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Graphic Design Journal

A problem with optimists is that they rarely find occasion to be pleasantly OH CANADA
surprised. If you are reading this, then this fifth issue of GDC’s Graphic
2 First Faltering Steps
Design Journal has finally materialized. The Journal began in 1993 and the
Leslie Smart, FRSA, RCA, FGDC
last issue prior to this one saw the light of day in 1996. As 2002 begins more than
five years have passed… though in spite of what pessimists might say, late is better 5 Talking with Friedrich Peter
than never. Ergo, some of the content of this issue has “matured” in oak cabinets Matt Warburton, MGDC
for a period of time, so please savour with that in mind.
18 Canadian Graphic Design
This Journal’s primary goals include: to provide a forum to encourage dialogue
Various Contributors
regarding graphic design; to promote excellence in design; and to help record
the history and development of the graphic design profession in Canada. 20 Regional Histories
A journal is a record – of information, of formally shared opinions, of words and Various Contributors
Publisher Society of Graphic Designers of Canada wisdom – sometimes anecdotal, sometimes proverbial and sometimes historical.
58 Accreditation in Ontario
Arts Court, 2 Daly Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1N 6E2 This issue’s focus is the history of Canadian graphic design, an admittedly
Albert Ng, R.G.D., FGDC
T 613 567 5400 F 613 564 4428 E info@gdc.net difficult topic to obtain an overview of. Canada is a massive land, covering nearly
10 million km2 and with a sparse human population of less than 32 million. Vast
Founding Editors Mary Ann Maruska, R.G.D., FGDC distances between cities, significant regional differences, a seeming mistrust of B E S T P R AC T I C E
Ulrich Wodicka, FGDC things ‘National,’ and typical characteristics of a frontier nation conspire to make
52 In Need of a Code
broad communication and collective processes a challenge. The graphic design
David Berman, R.G.D., FGDC
Editor Robert L. Peters, FGDC profession itself is in its infancy, trailing its cousins architecture and engineering,
T 204 943 3693 F 204 943 9483 E rlpeters@circle.mb.ca for example, by many generations. Born the love child of mother Art and father
Industry, graphic design is at last beginning to assert itself – reaching beyond PROFILE: CARL DAIR
Publication Designer Susan Mc Watt, MGDC its servitude to Marketing, grasping the role that it plays in shaping culture,
32 Grand Old Man of Canadian Design
and taking responsibility for its global impact in an age of information and ideas.
Frank Davies, FGDC
Cover Designer Dale Simonson, MGDC Regarding history, I’ll be the first to admit that the records, reminiscences,
and reports compiled in this issue are a mere beginning. It’s my hope, however, 35 A Man (Not) Trapped in Time
that these pages will in some small way spur on further record keeping, writing Greg Smith
The Graphic Design Journal is issued free to members of and sharing of information regarding our budding young profession (I also hope
37 Disrupting Design
the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada. For information that the next issue will hit the press before another half decade elapses…).
Brian Donnelly
about the Society please visit www.gdc.net or call Many “Thanks!” are in order: to Mary Ann Maruska and Ulrich Wodicka as
1.877.496.4453. the Journal’s founding editors; to Brian Donnelly for writing and compiling core
content re: Carl Dair for this issue (yes, several years ago); to Matt Warburton for CO N N E C T I O N S
Throughout this publication, trademarked names are used.
persistently hounding the various GDC Chapters for histories of their formation,
Rather than place a trademark symbol at every occurrence 44 Falling Dolls:
as well as for a remarkable interview with Friedrich Peter; to Cynthia Hoffos and
of a trademarked name, we hereby state that we are using The Marna Bunnell Poster Project
her colleagues at Concepts 3 for editing and checking histories; to David Berman
the names in an editorial fashion with no intention of Marna Bunnell
for contributing the benchmark GDC Code of Ethics; to Susan Mc Watt for investment
infringement of such trademarks.
of tireless talent in designing this issue; to Dale Simonson for the cover design; 47 For the Record
The opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily to my colleagues at Circle for all their help; to Domtar for donating the paper; and, Mary Ann Maruska, R.G.D., FGDC
those of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada. significantly, to the individual authors and article contributors (who are credited
60 Call for Papers & Graphics
alongside their submissions) without whom a journal cannot come to be.
Photocopying is permissible for research or educational
I once overheard the comment that; “Typography is a container for language.”
purposes with credit given to the Journal and the author(s).
On that note, I’m pleased that this Journal can introduce the font Cartier Book by BOOK REVIEW
Copyright for the articles in this issue remains with the
Canadian typographic designer Rod Mc Donald as a “container” with a distinctly
authors. 48 Creativity to Go…
Canadian voice. Thanks to FontShop Canada for contributing the font to the cause.
Mary Ann Maruska, R.G.D., FGDC
© Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, 2002
ISBN 1192-9871 Cheers!
V E R B AT I M

50 The Turn of the Millennium

Peter Francey
Robert L. Peters, FGDC
National Sustaining Sponsor Editor, Graphic Design Journal
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firststeps faltering

There had been for several years an active Toronto Art Directors’ We took bets on how many might show. 12 was the most
C A N A D A

Club, whose members were ad agency and magazine art directors. optimistic bid. We had sent invitations to the media, sure they
We wondered if they would consider these ‘upstarts’ as a threat. would not show. We were wrong. Front row center (an early arrival)
The early days of the Society of Not so. They were supportive and from the beginning had the TDC was Pearl Mc Carthy, legendary art critic of The Globe and Mail.
presidents at the head table of their annual awards banquets. Her Saturday column was most glowing.
Graphic Designers of Canada.
As well as a passion for the craft, the founders displayed an We didn’t know enough to do a head count but the hall was
O H

– Leslie Smart, FRSA, RCA, FGDC innocence bordering on naivete. filled and latecomers had to stand. The questions were excellent.
Allan Fleming told me with a straight face that he had 17 jobs Much to the annoyance of the Arts & Letters staff we ran overtime.
in the shop and five of them were billable. Nobody seemed to want to go home. The evening was a morale-
Carl Dair, perhaps the most politically naive of us, died in 1967 booster of orgasmic proportion for the faithful five.
believing that Josef Stalin was a benevolent leader. For reasons we shall never understand we became the darlings
of the media. Robert Fulford, then book editor of the Toronto Daily
It was 1956 – the year that the Society of Typographic Designers Czech book designer/illustrator Frank Newfeld, who had come to “For excitement and typographic Star, wrote a daily book review column and invariably made fairly
of Canada (TDC) became a chartered society (the name was Toronto after some years in Britain, became a member of our group. lengthy comment on the design quality of the books he reviewed.
changed in 1968 to the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada). His studio on Spadina Avenue was to become operational HQ.
refinement, Canadian books are up there And then we got even broader recognition. Mayor Nathan
It would be generous to say that in the early 50s the scene was We were soon joined by Allan Fleming who had recently with the Wall Street Journal.” Phillips was guest of honour at a dinner of the Toronto Chapter of
bleak. The judges of the book design section of the British Book returned from studying in Europe – at last a Canadian-born the International Club of Printing House Craftsmen. At the event,
League biennial awards program two years earlier stated, “the member of the pack! I have two examples of my naivete (not innocence!): shortly one of the speakers mentioned that Carl Dair and I had won the
Canadian submission is, in dullness, second only to the entry from At this point in Toronto we were running out of candidates after arriving in Toronto I got a freelance assignment writing an silver and bronze medals (Dair got the silver, damn him) in the
the USSR.” A Canadian publisher was heard to say, “For excitement for our organization. Carl Dair, the only typographic designer illustrated four-page section for Canadian Printer & Publisher called international design competition at the Leipzig Book Fair. Phillips
and typographic refinement, Canadian books are up there with the in Canada of longstanding, was in Holland studying type design Specimen Review, for which readers would submit samples and phoned Carl the next morning to ask if we had been to East
Wall Street Journal.” and punch-cutting on a government grant. There were several I would do a critical review. I was particularly harsh with a badly Germany for the presentation. When Carl told him that the medals
My own first exposure to Canadian typography was after getting enlightened typographic designers in Québec, many of them flawed piece from a major paper manufacturer. The editor called had come by mail with a letter of congratulations, he was horrified.
off the boat in Québec City in the late summer of 1954. Amongst from Germany. Paul Arthur was working in isolation in Ottawa, me in shock. It seemed that the paper company was his major He got a German-speaking member of his staff to phone the
my worldly goods was an Olivetti portable typewriter, with a white and Robert Reid was in a similar situation in Vancouver. advertiser. I mumbled about the immorality of editorial content Oberbürgermeister of Leipzig for permission for he, Phillips, to do
calfskin-covered case, a going-away present from my students at It should be pointed out that there were no designers working being slanted to match advertisers’ interests, but I lost the battle. a presentation in Toronto. The Oberbürgermeister was delighted
Portsmouth College of Art. At the counter I was greeted by a beefy in groups. In common voice, they all expressed their distress at not My second faux pas was to do with the TDC. Following the and asked for photos. Photos in the Toronto Press prompted the
customs officer who took the typewriter and, with the largest rub- having any kindred spirits with whom they could communicate. lead of the BSIAD, I convinced the group that we needed a scale of CBC to invite us for an interview on the show Tabloid. Carl and
ber stamp I have ever seen, stamped the brief but telling message The universal feeling among the core of five pioneers was that average fees. After some to-ing and fro-ing we agreed on numbers. I were featured on 13 minutes of prime time national television.
“Settlers Effects” (with no apostrophe) in what is misnamed Old more than phone calls and the odd lunch were needed. Rather late in the exercise I decided to run it past our legal counsel. Wonderful stuff this typography.
English typeface. I suddenly had the feeling that Toronto, my final Also, that we should be long on action and short on bureau- Her letter of reply went something like this: “Should you proceed Sometime after the first public meeting, Pearl Mc Carthy used
destination, was going to be like Dawson City in the 1890s. cracy. The framing of the constitution could wait and we should with your average fees project you may be in violation of the Corrupt typography as the topic for her column and stated that typography
The federal government was obviously badly in need of help – draft our aims and get on with implementation. Practices Act. The penalty for you, members of your committee and was the liveliest art activity in Canada. Harold Town must have
typographically and editorially. So the ingredients were the core of five, dedicated to their the Society’s president, would be fines to a maximum of $1,000,000 been pissed off.
Once in Toronto, I got a job as a typographic consultant to craft and frustrated doing the solo act. Also, we were convinced each and/or jail terms not to exceed 5 years.” And as only a lawyer In the spring of 1956 we ran two two-day seminars which stirred
MonoLino Typesetting Company and met with John Gibson, also that synergistically an association would make more yards than can write: “Caution is clearly indicated.” The project was dropped, considerable interest: Corporate Identity at McMaster University and
a Limey defector, who had a similar post with Howarth & Smith individual efforts. never to be mentioned again. Annual Report Design at the Royal Ontario Museum. Both were fully
Typesetters. We were both experiencing professional loneliness The other ingredient was enthusiasm from publishers who were However, this innocence/naivete enabled us, with five members subscribed. A by-product of this exposure was invitations from
and spent a lot of time on the phone and having lunches. familiar with books from Britain and the continent, and in some and $175 in the bank, to embark on major national programs other associations to provide speakers – gratis, of course.
We talked of many things including the possible formation cases were importers of such books. They were less than happy without fretting at all. By this time, Paul Arthur of Ottawa and Robert Reid of Vancouver
of an association of like-minded people. Frank Davies, a typophile with the design quality of Canadian books. Our first public meeting was held at the Arts & Letters Club were aboard. Joy to the world, we now straddled three provinces
and art director, and I were both members of the British Society The three largest type houses engaged typographic consultants on Elm Street in Toronto in the winter of 1956. It was a panel with a membership of nine.
of Industrial Artists and Designers (BSIAD), a multi-disciplinary around the time TDC was getting off the ground. discussion aimed at book publishers. To our chagrin, it snowed Then came our biggest exposure – Typography 58.
group comprising product designers, architects, illustrators, The term “graphic designer” had not been invented in 1955. that evening, not enough to stop traffic but enough to make
typographic designers, and others. Frank was all for an association, some people want to stay home.
so we were now three.

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TALKING WITH

– Matt Warburton, MGDC

Late in 1956, in response to the elevation of the design quality He had found a small factory building on Avenue Road which
of books, we elected to organize a national travelling book show. would require the minimum of restoration, $25,000. He reckoned
By this time Carl Dair had returned to Canada and was working that all we needed to do was find a moneybags who wanted to buy Shortly before his retirement from teaching Friedrich (Fred) Peter spent an evening chatting with Matt Warburton.This
on a major assignment for Rolland Paper in Montréal. He suggested some posterity and, bingo, we get a free building and the donor
edited transcript brings an interesting perspective to the formation story of organised graphic design on Canada’s west
that we should try them out and ask if they were interested in gets a highly visible branded piece of real estate.
being one of the sponsors of the book show. We have to give Moses full marks for vision – restoring factory coast, and brings the career and work of Fred Peter to light. Full text of the interview is available in PDF form on GDC’s
A few days later they replied. They had no interest in joint space was not yet fashionable. Gerry even drew plans: basement, national website. Fred Peter retired from Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design after 40 years as an instructor in May 1998.
sponsorship but would be delighted to come in as sole sponsor, 12-foot headroom, would house darkroom and photo processing,
with one condition: because of their range of products, drafting tables, composing room, press room, and stat camera. At his retirement party he was bestowed with an Honorary Fellowship by the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada
they wanted the show expanded to include commercial and The ground floor would be cleared and used as a classroom, lecture for his contributions to the development of the national design body now known as GDC, and for his immeasurable
institutional printing, as well as newspapers and magazines. hall, exhibition space, and whatever. Top floor: offices, exhibition
With glee we said “yes.” mounting facilities, samples bank and filing. influence as a design educator. He now resides in North Vancouver with his wife, Christine. He continues to be involved
Unfortunately, the Executive rejected the proposal. Moses’s in design, painting, drawing, calligraphy, illustration, and exploring his visual world.
dream went unfulfilled.
“Visible activities were more fun,
Just as we were getting over the mourning stage for what might MW: Before we get into talking about your work, Fred, I would Bob Johnson, art director of the major independent graphic
(but) with our mini-membership, have been, a real biggy showed up – a plum by default.The like to get into my initial intent of this query which was “What design studio in Vancouver, joined me. We came back from this
International Center for the Typographic Arts (ICTA) based in New are your recollections on the formation of the Vancouver meeting with the rather informal mandate to find out who in
more time was spent on the mundane –
York, with whom we had a loose affiliation, had planned a unique Graphic Artists’ Guild and subsequently the BC Chapter of the Vancouver would be interested in forming such a chapter. I got
licking stamps, writing letters, travelling exhibition. Called Typomundus XX, the exhibition would Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC)?” The paper- involved with legwork and lots of telephone calls. It was to me an
comprise 20th-century typographic gems from around the world. work that I have has you being contacted by GDC/Ontario and unfamiliar responsibility. When I arrived fresh “off the boat” I found
stacking chairs, and the like.”
Then, to their chagrin, the Center learned that judges from being asked to come to a meeting in Ottawa in November 1974 it very hard to get a foot into the door of advertising agencies
Eastern Bloc countries would not be admitted to the US. So the with a group of other people from across Canada to discuss or the design community. Many of the influential art directors in
They also indicated that if Rolland and TDC wanted, it could action moved to Toronto. the formation of a national design organization. What are your key positions in Vancouver’s advertising agencies knew each other
become an annual event. Frank Davies, for his diplomatic skills, memories about that time, what was going on and what was from student days at the Art Centre College in Pasadena. I found
was made project director. Rolland people were a joy to work happening? FP: Some snippets come back to me. In 1973 it very difficult to find contact with these people who were well
“…I am sure that I echo the sentiments of
with and stinted on nothing, even flying a student winner from Allan Fleming, typographer and book designer at the University qualified and would rather give jobs to locals than to a newcomer.
Vancouver to Montréal to attend the awards banquet. the founders when I close with of Toronto Press, for reasons I don’t remember, came to Vancouver. In trying to find out who did what in graphic design in
Frank and the PR director at Rolland, Leo Consedine, got on Doris Shadboldt might have given him my name and he wanted Vancouver, I realised that there were specific groupings. At the top
a charge to graphic designers
well and the whole thing went off without a hitch. Because of the to see my work. His secretary, Laurie Lewis, was involved in trying were art directors and creative directors, usually in charge of large
expanded show, Society members put in late nights and weekends everywhere: restore legibility!” to organize design professionals in various regions of Canada. creative teams. Few seemed willing to become movers and shakers
to match deadlines. The Federal Department of Industry and Commerce realised that in a fledgling professional group of graphic designers. I assumed
Media coverage, and particularly the trade press, was nothing It was fascinating to watch the judges at work and amazing to the input of designers in European countries had become very they saw themselves in a special category by themselves.
less than fantastic. Rolland was delighted with results and witness the degree of unanimity between designers from different valuable in international marketing endeavours. Design Canada
sponsored the show for four more years. cultures. By the end of the week all the judges could say “ja” and of the National Design Council helped mobilize professional Graphic design was a fairly new expression or term then,
After much needling by our lawyer, we worked with him on “nein” in eight languages. designers in Canada, through exhibitions, sponsorships and was it not? Yes. “Graphic design” became the term in place of
drafting the Society’s constitution. And then for the big surprise, Admission to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) was subsidies. Last, not least, it helped designers to organize them- “commercial art.” I think it conferred prestige and expressed a
our charter stated that the Society was the degree-awarding body a major breakthrough. The Academy, founded in1880, initially selves across the nation. It encouraged professionalism, to raise professional hierarchy found here. At the top of that heap were
within the discipline of typographic design. Someone said in accepted only persons in fine art and architecture. In recent years design input in order to boost Canada’s international industry the creative directors, then art directors (the distinction was not
retrospect we should have given each other bachelor’s degrees. RCA has broadened to include film, ceramics, industrial design, and commerce. Laurie Lewis, on behalf of an organizing group very clear to me). Below them were graphic designers. Some of
“BTD” has a certain ring about it. interior design, etc. and in 1966 graphic designers were admitted which I had not met at the time, sought out contact persons in them higher up on the ladder did layouts. Others executed
Although the more visible activities were great fun, with our to its hallowed halls. each province of Canada, especially in the west, to explore whether finished or camera-ready artwork.
mini-membership, more time was spent on the mundane – Having addressed the past, I am sure that I echo the sentiments there was professional interest to organize graphic designers Only a few of the art directors seemed willing to lend a hand
licking stamps, writing letters, stacking chairs, and the like. of the founders when I close with a charge to graphic designers equivalent to GDC in Ontario and the Société des Graphistes in giving telephone numbers, making contacts, recommending
Early in his term, Gerry Moses (President 1963–65) hit on the idea everywhere: restore legibility! m du Québec. I am quite certain you have a record of the meeting people who worked in graphic design in Vancouver.
of the Society owning our own building. It sounded a bit scary, but of regional representatives, who were willing to come to Ottawa
the more Moses talked, the more plausible the whole thing seemed. in 1974, to discuss for the first time this possibility of creating
a Canada-wide professional association under the name of
Graphic Designers of Canada.

GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5 m Editor’s Note: Leslie (Sam) Smart passed away in the spring of 1998. He is sadly missed. m GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5
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“Design school curricula expanded, “It became very clear to me that the future
offering courses in semiotics, practice of graphic design would require
systems theory, behavioural sciences, input from these different disciplines.”
and market research.”

