Richard Nixon became embroiled in the Watergate scandal in 1974, which caused him to become the only U.S. President to resign the office. In that same year the first handheld cellular phone call was made, “The Godfather, Part II” won best movie of the year at the Academy Awards, and Secretariat became the first horse in over 25 years to win U.S. horseracing’s triple crown.
ITC also began publishing U&lc, The International Journal of Typographics in 1974. Herb Lubalin was the editorial and art director of the first issue and his seminal design set the stage for future issues of trend setting and award winning editorial creations.
The modest 24-page first issue declared, “U&lc will provide a panoramic window, a showcase for the world of graphic arts – a clearing house for the international exchange of ideas and information.”
And, indeed, it did.
Over the 26 years that it was published, U&lc gathered a following of thousands of avid readers that eagerly anticipated each issue. It became the most important typographic publication of its time.
While a couple of years lacked a full complement, U&lc was published quarterly, in its – large format – tabloid size, until the fall of 1999. Early publications were limited to black and white, and color was introduced in 1988.
Even though U&lc ceased publication over 10 years ago, we continue to receive weekly requests for back issues and reprints of specific articles. Unfortunately, because we have a limited supply of the hardcopy issues, we have been unable to fulfill these requests.
Thanks to technology, this has changed. Over this summer, we had a complete set of the publication scanned as high and low resolution files. Today, we are happy to announce that we will be making these scans available as downloadable Adobe® Acrobat® PDF documents – and the files will be searchable.
Every month, we will make one volume (a year’s worth of publications) available through the Fonts.com blog. There are, however, a couple of caveats. First, the files are big – as in “way big.” The low-resolution files can be as big as 18 MB and the high-resolution files are downright huge at over 85 MB in some cases. Second, they are not perfect. The original documents were sometimes faded, cracked or torn. That combined with a semi-automated scanning process (over 9,000 pages scaned) resulted in some unavoidable “character” traits. The final caveat is that the above plan could change depending on audience interest level (or lack thereof). So, if you love it, let us know.
Click below the links below, and you will be rewarded with the first volume of U&lc. Enjoy.
Low Resolution:
Volume 1–1 (Low Res).pdf (5.1 MB)
Volume 1–2 (Low Res).pdf (10.2 MB)
Volume 1–3 (Low Res).pdf (10.3 MB)
High Resolution:
Volume 1–1.pdf (21.4 MB)
Volume 1–2.pdf (42.7 MB)
Volume 1–3.pdf (46.1 MB)
Tags: U&lc
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jeff Fisher, Fonts.com and goosegeek, typofoto. typofoto said: #in How typesetting tastes change! Lovely examples of the 70s RT U&lc back issues to be made available http://blog.fonts.com/archives/965 […]
[…] more about this incredible scanning project and the history of U&lc, and access the PDFs, right here, right […]
I’ve been requesting print volumes for years now. Love it! Thank you so much for this resource!
Love it!
“So, if you love it, let us know.”
Of course I love it! And I’ll spread the word.
Cheers,
Rick
I really, really, REALLLLY love it.
Great (old) news. Keep up the good work.
Cheers
Elias
Thank you SO MUCH for making this available!! LOVE IT!
Very much love it! Looking forward to the next installment already…
Cheers,
Simon
This is great!
[…] through their Blog have annouced they are re-releasing all 26 years of U&lc in high res’ PDF form. OK, only one year at a time, because like us, they have band-width considerations to think […]
loveeeee it!
This is way cool. Please keep it coming. You guys are doing a great service by offering these back issue.
This is a really useful initiative. Although I have many of the originals it’s very useful to have them available in this format.
Thanks for making this available — it’s an invaluable record of the state of good typographic thinking and should be read by all. You are doing the typographic community a huge service. Keep up the good work.
Thank you very much for making these available to fontaholics such as myself!
The vintage ads are very interesting, too — really makes you appreciate how much typography has changed since the 1970s.
This is great. Thank you so much. Looking forward to downloading additional volumes!
An incredible resource, and generously given. Thank you.
Thank you! This is great!
Many thanks. I used to have a complete set, but had due to allergies had to get rid of them. Great to now have digital copies.
my precious
I’m from Uruguay and this material is very rare to get. This is a treasure for me. Thanks! (and please keep publishing U&lc)
This is great. I will finally be able to read the first two issues, the only ones I have been unable to procure. Thanks so much for making these available.
Incredible. Wonderful. Munificent. Thank You.
Thanks, brings back many happy memories of my days at Filmcomposition.
SO glad to see this! I had to part with my old print copies and it is wonderful to see again.
LOVE it, and am spreading the word. I still treasure the paper copies I have but I don’t have them all. This is a great resource of great design! THANK YOU!
This is wonderful. Thank you so much!
This has made my day. Please follow through with your monthly plan.. you’ve gained a reader today!
Very cool that this is being done! I have an almost complete set from start to finish (with maybe five or six issues missing) – started my subscription at a typesetting place where I worked in the 70s. The PDFs will allow me to fill out my collection, although getting original printed copies would be better. This blog might be a place where one could find people willing to part with old print issues. I also have several doubles, even triples. Perhaps a little bartering?
[…] & now for something quite different… The much loved U&lc (upper and lower case) International Journal(s) of Typographics – long out of print and near impossible to track down – are being scanned and made available as free PDF downloads! […]
There were a couple of issues that were numbered incorrectly, weren’t there? Can a list be put up? I have Jon Berry’s book and there is an index in the back – “Contents of each issue”. In this list there is no Vol. 1, No.4, for instance. That would explain why I don’t have a copy
There are several other years in Jon’s index where it seems 4 issues weren’t managed, but this doesn’t jive with my list. I’ll have to check again in my library at the office.
Thanks very much!
This is awesome! Thank you! Fantastic!
Just Amazing , Thanks for all your hard work
Thank you!
This is great! Thanks for doing all the work to supply these.
This is a wonderful and generous project. I treasure the hard copies I collected, but this will be great for seeing the issues before I started my design career.
Much appreciated, really. Thanks guys!
FANTASTIC
Thank you! I cherish some of the hard copies that I’ve collected, but never got to see the early work of U&lc.
this. is incredible! thank you
This is really great and your effort in publishing these is majorly appreciated! Keep it up guys!
I
want
MORE
This is great, it almost makes me feel creative again
[…] & now for something quite different… The much loved U&lc (upper and lower case) International Journal(s) of Typographics – long out of print and near impossible to track down – are being scanned and made available as free PDF downloads! […]
[…] Now the fine folks at the Fonts.com blog have scanned the back issues and posted Volume I on the web for your free entertainment and edification. Lucky you. Go take a look. […]
Very much appreciated. Thank you so much for this unique and valuable resource.
U&lc is a part of my life and Lubalin is a devil who visits my nights of insomnia!
Thank you very, very, very much!
Awesome effort. I still have a stack of these from the mid-90’s and am looking forward to retracing type and design through the eyes of U&lc forward from when I was a kid. Thank you!