such learning takes place, for whom, and the ideologies inherent in existing models, among many other things.

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INTERVIEW WITH INES COX

We love the design of Post Medium, the?catalogue for the 2019 Chaumont Graphic Design International Biennale, designed by Ines Cox. We recently asked her a few questions.

Can you talk about the process and concept of the Biennale catalog?

The brief of the Biennial talked about the computer as an active collaborator in the design process. I was intrigued and started thinking about what the computer could offer me. What if the computer becomes a co-author? Someone that speaks to us and actively participates instead of only serving. The computer talks to us all the time: we have a relationship with it where we communicate with written language. I started collecting words that describe simple digital actions, coming from user interfaces of our design programs. (InDesign, Photoshop, etc.) And when you isolate words we read every day on our screen (such as "Save," "Change," "Go",.) and use them in a different (physical) context, they begin to carry new/old meanings.

Next to that, the integration of the digital file names is a play on a sort of existential question: What is it that I, the graphic designer, make? A poster? Or a file for a poster? It's also a nice way to title the different media inside the complete identity. It's an extra platform to communicate about something.

For the catalog, the collection of words is put in alphabetical order. The alphabetical list of computer vocabulary forms the backbone of the catalog: it's the basic structure. Every item that appears in the catalog (articles, foreword, poster competition, etc.) is added to the list, also in alphabetical order (with the first letter of its title). This process creates un unexpected book structure. For example, the "Colophon" appears between "Break" and "Darken," since its first letter, the "C," comes after the "B" of "Break". To guide the reader, a table of contents begins the book. I wanted to make a small book with as many pages as possible, really like an old-school pocket dictionary.

I was lucky to be able to work with Jean-Michel G?ridan and Mariina Bacik from le Signe. They gave me total freedom and were always super supportive. A true pleasure, and I look back to it with a warm heart!

What do you think makes a successful poster design?

A poster that activates the mind of the viewer, a design that provokes thought. An open invitation.

How are you staying productive during the quarantine?

It is a liberating sensation not to feel the pressure to be productive. I am trying to spend my time reading, writing, and exploring new things that don't necessarily need an end result.

Post Medium:
Catalogue for the 2019 Chaumont Graphic Design International Biennale