So how did you go about tracking these people down then? In scouting for visiting designers for VSA’s Foundation “Resource I have one letterhead here that is some of the correspon-
I just did what anyone else would have done – consult the Yellow Program” I met Carl Chaplin. He worked for a multi-media company dence back to people who were trying to get organizations
Pages and rely on word-of-mouth recommendations. One important producing visual aids. Having come from Detroit as a draft dodger, going in other provinces. This is one to Anne Patterson
source was Fred Amess, the principal of the Vancouver School of Art his work had become noteworthy here in Vancouver. in PEI and on the top of the letterhead you have “the Visual
(VSA). He had contacts amongst architects, painters, designers, Communications Society of British Columbia.” Obviously
people from all fields of the visual arts, as well as design groups. Carl was getting quite a bit of work in some of the big you were still uncomfortable with the title of “the Guild.”
He knew almost everyone in town who had left a mark. American magazines, his illustrations especially. I remember Yes. It had to do with the fact that in 1966 I had a leave of
the visit to his studio. He imported a different philosophy of design absence to attend the Icograda Congress in Bled, Yugoslavia
You must have had quite a few connections yourself and illustration to Vancouver, and held strong opinions of how and to visit major educational institutions in Europe. The buzzword
through your students. At that time I was very green here. graphic designers should be trained – by apprenticeship. I believed in Europe was “communications.” Design school curricula expanded
Initially I taught only part time and came to know perhaps a an art school or a design school would equip for practicing graphic offering courses in semiotics, systems theory, behavioural sciences,
handful of designers who were teaching at VSA. All of these design. But I could understand his views also because he, as I, and market research. It became very clear to me that the future
were helpful. I remember Robert Reid, Rudy Kovach, VSA alumnus. had gone through an apprenticeship in graphic design. practice of graphic design would require input from these different
Clive Cope and Dick Wyndham belonged to a second category of disciplines. The graphic designer would have to be concerned with
freelancers working as freelance graphic designers and illustrators. So he thought it should be more of a hands-on thing rather professional ethics, professional codes of conduct, and with becom-
than...? Yes, he advocated the hands-on approach – being trained ing a member of a respected and officially recognized professional
What about individuals working for the agencies? Most of on the job. He was a unique individual. I appreciated his creativity, group. I believe that local commercial artists had a hard time with
them were freelancing for larger advertising agencies. The list that forthrightness, and natural authority. Anyone who has the guts to this, because their history was much more deeply rooted in the
I was able to compile included very few creative directors or art name his company “The Great Pacific Northwest Design Company” fine and the visual arts, augmenting their expertise by additional
directors, a larger numbers of freelance designers, and people while everyone else abbreviates to the shortest possible one, must graphic design courses, i.e. typography. Several different Photographic self portrait from1983.
working in the graphic arts industries – like Zenith Engraving and have a unique perspective on things. I was happy that he took on philosophies were held by various local professional groupings
in graphic production houses. Ted Baker was most helpful as a this responsibility of becoming the spokesman for this fledgling such as creative directors, printing house craftsmen, free-lancers,
contact person. He stands out for me as a very empathetic human group of GDC/BC. and members from the graphics arts industries. Each had their I think that still happens. It seemed natural for Carl Chaplin,
being who was willing to lay aside his art director crown and help. professional pride. as designer-illustrator, to ask all the members to bring work-in
It puzzled me why some of these people were seemingly aloof. Several people I have spoken to have alluded to the To bring their different philosophical points of view under one progress to these meetings. So we had “pin-ups.” They happened
Perhaps they regarded their area of expertise as special and quite controversy that surrounded the naming of the Guild. You umbrella and one name took time. a number of times in a fairly organised way. That was very exciting.
distinct from the practice of general graphic design. Besides, have referred to it as the Chapter but it sounds as if there Because communication channels did not operate as efficiently
they had their own professional association, the Art Directors Club was a bit of controversy regarding what its goals should be, It took a couple of years. It was “the Guild” for about a as they do now in Vancouver, freelancers competing in the
of Vancouver. what its mission should be, what it actually should consist year and a half, then Associate status, and then it became market saw each others’ work for the first time. For many of the
A list of people emerged who were willing to come to an orga- of. I don’t know if that was a ripple effect from the attitude an actual chapter. I remember discussions about the most more pragmatically oriented commercial artists this was really
nizing meeting. I am quite sure there is a record of it. Eager not to of the art directors and creative directors you had to deal important reasons for forming a professional association in interesting, as it was for those who looked at the work from the
become the head of such a new BC Chapter I looked for someone with, or what. There were important decisions to be made Vancouver. Some members wished to compare notes on how art director’s, agency’s or marketing points of view. Unfortunately
who would be willing to take on the chairmanship or presidency. at the time. I came back from this organizing committee in Ottawa much each local commercial artist charged for designing a these “pin-ups” became more and more spotty, fewer people
with the mandate to seek out people who would be willing to form newspaper ad or a letterhead. They were interested in exchanging brought work, so it was no longer a democratic representation.
a chapter of GDC, which existed as a professional organization information. Others looked for contacts with peers, feeling they
in the east. Carl Chaplin had a different view. He felt rather than were working in isolated cubbyholes and private studios. The What was your involvement for the first year or two?
linkage with the social and behavioural sciences, (which graphic chance, perhaps once per month, to get together to see who I know you were the National Rep for the first year.
designers were using as leverage to make themselves profession- was doing what appealed to some. There were others who saw it What did that involve, you stayed on the sidelines...?
ally more respectable) the real roots of a graphic designer should as means to apply political leverage, addressing larger issues like I stayed on the sidelines. My contributions were to stay in touch
be in the pragmatism of doing and producing work. His persuasive tax matters, tax exemptions, and business procedures. Some had with the National office, and to compile a list of members and
arguments led, through a vote, to the name choice the “Vancouver different visions. They enjoyed the social aspects and wanted to other parties interested in this new National GDC affiliation. It had
Artists’ Guild.” I personally never really thought that this would be get together like a private professional club where they could different categories – art directors, commercial artists and three
the right label, but I felt much too green, young and inexperienced discuss, invite spouses, have guest speakers, etc. There were many large department stores which had their own art departments.
in the North American market to push my views. Arguments that different points of view. Some people dropped out because they
I might have passed on, from the eastern GDC, would very likely felt their personal visions of what this professional association
have been viewed as remote control. should do were not catered to.

Magazine masthead logo for Musicanada from 1976.

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“How to make do, how to turn disadvantages,

shortcomings and deprivations into something positive,
has stayed with me very deeply.”

Was there a correlation between the change in perception whether the graphic design education at VSA was affecting the hand skills (his masterpiece was a hand lithographed, 26-colour
of what graphic design is, in your own mind, based on practitioners incisively. Eventually it did, through her alumni, reproduction of Raffael’s Sistine Madonna). So we learned stone
your experiences in Europe – was that reflected in the but it took years. lithography. We drew stuffed birds, plastercasts of Beethoven’s
professional community and the educational community, death mask and Emperor Nero’s bust, did lettering and calligraphy,
because you were teaching at the time? This raised Just to go back a bit, you talked about your training in got introduced to typography and photography. Theoretical
awareness must have been a catalyst at some time. Germany. How strong is your connection to your German courses included political indoctrination, memorizing Stalin’s life
This is an interesting question. I don’t know whether I see very heritage, specifically the importance of design in the history, and Russian language studies.
clearly. My attendance at the Icograda conference in Yugoslavia in European mind set, how does that rub off on your own
1966 became a very important experience for me. I had come out design sensibilities and your own approach? I think of some Knowing the power of propaganda, or how history records
from behind the iron curtain in Eastern Germany, grew up there of the repeated comments my wife (she studied with me at Berlin) the use of propaganda back then, what were you thinking
and had my apprenticeship in a very parochial context. My studies and myself received when we came to Canada, such as that our about, getting into a field governments were using to
in Berlin, which gave me a window to the West’s new ideas, includ- work looked so European that there was no market for it here. control the people to such a degree? I was completely
ing Marshall MacLuhan’s, were really stretching. In Yugoslavia I had In our desperate job search straight off the boat, we heard this apolitical, one of the few (10–20%) who did not join the
opportunities to hear people like Buckminster Fuller, designers who comment again and again. We gratefully acknowledge the Communist youth organization. Besides, I was introverted and
talked about the socio-political and international aspects of design, late Ted Baker, art director at an advertising agency, who had Poster for a debate on typography from the 1980s. lacked social awareness. Fortunately I grew up in a family that
behavioral sciences, systems theories, semiotics, disciplines which experienced the European market as designer for the Canadian was not politically intimidated. My father had a broad vision,
had never existed as fully accepted areas of study in most art and Exhibition Commission. He saw an application of our design style The fact that you were born in Dresden, a city that astute political discernment and didn’t succumb to Communist
design schools. Now educational institutions were groping to for the promotion of the first and second Vancouver International experienced the ravages of firestorms, etc., how do you propaganda. I just wanted to get on with my practical studies.
enlarge their curricula and provide students with a much broader, Festivals. My wife had met him one day. He invited our design think that shaped your outlook on life? World War II and All design activity served either state, economy or culture.
more solid, “scientific” based design study, under this big new submissions. We felt very honoured. It was a foot in the door. post-war years shaped my outlook very, very profoundly. I notice There was no free-market competition as we know it here.
heading of “communications.” When I came back from congresses I now look back on it as foisting a European import onto the it in interchanges with our three children. As an example, because After I had completed my three-year apprenticeship, I wanted to
like this (I went to several others – such as the 1972 ATYPI Conference local scene. I lived through times when we were always hungry and in need. study graphic design on a more serious level. There were two or
in Copenhagen, Denmark and the 1974 Icograda Conference about To this very day I have no illusions about the fact that once During my apprenticeship only few materials were available. I still three major graphic design schools in East Germany – one of them
design education in Edmonton) – I saw that philosophically we your roots go deep you will never really pull them out. Yes, my see myself cutting a calligraphy pen from oak wood because steel in East Berlin and one in Leipzig. I applied at the latter because
had to look much farther ahead. Yet on a grassroots level in general roots grew in Europe. I experienced the dilemma of immigrants: pens were rare. You couldn’t even buy an eraser. How to make do, of its long tradition in book arts, design, and typography, which
practice here in Vancouver I saw very little of this being recognized to absorb the new without losing the old. For years it remains how to turn disadvantages, shortcomings and deprivations into interested me. After a three-day entry examination I received a
as being important. However, a shift has begun: influences of US a hybrid: striving to embrace the new cultural scene with the something positive, has stayed with me very deeply. letter of acceptance. I was elated. Six weeks later I was called back
designers and design offices, and of significant numbers of designers cultural baggage you bring. This creates tension. Yet I see it as for a political interview. I bombed out. A second letter said “sorry
trained in London, Basle and Zurich. People like Carl Brett, Peter profitable tension. I observe it in foreign students, and see myself What was the education and the apprenticeship process we can’t take you.” I wasn’t red enough. This was in part due
Bartl, Peter Dorn, Gerhard Doerrie, Edward Doré, Allan Fleming, reflected in their struggles. like in Germany? School education was interrupted by World to our upbringing. We three kids grew up in a Christian home.
Fritz Gottschalk, Rolf Harder, Walter Jungkind, Burton Kramer, War II trauma, by “rehabilitated” teachers and new curricula, For us Communism was not ‘the blessing.’ Fortunately my brother
Anthony Mann, Ernst Roch, and Giles Talbot-Kelly brought different Well, it obviously benefitted you in coming to Canada to based in East Germany on Socialist-Communist Marxism. In high had slipped out to West Berlin two years earlier to study there.
design philosophies to Canada. This influx challenged parochial have that different viewpoint, because no one else here school, I was one of the best students – an unhappy compulsive As a back-up I had also applied to the Academy of Visual Arts
thinking and raised the question as to which philosophical base could offer that at the time. When I came to the VSA people perfectionist. I got sick and tired of school. My teachers couldn’t in West Berlin. In 1950, one could still cross the border into West
this new professional grouping here in Vancouver would choose. from different countries were on staff. I enjoyed this opportunity understand why because I had top grades, but I wanted to get Berlin. In hindsight leaving East Germany was really the best thing
to see how different professional and cultural traditions were, out. People around me were all hungry. This pared everything that could happen to me. My original wish would have kept me
Were you able to then bring that into your educational not melted, but collided. That “rub” has subsided over time. down to the basic necessities of life. Most important was that behind the Iron Curtain. My life would have taken a completely
program as well? My primary commitment was more to the VSA. It was very stimulating for discussing ideas and defining oneself. you had something to eat, never mind intellectual, lofty goals different turn.
I was given the responsibility to organize a Resources Program, Besides, as a designer I think it was good for clients too. for education. It is hard for anyone here today to understand that. At the Berlin Academy my peers looked at me as an import
inviting guests. I tried to bring some of the ideas that moved me, My parents helped me look into which line of work I could earn my from a rural corner of the red empire. They asked me,“What do you
or tried to foster at the school as educational committee chairman, What are your memories of growing up in a country living. We checked out the local cabinetmaker, and a woodturner, think of Picasso?” I had not even heard his name. Life and study
into GDC. VSA could invite well-known professionals who were on recuperating from a war? You were born in... I was born in until we finally sought advice from a well-known local artist. in West Berlin were confusing, overwhelming and exciting. I had
visits in North America for seminars and workshops. Guests from Dresden, in 1933. When the war ended I was 12. During the most He saw my drawings and watercolours and suggested looking fallen in love with Christine (my wife) during our apprenticeship
the Art Center School and California brought important fresh air. depressed and hungry post war years I began my apprenticeship. into graphic design. and she followed me to Berlin. I tried to sort out my ethics, cope
I don’t know whether the local practitioners of graphic design Many experiences influenced my life very dramatically. Accepted as an apprentice at a municipal workshop of the with the work load, find my way through the changes from East to
viewed it this way. Very likely they regarded VSA as an educational City of Dresden which trained reproduction photographers, West and, from the protectiveness of home, to the freedom of West
enclave. Its graduates were still judged by rather pragmatic criteria typesetters, and graphic designers, I took my first step into the Berlin. I sought equilibrium in obsessive work. The Academy was
of traditional commercial art practice. It is for others to gauge field of graphic arts and design. An old master lithographer taught an inspiring place. German expressionists had teaching posts there

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“Without knowing where one comes from and

where one is going, one does not know where one is.
Without this, much of one’s learning does not make any sense.”

and you attached yourself to one of the professors for a major. That whetted my appetite. When I finished my studies after Not necessarily the ties, but more the strength of the in the West End. Suddenly we recognized two people lolling on
He would appear in a prima donna fashion once or twice per day, six years, I resolved not to take a job in Germany, though I had family to leave behind. I left family and home relatively early – the beach, former students from the Berlin Academy. Realizing
if you were lucky, for individual or project critiques. There were an astoundingly profitable offer to work as a designer at the in stages: at age 12 an hour by bike to high school; at age 14 one how depressed we were about not having found a foothold or
additional required and elective courses. For the rest of the time Bertelsmann Corporation, which later became one of the largest hour by train to Dresden for my apprenticeship; at 17 four hours work they said point blank, “Oh you guys are softies. You should
you were on your own. If you didn’t feel like working you didn’t publishing endeavours in Europe. I wanted to see part of the by train across the border to Berlin; from there air lifts to the free have stayed right where you were – in Berlin.” After three weeks,
have to, unless you were the recipient of a stipend, which I was. world before I settled down anywhere. We intended to migrate West with annual two-month hitch-hiking trips as far as my money I got my first real job at Tisdale Design on Granville Street, a display
to New Zealand because I was excited about the country. However, would go – including Iceland and Morocco. At 24 we left Germany. shop producing exhibition designs for the BC building at the Pacific
What was that? Students from East Germany studying in West the discovery that Christine would have to become a domestic This required and created independence. The harder part of immi- National Exhibition, silkscreen printing, some advertising and
Berlin received 35DM (then $10) as a monthly allowance for food aid for nine months, and that I would be required to work as gration is the struggle to learn the language and to communicate three-dimensional design. Immigrants worked for minimum wages,
and lodging. Tuition fee was waived. Recipients had to pass a a sheep farmer for two years, ended these plans. On the way down ideas in order not to be isolated on a humdrum menial level of and art school students earned tuition money. I was told I could
means test and quality control. Because of my interest in lettering from the second floor New Zealand consultant, I noticed magnifi- existence. We only spoke a bit of high school English when we stay right there and start, setting up three-dimensional paper
and calligraphy I studied under Richard Blank, teaching lettering in cent posters of the Canadian Rockies in the staircase outside the arrived. Gaining access to a different culture involves risk and self models of crystal structures as lampshades. The boss handed me
the context of graphic design, with a specialty in lettering. It was Canadian Embassy below. Enchanted, I headed straight for the reliance. Self reliance relates to one’s integrity. This has remained a scale ruler which I had never seen before. I was used to metrics
as inspiring as it was ego deflating. I was told to start from scratch. reception desk, to enquire about immigration to Canada, I wanted important to me: who one is as a person, and what one does but these were in inches. I tried, thinking that if I don’t pull this job
Which I did, rigorously. We would sit there for days, weeks, months, to experience such natural splendour. That set the ball rolling very professionally as a result of it. Without knowing where one comes off I am out the door again. Fortunate for me – these things were
even semesters, practicing lettering with a thoroughness that I quickly. The 13-day’s voyage to Montréal in separate cabins on from and where one is going, one does not know where one is. never built.
have never, ever, experienced anywhere, either as an instructor an old Swedish troop transporter became our honeymoon trip, Without this, much learning does not make sense. This shop was an interesting place where my wife also worked
or as a student. It was typical European didactic delivered with as we married 2 1/2 weeks before heading for the New World. for a while. The art school students put us at ease, helped broaden
teutonic thoroughness, complemented by liberal arts studies. I was My immigration officer in Berlin had asked me where in Canada You mentioned the language barriers when you arrived in our language skills and introduced us to English vernacular.
spared the foundation year because of my apprenticeship. Some of we wanted to go to. Looking at this big map behind him, I picked Canada. What were your first few years like? You mentioned There was an alcoholic “drop-in” art director – an odd mix of people.
my classmates were World War II veterans. It was a very interesting, the darkest spot. He burst out laughing and said “I can’t send you Ted Baker gave you the one job. Yes. Over the years he gave We were doing things I had never heard about, like building parade
divergent student mix. Because I loved to paint, I found ways into there, there are only five houses.” It was Jasper. So, I asked him us more project work. We found really important help – both work floats. I learned how to silkscreen, how to design floats and three-
the fine arts department for painting courses. Such crossing of to send us to the closest city where I could make a living. With and friendship, through some of the young VSA. Some were young dimensional exhibits. It was a really steep learning curve. One day
interdisciplinary boundaries was rare. I also took the opportunity to immigration papers changed from “graphic designer” to “sign painters from Britain. Rather than turning to compatriots from the I designed a newspaper ad for cars with the headline “from coast
do intensive work in typography and lithography. The initiative was writer.” We arrived in Vancouver with $50 in our pockets and a old country, we found new contacts, among them Paul Deggan, to coast.” After I was finished it read “from cost to cost.” At the
the student’s. I made the most of it. During the semesters I studied $1000 debt for the government-assisted voyage. now associated with Capilano College. I remember saying to him end of the working day we covered our drawing desks against
hard and took freelance jobs that would come my way. I designed “Tomorrow is my first day of teaching. You have to help me find pigeon droppings.
and lithographed posters for events sponsored by the student That must have been quite a leap of faith – to leave your the words I am likely going to use.” My English was so poor that After 11/2 years this shop went belly-up and we didn’t get our
council. My idealism was rewarded later, in Canada, with some family behind. You mentioned that you come from a very I still marvel about being in charge of a class of students. The VSA last pay cheque. While I was employed there as a designer my wife
major poster commissions for Vancouver’s International Festivals. religious family. I think it had less to do with faith than with was small. Personal interchange between students, instructors was looking for more permanent work in graphic design herself.
Every summer I scraped all my money together and hitchhiked the longing to break out of the confinement of post-war Europe. and administration created a feeling of working together. Mutual Following someone’s advice she went to Fred Amess, principal
through Europe for two or three months. It was my way of breaking Some friends accused us of fleeing our home country at a time respect was earned through what one did rather than through of the VSA because “he knows everyone in town.” He interrupted
out of a personal shell, parochialism and iron curtain mentality. when it needed us. Yet, we felt no ties. position in the educational system. It was a very stimulating and their faculty meeting (which Christine mistook for a class session) to
I saw good portions of developing post-war Western Europe. important period for me. look at her portfolio. During the conversation she said “My husband
does graphic design also.” I was invited to show my work, and Fred
Peter has had the opportunity to touch Why did you get into teaching? I was invited to teach. It was Amess asked me to teach part-time in 1958, only 15 months after
on social and political issues through more rewarding than the design job I had at the time. It came we came to Vancouver. I had never taught before, I couldn’t speak
his work. Shown here are two book
illustrations approaching the topic about later through my wife. For two weeks after our arrival in the language very well, but I was trying to give it my best. I never
of the Gulf War. The one on the right Vancouver we dragged our heavy portfolios with school projects planned to become a teacher, though my former professor in
accompanied writing entitled “Follow. firstly to all the advertising agencies – to art and creative directors, Berlin thought of me as his possible successor – as he told me later.
Higher Orders.”
to no avail, then to graphic designers employed by printing houses. However, I welcomed this initial part-time teaching contract as
The third list included graphic design studios in department stores an up-graded addition to my commercial job. That came to an
and a fourth, signwriters. I found my first job in a second-floor one- end with bankruptcy of the firm. On the basis of some experience
room signwriter shop. The owner felt sorry for me and gave me a I found a designer position with a second display-design firm
showcard to do. I made the best calligraphic sign he had probably involved with exhibition design and found information graphics.
ever seen in his life. It earned me five bucks, and I was out in the
street again. After three weeks in Vancouver we lived on borrowed
money. I remember walking rather dejectedly along English Bay

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“One day I designed a newspaper ad for

new cars with the headline ‘from coast to coast.’
After I finished it, it read ‘from cost to cost.’”

