When new typefaces are released today, we expect them to be a full complement of designs and weights. It wasn’t that long ago, however, that typeface families grew much like your own: a little at a time – over a period of time. Such was the case with the ITC Tiffany™ and ITC Lubalin Graph™ typeface families.

ITC Tiffany and ITC Lubalin Graph were released in 1974. It wasn’t until 1981, however, (in U&lc Volume Eight Number 2) that their italic designs were announced. Why the delay? Because before the advent of design software, typefaces were drawn by hand – a time consuming and labor intensive process. ITC was a relatively small company and undertaking a new typeface design project was a major investment.

Which may beg the question as to why were the italics drawn at all. The answer is “technology.” More and more typesetting was being set digitally in the early 1980s – and it was a relatively easy process to digitally oblique a roman design to serve as a makeshift italic. The result did not look good to a typographer’s eyes, but that didn’t stop people from doing it.

The folks at ITC, however, were typographers – and it pained them to see their typefaces contorted and distorted into faux italic designs. Which is why ITC asked Ed Benguiat to draw new italic designs to complement the roman weights of Herb Lubalin, Tony DiSpigna and Joe Sundwall’s ITC Lubalin Graph and his own ITC Tiffany typeface.

The first “Directory of ITC Typefaces” (a specimen showing of all the typefaces released in the first ten years of the ITC’s existence) was also published in the pages of Volume Eight of U&lc – as was the announcement of the ITC Galliard™ family, a typeface design first released by another company. To find out what company first released Galliard – and to see what else was in the journal’s pages – click the PDFs below to download Volume Eight of U&lc.

Low Resolution:

Volume 8–1 (Low Res).pdf (22.0 MB)

Volume 8–2 (Low Res).pdf (17.0 MB)

Volume 8–3 (Low Res).pdf (15.2 MB)

Volume 8–4 (Low Res).pdf (14.7 MB)

High Resolution:

Volume 8–1.pdf (103.0 MB)

Volume 8–2.pdf (78.2 MB)

Volume 8–3.pdf (73.1 MB)

Volume 8–4.pdf (70.5 MB)

Allan Haley is Director of Words & Letters at Monotype Imaging. Here he is responsible for strategic planning and creative implementation of just about everything related to typeface designs.

Ed Gottschall, the editor of U&lc in the late 1970s and early 1980s, loved technology. Although he wore a suit and tie to work everyday, he was a certifiable geek. He also had a lot to be geeky about. During his tenure as editor, the manner in which typographic content was set, output, stored and managed was going through dramatic changes. To celebrate and explore this abundance of communications technology, Gottschall prepared his “Vision ’80s” supplement to U&lc in Volume Seven Number Two.

“Vision ’80s” was a major undertaking that pumped the journal up from 80 to 180 pages. In the supplement, Gottschall presented a cornucopia of technological developments for creating textual content – and predicted its future. In several instances his predictions were right on target; in others, not so much. “Vision ’80s” was a report on the state of the art of creating content – and Gottschall was a great reporter. Reporting and predicting, however, are two very different things. Still, “Vision ’80s” is an excellent view into the future of yesterday.

Along with technology, Gottschall was also interested in the calligraphic arts. Volume Seven Number One, contains a call for entries for a calligraphy competition with the winning entries to be shown in the pages of U&lc – and in an exhibition at the ITC Gallery. While the ITC Gallery is long gone, the winning entries can be seen in Volume Seven Number Four.

ITC also announced four new typeface families in Volume Seven of U&lc. The first weights of the ITC Franklin Gothic™ family were announced in the first issue; which was followed by the ITC Fenice™, ITC Century™ and ITC Isbell™ families.

Click the PDFs below to download Volume Seven of U&lc.

Low Resolution:

Volume 7–1 (Low Res).pdf (15.9 MB)

Volume 7–2 (Low Res).pdf (35.6 MB)

Volume 7–3 (Low Res).pdf (15.9 MB)

Volume 7–4 (Low Res).pdf (18.1 MB)

High Resolution:

Volume 7–1.pdf (70.4 MB)

Volume 7–2.pdf (157.1 MB)

Volume 7–3.pdf (73.7 MB)

Volume 7–4.pdf (85.9 MB)

Allan Haley is Director of Words & Letters at Monotype Imaging. Here he is responsible for strategic planning and creative implementation of just about everything related to typeface designs.

ITC was hitting its stride in the late 1970s. It was releasing a wide range of distinctive typefaces and U&lc had grown into a significantly influential journal – and not just about type and typography.