My teaching load increased and became full-time in1960, allowing You have been described as a very religious man. I have Do you, as a designer, have a responsibility to a greater
me to freelance in graphic design. At the school I met interesting seen that in your work. I know that your spirituality really power? Where does the level of responsibility lie for a
people who influenced me and the cultural scene. Rudy Kovach, seems to come forth in your design, especially in your designer? Who is affected by the work? Every one of us
Robert Reid, Jack Shadboldt, Don Jarvis and Peter Aspell were some calligraphy and your lettering. What are your thoughts has to make such decisions for herself or himself. We all have
of my colleagues. on that, what does it give you? I remember as a boy of five the obligation to live by a value system, ethical principles,
or six standing in the office of my father watching the 16-year-old ideology or faith. I have lost clients or professional sponsors
As a long-time teacher, what are your thoughts on all the office help lettering business binders with a broad edged nib. because I drew the line somewhere. I felt I had to do it for the
change that has taken place, not only in technology, but I marvelled how this simple pen could shape such beautiful forms. sake of my spiritual integrity.
also in society’s expectations, morals, and a more permissive Later, during World War II my mother would occasionally take me
society? How do you go about instructing students who may along to the local hospital to visit wounded soldiers. She was a Who do designers answer to, or who should we answer to,
have completely alien mindsets to yours, or does that enter very devout woman with a compassionate heart. At times she other than the almighty dollar which seems to drive a lot
into it? When I started teaching I wasn’t much older than the left bible verses with the wounded, texts which meant a lot to of work? The moral obligation of a designer is not different from
students. Many were older than I. A gulf created by age, or by her, which she wanted to pass on. She asked me to write some anyone else’s. It begins with accepting responsibility. I call this
social status, didn’t exist. We were poor. We were at the beginning, of these. These early childhood experiences left a profound integrity. I struggle with it. I believe it is an important part of
as they were. I didn’t have to make any pretense that I knew much impression on me. growing. Education today is supposedly, preferably “value-less”
better. This was really quite refreshing. Of course I had a different On the first day of the admission test at the Academy in Berlin education. It means value systems, ideologies and belief systems
cultural background, but there were many immigrants amongst I met a war veteran in his 30s who took this entrance examination have no room in the classroom. I don’t agree with that. Without
the students. Several students were veterans who had gone back with me, wearing a small cross lapel pin which was quite a value system from which to grow, education is baseless and
to school. It was a different learning climate than today’s. There demonstrative at this time. I asked what he wanted to study. does not develop personal integrity.
were eagerness and optimism – cherishing opportunities. Society He said, “Lettering.” I asked him why. I have never forgotten The word visual pollution comes to mind. I am very much
didn’t present your future on a platter. Neither did the educational his answer. “To put the Word of God into the most direct graphic interested in form, as the container or embodiment of a concept.
system. Students worked. There was a sense of camaraderie form.” Today I understand what he meant. I share his views. Graphic designers have the responsibility to think whether their
This book illustration from 1987 demonstrates the expressive
between the faculty, a closeness between graduates and their We stayed in touch. Later he became the department head of work adds to the flood of messages, adds to pollution, or makes
quality of Friedrich Peter’s hand lettering. The message reads
instructors. It had much to do with the informality of the curricu- “All of life interrupts. It is the nature of life to interrupt.” graphic design in the same building. for a more tolerable environment – visually tolerable. It irks me,
lum. Not all was guided, channelled or formalized. There was time I had a Christian upbringing. Yet, my faith didn’t survive to realise how many people are being educated to be designers in
for personal interchanges. It was a small community. Different a marriage crisis in 1972. I was so immersed in my work that our society. Yet their influence on the visual quality of our environs
disciplines, including art and design, were closer to each other. What about students today? Design students have to absorb I neglected the needs of my wife and my family. At the crisis I hit seems to be very limited.
Locally, “Intermedia” was born. I was invited when the architect a larger body of knowledge and information. Many alumnae who bottom, like an alcoholic. The bottom of my faith dropped out.
Arthur Erikson, the composer Murray Schaefer, Abraham Rogatnik have left their mark in Canada or abroad as designers have these Through an experience that I will never forget, Jesus Christ set
from the School of Architecture, Jack Shadbolt and many others traits: independence, independent thinking, initiative, high creativ- me free from compulsive addiction, and gave us a new start in
were getting together for rap sessions. A biology professor from ity, and the ability to cross boundaries. Designers today need to faith and marriage. I know now that we live by His grace.
Simon Fraser University, dancers, visual artists and filmmakers were know twice as much as ten years ago. A graphic designer today
collaborating. It was a time of cultural ferment. I benefitted a great needs know-how in typesetting, proofreading, and pre-press work. It must be a great joy, being able to express that, and
deal from that. It gave me a broader outlook and reinforced my This requires learning numerous software programs. Parameters of through your typography especially. Yes. I now understand
belief in creativity and communication as common denominators design education have changed. what gave this war veteran at the Academy this pleasure expressing
of all creative expression, and especially of visual art and design. spiritual truth. I believe there is absolute truth experienced in
You obviously still find a lot of inspiration from your Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture. To convey this by letters which
Do you feel there has been a narrowing of the focus in recent students’ work. Do you draw quite a bit from your students’ I can shape has become and remains what I wish to do, what I feel
years? It is difficult to compare the VSA of those years with the work? Oh, very much so. I would not have been able to teach is worth doing. A couple of years ago on a drive through Turkey,
present-day Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (ECIAD). Much is so long if I hadn’t received as much from students, as hopefully I saw the life work of a calligrapher writing the name of Allah in as
different: the mind set of the students, their attitudes towards educa- they received from me. I always accepted and acknowledged many different forms as he could. I am not a Muslim and this is not
tion, their regard for fine art or design. At that time, art and design it gratefully. During the past years at the school I have been what I aspire to do, but I see there are people who wish to express
were perceived as an interdependent part of society. Movers and challenged, asked or buttonholed to work in areas in which their adoration of God in such ways and its spiritual dimensions.
shakers of Vancouver’s art community believed that both design and I had little expertise or confidence. I am very grateful to students We are created to respond to our creator. He gave us a whole
art raise living standards and culture. This perception has changed. but also to fellow teachers and administration, who helped me sensorium, creativity and gifts. If our spirituality is neglected we Christmas greeting from the 1970s. Friedrich has commented that
he believes there is absolute truth experienced in Jesus Christ revealed
Discussion about generalist versus specialist education has subsided. broaden my horizon. are not fully human. in Scripture, and he conveys this by letters which he shapes.

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“We are created to respond to our Creator.

He gave us a whole sensorium, creativity and gifts.
If our spirituality is neglected, we are not fully human.”

Is that something you think was more a part of society heard of it and submitted this Medal for Librarianship. She also It gave me insight into the involved process of issuing a postage I think that reflected the input of the Stamp Design Committee
in previous years? Is it something that is disappearing recommended me later for work on coins and medal designs for stamp. There were two postage stamp committees. One was and its representation of designers and visual art specialists.
because there is too much of an onslaught now? It seems the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary. responsible for proposing themes and topics. The other, the Design I was amazed how much expertise was invested by technical
to me there are many reasons. Proliferation of technology is one. My ambition was to design coins as sculptural objects. Sub-Committee, advised on design matters and designers’ selection. staff in the production and proofing processes after a design
Companies have a photocopier and desktop publishing software. However, contemporary technology requires a shallow relief It was comprised of design officers of Canada Post including special- was accepted. As his former instructor and Stamp Committee
A secretary is given the task to design. That is democratization of because of the high-speed minting process. All this was new to me. ists in reproduction processes and administration, and appointed member, it was a special pleasure for me to receive Raymond Mah’s
design. From it comes a flood of poorly designed communication. members from the professional design community. This diverse first digital image stamp, for the anniversary of the CBC.
You asked about responsibility. Yes, I do believe that the Your later coins actually became very realistic in the group met several times a year. This arrangement continued until
designer has a very important role to play in helping to make our simulations of the human figures, much more than the Canada Post cutbacks dissolved the Design Sub-Committee. As far Do you still pay attention to stamps issued now? Yes, I do.
environment not only more livable, but to add to its quality by ones for the Montréal Olympics, which were very geometric as I know its mandate was taken over by salaried design officers.
raising standards. I have been accused of being an elitist on this in their feel. This had more to do with conditional design Difficulties of long-distance communication may have been one Obviously you are very passionate about your calligraphic
point. I believe that some of the detrimental effects on culture stem selection and engraving treatment than with my own form choices. reason why. typeface designs and typography in general. Where did this
from popularity polls – market research in the name of determining In working with the Mint, I discovered the extent to which both passion come from? My apprenticeship included calligraphic
what people want and respond to. I do believe that designers have head office and the engraving department exercised their influence. I know they are trying to alleviate that now with the studies. A friend and childhood chum became a superb calligra-
a responsibility to stretch minds, raise levels of comprehension and I designed some starkly non-realistic coin images, being aware Regional Advisors, so more stamps are given to western pher. He practiced calligraphy by writing letters to me with a real
visual literacy. of the long artistic tradition which treats coinmaking and medallic designers, which is nice to see. At the time I served on the quill. I was impressed. As a youngster I saw wonderful examples of
art as sculpture rather than as adaptations from illustration or Committee (1982–1985), Canada Post surveyed the general public lettering and typography right at home: those “Fractur” letters on
Is this something you try and instill in your students? graphic design. In the 1998 series of 50 cent silver proof coins annually about stamp topics, graphic look and other preferences, the office binders, my grandmother’s beautiful 19th century script,
How do you bring this up? Yes. The topics of professional commemorating Sports, I was given the opportunity to carve important for developing marketing strategy. Following cues from elaborate initials in the family bible, 400-year-old heirloom books,
responsibility and quality criteria help focus on this issue. the basic relief of the final production master myself, to fully realise other countries, marketing stamps became a revenue producing copies of even older archival manuscripts from father’s genealogy
Of course every student has to make up his or her own mind my design intentions. enterprise. As such, Canada Post had to cater to interests of the research and Baroque tombstone inscriptions in the village church
in the matter. Yes, I do believe we have to give society and our public and collectors. I think this has a lot to do with the current yard. I wrote pages with goose quills.
clients more than they expect on the basis of past experience, What about your stamp work, how did that come about? preference for narrative, photographic, realistic images and When I began my five years of study in Berlin, my professor
precedent or level of education. Jack Shadboldt was teaching painting when I came to the VSA. illustrative graphics. looked at these efforts, which I was very proud of, and declared
His wife Doris was one of the early members of the Canadian them all poor in form. I submitted to the rigour of practicing
You have had the unique and prestigious position of being Postage Stamp Design Advisory Committee, for which Allan I know there were restrictions on the stamps back then, calligraphic forms. For days on end, from particularly sober and
able to design stamps, coins and medals for the Federal Fleming worked on design policy directives. I assumed she with regard to typefaces, etc. Until about 1984 only Helvetica foundational models. That was real solid training, developing
Government. You phrase it in a very admiring way. I simply recommended me. Perhaps on the basis of a set of Benevolent and Carl Dair’s typeface were used. Now it is quite open. Looking an eye for good form, an interest that never left me.
took opportunities that were opened to me. Robert Reid, one of Stamps I had designed as a fund-raiser I was given the opportunity back over my own collection I see a very recognizable, very graphic
my colleagues teaching typography at the VSA asked me, because to work on designs commemorating the National Anthem of Canadian design flavour in the stamps from the late 60s to mid 70s What about advertising typography? I know most
of his connections to the School of Librarianship at the University Canada. Two stamps were required – one to honour the authors, which is not noticeable in recent issues. headlines were handlettered. They would be based on
of BC, whether I would like to design the Ruth Cameron Medal for the other to honour the composer. Like many young designers, a typeface, or a typeface would be modified, and they
Librarianship to be awarded to their best graduates. I had never I was influenced by aesthetic standards of the period, the graphic were basically hand rendered. Did you ever do that type
designed a medal. However, as a child I collected coins and was style of the 60s striving for boldness. My stamp design ideals were of work? Yes, as a freelancer for local advertising agencies.
particularly fascinated by old coinage. With great interest, I was shaped by stamps I collected. I believed a stamp had to be an The advent of photo typography opened new mechanical
hoping to “push” the design as far as I could. On an 18” diameter extremely concise image with strong graphic form. I tried to make means to change letterforms. The developing time for a typeface
mock-up in cardboard and plaster I reduced the letterforms to the design as stark as I could. shrank from two years to a fraction of this time. My first typeface
solid, tilted geometric planes. The medal turned into a very sculp- Not having any experience in postage stamp design, I felt very “Vivaldi” with its very wide capitals and narrow lowercase italics
tural object which I am still quite proud of. It was struck locally by honoured to work on this commission. The collaboration with the was developed for the phototypositor. It was accepted for an
a metal products firm in silver and copper and has a fairly rustic Canada Post staff on this and later projects were highly interesting. international typeface design competition on the condition that
quality to it – very heavy and very thick. They brought me together with design officers and their specialists I narrowed the capital letters by 15% because they did not fit the
I am not sure exactly how it happened that I was commissioned in technical production. Later I designed the Terry Fox “Marathon apertures of the typesetting device.
to work on coins. It may have had to do with the Constitution of Hope” issue, which I particularly enjoyed. In 1982 I was asked
Stamp I designed for Canada Post. A $100 gold coin with the same to serve on the Postage Stamp Design Committee, with Burton
symbolic motif commemorated the Patriation of the Canadian Kramer of Toronto and Raymond Bellemare of Montréal. One of
Constitution. Dorothy de Pedery-Hunt, a well-known Canadian the most informative tasks was to invite design submissions from
sculptor, advisor to the Royal Canadian Mint and member of prominent Canadian designers, typographers and illustrators,
the Canadian Academy, selected coin designers on the basis to build up a reference file for the Archives of Canada Post. An interest in sculpture influenced the design of the University of
of submissions from across the country. Somehow I must have BC’s School of Librarianship medal for 1962 (shown bottom, middle).
Later, Peter was awarded the design of this competition medal for the
1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary (shown bottom right) based on
his earlier work. In 1998 Peter designed a set of four 50 cent silver proof
GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5 m coins. Shown here are the designs representing ski racing and jumping, m GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5
14 A western Canadian perspective auto racing, figure skating and speed skating. A western Canadian perspective
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“I still have that playful enjoyment to explore forms

that are expressive, beautifully rich, which test principles
and violate or stretch rules to the limits.”

Do these competitions still go on? They don’t seem to get to the limits. For me, lettering is a means of playing with form. Is there a role for an organization such as GDC to form
the publicity they used to. The Morisawa International Typeface Legibility and function are important to me, yet it depends on a stronger link between the working professionals and
Design Competition has been continuing every two years in two what I am dealing with. In the extreme case, I have no qualms the students? Yes. This role has always been an important
categories – Japanese Kana and Latin. Previous international dismantling form as in my “lettering paintings.” In my basic one taken on by the educational committee of GDC: to put GDC
design typeface competitions were run under the auspices of philosophy of visual form and design, I see function on one end professionals in touch with students, arranging guest lectures,
Letraset, the International Typeface Corporation and others. of a spectrum and fantasy, imagination and form play on the other. seminars, workshops and project critiques. Considering recruitment
A leave of absence from teaching in 1973 gave me the time With great sovereign enjoyment I can move on that waveband. for its own profession, GDC has to look at the future – including
to develop the Magnificat typeface with its very ornate forms. students and professional education. This is, of course, difficult
Inspired by the Raffia Initials by Jan van Krimpen, I wanted to find What do you think of all the new typography that guys especially for practitioners who are so immersed in the here and
recognizable lettershapes implied by an interplay of sinuous lines like David Carson are doing and that students seem to now, day-to-day practice and economics.
in place of a familiar letter skeleton. After a couple of months be jumping on the bandwagon of? It’s definitely in vogue It is not only training for future professional practice but the
designing numerous variations of upper and lower case letters, these days to have type that is pushing the unreadability creative vision and individualistic personality that create freshness
I noticed the announcement of the International Design Competition factor as far as it will possibly go. I think it is great that these and originality of a designer. It has to do with agility of mind,
by Letraset. I submitted it, although I had just finished all the wild and crazy experiments happen, and that people get into mental flexibility, inborn curiosity, self-motivation, a certain
characters, and did not have time to test them for word formation. the act who do not know the first thing about typography. amount of irreverence for the status quo, thick skin, brashness,
However, the typeface won first prize. People use it for short I see a parallel in music. The desire to strum a guitar, or to put our and a real adventurous spirit.
words and for the initials and as a decorative device, but it does own lyrics to sound does not automatically make it good music.
not function well as a typeface. I don’t know what the optimum I do cringe sometimes when I look through some of the latest How would you summarize your contribution to design?
solution is, whether it can be successfully resolved. Each letter type specimen samplers. We are overrun by a flood of absolutely I know you are a humble man. I don’t think that is for me
is so much retaining its independence that very little optical atrocious typefaces. Yet, this process of democratization will to say. Most of what I did was done with enjoyment.
linkage occurs. produce a relief map. The good will stand out more highly, and the
Through this typeface I discovered the importance to awful will become the swamp on which something else can grow. Well, what pieces of work are you most happy with?
design for word formations rather than for optimum shapes After the 500-year interlude of western typography I enjoy the The work on several unfunded projects or “freebies” gave me real
of individual letters. newly won freedom of pre-Gutenberg times when lettering was pleasure because of the creative freedom they allowed. For better
a personal, malleable medium of tremendously broad range, from 1966 Vancouver International Festival poster. or for worse, I could apply my own standards and criteria, and felt
Some of the fonts you have showed me are very quirky. the vernacular to the sacred. Typography is Johnny-come-lately in total control.
It is hard to imagine where they would be used. What was on the total spectrum of communication by letters and literary It must be quite exciting for you to see what your students I am most happy with those pieces where I could work out my
your intent when you were designing them, were they expression. Some of us have been hand-tied by the rule of the are doing. The posters I saw on display as I walked up creative vision as well as solve a given problem. Also the ones that
intended to be one-offs? Yes, I want to see how far one could last 500 years of typography. We see constraints dissolve which here this afternoon have no set style for the typography, stretched me, helped me to learn something new; where I went
push letterforms. I am still very interested in finding out, through technology, aesthetics, and stylism imposed. That is both good and everyone seems to be trying something different. It is farther than I thought I could; when I had taken a client beyond
experimentation, what makes a letter recognizable as an a, b, or c. bad, invigorating and disfiguring. I enjoy the opportunities it offers. perhaps evidence of youthful iconoclasm, influence of instructors, where he or she was prepared to go when I made discoveries,
I find it astounding how broad the range of form is, which and deliberate disregard of the limitations of available typefaces. set new standards for myself. To mention two of my deliberate
enables us to identify and distinguish individual letters. In fact, Have you adapted to the new technology with regards to Students want to use more typefaces than the Institute has online. “stretching” endeavours: a summer hiking in Lapland and northern
my fascination has grown. The range of what we regard as readable typeface design and production, such as Fontographer and Many gifted typography teachers have influenced students and Scandinavia deeply influenced my use of colour for a long time.
and legible has expanded enormously and continues to expand. Illustrator? For the last two or three typefaces, I used FontStudio. curricula over the past years. Later I deliberately set out to paint more to become more
The proliferation of digital forms, crazy inventions, concoctions and adventurous in my colour choices.
bastardizations are both cause and result of this increased range. How did you find that? It depended on what I wanted to achieve. What do you see as the future of graphic design and design At another point, I became acutely aware of how limited my
Repeatedly, I tried to find new, unconventional and surprising When I tried to capture digitally calligraphic form in some of my education, how are they meshing these days? I don’t really access to my visual storehouse is. One of the most ego deflating
letterforms for typefaces. In stacks of drawings, I pushed forms to typeface designs, I had a hard time. The plotting process is the very know how to answer this. Students, the designers of tomorrow, proofs I know is to draw onto a piece of paper all the shapes
limits of legibility. On a visit to Europe in1990, I showed Hermann antithesis to kinesthetic movements which are largely continuous. enjoy an ever-increasing range of opportunities and possibilities, I can think of. After the first hour I discover that I repeat shapes.
Zapf a number of these type designs and asked him which one Mimicking them by geometric-predictable curves and piecing technologically, philosophically, pragmatically; overlap with other That really irks me, to realise how limited my ability to generate
I should develop. He picked the most sober, the most simple them together removes something of their essence. It took me disciplines, softening of the soft boundary between stationary and form really is. I decided I would do something about that. Over
and legible. I took his advice and developed Peter Antiqua which quite a while to adapt to this. moving image, between 2-D and 3-D, other media, and sound. an extended period, I made doodles. I produced a whole series –
won a prize in the1993 Morisawa International Typeface Design It is quite phenomenal. There are so many opportunities for somehow – this became a kind of breakthrough. I deliberately
Competition. I like to push letterforms in two directions – towards Do you find yourself drawing the font by hand first, students to explore, and yet, they have so little time. Institutions opened doors and probed deeper for forms stored in my
soberness, clarity and beautiful simplicity. On the other hand I still then scanning it in? That’s what I did. However, my most try to cram a graphic design education and digital skills training subconscious. To me, that became important. After all: form is
have that playful enjoyment to explore forms that are expressive, recent typeface studies were done directly on the screen, into a four-year curricula. For the responsibilities the designer has content, even in graphic design. m
beautifully rich, which test principles and violate or stretch rules developing a very sturdy display face from spontaneously to take on, this is not enough time. Typically, the emphasis on form,
generated vector segments. quality and sensitivity to form origination suffer because students
have to learn software programs.

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Canadian Arctic
Ocean
Society of Graphic Designers of Canada Chapters

Vancouver Island Alberta South Manitoba

Graphic Design
Founded: 1993 Founded: 1994 Founded: 1989
Total Members: 85 Total Members: 62 Total Members: 72
Mailing Address: Mailing Address: Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 46047 Tower Postal Outlet P.O. Box 27028
Quadra Postal Outlet P.O. Box 24074 Winnipeg, MB R3C 3Z0
Victoria, BC V8T 5G7 Calgary, AB T2P 4K6

Regional Membership, 2000 British Columbia Saskatchewan North‡‡

Atlantic
Founded: 1975
Founded: 1975 Founded: 1992 Total Members: 77
Total Members: 157 Total Members: 20 Mailing Address:
Mailing Address: Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1533, Station M
VMPO Box 3626 P.O. Box 23038 Halifax, NS B3J 2V3
Vancouver, BC V6B 3X6 Saskatoon, SK S7J 2G0

Yukon Territories Northwest Territories Nunavut Alberta North Saskatchewan South‡‡ R.G.D. Ontario*
Founded: 1976 Founded: 1992 Founded: 1996
Total Members: 91 Total Members: 27 Total Members: 969
Mailing Address: Mailing Address: Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 11185 P.O. Box 378 P.O. Box 813,
Edmonton Main Regina, SK S4P 3A2 31 Adelaide Street East
Toronto, ON M5C 2K1

Pacific SDGQ**
Ocean 10 Professional Members (FGDC, MGDC, LGDC) Founded: 1972
Hudson’s Bay 10 Associate Members (Associates, Graduates Total Members: 85
& Students)

Membership numbers current as of 12/99 ‡The formation of R.G.D. Ontario in 1996 brought together several
* R.G.D. Ontario is a Member Association of GDC. individual GDC chapters in Ontario. See historical accounts on
** SDGQ is an Affiliated Association. pages 29 and 30.
GDC British Columbia GDC Alberta North GDC Saskatchewan North‡‡ GDC Manitoba ‡‡ Saskatchewan North and South are together GDC/Saskatchewan.

Founded 1975 Founded 1976 Founded 1992 Founded 1989

Societe des Designers

Graphiques du Québec (SDGQ)**
GDC Vancouver Island GDC Alberta South Registered Graphic Founded 1972
Founded 1993 Founded 1994 Designers of Ontario (R.G.D.)*
Founded 1996‡

Saskatchewan South‡‡
Founded 1992 GDC Atlantic
Founded 1975

The United States of America Atlantic

Ocean

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Regional Compiling a record of the past is no simple matter. Memories falter and documents disappear
while decades go missing. Oral history is a fine thing, though subject to opinion and selective
omissions. Ergo, the need to document what came before. The historical accounts of the

Histories formation of GDC’s chapters (and SDGQ) that follow are only the beginning. GDC invites
additional records of the past, before those “early days” fade away forever. – Editor
• We’ve held several joint events with the local chapter of the
Canadian Public Relations Society – the latest was titled
C A N A D A

StrategicConnections ’99.
• While all of our events are “social,” exceptional events have been
Vancouver Island held over the years in partnership with our paper supplier sponsors
(Coast Paper/Graphic Resources, etc). An extremely popular event
Our Evolution. In the end, the beginning was all because of an Chapter by-laws were drafted in June 1993. They were was the Typograffitti – dress as a Typeface – costume party.
O H

island. Vancouver Island – seemingly so close to mainland British presented by Michael Marshall to the National Council at the
Columbia that even Canadians who have never been here before Halifax National BGM in 1994. Here GDC/Victoria was formally The Present. One of our chapter’s strengths continues to be
believe what the map says – it‘s only 1/8" away. Although some accepted as a chapter. In addition to his duties as Chapter our integration with other communication and industry sectors.
of us were members of GDC/BC, we didn’t know much about it President, Michael was elected as a National Vice-President. We do not exclude affiliated groups from membership. As a result,
or our fellow members, as information mailings were spotty and we boast a loyal and active Associate membership. As well, through
event invitations were received late due to the postal system. Our Major Accomplishments. Our first AGM was held at the the success of our Sponsorship Program, we enjoy the financial
In late 1989, Michael Marshall organised a Steering Committee Royal Victoria Yacht Club in March 1994, with the first “official” and services support from our Gold, Silver and Bronze Sponsors.
to discuss the creation of a quasi-independent extension of GDC/BC, elections for the Founding Executive. Michael Marshall, President While we’d still like to increase our Professional and Licentiate
in order to bring shared speakers and events to the Island. Progress and National Representative; Miriam MacPhail, Vice-President; Membership and build on our North Island membership, we are
stalled but with renewed inspiration from Amanda Maslany, Michael Dana Dahlquist, Treasurer; Paul Barron, Secretary; Diane Weatherby, at the same time trying to come up with ways to spread the
convened another meeting to discuss the creation of a completely South Island Rep; and Neil Havers, North Island Representative. chapter activities workload around within our current membership.
independent GDC Chapter. In January 1995 our (now famous) sponsorship program was In preparation for our AGM, we are busy recruiting nominations
On May 10,1993 GDC Vancouver Island Chapter was established developed. Originally designed to help fund our Rock Awards and, in an effort to be more responsive and relevant to our Student
and an Interim Executive elected: Michael Marshall, President; event, it became the blueprint for our annual Chapter Sponsorship and Associate membership, we will be appointing representatives
Miriam MacPhail, Vice-President; Dana Dahlquist, Treasurer; Program. Our program has since been successfully adopted by of their peers to our Executive.
Paul Barron, Secretary; Amanda Maslany, National Representative; other GDC chapters. Monthly Executive meetings and committee meetings
Diane Weatherby, South Island Representative; Neil Havers, North The first Annual VIC Creative Award presentation and dinner event as required are convened throughout the year. Additionally,
Island Representative; and Dean Owen, Membership Chair. Other was held at the Empress Hotel in March1994. The first ever Rocks, we always have a full schedule of events planned each year.
Professional Members included Mark Bawden, Cheryl Cyr, James along with Certificates of Merit, were awarded in 23 categories. – Michael Marshall, FGDC, Past President, GDC/Vancouver
Osborne, Silk Questo, Kirk Seton, Peggy Cady and Chris Tyrrell.
Our Events.
• The VIC Creative Awards is the most important (and grandest) event
we produce. Six years strong, it offers our Vancouver Island and Gulf
Island members an opportunity to showcase their work.
• Meet the Judges Breakfast is where members (and non-members)
are provided with an informal opportunity to meet our Creative
Award judges, hear their personal (and professional) stories and
see samples of their work.
• Numerous educational sessions have been offered to members and
non-members, from supplier showcases to legal, taxation
and software/hardware seminars and travelling exhibitions.
• Every year we host a showcase evening where our Sponsors are
gratefully acknowledged.
• As a society member of The Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce,
our first mixer invited business members to see our VIC Creative
Awards winning entries.
Web page on GDC website, www.gdc.net, 2001 (top).
• Members regularly visit Island schools to talk with and make 1988 announcement of 33rd New York Type Directors Club Show in Toronto (left)
presentations to students. designed by Kenn Waplington and Ed Cleary.
• In partnership with a local ad agency, Copeland Communications,
we have a scholarship to help fund a second-year student at
Malaspina College in Nanaimo.
First printed Constitution of GDC, published by Walter Jungkind, FGDC
and approved by the Deputy Registrar General of Canada, June 3, 1980.

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To this end, a conference was held in Ottawa from GDC/BC for two years. Until 1993, the Salazar Award was an annual
British Columbia November 28–29, 1974, to which representatives from across
Canada were invited. Bob Johnson and Fred Peter represented
competition for graphic design students from BC post-secondary
schools. Metropolitan Press sponsored the event. After lapsing for
Our Evolution. Concurrent with the establishment in Toronto British Columbia at these meetings. With the help of Carl Chaplin, a few years the event was revived in 1996 as a multi-disciplinary,
in 1956 of the Society of Typographic Designers of Canada (TDC), Bruce Dowad, Gerry Green, Jurgen Grohne, Milo Hicks, Ken Mc Rae, student-driven project. It had been restructured for 1999 with a
Vancouver art directors and designers formed the Art Directors Club John Terin and Mike Tieman, the “un-organised” group of art direc- new focus to reflect the changing roles and skills of design students.
of Vancouver (ADCV) in the same year. Inspired by similar clubs tors, illustrators and graphic designers they had been talking to GDC/BC has always focused on increasing awareness of the
across North America, ADCV held numerous annual award shows for the previous six months formed the Visual Communications design profession within the business community. Since 1987, the
from1958 through to the mid-60s. The1958 Executive consisted Society of BC (May 1975). By January 1976 they had changed their Chapter has run a directory in the Yellow Pages for members and
of Bruce Stapleton, President; Don Wimbles, Vice-President; name to the Vancouver Graphic Artists Guild (GAG) and achieved their firms. In 1989 GDC/BC produced “Graphic Design: A Guide
Dennis Case, Secretary-Treasurer; Sid Dyke, Programming; Clive Cope, Society status. GAG became an Associate organization to GDC in for Buyers” which was promoted to the local business community.
Membership Chair; and Ted Bethune, Past-President; with the 1958 May 1976 and by November 1977 it had become a full-fledged This piece was redesigned in 1993 as “Good Design is Good
Exhibition Committee being: Mike Parnell, Sid Dyke, Stuart Fox, chapter and changed its name to GDC/BC. Business.” In 1997 we began to run ads in Business in Vancouver
Bob Leckie, Ron Jackson, Sunny Bell and Don Wimbles. The first (1976) Executive of GAG consisted of Carl Chaplin and its advertising and design services directory, The Ad Pages.
Catalogue for Graphex ’95 – The Best in Visual
The advertising agencies dominated the market at the time (President), Mike Tieman (Membership & Education), Grant Ball Communications in British Columbia.
so “designers” such as Friedrich (Fred) Peter and his wife Christine, (Education), Fred Peter (GDC Rep) and Murray Tonkin (Comm- The Present. As the 21st century commences, GDC/BC is one
Fred Amess, Paul Deggan, George Crawford, Chris Bergthorsen unication). Membership in that first year consisted of 32 of the most active chapters in Canada. With over 200 members
and Rudy Kovach tended to congregate in the staff lounge of the professionals and 18 students. in good standing, our monthly events draw an average of 125
Vancouver School of Art on Smithe Street. attendees. A successful sponsorship program adopted from
Informal gatherings were the norm until the early 70s when east- Our Major Accomplishments. One of the first accomplishments GDC/VIC has given GDC/BC the resources to raise its profile in
erners Allan Fleming, Giles Talbot-Kelly and Laurie Lewis befriended was the successful lobbying of the federal and provincial govern- a consistently professional manner and to offer a wide range of
a few western designers such as Fred Peter and began consolidating ment to change their policy on taxation of graphic designers. benefits to members. The internet has made it possible for us to
contacts across the country. In 1973 and early1974, the Federal A similar success occurred in1995 with GDC getting the govern- communicate on a daily basis with other chapters, the National
Office of Design organised and funded a number of conferences, ment to acknowledge the appropriate reduction of WCB fees that Executive and the National Secretariat in Ottawa. The resulting
workshops and seminars on design education.The need for a graphic design firms pay for their employees. reduction in repeating tasks and recreating paperwork has been a
national society was felt by a large number of delegates to these In those early years the opportunity to “open up” the design boon to chapter committees across the country. Regular mailings,
conferences. GDC, as the only legally existing society, was given community with portfolio viewing nights was also very successful, email and fax notices guarantee that all GDC/BC members are
the mandate to prepare the formation of such a national society. as was the socializing! kept informed up-to-the-minute. Our standard-setting newsletter
In 1977 GAG organised its first Awards Show. Awards were Update is sent to an audience of over 750 design professionals,
presented at a posh evening at the Hyatt. The following event was art directors, educators, schools, libraries and related individuals.
co-produced in 1979 with the Vancouver Creative Club (formed in We continue to grow. The current Executive are a hardworking and
1976). The show evolved into the communication design-focused dedicated group of individuals who put in countless hours to make
“Good Design is Good Business,”
Graphex in 1980, and has been a fairly regular biennial event ever GDC/BC a viable and worthwhile organization.
an effective brochure published
by GDC/BC in 1993. since. In 1990 the AAABC started its annual Lotus Awards which GDC/BC is proud to have four GDC Fellows as members: Bardolf
recognize excellence in advertising. Paul (1985), Don Dickson (1994), Friedrich Peter (Honorary Fellow,
In 1995, GDC/BC was the first chapter in Canada to launch its 1998) and David Coates (2001). A selection of members’ work in celebration of the 40th
anniversary of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, 1996.
presence on the internet with its innovative website designed and GDC/BC plans to welcome our 200th member this year and we ISBN 0-9691243-3-3
produced by Dave Coates and Rod Roodenburg. also look forward to the increased awareness of the value of design
GDC/BC was instrumental in forming an alliance between the within the business community. A new regional chapter in Nelson is
professional design associations in BC, leading to a series of being discussed. And, the path to accreditation is being investigated
government-sponsored workshops, the DesignSource website, as GDC National creates the necessary tools to allow chapters to
and the Alliance of Professional Design Associations (APDA). follow R.G.D. Ontario down this possible evolutionary trail.
GDC’s national representative to the Alliance for Canadian Design – Matt Warburton, MGDC, Past President, GDC/BC
(ACD) is GDC/BC member and Fellow, Don Dickson.
As part of its mandate to promote design education, the
Salazar Award was established by GDC/BC in February 1985 in
honour of Enrique Salazar. Enrique Salazar was one of the founding
members of the Society and the National Representative for

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The Communication Society of Alberta, (as GDA was originally For the Edmonton design community, indeed for the Canadian
Alberta North known), was incorporated provincially in 1974, while the negotia-
tions for a national society were still at an early stage. Although
design situation, this conference was a seminal event leading to
further international involvements.
Our Evolution. The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada efforts in 1972 at establishing a national professional graphic design During the gestation period of the Edugraphic conference,
of Alberta (GDA), with only a handful of members, was officially organization for Canada centered in Toronto, three staff members of Jungkind had been unable to obtain funding from any federal
incorporated by Provincial Charter in March 1976, nine months the U of A, along with Ontario designers, were heavily involved: government department or agency without the backing of a
before the National Charter was incorporated in December of Walter Jungkind, Ken Hughes, and Peter Bartl. All three attended national design organization. Hence, after several presentations to
the same year. In November 1977, GDA was officially recognized meetings in Toronto and Ottawa dedicated to establishing a truly the still embryonic national design groups in Toronto and Ottawa,
as GDC/AB. national graphic design organization with members in all parts the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) became a
It seems necessary to explain the context, and the somewhat of Canada. legal entity, which in turn enabled the National Design Council
unique circumstances, by which GDA and GDC/AB evolved. A major Hitherto the Society of Typographic Designers of Canada had in Ottawa, through the federal Office of Design, to make available
characteristic has been, and continues to be in many ways, the close considered itself ”national” even though there were few members seed money which led to other federal sources. Private funding
involvement by staff and former students of the Visual Commun- west of Toronto. The Art Directors Club of Toronto, established in was also facilitated. Jungkind was elected National President of
ication Design program of the University of Alberta (U of A). 1948, and subsequent ADCs in Montréal, Winnipeg and Vancouver, GDC for 1977–80, during which time he and a small group of
For the first few years, GDC/AB largely depended on former were all modeled on the Art Directors Club of New York and leaned Executive members, at a Special General Meeting called for
students of the U of A to provide members of the Executive. heavily towards advertising. It took some time to effect a change May 3,1980 in Edmonton, revised GDC constitution which had
A string of former students of the Visual Communication Design of this mind-set. Jungkind persevered with others in Toronto been incorporated under the Canada Corporation Act in December
program succeeded Peter Bartl as President (Gunther Rupple, and Ottawa, while Peter Bartl set himself the task of setting-up 1976. The revision was approved on June 3, 1980 by the Deputy
Annemarie Fodi, Bernd Hildebrandt, Virginia Penny, Susan Colberg, a provincial design organization in Alberta, in which endeavor Registrar General of Canada.
Annie Re, et al). Many others served on the Executive Committee. he succeeded expeditiously.
Meanwhile, in 1974 Walter Jungkind had been elected President Our Events. Over the years we have hosted two major interna- Poster announcing Edugraphic, the first Icograda
conference held in Canada (printed in 1975).
of International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda) tional conferences on graphic design education – Edugraphic and
at its Congress and AGM in Düsseldorf. There he proposed that the more recently Edmonton ’95 (see GDC Journal Issue 4). As a result,
1975 AGM, and an extraordinary conference on education, be held many designers/speakers of national and international repute
at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. This would be the first have lectured here and played an important role in the ongoing
Icograda event held outside of Europe. inspiration and education of our members.
The proposal was approved by the Icograda Board and the The First and Second Prairies Shows were initiated and organised
Edugraphic conference took place in July 1975 in Edmonton, by Susan Colberg, Annemarie Fodi, and Bonnie Sadler-Takach of our
attended by 258 participants from Canada, Australia, Africa, chapter. The Third Prairie Show has since been organised and hosted
South America, Japan, Europe and the US. Jungkind chaired the by GDC/MB and we are hoping that the snowball/tumbleweed will
program committee while Peter Bartl took charge of signage and role into Saskatchewan for the Fourth.
exhibitions. One of these displayed work from design schools across On the 20th anniversary of GDC, GDC/AB hosted an international
Canada, another presented a selection of work from the Société conference entitled, Edmonton 95: Charting the Future of Graphic
du Graphistes de Québec, and a third showed panels from an Design Eduction, developed and organised by GDC Fellows Jorge
exhibition called ”Language Made Visible” designed earlier by Bartl, Frascara and Peter Bartl. Participants worked towards the develop-
Hughes and Jungkind and shown at the downtown public library. ment of white papers concerned with current key issues in graphic
Participants of the conference were asked to join in discussions design education that will, indeed, chart the future of graphic
in any of the following six groups, each of which reported daily on design education and benefit us all.
its findings: – Susan Colberg, MVA, MGDC, Past President, GDC/AB
1. Visual Communication in general education
2. Research into teaching and learning Editor’s Note: For a short period, from October 1982 to December 1984, there was
a Calgary Chapter, with Pier Lalonde as President and National Representative.
3. Research in visual communication
4. Design education for special groups and purposes
5. Social aspects of visual design education
GDC/AB poster announcing a presentation by AIGA 6. Design dilemmas of the day. An announcement for Intergraphic, an international
member Lucille Tenazas from 1995. exhibition of graphic design for government agencies,
city councils and public corporations from Canada,
Czechoslovakia, England, Holland, Poland and the US.
Organised by Walter Jungkind, assisted by Kenneth
Hughes in 1972.

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Our most successful and popular event is also our major

Alberta South Saskatchewan accomplishment – Frontiers, a design conference and competition.
Regina has hosted two Frontiers and Saskatoon one.
Our Evolution. The History of GDC/AB South mirrors GDC/AB Our Evolution. It was the summer of 1992. Prompted by our
North’s own history until 1994 when GDC/AB (under then President Unisource paper rep, Sandra Sebastian, Robert L. Peters flew in Our Events. Both Saskatoon and Regina have held many
of GDC/AB, Ben Kunz) decided its members would be better served from Winnipeg to speak to a group of local designers in Saskatoon social events and travelling exhibits. Regina is particularly
if it had two interdependent chapters – one chapter to serve the and Regina. Robert L. Peters, who had recently helped form GDC/MB, known for its bowling fund-raisers, pool games, garage sales,
needs of members in the North of this large province, and one extolled the virtues of a national body of designers across Canada. logo shows, and wine and cheese events. At one time they
for its Southern members. The AGM in Red Deer in the summer But, the true beginnings of GDC/SK started back in Saskatoon in held well-attended quarterly luncheons featuring local speakers
of 1993, when the decision was made to make these two chapters 1978. Approximately 12–15 diverse designers and illustrators met (history of the Saskatchewan government logo, stress manage-
out of one strong chapter, was an exciting time, and was at the monthly, sharing experiences and learnings from workshops. Some ment, new technology). Saskatoon has an affiliation with the
same time a little bit scary. But it has worked, and worked well. of the original members of that group were Wendy Morosoff, Bob Design Council of Saskatchewan (a group made up of Architects,
Following are the names of GDC/AB South Presidents since Goettler, Gordon McKay, Cam Janzen, Ray Statham, Rod Soloum, Engineers, Landscape Designers, Interior Designers, and Graphic
we became two chapters. It is due to their individual hard work and Craig Romanuk, Paul Constable, Al Dyck, Colin Davis and Stan Kinal. Designers). Every two years these groups pull together to host a
dedication that this chapter kept thriving: GDC/AB South’s 1997 Annual Report to its members. The mandate was to connect what we do with the business commu- major event called Design Week.
1993 – 1994 Elaine Prodor 1997 – 1998 Bruce Carter nity. Our group organised Creativity conferences and brought in
1994 – 1995 Leslie Hayes 1998 – 2000 Len Collins illustrators, designers and advertising people from across North The Present. The main priority today is to rebuild the Chapter.
1995 – 1996 Catherine Garden 2000 – 2001 Guy Parsons America. The organization became known as the Saskatchewan For years, a small group of designers have kept things going.
1996 – 1997 Alice Englemore Society of Illustrators and Designers (SSID) and conducted biennial Now, we are experiencing major burnout in both cities. Unless
award shows and displayed work in business complexes and malls. new energy is found it may be necessary to dissolve the Chapter
Our Events. Over the past seven years, the Executives of this SSID slowed down in the early 1990s. The meeting with Robert L. and to relocate members to either Alberta or Manitoba.
chapter have provided excellent, world-class seminars and Peters was timely and needed. Back in 1978, design was done at – Bob Goettler, MGDC & Mike Woroniak, MGDC, Past Presidents, GDC/SK
speakers for the membership. People like Charles Spencer various print shops. There were no true design studios or agencies.
Anderson, Mark Fenske, Carl Lehmann and William Van Roden A handful of art directors worked in an in-house agency at Federated
from Metropolis magazine, photographer Yuri Dojk, illustrator Co-op and a few others dabbled as freelancers. Graphic design was
Thomas Woodruff, designers John Pylypczak and Diti Katona not considered a profession. GDC looked like the answer to our
from Concrete Design, Richard Wilde, Grant Hutchinson of Eyewire design perception problem.
and illustrator Gary Baseman – to name a few. In 1992, GDC/SK Chapter By-laws were presented to the National
Our (jointly with GDC/AB North) Peak 99 National Conference Council by Gord McKay. Saskatchewan became an official member
brought Dana Arnett from VSA Partners, Jack Anderson of Hornall of GDC. Contrary to what is thought, Saskatchewan is a single
Anderson Design Works, Maria Kennedy from Karacters Design chapter with members in Saskatoon and Regina. Yet two separate
Group, and Rick Tharp from Tharp Did It to Banff. Executives were formed in order to serve the membership. The
GDC/AB South has always enjoyed a good relationship with the first North Executive consisted of Gord McKay, President; Leighton
Alberta College of Art + Design. In 1995 a design forum was started, Wiebe, Vice-President; Shawn Jordan, Treasurer; and Patti Harrison,
to bring students in third and fourth year together with professional Secretary. The first South Executive consisted of Mike Woroniak,
designers and illustrators. Our chapter has always been fortunate to President; Catharine Bradbury, Vice-President; Sandra Sebastian,
GDC National’s Newsletter, 1987.
have as many student members as professional members, thanks to Treasurer; Amanda Maslany, Secretary; and Dave Gowryluk,
the work of people like Elaine Prodor. Our member Catherine Garden National Representative.
has served on either the National Executive, a Chapter Executive
(or both) these past seven years, and many of our past Executives Our Major Accomplishments. GDC/SK North produced an
remain involved in the operations of the chapter. amazing CD-Rom featuring current members with the help of
Cyan Digital Media in 1998.
The Present. Although our numbers have waned in the past We are very proud of the Cam Janzen Scholarship (named for
couple of years, the Chapter is healthy and vital and anxiously a talented and well-liked designer who died of cancer at the age
looking forward to the accreditation process. of 32) which is awarded to a Saskatchewan design student each
– Guy Parsons, MGDC, Past President GDC/AB South year. Originally funded by the design community and Cam’s family, Frontiers call for entries, 1993, GDC/SK (Left).
it has recently been funded by Unisource Printing Papers. 3rd Prairie Show call for entries, 1992, GDC/MB (Right).