By the late 1970s, U&lc had a circulation of over 250,00 subscribers. ITC liked to think that there was also a significant “pass-along” readership, but most people tended to horde their issues – fearing that, if they got outside of their sight, they would be gone forever.

Graphic designers and art directors were the journal’s target audience. (This was before there were creative directors.) While graphic designers and art directors specified what typefaces were to be used in their projects, they also determined what photographs and illustrations might be used in those same projects.

As a result, illustrators and photographers were eager to have their work displayed in the pages of U&lc. And the editors of the journal obliged. The four issues of Volume Six showcased the work of no less than a dozen different illustrators and photographers. Some, like Jim Spanfeller and William Bramhall, became regulars in the journal. Others like, Frances Jetter and Janet Beller, received their first major exposure – while others, like Joan Hall and Richard Haas, were seasoned professionals.

Four diverse new ITC® typeface families were also announced in the pages of Volume Six. The ITC Clearface® family, a revival of an early American Type Founders design, was announced in the first issue. This was followed by the ITC Zapf Chancery® design, which went on to become one of the first commercial typefaces in the Apple operating system. The distinctive ITC Benguiat Gothic™ family was announced in the September issue and the ITC Novarese™ series by Italian designer Aldo Novarese (who also designed the Eurostile® family) finished out the year.

Click the PDFs below to download Volume Six of U&lc.

Low Resolution:

Volume 6–1 (Low Res).pdf (15.4 MB)

Volume 6–2 (Low Res).pdf (14.8 MB)

Volume 6–3 (Low Res).pdf (14.5 MB)

Volume 6–4 (Low Res).pdf (17.4 MB)

High Resolution:

Volume 6–1.pdf (75.1 MB)

Volume 6–2.pdf (71.5 MB)

Volume 6–3.pdf (72.9 MB)

Volume 6–4.pdf (78.9 MB)

Allan Haley is Director of Words & Letters at Monotype Imaging. Here he is responsible for strategic planning and creative implementation of just about everything related to typeface designs.

U&lc began its fifth year of publication in 1978 and was fully established as a unique source of great typographic design, harbinger of new typefaces, cornucopia of information about typography and its practitioners – and the occasional prediction about the future of our craft. Graphic designers would eagerly await the next issue and devour the contents when it arrived.

At the time, I was working for a large company, and the issues were delivered in bulk. As soon as one person discovered the box of issues in the mailroom, all work stopped as we rushed to gather a copy. (The word spread as fast as any email today.)

In 1960 Herb Lubalin created a series inserts about U.S. culture for the German design magazine, Der Druckspiegel. Then, as now, music was an important part of designer’s lives. Radios (sans ear buds) and even phonographs were important fixtures most design studios. In U&lc, Volume Five, No. 1, Lubalin recreated this award-winning design, “Come Home to Jazz,” using ITC typefaces. The designs, although over 30 years old, are still electrifying.

Volume Five, No. 2 predicted a new job title and career opportunity for graphic designers. The opportunity came to fruition – not so much the job title.

The ITC Zapf Dingbats® suite of characters was one of the many designs announced in the pages of Volume Five. Today, ITC Zapf Dingbats is the staple for bullets, boxes, stars, pointing hands, and the like. In 1978, it was a groundbreaking accomplishment – and the first time that a large suite of these characters were drawn with consistent design traits and organized in a logical way.

Readers were also treated to a 3000-year “Brief History of Typography” – in four pages.

Volume Five, No. 4 features one of my all-time favorite articles. Titled “My Favorite 5, 6, 7, and 9 Letter Words.” Herb Lubalin, who was almost as concerned with the look of a word as he was with its meaning, picked his favorites (graphically speaking) from the English language, listed them and transformed many into wonderful graphic images set in the ITC Benguiat® typeface.

Click the PDFs below to enjoy the above articles and features – plus lots more.

Low Resolution:

Volume 5–1 (Low Res).pdf (15.4 MB)

Volume 5–2 (Low Res).pdf (12.1 MB)

Volume 5–3 (Low Res).pdf (13.5 MB)

Volume 5–4 (Low Res).pdf (12.8 MB)

High Resolution:

Volume 5–1.pdf (78.9 MB)

Volume 5–2.pdf (63.0 MB)

Volume 5–3.pdf (65.2 MB)

Volume 5–4.pdf (62.5 MB)

Allan Haley is Director of Words & Letters at Monotype Imaging. Here he is responsible for strategic planning and creative implementation of just about everything related to typeface designs.