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Members of the First Board of Directors of R.G.D./ON: Albert Ng

Manitoba Ontario (Toronto) R.G.D.,FGDC, President; Rod Nash, R.G.D., Vice-President; Pauline
Jaworski, R.G.D., Vice-President; Robert Smith, R.G.D., Corporate
Our Evolution. In 1956, a group of dedicated designers met in Secretary; Helen Mah, R.G.D., Treasurer; David Berman, R.G.D., FGDC,
Our Evolution. GDC/MB was formed at a meeting in Winnipeg Toronto to form the Society of Typographic Designers of Canada Peter Bowen, R.G.D.; Tony Jurgilas, R.G.D.; Chris Jurgilas, R.G.D.; Chris
on November 15,1989, at BW Type on Gertie Street. At this founding (TDC). To broaden the TDC’s mandate in the visual communication Lawson, R.G.D.; John Lyons, PROVISIONAL, ARGD/ON; Rene Schoepflin,
meeting 34 professional graphic designers, design educators, field, concurrent with the development and growth of professional R.G.D.; Shelley Warsh, R.G.D.; and James Welsh, R.G.D..
and design administrators met to adopt Chapter By-laws, appoint practice in major cities across Canada, the group was aptly renamed
an interim Executive, and sign formation documents. There was a the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) in 1968. In1976, Our Events. There are simply too many events to list in this
champagne toast and a special presentation of seed money by GDC was granted a Federal Charter by the Secretary of State of the summary. A few key events in the long history of GDC in Ontario.
the recently disbanded Manitoba Design Institute. A question and Government of Canada. 1985: Best of the 80s – Retrospective exhibition of graphic design,
answer period was followed by lively discussion regarding initiatives Founding Members of the Society of Typographic Designers editorial design and advertising in Canada
and proposed activities for the upcoming year (including sugges- of Canada were Frank Davies, John Gibson, Frank Newfeld, and 1985–90: Federal Sales Tax (FST) initiatives with Revenue Canada to
tions ranging from symposia on recycling paper to nude volleyball Sam Smart. establish taxation standards for the design industry
tournaments). Committees were struck and chairpersons appointed 1990s: Initiatives to obtain professional standing and registration
for Activities, Publicity/Publications, Membership, and Education. Our Major Accomplishments. Seven years in the making, (Accreditation) for Ontario designers.
In December of 1989, a nomination committee appointed the Ontario, Ottawa, Northern Ontario and Windsor Chapters of – Tiit Telmet, R.G.D., FGDC, Past President GDC/ON (and from the By-laws
by the interim Executive put forward a slate of nominees for the the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada applied for special of the Association of Registered Graphic Designers, Ontario)
Chapter’s first election. Founding members were notified of the “Accreditation” legislation to incorporate the Association of
first General Meeting to be held February 7, 1990. Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario, a member association
Even before the first AGM, a social event was held on January 5, of GDC. Accreditation enables the Association to govern and
1990 in the form of a gala black and white soiree in the Penthouse Various invitations to GDC/MB events discipline its members and to grant its members the right to
of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Entitled T.G.I.F.O.T.F.W.O.T.N.D. (Thank in the early 1990s. the designation “R.G.D.” and “Registered Graphic Designer.”
God It’s Friday Of The First Week Of The New Decade) the evening On April 25, 1996 Bill Pr 56 was passed and Royal Assent was
was a smashing success. Attended by 75 designers, students and Our Events. The biennial Blue Sky Conference was launched in given to an Act respecting the Association of Registered Graphic
associates, the evening provided an excellent opportunity for May of 1994. It has steadily grown over the past years and is one Designers of Ontario (R.G.D./ON) by the Legislative Assembly of
Winnipeg’s design community to mingle and become acquainted. of our most popular events, attracting delegates from across the Province of Ontario. The bill was sponsored by Mrs. Margaret
During the month of January 1990, Membership/Review Western Canada. Marland, Member of Provincial Parliament, and signed by the
Committee Guidelines were drafted, concise criteria for each What a Concept, a juried show of Manitoba design, began in Honourable Henry N.R. Jackman C.M., O.S.T.J., B.A., L.L.B., L.L.D.,
category of professional membership were established, and May of 1995 as part of the Blue Sky Conference. Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Ontario.
membership reviews began. The D.U.G. (the Designer Users Group) convenes once a month A Steering Committee initiated graphic design Accreditation:
The first Annual General Meeting of GDC/MB was held to spin the propellers on their caps, and to talk about more Mac Co-Chairs: Ivy Li, Albert Ng, Stan Shikatani
February 7, 1990. At this date, members in good standing totalled stuff than you’ll ever need to know. Members: David Craib, Catherine Didulka, Pauline Jaworski,
46. Immediately following the meeting, the first chapter elections Michael Large, Helen Mah, Pablo Morf, Rod Nash, Joanne Radford
were held with the following results: Robert L. Peters, President; The Present. After several years of planning and meetings, (consultant), Martyn Schmoll, Rene Schoepflin, Robert Smith,
Steven Rosenberg, Vice-President; Bruce Reimer, Secretary; Donna accreditation is imminent for designers in Manitoba. Under an Philip Sung
Deshcenes, Treasurer; Norman Schmidt, National Representative. agreement with the Province of Manitoba, a training co-ordinator, Advisory Board: Derek Armstrong, Paul Arthur, Stuart Ash, Paul
In the spring of 1990, Robert L. Peters presented the Chapter Lynn Riddell, has been hired. In addition to work on membership Browing, Theo Dimson, John Gibson, Paul Haslip, Ron Kaplansky,
By-laws to the National Council at the BGM in Vancouver. Manitoba and programming for the Chapter, she will be an important part Michael Large, Rod Nash, William Ross, Keith Rushton, Sam Smart,
was now an official chapter of GDC. of our push for accreditation. Tiit Telmet, Michael Viau, Kam Wai Yu, Earl Walker, Chris Yaneff.
Throughout all of this we have been able to provide more, Examination Board Working Group Co-Chairs: Michael Large,
Our Major Accomplishments. An average of 10 events per year and better, programming for our members. We strongly believe Philip Sung
are held for membership and interested individuals, ranging from that good programming is a major part of our membership drive. Members: Paul Arthur, David Craib, John Freeman, Ivy Li, Michael
professional development to strictly social events for mixing, – Andrea Tétrault, MGDC, Past President GDC/MB (and GDC/MB archives) Maynard, Albert Ng, Robert L. Peters, Robert Smith, Earl Walker.
mingling, and blowing-off steam. Annual events that won’t die Promotion for a travelling exhibit on Swiss Book Design, 1999.

include: Portfolio One-on-One, Tales from the Darkside, T-Shirt Editor’s Note: In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a multi-disciplinary chapter of the Association Editor’s Note: For a short period, from February 1975 to March 1981, a Kingston Chapter was
of Canadian Industrial Designers (ACID) was active in Manitoba, including in its membership established. A Windsor Chapter also existed for a period.
Auction, and a Box Decorating Party for the Christmas Cheer Board. many graphic designers. Its demise left a vacuum within the design community, leading
after a period of years (and careful planning by a handful of die-hards) to the birth of GDC/MB.

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Ottawa Northern Ontario Atlantic Québec (SDGQ)

Our Evolution. In September 1978, a group of Ottawa designers Long, long ago when the earth was but a bubbling cauldron, Our Evolution. GDC/Atlantic was born in 1975, when Jurgen Our Evolution. The Société des Designers Graphiques du Québec
(Mike Bowness, Morris Danylewich, Eiko Emori, Judith Gregory, an extraordinary occurrence was about to unfold. A massive mete- Hoffman, resident designer at the Nova Scotia College of Art and (SDGQ) was founded in 1972. The founding members were:
Ian Gregory, Ahmad Humayun, George Rolfe, Shelagh Rolfe, orite, rich with creative elements, plunged into the far reaches Design, had referred a couple of future graduates to attend the Georges Beaupré, Jean Arcand, Jacques Bourget, Allan Wilkinson,
Neville Smith, Norman Takeuchi, Carola Tietz, Ulrich Wodicka) met to of the northland, making a cataclysmic impression in the molten “founding meeting” of GDC in Ottawa. These two “founding mothers” Roger Lafortune, Claude-A. Simard, Paul Etterlin, and Léa Pétrin.
discuss the formation of a local chapter of GDC. Eiko Emori’s attempt magma. Purely by chance, in the settling that ensued, these were Denise Saulnier, who became the National Rep for GDC/Atlantic,
to organize Ottawa designers had started several years earlier, and elements converged in a tiny, unpretentious pool of effervescent and Anne Patterson (now Kearns), the first Chair of GDC/Atlantic. Our Events and Accomplishments. Our mission is to improve
the first meeting at her home proved to be a breakthrough. A small liquid (not unlike domestic sparkling wine) and found themselves Several of our chapter’s members have served on the the professional and financial advancement of graphic designers;
core of Ottawa designers, including Eiko, were GDC members but strangely attracted to each other (must have been the wine). National Council, including: Denise Saulnier, Newsletter Editor demystify the profession and specify our contribution to society;
belonged to the Ontario (Toronto) Chapter. It was felt that a local A primitive bonding ritual was evolving and soon a thin layer from 1982–1984; Greg Silver, President from 1983–1985; Karen Jans, meet and stay in touch with our members; and inform the latest
chapter could provide greater benefits to the Ottawa design of primordial ooze began developing on the surface of the pool Vice-President Communications from 1990–1992; Paul-Michael developments for the benefit of our members, their clients, and
community. The group elected an interim council: George Rolfe, (not enough chlorine). The fabric of graphic design was being Brunelle, Treasurer from 1990–1992 and President from 1992–1994. the general public. To accomplish this, we undertake the following:
Chairperson; Eiko Emori, Treasurer; and Ulrich Wodicka, Secretary. woven. Tiny single-celled microorganisms appeared with minus- (His major contribution was the establishment of GDC National promote graphic design (establish alliances with leading organiza-
To indicate good will, everyone paid a membership fee of one dollar. cule computers emblazoned with a symbol of the forbidden fruit. Secretariat in Ottawa); and Fraser Ross, Vice-President, Marketing tions such as the Institut de Design de Montréal (IDM), the Centre
At a meeting a month later, it was decided to make a formal Was this a grim reminder of misleading advertising… or merely the from 1994–1996. de design de l’UQAM, the Société des designers graphiques du
application to GDC, and to constitute GDC/Ottawa Chapter by remnants of a simple agricultural society? Nevertheless, these early Prior to the formation of GDC/Atlantic, there is no record Canada (GDC), Icograda and Forum Design); organize competitions
January 1979. Plans for the year’s program started immediately, diminutive Adobe Doobies clicked and dragged aimlessly, stranded of any formal organization of Graphic Designers in the which celebrate and recognize the achievements of our members
with Carola Tietz chairing the Program Committee, Ian Gregory knee-deep in a quagmire of mediocrity… without a purpose… maritime provinces. (Grafika); contribute to the advancement of graphic design (clearly
in charge of publicity, and Neville Smith chairing the membership without a function. identify the range of designer-graphic interventions, foster the
committee. This age spanned a great many years until one day the heavens Our Events. The Chapter’s first design show was entitled 2-D+3-D. client-designer relationship, recognize links with other professions,
At GDC’s Biennial Meeting in Ottawa in October 1978, the above opened and the concept of a higher species of graphic It was held at the School of Architecture in Halifax in 1975. A multi- represent members in service with government organizations and
group’s application to form a chapter was accepted unanimously. designer poured out in tempestuous torrents. Comprised of disciplinary presentation, it not only exhibited members’ work, those in service with educational fields, broaden our international
With George Rolfe and Eiko Emori, the members worked actively, bipedal homeothermic beings with superior mental development, but also that of industrial designers. reputation, evaluate the communication impact of design, have a
developing Chapter By-laws, establishing membership fees ($50 articulate speech and erect posture, the first breath of life was GDC/Atlantic hosted a showing of GDC National 25th position on concerns facing us); and organize events to share our
for professional members) and planning an ambitious program bestowed upon GDC/Northern Ontario. What lies ahead is a Anniversary exhibit at the Maritime Mall in Halifax. Local members’ knowledge (e.g. Québec’s International Graphic Design Biennial).
with monthly meetings. At the Chapter’s first annual meeting in blossoming, bountiful conglomeration of masterful creativity, work shown included graphics, packaging, and exhibit design.
February 1980, the membership numbered 24. Elections were held and maybe a party. The ambitious Visually Speaking in 1985 – a juried show – helped The Present.
and Eiko succeeded George as Chairman, Judith Gregory became – Tony Jurgilas, R.G.D., Founding President, GDC/Northern Ontario to increase public awareness of local designers and helped to drive We are dedicated to improving the professional and economic
Vice-Chairperson, Morris Danylewich became Treasurer, and Ulrich up membership. development of our members. We do this by the means of
Wodicka continued as Secretary. Editor’s Note: As we say on page 60, articles submitted to this Journal “Are subject to” editorial
The Time4DSign Show in 1990 highlighted the high level of publications, conferences, and forums for exchange. We want
revisions – that doesn’t mean they will be revised though (said smiling). design produced in the Maritimes from 1985 through 1990. to form strong ties between members to better serve their clients.
Our Events. The Chapter’s active program attracted other GDC/Atlantic hosted several national meetings: the 1982 – Carole Charette, President SDGQ
designers and by early 1982 the membership had grown to 44. Biennial General Meeting; the 1994 Annual General Meeting;
This local strength led to greater influence at the national level, and seven years later the National Council returned to Halifax in
and representatives of GDC/Ottawa have contributed much to late April 2001 for their AGM. Our Executive saw this as a good Undoubtedly, other histories of Graphic Design in Canada exist,
develop the Society. opportunity to organize a small, informal conference with four such as the eloquent definition written by Walter Jungkind, FGDC,
National Executive speakers. Nearly 100 people attended the
for the first Edition of the Canadian Encyclopedia (1985, Hurtig Publishers).
The Present. Since its modest beginnings in 1978, GDC/Ottawa conference at the Lord Nelson Hotel.
has proven to be a vital link for the graphic design profession. – Matthew Allen, MGDC, President GDC/Atlantic
It remains for design researchers, scholars and history enthusiasts
When Ontario became “accredited” in April of 1996, GDC/Ottawa to bring additional accounts of this profession to light. – Editor
was dissolved and professional members were “grandfathered” Editor’s Note: Though founded in Halifax, GDC/Atlantic has been comprised of members
into the newly formed Association of Registered Graphic Designers from Nova Scotia as well as neighbouring Maritime provinces such as New Brunswick,
Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. Therefore, the name “GDC/Atlantic.”
of Ontario. Recently, Kristina Edwards of Ottawa was re-elected to
the R.G.D./ON Board of Directors.
– Ulrich Wodicka, FGDC, Founding Secretary, GDC/Ottawa

GDC/Ottawa 1993/94 design newsletter.

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Carl Dair
Grand Old Man of Canadian Design
We became good friends. His family visited mine in the new type-punches from the last living exponents of that dead art and
P R O F I L E

A personal reminiscence of Carl Dair, FGDC on the 25th anniversary Planned Community of Don Mills, in the wilds of North York, and made an excellent short film of his type-cutting prowess.
we visited the Dairs in their pastoral retreat in rural Thornhill. Carl In Italy, he collected more incunabula, gondola rowlocks and
of his death. Davies, a professional colleague and friend of had designed their home: simple, practical, full of bookshelves and a handful of short metal splinters. These last were miniature
Dair’s during the latter years, recalls some of the circumstances sunshine. The natural garden had a Japanese-style pool with huge type only 2 points in x-height, hand-cut by Didot as an old man, to
goldfish and rough-hewn stepping stones. Through the many prove to the world that his eyesight remained perfect. The gondola
surrounding his role in the development of the design community in
tress could be seen the raised studio structure which housed Carl’s rowlocks contrasted traditional ornate with contemporary func-
Toronto. – Frank Davies, FGDC1 handpress and typecases, and Edith Dair’s potter’s wheel and kiln. tional ergonometric design. Most of these pieces later became
Carl presented me with a glass-engraving tool which the German part of the Dair Collection. On Carl’s return, I introduced the first
typographer Hermann Zapf had given him. Any visit with Carl meant showing of his film to a joint meeting of the two most influential
Had I reached Montréal on my first visit to Canada I might have a seemingly endless parade of incunabula, exotic privately-printed design organizations of the day, namely, The Art Director’s Club
met Carl Dair earlier. Winston Churchill travelled to Québec City: books, curious bits of typographic lore and samples of his students’ Toronto and the Society of Typographic Designers of Canada.
I got as far as Halifax. Churchill had sailed over U-boat Alley in the work. I recall we exchanged guesses as to the possible meaning of Carl left for Jamaica, to help start the Institute of Graphic Arts
Queen Mary for wartime conferences with other world leaders. I was the then-untranslated Phaistos Disc. We discussed contemporary there.6 It was not easy. Funds were limited. Equipment was scarce.
a crew member of the Royal Navy cruiser which served as Churchill’s European typographic trends, contrasting the formulaic logic of Students were enthusiastic but their educational base was shaky.
escort. I saw little of Canada on that trip but liked what I saw. A year A sketch of Carl Dair (artist unknown). Gerstner’s disciplined Swiss school with the freeform looseness of Carl scrounged and borrowed. The heat bothered him and it was
later I was back, this time travelling coast to coast as the show Reiner. Carl was fascinated that Jan Burka was in Toronto and had not a good climate for his health. Daily, he dodged scorpions as he
designer for a theatrical troupe, sent to perform for bored Allied largely as a result of seeing Dair’s little booklet, Adventures in Type, worked on Reiner’s Legend Script and other typefaces. climbed the steps to his quarters. Eventually, under his direction,
forces en route to Tokyo. The ship we were to join was retrofitted at which was shown to him by noted European type designer Imre Carl also wanted to meet Allan Fleming, then returning from the students produced a limited edition folio of prints based on
Esquimault on Vancouver Island, but the atomic bomb dropped on Reiner. (Jan’s coming to Canada also brought his wife, Helen, who a lengthy stay in England.3 I met Al at one of his endless welcome Jamaican folklore. At the publication ceremony, Carl was asked,
Hiroshima before we sailed. would later coach their daughter, Petra Burka, and other famous home parties, where he played guitar and sang the bawdy folksongs “Your students, they are now qualified?” When he replied with
The war over, my journey canceled, a suspected outbreak of Olympic ice-skaters for Canada such as Toller Cranston). then in vogue, songs to which he alone seemed to know every his usual praise, he was told, “In that case, they can teach in your
diphtheria rushed the members of our show into a Halifax naval Jack Kent Cooke, owner of sports teams, radio stations, lyric… Allan calligraphed a beautifully crisp italic alphabet for the place.” Carl’s Caribbean island mission was ended.
hospital for medical tests. Healthy but restless, I sought the hospital Consolidated Press and then-publisher of Saturday Night and a Italic Society’s members to emulate. Everyone was busy. Allan’s Back in Canada, Carl’s work for the new Universities was
library. From among tattered volumes I unearthed a sketchbook, full whole shoal of other magazines, lured me away to be art director invitations to new shows at the Gallery of Contemporary Art growing. I had set up my design unit with Cape and Co.,
of hand-drawn lettering and detailed type doodles. It was promptly of Liberty, the monthly family magazine. (Like many other victims were winning international awards. He set aside his own company, a modest but prestigious printing house run by Brigadier John Cape,
snatched from my hands. “Quarantine patients do not touch books,” of television, it was soon to be defunct). Through Liberty, I met Fleming and Friend, to become head of design for those remarkable who had served with Mountbatten’s staff in Burma. Cape and Co.
and as a result it was burned. Somewhere in that quirky omnium- many leading Canadian writers, photographers and illustrators, typesetters, Cooper & Beatty. Carl became a partner in the advertis-
gatherum we call a brain the name on the cover stayed with me. and gave Frank Newfeld his first illustration job upon his arrival on ing agency of Goodis, Goldberg, Dair and both Carl and Allan taught
Although it meant nothing at the time, it would later: Carl Dair. these shores. The editor, the late Frank Rasky, set about converting at the Ontario College of Art (OCA).
(The irony of linking his name with book-burning would not fully my Anglicisms to Canadian and found a keen pupil. Managing I co-founded and was active in the newly-formed Society of
hit me until I met Carl and had come to respect his integrity, editor Keith Knowlton, a brilliant wordsmith, encouraged me to Typographic Designers of Canada. With Sam Smart I launched the
humanity and values).2 contribute the occasional article. first national typography shows, generously sponsored by Rolland
Six years would elapse before I was back again in Canada, One such piece, on the lost art of legibility, brought a deluge Paper, and we created an exhibit on typography for the Stratford
this time permanently. I had designed for one of England’s major of letters and, in the Canadian way, a Society of Italic Handwriting Festival. I was also directing a course on “design for editors” at
advertising agencies and had become designer of publications for sprang up to correct the defect. I was its first President and became the University of Toronto. Canadian book design was now winning
arts organizations including the Royal Opera, Royal Ballet and the editor of the small publication for our members, Italic. Robertson many international awards and the staid craft of typography was
Film Centre. Postwar paper shortages were closing magazines in Davies contributed on condition that he never be invited to sit on being described as “the liveliest art in Canada.”4
England and I left for Canada. My first task at the Herald Press in a committee. We complied and he donated a short history of Suddenly Marshall McLuhan was all the rage. His Gutenberg Galaxy
Montréal was to help complete the E.B. Eddy Handbook of Graphic “cancelleresca cursiva,” the Renaissance scribe’s handwriting which (1962) exploded into existence (whereas his earlier Mechanical Bride
Reproduction, the major contributor to which was Carl Dair. I heard has become today’s italic type. I spent every spare moment trying had sidled quietly on stage). He was invited to speak at endless
Studio of Henry Eveleigh and Carl Dair, Montréal, ca. 1950.
his name often, from many who had been his colleagues. He had to reply, in my best italic hand, to hundreds of letters that poured design and publishing functions and Carl, Allan and I seemed to Arguably the first modern graphic design studio in Canada.
recently departed for what was described as a dull, soulless hogtown, in. I was asked by Mr. Posthumus, President of Osmiroid, to evaluate take turns introducing him. Carl was clearly the Grand Old Man; With their emphasis on the combination of typography and
that sinkhole-at-the-end-of-the-world called Toronto. I was advised his company’s new italic pens and reviewed many books on beautiful Allan was the popular Prodigal Son; and Marshall, the Revered Guru. image, Dair and Eveleigh played an important part in the process
of defining graphic design as distinct from illustration, commercial
earnestly never to go there, so I went. handwriting; demonstrated the “new” writing at a teachers’ summer Ad agency pressure and indifferent health persuaded Carl to art and advertising. Eveleigh’s design, which won the first ever
I joined Clair Stewart’s renowned packaging design team school and on national television; and organised a Royal Ontario leave his GGD agency. In emergencies, which grew more frequent, United Nations poster competition in 1949, can be seen hanging
at Rolph-Clark-Stone, the launch pad for Stewart and Morrison. Museum exhibit on children’s handwriting from England. At the Carl would ask me to stand in for him at his OCA typography proudly over the desk on the left.

Jan Burka, a fellow designer at R-C-S, had arrived from Holland opening of that show I finally met Carl Dair. classes. When he left OCA to study in Europe on a Canada Council Photograph, anonymous, courtesy of the Carl Dair Archive,
Fellowship,5 I resigned from restyling and launching publications Massey College Library, University of Toronto.
at Maclean-Hunter to start my own design company and have more
time to teach at OCA. In Holland, Carl learned how to hand-cut
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“Carl said the sketches were for a new typeface

Carl Dair
he had been working on for years.…
It would probably be called ‘Cartier.’”
– Greg Smith
A Man (Not) Trapped in Time
was beginning to specialize in printing for universities and upscale which was selected to represent Toronto’s printing houses in the

P R O F I L E
clients such as UNICEF and Fortuny, of New York. I brought Olivetti, Association of Creative Printers of America. Carl submitted eight
Stelco Research and Clairtone Sound, among others.
It seemed inevitable that Carl Dair should bring material
designed for the launch of Canada’s newest University, York, to be
printed at Cape. Carl’s graphics for York were based on traditional
heraldry. (The red and white colours were chosen before Canada’s
pieces, designed by Carl or myself, to the first annual CPA Awards
in San Francisco. They won the top awards and Cape became
the “Creative Printer of the Year,” beating out the top competition
from all of North America.
Carl became editor of DICTA, the publication for the New York-
L et me start by saying I never met Carl Dair. I was three-years old when he died.
I hadn’t even decided to become a graphic designer. I have grown up now and only
one of those things has changed. I am a graphic designer (sometimes I feel like a
machine tender), and Carl Dair has woven himself into the fabric of my life. I find myself
talking about this man I have never met to strangers. I recite facts and information the way
flag was redesigned). Zapf’s Palatino was the chosen typeface. based International Centre for Typographic Arts (ICTA). One of some show baby pictures. I have even gone to his hometown to track his ghost. The insinu-
When Carl succumbed to the pressure of other demands, he asked the first issues included the recently announced translation of ation was a slow but definite process. I have jotted down these lines to explain it both to
me to complete the York University project, which I did following the Paistos Disc (done especially for me, Carl said). He was in myself and to the gentle reader.
his set style. great demand as a lecturer, writer and designer. I contributed a
We frequently discussed new type trends. One day he asked biographical piece on Carl for the major US printing trade magazine, My association with Carl Dair (if association is the correct word) began during my
me what I thought would take the place of the almost universal, Inland Printer. L’Association typographique internationale asked that studies at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD). A reference to him
3-column format, Swiss sans-serif minimalism and the boring his work represent Canada at their Paris conference. was tucked in at the tail-end of a half-lecture as a part of the History of Design course
repetitive, irrelevant revivals of ornate Victoriana. I said something For that exhibit, Carl included two of my pieces with his own (Byzantium to Brody, so to speak). The instructor sulkily spoke of his own contribution
about the distinctive word shape being more important than submissions. One of these was my poster on “Films on Art,” done to international design and derisively about the remainder of Canada’s contribution.
the isolated letterform; we needed to redesign innerspaces to to raise funds to restore historic manuscripts damaged in Florence He mentioned Carl Dair, Allan Fleming, Leslie (Sam) Smart and a few others (my notes
distinguish similar letters (such as the lowercase ‘a’ and ‘e’) from floods. Carl was delighted to find that this poster would be from that day only recorded those names before drifting off into several meaningless
each other; larger x-heights, shorter ascenders and descenders; permanently displayed in UNESCO headquarters in Paris. To him it doodles). It gave me the vague feeling that Canadian designers of the past were a sorry lot
an even tone with a grid base rather than the swirls of the showed that Canadians cared about cultural heritage internationally and I, in turn, was joining an undistinguished profession in an undistinguished country.
then-taught handwriting or the jam-packed rigid geometry then and drew on contemporary design to promulgate that caring. Shortly thereafter, while thinking about stealing the library’s copy of Jan Tschichold’s
coming into vogue. Carl wanted to set up an international consortium of design Asymmetric Typography and contemplating creative white space, I spied a dog-eared copy
Carl, very pleased, pulled out a notebook filled with sketches. companies. He chose Total Design in Holland, Chermayeff in New York of Dair’s Design with Type. I signed it out (I didn’t steal the Tschichold book, to my eternal
Carl Dair’s “Design with Type” was
It was a later version of the lost sketchbook which I had caused to and others. I was greatly honoured to be asked to add my Design Unit regret) and thumbed its contents with interest. After all, I was a design student and I was
published in 1952 and revised in 1967 to
be cast into the hospital furnace, long before, in Halifax. In almost from Canada. Before it all came together, Carl made one more instruct “the many students of typography supposed to be interested in design stuff.
every detail it echoed the thoughts I had just expressed. Carl said journey, to New York. We were to meet the day after his return to who had never held a composing stick.” I will fast-forward this memoir into my post-college period where I happened upon a
the sketches were for a new typeface he had been working on for Canada, but he died peacefully on the plane returning to Toronto. somewhat less-well-thumbed copy of Design with Type in the St. Catherines Public Library.
years. It would have a strong baseline; flatter tops would emphasize I wrote his obituary for a Toronto newspaper. A tree was planted The more I read, the more I became intrigued. I was especially taken by the book’s dedica-
the horizontal; his serifs would not be ornamental but help to in his name in a North York schoolyard. tion to Louis Blake Duff and the bit about swiping type from the hell-box. Welland wasn’t
define the letter (as in the case of the ‘W,’ which would have serifs A Carl Dair Anniversary Event was later established. The 14th far from St. Catherines. I became more intrigued.
pointing inward, to contain, not spread, the letter). The lowercase edition celebrated computer graphics, a creative process Carl would An intense interest in letterpress printing, which began at NSCAD and was nurtured
‘e’ would have a high bowl to distinguish it from his lowercase ‘a,’ have loved, for it combines the challenge of technology with limit- by Bob Dawson in the Dawson Room at the Killam Library of Dalhousie University, led me
which had an unusually low bowl. His rounds would be more less personal experimentation. His typeface, Cartier, continues to be to my first attendance at the annual Wayzgoose exhibition in Grimsby, Ontario. There I met
square. It would probably be called Cartier and be launched in time discovered. It has been widely plagiarized. It remains strong, original, the ubiquitous and ever-enthusiastic Bill Poole, an encounter which, in turn, resulted in
for Canada’s Centennial celebrations.7 practical and civilized; like Carl himself. m the establishing of my own private press in Bill’s shop on the Niagara Escarpment. Hours
Shortly after that, Carl produced multiple sheets of his new letter- of talking and drinking beer with Bill about pretty much everything led to the discovery
Editorial Notes (by Brian Donnelly):
forms and began the slow process of fitting letter combinations to that he not only knew Dair, but was also a certified crony. I had finally struck paydirt!
1. Notes, primarily to clarify dates and other details, have been added by Brian Donnelly.
form words; undercutting, shaving and kerning. He hand-assembled I questioned Bill closely about the type of guy Dair was (or, rather, I posed the question
2. A typographic director at the National Film Board under John Grierson during the war years,
photoprints of individual letters to create a giant page, then reduced Dair was a member of the Communist Party of Canada. During the late 1950s, in the wake of
and then shut up and listened). I was amazed at how vividly he recalled a man who had
it to normal size. Through many refinements, it held its strong damning revelations concerning Stalinist Russia, he came to support the Co-operative died in 1967. The Dair whom Bill knew was a friend and sharer of ideas. Dair had done
Commonwealth Federation, precursor to the present NDP.
individuality. Cape and Co. published the limited run of first edition some design work for Bill’s company, but that seemed to be a springboard for other things.
3. Fleming had known Dair since the early 1950s, and left for England in 1953 partly as a result
proof sheets. Cartier would become a MonoLino face and be of Dair’s influential workshops and teachings. The date of Fleming’s return was 1955.
Bill’s involvement with the Mackenzie Heritage Printery Museum in Queenston,
available on photo typesetters. It influenced many later designs 4. Principally by Pearl McCarthy, columnist and reviewer for the Toronto Globe and Mail.
Ontario caused him to suggest Dair as an appropriate subject for the annual Colloquium.
(such as the Raleigh family of typefaces). The compact slanted italic 5. With encouragement from Alan Jarvis at the National Gallery, Dair received $4,000 to study
Put together by Bill, Sam Smart and Gerry Proderick, the gathering attracted many other
was the most original, yet looked the most traditional part of his type design at the Joh. Enschedé en Zonen foundry in Haarlem, Holland, and left in July, 1956. cronies, friends and interested onlookers. For me, the best part was meeting Sam Smart
His concentration on the oldest and most laborious of typographic techniques, the
design. The italic had no capitals and borrowed these from the hand-punching of metal dies, coincided with his work on the design of the font, Cartier.
the night before the Colloquium at a beer and gin-filled dinner at Bill’s place (Sam drank
roman. The punctuation, I felt, was never quite resolved and always 6. From 1963 to 1965, Dair taught at the Jamaica School of Arts and Crafts. He referred to the
the gin). Sam revealed another side of Dair which Bill hadn’t. To Sam, Dair was a fellow
seemed to have been a rushed oversight, added with less care. project as “missionary work,” and it reflected his commitment to a humanist internationalism. designer and his stories focused more on those aspects of their relationship, the shared
Perhaps ironically, it was rising Jamaican nationalism which ended his stay.
Both Carl and I became company directors of Cape & Co., honours at the Leipzig Book Fair, etcetera.
7. This article has been set in the digital version of Carl Dair’s Cartier which has been refined
by Rod McDonald (see page 43 for further information).

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“Dair comes across in his writings

as a man of boundless enthusiasm A D E B AT E W I T H B R I A N D O N N E L LY

design
for his subject.”

The Colloquium was a who’s-who of Canadian design and print- the Netherlands. Dair studied with the venerable P. H. Rädisch, one
disrupting
ing. Besides Bill and Sam, Peter Dorn, Harold Kurschenska, Stan of the last working punchcutters.
Bevington, John Robert Colombo and Roy Gurney were there to Some of the articles were previously published in Canadian
celebrate Carl Dair. Perhaps the most interesting and surprising Printer and Publisher magazine, while the rest are colloquially know It seems as though Carl Dair, FGDC (1912–1967) is perennially fashionable. The term is
speaker was Jeanne Dalby, a school chum of Dair’s who was reac- as the “Epistles to the Torontonians.” The Epistles are Dair’s private unfortunate, perhaps suggestive of an “indulgence in fads,”1 something which the designer
quainted with him in later life. Jeanne presented a side of Dair letters, which were circulated among friends and colleagues, and
which, to that point, no one knew: a lad who taught Sunday school, have a more conversational tone. The articles reveal Dair’s intense
and educator himself gruffly cautioned against. But as the number of other articles on
attended church regularly and went by the nickname ‘Pep!’ This interest in all aspects of the design and printing industry, which was Dair can attest,2 his work continues to raise important issues for design practice today.
view of Dair was in stark contrast to the man known to most at the poised to change entirely with the advent of photo-typesetting and
gathering as a professed socialist and atheist.
Perhaps the thing that impressed me the most about Dair and
those he inspired was their idealism. Dair comes across in his writ-
ings (Design with Type and beyond) as a man of boundless enthusiasm
for his subject and that energy must have been conveyed to those
offset lithography.
Production is moving along well on the first book, which, with
luck, (and some donations and corporate support) could be on
bookshelves as early as the fall of 1998.1 This is all pretty heady stuff
for a guy who had never heard of Carl Dair 12 years ago. Bill Poole
O ne unfashionable aspect of Dair’s legacy is that it is not based on any great number of iconic
images or designs. He left behind no epochal marks, a Centennial symbol, say, or a Canada
Wordmark; his redesign (with Henry Eveleigh) of Canadian Business in the late 1940s, while
beautifully clear and effective, was not as influential as the design and art direction of many later
Canadian magazines, such as the Imperial Oil Review, Weekend or Saturday Night; and his one font design,
around him. Many people spoke to me about Dair’s inherent once told me that Dair never dwelled on the past and was always Cartier, has proven to be controversial, overly complex, even clumsy – subject more to modification
“instructiveness” – how he could not only pinpoint what was wrong talking about what could or should be done. I hope that he doesn’t and redrawing than actual use.
with a design, but give constructive ways for improvement. Dair and think the Society named in his honour to be woefully backward- This lack of a purely visual heritage might be fatal to the memory of many another designer. But
his comrades (pun intended) really were blazing new trails in looking and stuck in the past. Instead, I like to think of it as trying Dair’s sheer independence of mind remains attractive today and was important to the emerging field
design, which brought Canada (whether the rest of us knew it or to present and preserve ideas which are timeless, but espoused by of design in the 1950s and 1960s. Rooted in his early typographic training at the Stratford Beacon-Herald
not) to the forefront of the international community. a man trapped, like all of us, in time. m (which was until just recently the last independently-owned newspaper in Ontario), it was Dair’s out-
The spirit of the Colloquium filled the participants with a desire spokenness, knowledge of printing history and his many writings, exhibitions and opinions that set
to do more than just perpetuate Dair’s memory. Before the day Editor’s Notes: him apart. Referring to his early, firm support for the founding of the Typographic Designers of Canada
ended, the seeds of the Carl Dair Society were sown. Roy Gurney 1. Greg Smith contributed this article in 1997, so references he makes to upcoming dates are (precursor, of course, to today’s GDC), Dair’s colleague Sam Smart noted, “Carl was high profile and
now well past – time is indeed no respecter of persons.
summed it up by giving words to the Society’s purpose: “To preserve whatever way he swung would have a profound effect on what happened.”3
Greg Smith is a Grimsby, Ontario-based graphic designer and writer. In what little spare time he
and perpetuate the principles of good design and typography, can find, he operates the Blind Pig Press.
Given that Dair’s ideas and writings were central to his life’s work, this article proposes to examine
as expressed by Carl Dair, both in his work and in his writings.” Readers seeking more information about the Carl Dair Society, or who have materials relating to
in some detail two of his projects, completed in the last years of his life: A Typographic Quest, published
The first meeting was held in Sam Smart’s old Parliament Street Dair, or who would like to lend financial or material assistance towards completion of the book, as a series of six pamphlets (West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company/Westvaco, 1964–68), and Design with
are asked to contact Robert Stacey, President, The Carl Dair Society, c/o The Archives of
studio amid whirligigs, beer and Timbits. (I can’t remember the Canadian Art, 439 Wellington St. W., Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1E7.
Type (University of Toronto Press, 1967). These writings can still be read and used by design students
date of this event, but I can tell you the second meeting was held and professionals today, as textbooks of design and typographic fundamentals, making only minor
on January 21, 1995). allowances for the many changes in technology since 1967. (Dair had to deal with this problem as well.
Through some weird accident, I became the Society’s secretary An original edition of Design with Type was published in 1952 and his revisions for the 1967 edition
and the preparation of the minutes (which I, of course, set in Dair’s added remedial material, he said, to instruct “the many students of typography who had never held
landmark Cartier typeface, launched in 1967) has been a joyous task, a composing stick.”)4
as I never let what actually happened at the meetings affect what I
report. As a rather raggle-taggle group, we spent the first year or so Positively Modernist An important part of what these publications show us is that Dair possessed
sorting ourselves out and trying to figure out what we wanted to do. a powerfully modernist sense of design’s importance, the conviction that what could be divined
This was done under the leadership of Sam Smart and Peter Dorn, through the formal analysis of design was an inherent rationality, a progressive force leading history
both of whom have sat in the President’s chair. We finally got wise forward. “Printing is the basis of communication in our twentieth century world,” he wrote,
last year and railroaded Toronto writer, editor and curator Robert “a basis of mass education and information, the repository of knowledge and of culture, a vital cog
(Bob) Stacey into the role of President. in the machinery of commerce and industry. The alliance of paper and print is the mortar of
Bob has focused the Society in the area of publishing (the man our social edifice.”5
breathes book ideas!) and currently there is one volume in the The grand rhetoric of this statement was hardly unusual for its time, however much of Dair’s
works and another two waiting in the wings. The first, Carl Dair on sheer optimism, even positivism, may strike the contemporary reader as quaintly dated. As perceived
Printing: The Circle Completed is a collection of Dair’s writings on print- by one of its central practitioners in central Canada, at the height of the great postwar economic boom,
ing, printing history, type design and papermaking. Most of the design would naturally be thought of – and aggressively promoted – as part of the essential,
pieces were written in 1956 when Dair, having been awarded a modernizing technology of civilization.
fellowship by the Royal Society of Canada, was studying punchcut-
ting at the Enschedé type foundry and printing works in Haarlem,

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“Is Dair’s project, the definition of design’s “Design is an invisible aid, merely expanding
parameters, even conceivable today?” the author’s original, real message.”

But of greater interest here is what these books tell us, implicitly rather than explicitly, used when set with lower case). Dair even reminds us of common expressions that have
about design as a profession and as a means of communication. In brief, I will argue that writ- their origins in typography, such as “mind your p’s and q’s” (letters easily confused in a type
ings of this kind are based on the concept of design as a discipline, an orderly, clearly-defined case) and “being out of sorts” (the grouchiness that ensues from running out of particular
practice, which imposes a level of predictability and reliability on communication, enhancing ‘sorts,’ or letters).
and clarifying specific messages through specific means. Dair brought a tradesman’s common- Dair introduces two important themes which were to reappear in Design with Type. One is
sense approach to analyzing and outlining the rules of the business. The cover of the first the use of musical metaphor. He compares typography to the jazz ‘break,’ the improvised
Quest pamphlet features, appropriately enough, a large capital ‘A,’ announcing Dair’s intention solo which forms an excursion from the main melodic line. In an interesting discussion of
to start at the very beginning, break printing and publishing down into its building the rhythm of type, he argues that harmony is found in consistency, but that some visual
blocks, “26 little abstract squiggles,”6 and from there painstakingly reconstruct equivalent of an auditory shock is necessary to interrupt too steady a beat (“da da da DUM”).
the history and meaning of print communication in the Western world. And he notes that because of design’s abstraction, it is possible to graphically interpret a
What this article proposes to question is an assumption that remains Bach, Bartók or Brubeck. But all such fanciful flights of interpretation must be limited: even
implicit both in these publications and in design as a profession today: the the jazz break must eventually meander back to rejoin the ‘real’ tune.
conviction that design was, and remains, fundamentally about clarity and Here we see Dair wrestling with the appropriate balance of convention and experiment. As
order, and the production of reliable and predictable communication. In all melody is to sound, it is conventional practice which grants the visual elements in design their
his writings, Dair attempted to provide a comprehensive definition of design, (conventional) meanings. What Dair cannot allow is a typographic practice which is all ‘break.’
a solid analysis of its unique formal properties and a firm standard by which Despite his best intentions, however, as Dair systematically explores the abstract, formal and
to judge professional design. Such books are non-existent today, having been visual elements of design, one can almost feel his design compass being gently tugged towards
replaced by numerous attractive, beautifully printed volumes of glossy images the logical conclusion: because it is an abstract visual art, design does add elements which
and eye-popping examples of the complexity which can be achieved with the inherently tend in a direction away from the meaning of the words it is meant to interpret.
latest software. Why is this? Is Dair’s project, the definition of design’s parameters, Functionally, design is movement away from literal meaning, not toward it.
even conceivable today?
Looking for Motivation The second theme he introduces, which runs
“A Typographic Quest” and “Design With Type” The six slim pamphlets that throughout Design with Type, is the search for the inherent meaning of
make up A Typographic Quest were structured much like many of Dair’s earlier publications, letterforms. “All characters were originally signs and all signs were once
especially the series produced for the E.B. Eddy Co., which included Type and Paper (1946); images,”8 Dair states. The letter ‘a’ derives from the Egyptian aleph, its
Type Talks (1948, which was in turn based on a series of articles from the Printing Review of shape is the modified and updated icon of an ox. Similarly, the letter ‘Y’
“A Typographic Quest” published as a series of
six pamphlets (West Virginia Pulp & Paper Canada, May 1946 through April 1947, on such topics as “Choosing Type Faces” and “Static is a tree, ‘O’ the sun, etc. He suggests certain kinds of shapes fit with
Company/Westvaco, 1964–68). and Dynamic Balance”); and the influential Handbook of Print Production (1952). certain sounds: the nonsense word ‘takete’ goes with spiky shapes (and
Each booklet is 32 pages (some with an additional cover) in an unusual 51/4 x 9 inch by implication, sharp angular typefaces), ‘maluma’ with gentle, round
format. They are entertaining, not overly copy heavy, relying on typographic inventiveness curves. He compares letterforms and the architectural styles of a period
to catch the eyes and minds of the target market: professional typographers, commercial as well, reproducing a diagram by Aldo Novarese in which the pointed
artists, printers and layout men, the very people who were only beginning to call them- spike of Gothic blacklettering is based on the pointed arch of a gothic
selves ‘designers.’ Through simple means (and of course, by showcasing Westvaco paper window and modern sans-serifs on the geometry of International Style
stocks), Dair undertakes a systematic inventory of design. Book Number 1 of the series buildings (or might the relationship work the other way, the architec-
begins with the question, “What is typography?” First and foremost, Dair emphasizes ease ture arising from the typefaces?). Letters then combine like molecules to form
of recognition and legibility. What allowance he makes for the designer’s interpretation is words, sentences are strings of words and out of this finally comes the “whole
meant only to “facilitate the visual communication between author and reader.”7 Design is cloth” of the page. Weaving letters into a texture, like threads in a cloth, gives
an invisible aid, merely expanding the author’s original, real message. them unique characteristics: Caslon becomes “silky,” and Clarendon “tweedy.”9
Throughout the series, much attention is paid to the traditional classifications of type, Dair’s intention here is to suggest that there are irreducible meanings buried deep in the The center of “Design with Type” is all about contrast.
from gothic to grotesk, which typefaces make appropriate display faces, the proper ancient roots of letters or in natural metaphoric associations we might make with them. By Chapter 8 is followed by seven sub-Chapters, unusually
dimensions and measures of such things as x-height and line spacing, principles for the anthropomorphizing them, personifying, characterizing and classifying them, these abstract numbered 8a through 8g, covering contrasts of size,
weight, structure, form, colour, direction, and texture.
division of space, the handling of contrasts (from size and weight to texture and direction) shapes become rooted. We feel we can make sense of them. In the language of semiotics, Dair then displays all of these formal kinds of contrast
and many other formal elements. Dair is looking for motivated signs, insisting that letterforms are not just abstract or arbi- in a single page, summarizing some 25 pages of writing
Etcetera is the title of the sixth and most amusing booklet, which delves into the agoniz- trary, but instead have some fixed or positive relationship with what they represent. This is in a simple typographic diagram.

ing minutiae of the typesetter’s (now lost?) black art: why ‘J’ and ‘U’ are placed after ‘Z’ in the central conceit, or perhaps the obsession of design, the graphic artist’s equivalent of the
the typecase (these letters were later additions to the alphabet); the difference between old alchemist’s magic stone with its promise of turning lead into gold: that there exist simple,
style numerals and modern (old style have descenders which sink below the baseline, to be universal and, above all, ‘natural’ formal relationships which we can use to align the message
and its design.

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“Can we escape change and variety “Dair reminds us of common expressions

when our business is to picture words that have their origins in typography, such as
and write pictures?” ‘mind your p’s and q’s’ and ‘being out of sorts.’”

Chapter seven of Design with Type brings the issue of complexity into the conventions. Nor are they of any use when designers are increasingly required to
picture. As Dair begins to consider how basic elements enter into more compli- communicate across conventions and speak to, with or even for many different traditions
cated relationships in a complete design, he is immediately led to ask why design and cultures. But before I go any further, let me put down my saxophone and return
changes at all. Wouldn’t one approach to achieving design as direct communica- to Carl Dair….
tion be utter redundancy, he asks, through the predictable repetition of
traditional and perfectly legible old forms? Dair’s answer is a lament: design is Some Examples from History By Chapter 12 of Design with Type, Dair grows tired of his
no longer about information, he suggests, adding with disdain that advertising formal analysis, but realises – more than two thirds of the way into his book – that “we have
budgets and their “carnival of attractions” have taken over in its stead. “The scarcely begun to build.”11 In his last few chapters, therefore, on “Integration,” “Typography
quiet typography of books designed to give a man comfortable reading in for Publishing,” and “On Typographic Schools,” Dair moves away from formal analysis and
lesiure [sic] hours in his home is not adequate for selling wares in the visual begins to draw on historical examples. In effect, he’s out on a limb, because there is no
hubbub of the marketplace.”10 logical link, no possible way to work up methodically from the analysis of design’s elements
Dair doesn’t investigate the question further, but he has raised what is to a full demonstration of what finished design is. You can break design into its formal
surely a fundamental issue in design, especially if taken literally or pursued elements, but the process is akin to taking apart a watch. When you’re finished, you are left
systematically. Why does design change? Isn’t the explosion of design with absolutely everything you had when you started, except you no longer have a watch.
languages and forms a corruption of communication, a concession to the “carnival” of daily Design is synthesized, something more than the sum of its parts.
Dair had a broad and deep understanding of
life, and something worthy of our professional disdain? Or is it the direct and inevitable Curiously, Dair takes a page from Dadaist typography. One of his reproductions is
design history, which possibly led him to stress the result of the deliberate shaping of letters, words and forms? Can we escape change and of Tristan Tzara’s announcement for the Dada soirée, Coeur à Barbe (1923). If it stood for
consistent and the conventional in design practice. variety when our business is to picture words and write pictures? anything, Dada embodied the antithesis of the caution, good taste, convention, restraint
and judgment which Dair lived and breathed. In a curious definition of revolution, Dair
Break Allow me to expand on this with a brief, solo break, a bit of high tenor sax perhaps. asserts that typographic revolt in the 20th century has led to refinement, that Dada and
Redundancy and variety are two key terms from Cybernetics, the science of information other avant-gardes have been absorbed – the experimental breaks have all returned to the
theory which emerged in the postwar era and which was much in discussion during the main melody.
advent of computers and throughout the 1960s. Briefly, when considered mechanically, Design with Type closes with a look at contemporary developments, including
information passes perfectly only when there is perfect redundancy, when the receiver the book Silence, by musician John Cage and typographer Raymond Grimalia;
receives a perfect reproduction of what was sent. Variety is any deviance from the original, the development of concrete poetry, particularly work by Brazilian poets who
a loss of information, which takes the form of noise in the channel and the disruption of created a form of writing which essentially incorporated design into poetic
communication. (Various forms of noise familiar to designers are known by their printing form; another book, La Cantatrice Chauve, by Massin (Editions Gallimard, Paris)
terms: ghosting, hickeys, moirés, wrong fonts, typos and so on). with its jarring incorporation of text and staged photographic imagery reminis-
What works as a model at the technological level, however, becomes nonsense at the cent of Alexey Brodovitch’s Portfolio; and visual experiments by Oldr̆ich Hlavsa,
human level. Line, shape, texture, contrast, colour, space, movement – all of the very stuff based on the typographic poems of Guillaume Apollinaire.
of Dair’s analysis, the very tools of design – are almost pure variety. Their links to words These trends are all part of what we might call typography’s avant-garde and
or concepts are very weak, tenuous at best. There is no precise colour for ‘mother,’ no font Dair’s interest in them flows in part from his experience as a judge in contem-
which means ‘progress’ (no, not even Futura), no spatial layout or visual contrast which is porary international exhibitions. Like today’s digitally-amplified typographic
even conventionally understood to express ‘bank’ or ‘service.’ The colour blue may reason- experimentation, these works were often difficult to read, interpret or
ably be said to stand for ‘sky,’ but this association is quickly overtaken by a riot of others: understand, a fundamental difficulty which, as in the case of Dada, is not really
sadness, calm, conservatism, water, Yves Klein, lapis lazuli, the United Nations, an inexplica- overcome simply because we have become increasingly familiar with them and now
bly popular Canadian beer. In working with and enhancing the visual element of writing, have labels for them. Dair’s fascination simply highlights the two horns of design’s
design necessarily introduces noise into the channel and then proceeds to amplify it. dilemma: all written language necessarily uses shape, colour and contrast, and
If design is to be defined and theorized, then it must become part of the debates about by doing so opens itself to greater variety of meanings, to the point of escaping
the meaning of meaning and the mechanisms of language, which have been a central part literal meaning at all. By constantly expanding, refining and changing the visual
of modernism in the arts and of modern thought in general. Itemizing and systematically shape and variety of letterforms, design inexorably continues to explode the
classifying current practice, as Dair did, only raises more questions, especially when current amount of information available. Design is a disruptive practice.
practice changes beyond recognition, and one’s classifications become outdated and useless, Besides the historical examples which Dair reproduces in Design with Type, it is Playing with transparent overlays, Dair separated
stacked to one side like so many composing sticks. instructive to compare the book itself with the work of the European typographers the positive and negative spaces in this very elegant
We can brush the issues aside easily enough. After all, any professional knows good whom he acknowledges, such as László Moholy-Nagy, Willem Sandberg and Jan Tschichold. letter ‘g’ as part of his analysis of the mechanism of
design. Design is somewhat like a watch, however:
design when he sees it and everyone knows enough about conventional and traditional To take a single example, Moholy-Nagy’s book, The New Vision (first edition 1928)12 takes when you take it apart, you are left with everything
associations to get their message across. But these are entirely unsatisfactory answers in much the same idealist tone in stating the scope of its intentions. Art defies description, you had when you started, except you no longer
a field which is so driven to seek impact, novelty, change and variety – that is, to disrupt Moholy-Nagy argues, and through experimentation with tools and technique, he sought have a “watch.”

what he called the objective quality of human experience, elements which transcended
cultural convention.

GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5 m m GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5

40 Much ado about Dair Much ado about Dair
41
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Th e E volu t i o n o f Carti er
The beauty of Moholy-Nagy’s experiments in design, photography and with In January 1967 the graphic designer Carl Dair released Cartier, the first text typeface to be designed in Canada.
physical material, together with the conviction of his argument in The New Vision and
Although the face was well received at the time it failed to gain widespread use. Critics thought the italic too narrow
elsewhere, only served to heighten the illusion that materiality, form itself, can be
found to have a ‘deep’ meaning, which we establish objectively or through analysis. for comfortable reading and designers found it difficult to work without at least one bold weight for emphasis.
Language feels objective, symbols seem to come naturally, but such positivist or phenome- Believing that Dair’s design was sound in concept, if not in execution, Toronto type designer Rod McDonald

m
nological theories of language have not fared well in this century.
The direct upshot of Bauhaus experimentation and investigation into materials was not
reworked both the Roman and Italic, introducing changes he felt necessary to make the original design a working
Carl Dair’s “Typographic Contrast,
A Typographic Quest No. 5,” published in 1967. to found an objective vocabulary, but simply to increase the number of visual conventions typeface. Medium Roman, Bold Roman, and Regular Small Caps have been added to round-out the family.
available, expanding our expressive range. Prying art out of its frames and applying it to Rod McDonald’s Cartier Book family of type is a feat of remarkable design. It successfully melds qualities
everyday chairs, utilitarian appliances and mass publications simply reveal that, lo and
behold, everything has form and is susceptible to formal manipulation. Design could be that make a typeface distinctive with those that insure lasting value. Few designs are as elegantly functional and
extended endlessly, beyond the ability or even the desire of a profession to contain and stunningly attractive. – Allan Haley
define it.
In their crucial, defining roles as early design theorists, both Moholy-Nagy and Dair were
looking for depth, those strong bonds of meaning that we might call natural, symbolic or
universal. Instead, I suggest they found a surface (in post-structuralist terms, an endless play
of signifiers) which is infinitely expandable. If we understand design as a limitless surface,
“Art is an idea that has
with infinite extension but completely without depth, we can see why it might be said to be
extraordinary to write a book, or even a series of books, which try to encompass that field. found its perfect form.”
1. Carl Dair, Design with Type, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
1967), 126. Facing the Virtually Unlimited It is necessary not to overstress the argument. If design Susanna Barrett (original author unknown) m Cartier Book Regular
2. See particularly Marjorie Harris, “A Salute to GDC Fellows: by its very nature tends to disrupt and complicate communication, it does not, of course,
Carl Dair,” Applied Arts 2, no. 2 (Summer 1987):16, and
Douglas Poff, “Carl Dair and the Cartier Type Face,” in John Gibson
ultimately prevent it. No design practice, however avant-garde, can sustain pure visual
and Laurie Lewis, Stick and Stones (Toronto: Toronto Typographic
Association, 1980): 25. Dair’s indispensable and well-organised
variety. Difficult work by designers like P. Scott Makela and David Carson continues to draw
our attention, just as these designers draw and acknowledge inspiration from many traditional
“Visual communication is a language unto itself…
archive, along with his own hand printing press and other
material, is in the Massey College Library, University of Toronto. sources, including Alexander Rodchenko, April Greiman and vernacular Mexican signage. I’m just a translator with attitude.”
3. Harris, A Salute to GDC Fellows, 16. Despite its tendency to variety, design remains effective because practice, whether profes-
4. Dair, Design with Type, v. sional or not, does allow us to draw clear lines, even if only in sand. Toronto designer and art Carmen A.R. Goonewardene m Cartier Book Medium
5. Carl Dair, Typographic Contrast: A Typographic Quest no. 5 (West director Ken Rodmell, taking his inspiration from Charles Eames, notes that “virtually the
Virginia Pulp and Paper Company/Westvaco, 1967): 26. Thank you
to Gerry Proderick of Oakville for giving me a complete set of these
only good design is done by people who either have extremely limited means – cultural input,
publications, and to Mary Ann Maruska of Sheridan College for materials, methods – or by people who are sophisticated enough and well-trained enough to
having had the foresight, several years ago, to buy a hardcover copy
of Design with Type, in its glorious original black and red, at a used
book store for 25 cents.
make the right choices from among virtually unlimited possibilities.”13 In either case, Rodmell
is conceding that the very nature of design, as a complex and visual form of communication,
“Why design? The thrill of creating
6. Carl Dair, A Typographic Quest no. 1
(West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company/ Westvaco, 1964): 3

7. Ibid.
is to be “virtually unlimited.” The lines we draw, the standards we set, are subject to enor-
mous, constant pressure. something from nothing (well, almost).”
Even with the remarkable standards and professionalism they possessed, was the
8. Dair, Design with Type, x.
experience of typesetters a match for the explosive change in “cultural input, materials and C i n d y B o u w e r s m C a rt i e r B o o k I ta l i c
9. Ibid., 31.
methods” which has so profoundly changed the way type is produced today? The centrifugal
10. Ibid., 46. Although he occasionally worked in advertising,
Dair remained a ‘book man’ at heart. Also, I have reproduced the
forces – visual, social and technological – that act on design are at least as strong as the
typographic error not out of perversity, but because, as in any book,
Design with Type includes small flaws, bits of broken type, slightly
centripetal forces of legibility and convention.
Picturing words, shaping letters and pages into unique, abstract visual statements:
“If you want to be different just for the sake
skewed or darkened patch corrections, etc., which are all charming
but prickly little reminders (especially in a book which is so self-
consciously about the proper form of books) that design involves
this is the unique power of design. But can we permanently resolve design’s inherent visual of being different, you could come for
eclecticism with our need for predictable communication? We must at least thoroughly
as much variety and disruption as it does convention and sense.

11. Ibid., 107.

question – although we may never completely dispose of – the assumption that design breakfast with a sock in your mouth.”
12. László Moholy-Nagy, The New Vision, trans. Daphne M. Hoffman,
is fundamentally about clarity, order, and the production of reliable and predictable
4th ed. (New York: Wittenborn, 1947) communication. The written words and/versus the abstract visual design of those Michael Woroniak quotes Leo Burnett m Cartier Book Bold
13. Quoted in “Five on Type,” Applied Arts 1 no. 3 (Fall 1986): 13 words: two elements, twin impulses, both fundamental to design. Nonetheless, they are
contradictory impulses. Despite our repeated appeals to convention, they will always,
as Dair was oddly fond of saying, “remain at bodkins drawn.” m
Editor’s Notes: The digital form of Cartier appears in this Journal compliments of FontShop.
GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5 m m GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5
42 Much ado about Dair
Quotations by various GDC members are from GDC @ 40 published in 1996.
A font for Canada
43
GDC-3100.Journal_0602.qx 6/28/02 7:41 PM Page 44

Bosnia and we’ll also sell your teenagers the latest sweater

falling dolls for $75.” Or Calvin Klein or Gap with the exposed navels
of prepubescent males and females, modeling the latest styles
in bluejeans. As far as I can tell these images are about selling
the Marna Bunnell poster project sex and the illusion of how you should look to attract the right
person. Nothing new here. Illusion and power.
C O N N E C T I O N S

Posters have a long tradition of being the medium of

The Vision Through a series of six images, printmaker
the people. Posters speak from a place of revolution,
Marna Bunnell facilitates a feeling of the experience of
personal or societal. They are about voice. They incite, provoke,
prostitution. This is a collaborative work, with participation
or cry out for change. Expressions of difference. Taken to the
from Crossroads Outreach Program, Catholic Social Services –
street and outside of the safe confines of a specialized space,
Safe House, community members and most importantly,
posters address an unknown and random audience.
the girls and women who have privileged us by sharing the
For me, creating posters has meant working from the
stories of their lives on the street.
point of convergence between a global tradition and my own
personal vocabulary, ever since I first had the chance to travel
The images grew out of the question: “Prostitution:
and see these big graphics in public transportation systems
what does it mean?” This lead to conversations with girls
of cities like Paris or Tokyo. Places where there is an advocacy
on the street talking about their lives. They often talked about
and a history for this kind of communication. Startling and
their feet and their shoes, how much they hurt, how far they
beautiful – images that make you want to remember. Through
walked, and where their feet took them. It became clear early
metaphor. With intention. Arresting images that compel you
in the development of the project that the artist would not
to look and experience them. I thought – why can’t we do that Prostitution is about power, not sex Prostitution is about the power Cinderfuckingella The intention in this poster was to shatter the
exploit the cliché of the uniform of the street; that is high heels, and control one individual has over another. Our intention was very clear well-known fairy tale of Cinderella. Text switches violently back and forth
here – right here? here… to dispel one of the major myths about prostitution. The words are between the fairytale… the prince on his white horse coming to rescue
stockings and short skirts. The challenge was to look beyond
We can remember many of the stunning Polish theatre printed on strips of masking tape which bind the ankles of a woman lying the princess…, to text from a bad date report and the description of the
the uniform and express the feeling of what it is like to be a on her back. One leg is pulling back The image is uncomfortable… we, violent beating and rape of a prostitute by a “john.” The sensuality of the
posters – intense metaphoric statements, belying a critique of the audience are forced directly over top of the body in a position of power image, of the beautiful flowing white cloth, the wedding dress, the ball
girl exploited by prostitution.
the repressive government; or the social commentary of the and control. The sheets are saturated… blue… pulling the feeling down gown and the sheets is denied. The shoes are left empty with only a trace
Contrary to what we thought in the beginning, the girls are and emphasizing the anxiety in the image. We are reminded of some of someone having stood there.
Mexican artist Posada, who daily created his satiric “dancing clinical sterile place like a hospital or autopsy table in the medical
not without voices. The costume of the street and the public’s
skeleton” caricatures for the newspapers; or the raw stenciled examiners office.
perception that prostitution is a choice, drowns the voice.
image poems, anonymous and irreverent – sprayed on the
The situation is really that there is no forum for their voices
walls of the buildings of Paris, recalling the time of the 1968
to be heard, and society itself is unable to get past the uniform.
student protests; or the exquisitely crafted “advertising posters”
When we listened to the girls’ stories, as women ourselves, we
for department stores in Japan. All of these examples have
discovered that there was no emotional separation between
informed me of how posters function in other societies
us. We could have been wearing those shoes. Only chance and
and cultures. Whether through the passionate message they
circumstance set us apart. We stopped wondering why the girls
speak or through the beauty through which that message
would choose this horrific lifestyle and started understanding
is delivered, I have faith that the poster is a powerful medium
how they come to be exploited.
to address issues relevant to our own lives within our own
Thus an important part of the vision is the process of listen-
communities.
ing, asking questions, witnessing, learning, and remembering.
Through the poster, fine art and social action are combined.
The project interweaves the voices of the girls, the agencies,
Through the poster we take dialogue out into the street
the artist and the communities. We invite the observer to listen
and open a brief space within ourselves for awareness
visually and to try on these shoes.
and reflection – to affect change within ourselves and the
The following is taken from a presentation given at the
community at large.
Sightlines International Printmaking Symposium held in
Edmonton, Alberta, in early October of 1996 . The topic of
The Falling Dolls is a series of posters on the subject of
discussion for the panel was: The affects of the global village
street prostitution and a project I have been involved
on society and image culture.
with for nearly two years. Six large 4’ x 6’ bus-shelter-size
I want to see images in public spaces that have some posters were produced using a combination of silkscreen and
connection or meaning to my day-to-day life. It’s diffi- lithographic hand printmaking techniques. As a series, they
cult to find them. Corporate culture smothers us. Surrounds us. attempt to address the complexity of the issue with depth,
It tells us what to do, what to buy, and where to buy it. Ever so through a combination of stark photographic realism collaged
gently, it lulls and seduces us into believing we need some- with text and a language which comes directly from the street.
Fly Away I like the relationship between text and image in this poster. The average age of entry into prostitution is 15 This is a more
thing. Corporations who would seem to be politically correct. The posters evoke a more emotional response from the viewer The idea was to use a very common childhood rhyme or song as the direct image. I wanted to show the bottoms and soles/souls of the feet
Beneton. “We’re okay… we do care about aids or the war in and facilitate a feeling of the experience of prostitution. starting point. It speaks of the eternal wish… a wish for anything… of a young girl… vulnerable and bare… suspended, they do not touch
the wish for love. The bird cage is a metaphor for the caged state of a the ground. As the viewer we look on in horror and realise these could
prostitute who is trapped and exploited by society and herself into this be the feet of a daughter, a sister, a friend…. The average age of entry
horrific lifestyle. The repetition of the words “fly away, fly away,” is like a into prostitution is 15… the words are attached to the heels like tacks
mantra, whispering to the girls and the women of the street to fly away. to a tackboard. The idea was to convey that these are children, innocent
The little hand in the heart reaches for the stars and the dream of a new, and unknowing.
GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5 m
44 We could have been wearing those shoes.
hopeful life. The text on the bottom of the poster comes from a poem
written by an ex-prostitute.
GDC-3100.Journal_0602.qx 6/28/02 7:41 PM Page 46

From the beginning, myself as artist and Crossroads as the social

agency were equal partners or participants in this project. This was
not a commission. I was not the graphic designer and they were not
the client in the typical sense. It was collaborative work. We evolved
the images together through constant dialogue, meeting, talking
and looking. Listening to each other. There were no preconceived
notions or expectations for the posters to look a certain way. It was
more important to continuously ask the question… is this the most
powerful and effective way to get the message(s) across? This was
For the
Record of some of them here. – Mary Ann Maruska, R.G.D., FGDC (Founding Journal Editor).

AN EDITOR’S TALE It was one of President Paul Brunelle’s

big and inspiring ideas that GDC should publish a journal.
It would encourage dialogue on issues of significance to designers,
m
Since the last issue of this journal was published, several major events have taken place.
So, with a nod to future researchers of design history in Canada, we include a snapshot

Walter Jungkind, FGDC, Professor Emeritus, acted as organizer

for North America. It was previously shown in eight major cities
in Europe and at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in
the most challenging part of the project – how to be both aestheti- promote excellence in practice and education, help record the Vancouver, the University of Washington in Seattle, the California
cally and socially responsible? In this way the artist becomes the history of graphic design in Canada and, significantly, it would have College of Arts and Crafts in San Francisco and at the Edmonton
facilitator of a process which allows for collective dialogue, critique a longer shelf-life than a newsletter. An excellent idea, but as with Public Library. An excellent, well-researched, illustrated catalogue
and self critique. There is more consideration for audience. The lines most projects, what was needed was time and money. Yet unlike is available, setting out design parameters and historical back-
between the “them, we, me” and “they” become very blurry. I believe the fate of many good ideas, these essentials came together. The ground. For more information contact Gayle Garlock, Director,
we arrived at a more truthful representation of the issue. From the Federal Government, through the shepherding of Anne Séguin of Development and Public Affairs, Robarts Library, University of
inside out. Communications Canada, donated invaluable seed money. In 1992, Toronto at gaylock@library.utoronto.ca.
Ulrich Wodicka, a long-time GDC member and Fellow, had recently
That was the first part of the project. We now have a series retired from a long career with the Canadian government. I was THE TYPOGRAPHIC EXPOSITION: INTERNATIONAL
of images to work with. And although it is our goal to see the GDC Vice-President, Communications and was working on my TYPE SYMPOSIUM & EXHIBITIONS This major event was
posters installed in the downtown inner city core, it is the process of Masters Degree at Syracuse. We both had some time we could organised by the Ontario Chapter of the Society of Graphic Designers
talking with people about the project and how best to achieve that Bad Date A “Bad Date” as it is referred to in street language is a particularly devote to this project and agreed to be its founding co-editors. of Canada and held from April 26–27, 1996 at the Design Exchange
violent encounter between a prostitute and a “john”, the man who solicits
goal that has led to some rich and unexpected results. The posters her for her services. A Bad Date sheet is a listing of all bad dates reported. We spent many mornings over coffee, sharing ideas and tasks. in Toronto. Through a series of seminars and informal discussions,
have a life. They move from facilitation/discussion groups at youth It has become an invaluable communications tool to warn girls working Ulrich took the launching of this new publication very seriously participants explored the role of typography in expressing the look
the street. In this poster I used cuttings of text from the bad date sheet,
emergency shelters and drop in centres, to most recently, a national enlarged them on the Xerox machine and spliced them back together. and saw that it was done right, from drafting the mission statement, and priorities of culture. Presenters included Erik van Blokland and
conference in Ottawa, on policing and prostitution. In the spring, the The feeling of the actual violence is recalled by the visual piecing together setting up the editorial style sheets and organizing the French Just van Rossum, Matthew Carter, Jorge Frascara, Allan Haley, Jeffrey
of the violent event.
posters will become part of a presentation for the new Prostitution translation, to registering with the National Library and seeing Keedy, P. Scott Makela, Rod McDonald, and Gerard Unger. The major
Offender Program. Through the posters, people are beginning to talk that the Journal was disseminated to libraries and sister associations sponsors were Apple, Adobe, and Agfa, and the booths of many other
about the issue and confront parts of the issue for themselves that around the world. He came up with numerous story ideas, was a industry sponsors, such as Anstey Bookbinding, enlivened the event.
have been taboo to talk about. What is important is that the posters precise and insightful editor of the articles submitted and wrote Two major exhibitions also contributed to the success of the event:
generate controversy and dialogue. Controversy comes from the several articles himself. I scouted for stories and elicited graphics, Adrian Frutiger: His Typographic and Written Work and Type Culture,
discomfort. As we begin to understand, there are no easy solutions. sought donations of paper, film and printing, did the layout, and a curated exhibition demonstrating the innovative use of type
If only for a moment, we are invited to listen visually and try on and oversaw production. in Canada.
the shoes. In the first issue, Ulrich wrote, “The launch of a periodical comes
with both aspirations and apprehensions.” Would this be a lively, THE PUBLICATION OF “GDC@ 4O” This 56-page book is a
Think globally. Act locally. It is perhaps an overused adage, but regular forum that would help us grow as a profession or a bright compendium of GDC Professional and Licentiate members’ work
what it speaks is practical common sense. We have to begin, in our but brief phenomenon? Well, four issues were published, from 1993 in celebration of the Society’s 40th anniversary. It is a different kind
own communities and our own backyards, to act for change. The to 1996, with Ulrich and I as co-editors. I am proud of the effort, of catalog – not the result of a competition, but rather a collection
important thing is to do something. Even more so now, I believe in especially in the areas of education and recording design history in of members’ work, thoughts and photos voluntarily submitted.
the poster – a bold singular image, as a powerful way to communi- Canada and am grateful to all those who contributed. Fortunately, It was included as an insert in the September 1996 issue of
cate – a kind of hybrid somewhere between art and communication Robert L. Peters was not prepared to let this be the end of the story. Applied Arts magazine. Its pages include an overview of the develop-
where the myths and clichés, propaganda and slogans used by a Please help him, in any way you can, to keep the tale alive. ment of graphic design in Canada by Brian Donnelly. The project
society, are challenged. was undertaken by GDC National Council, designed by Paul Haslip
My project is very specific and very local, and I am curious BOOK DESIGN IN SWITZERLAND From February 1–28, 1999 and Tiit Telmet, and coordinated by Karen Eensild and Mary Ann
about how or if the meanings can be translated across this country, Robarts Library in the University of Toronto showcased an Maruska, with the invaluable help of major contributors including
let alone cross-culturally. How do the messages work? How does exhibition that mirrored the diversity of Swiss culture and the Applied Arts, Island Paper, Quebecor MIL, HM&E, and Ion Design. m
metaphor and archetype translate cross-culturally? In the end, high standards of its design and publishing industry. The exhibition
each of us as the viewer, through our own personal experience, “Book Design in Switzerland” comprised some 60 books showing
will determine the meaning(s). m excellence in all aspects of book production, with special emphasis
on design and typography. The books presented featured a wide
Editor’s Note: Submitted in 1997. See also an article by Alan Freeman in The Globe and Mail range of topics, including art, photography, mathematics, biology,
dated March 27, 1999, describing Marna’s work in an exhibit at the Royal College of Art, London. Just Another Prostitute This is probably the most graphic and brutally history, poetry and children’s books.
honest poster in the series. The scarring and wounds on the legs come
from an under printed image of carving in a tree trunk… the legs were then
superimposed on top creating the disturbing effect of real scars on the dead
body of a prostitute. The image has a certain amount of shock value because
it is final… the person is dead and only a toe tag identifies her as Just Another
Prostitute. She is nameless. The red writing on the leg was printed to look like a
GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5 m tattoo and comes from a poem called Thoughts on the Game, by Holly Carmichael. m GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5
46 We could have been wearing those shoes. Are we ready for graphic design?
47
GDC-3100.Journal_0602.qx 6/28/02 7:41 PM Page 48

f Creativity to go…
– Mary Ann Maruska, R.G.D., FGDC
R E V I E W

C REATIVITY FOR
G RAPHIC D ESIGNERS Sections, Organization & Examples Ideas & Inspirations Unique Contributions Drawbacks Recommended For

A real-world guide to idea generation – 1. Preparing for Ideas. A point well-made is that client manage- The emphasis on working with the client, The design gets in the way. Headlines for Designers starting their own business.
B O O K

from defining your message to selecting The client interview, preparing the client for ment is integral to creative solutions being including managing expectations and case studies run vertically in the left margin Graduates starting out in the field.
the best idea for your printed piece. creativity, research. produced. Regarding help at the ideation decision making and allowing creative and are easily overlooked, rendering the
My Personal Opinion
Mark Oldach, 1995. 2. Getting to Ideas. stage, the main suggestions are immersing design to surface and survive. Also, the lesson harder to access. The small text type
Cherry pie made from scratch: work, but
Brainstorming, wordplay. oneself in research and brainstorming. emphasis on setting and using objectives combined with long line length make the
Oldach is a designer and founder of Mark worth the effort. I wish I’d had this book
3. Growing Ideas. However, there is a good section on and criteria. Some fun surprises: tiny words text a tough read. The resulting generous
Oldach Design in Chicago. For his article when I was starting my business.
Evaluating, style, production.The introduc- working with words with approaches and images with the folios for idea margins are used for stylish but
in the June 1998 Creativity issue of How
tion starts with “Read me. I am not just such as thinking opposites, developing sparking, a metric content-light ‘sketchbook’
magazine, he added more insights from
a picture book.” This is the first of much categories, and growing metaphors. conversion chart on illustrations.
his personal experience to the ideas
good advice. While the case studies are the colophon page.
presented in his book.
interesting, it’s not always clear why they
are presented where they are presented
(see ‘Drawbacks’).

G RAPHIC D ESIGN :
I NSPIRATIONS & I NNOVATIONS Sections, Organization & Examples Ideas & Inspirations Unique Contributions Drawbacks Recommended For

Insights into the creative processes of 1. Where do ideas come from? 75 designers in 134 pages… by the time A few Canadian designers are included: Again, 75 designers in 134 pages... it’s like Students learning about contemporary
75 top and up-and-coming designers. 2. Working out your ideas. the project is described, there isn’t much Diti Katona, Stuart Ash, Roslyn Eskind. An a photo album with extended captions. designers and how they think about
Diana Martin, 1995. 3. Presenting your ideas. room for reflection on process. However, alphabetical listing of the designers with Yet, while brief, these do give a taste of the projects. (They could phone them!)
Each section is a grouping of project Milton Glaser and Rebeca Méndez offer their addresses, fax and phone numbers. challenges and opportunities afforded by
Martin is a principal in a Cincinnati-based My Personal Opinion
overviews provided by the designers insights into the personal visions which We get to see what Mc Ray Magleby looks the projects.
firm providing editorial and marketing A box of chocolates: attractive, lots of
within the limitations of a dozen they investigate through design – like and hear a bit of the story behind
services and has written five books. variety, short and sweet. It’s a collection;
sentences and two or three visuals. Méndez has been using the body as a those infamous Brigham Young University
not really synthesized. Good for the
Brief section introductions summarize central metaphor; Glaser thinks about ‘be quiet in the library’ posters.
coffee table or bathroom.
the diversity of approaches. design as a manifestation of philosophy.

T HINKING C REATIVELY :
N EW WAYS TO UNLOCK
YOUR VISUAL IMAGINATION . Sections, Organization & Examples Ideas & Inspirations Unique Contributions Drawbacks Recommended For

Robin Landa, 1998. 1. Thinking about Visual Thinking. This book is full of There is a collection of fun (for the Overselling. In the table of contents, Graphic design instructors; students of
Developing objectives, criteria, and the ideas and approaches, professional) and challenging (for the student-level exercises are billed design of all ages.
Landa is a Professor of Visual
relationship of form and content. from going back to first the student) exercises reinforcing the as “mind-blowing experiments.” Another
Communication at Kean University, My Personal Opinion
2. Visualization and Stimulation. principles (line, shape, approaches described earlier in the example: “16 creative approaches will
NJ, a designer, writer, and consultant Carrot cake: rich, nutritious, satisfying.
3. Creative Approaches and Exercises. colour) to techniques book. Also included is a concise overview change your graphic design techniques
to corporations. She has written four This is the one I’d recommend to my
4. Visual Thinking in Practice. for combining images of the stages of a project from clarifying forever.”Three of these approaches are:
books. students.
(Interviews) The interviews and case studies (merge, juxtapose, synthesize). The visual objectives through developing a concept, typography, scale and cropping, and
are long enough and focused enough examples chosen clearly demonstrate the plus some theory (the interdependence period influences. Valid to remind us
for valuable ideas to emerge. Frequent principles being discussed. of form and content) all in an attractive, of their potential, but... whoa!
summaries help the reader stay focused. accessible package.
GDC-3100.Journal_0602.qx 6/28/02 7:41 PM Page 50

The Turn of the Millennium

Peter Francey, Principal of Spencer Francey Peters, Toronto, delivers the final speech to 1999 graduates
of the Communication Design program at Sheridan College. – Peter Francey
V E R B A T I M

T hank you. Members of the Faculty and Sheridan

Graduates, I am delighted to be here today to
celebrate the addition of new designers to our
industry. I congratulate each of you who have persevered.
No doubt most of you are anxious to get on with your
Decentralized
Most large organizations have flattened out and become
highly decentralized. One of my clients who is a Senior
Vice-President in charge of marketing was complaining to
me that in the old days, all communications came through
Most clients today want a relationship with a designer or
design firm. They don’t have the time to job out each project
to a different firm – they barely have time to brief the firm
that they have come to trust and rely upon.
Establishing and nurturing that trust in clients is perhaps
The story goes that if all Coca Cola’s
manufacturing facilities globally burned to
the ground, they could go to the bank tomorrow
and borrow billions of dollars based solely on the
value of their brand!
future, whether that be joining a design firm, starting your her department, so there was a central point of control as important to your success as your ability to fulfill their Coke’s brand is all about design. The logo, the bottle, the
own business or becoming a part of an internal design team. and she contracted with designers and monitored quality design needs. It must be a genuine bond that you create, attitude. These are all created by designers. But, by designers
Design is a fantastic profession. One which changes and standards. Today, she is only directly involved with a small built on mutual respect and understanding. Its all about who understand the business that Coca Cola is in, their
challenges almost on a daily basis. After more than two percentage of her company’s communications – lots of anticipating and being proactive about what your clients need consumers, their competition, their distributors and so on.
decades in the business, I have witnessed dramatic change material is created and produced at the local level and by from your relationship. You are going to need to know almost as much about your
in what we do and how we do it. In fact, there will have different divisions. Not all of it is great. That is a reality that I have a reputation of being obsessed about keeping in client’s business as they do if you want to secure a relation-
been significant change taking place out there even since she is trying to cope with. touch with clients. After a particularly diligent effort on my ship, if you want to be valued by them. If you haven’t already,
your first year at Sheridan. part to reach a client over several days, I received a voice-mail start reading Fast Company, Business 2.0 and Red Herring. They
I was invited here today to offer my perspective on what Diverse message back acknowledging my efforts and indicating that I will connect you with the key issues that your clients are
these changes are and what they mean. Less than ten years In the past, most companies communicated in a “broadcast keep in better touch with him than his family does. dealing with in their businesses.
ago, the Canadian design business was all about transactions. mode” – that is, they created one message for their target Back in the old days of the 80s, there was an image of the
A client had a project. They looked at some portfolios, got market and hoped that it appealed to enough people to sell “Design has never been valued more designer as being a rather special, aloof person who, behind
some quotes and awarded the job to a designer or design firm. lots of widgets. Today, with people accessing information closed doors, would ruminate for hours until the light bulb
Designers had to sell lots of individual projects to grow their through various media, clients have to recognize the diversity
by clients than right now. There has went off and a brilliant solution burst forth.
portfolios, their reputations and their business. of their marketplace and communicate not only broadly, but never been as much demand for Today, good and successful designers are great communi-
with customized messages on a one-to-one basis when and cators and they are engaged and engaging. They understand
“Design is a fantastic profession.” where their potential customer wants the information.
design as right now.” their client’s needs; they work with their clients in far greater
collaboration than ever before, they inspire their clients
Today, things have changed. Client needs are different. Digital The playing field for designers has also changed. Not only to achieve more with design and they can and will turn a
The competition is different. What designers sell is different Just a couple of years ago a lot of our clients asked us does our firm regularly encounter competition from many of challenge into a solution literally overnight.
and how designers do their work is different. if we thought that the internet was a passing fad. The world the big firms south of the border, but we also find advertising All of this may seem daunting – but it shouldn’t be.
Most client companies have dealt with the factors that is now digital and wired and not only can customers access a agencies, PR companies, marketing specialists and manage- There has never been a better time for design than right
have caused businesses to re-engineer themselves, but few company on their own terms, but everyone inside a company ment consultants in our clients’ boardrooms competing for now. Design has never been valued more by clients than
have looked at how they must approach their communica- with a computer on their desk becomes a brand manager able what used to be considered strictly design projects. right now. There has never been as much demand for design
tions in order to be competitive and successful. to send out communications on and behalf of that company. Never has it been more important for designers to be able as right now.
We describe the challenges facing the people in charge The internet is just the latest in the communications media to clarify and articulate what it is that they do and how they If you take what you have learned so far and embrace
of communications within our client companies as the revolution – there is so much more coming with web TV, can create real value for an organization through their skills the change that is going on out there, you will succeed.
“4 D’s” of change. increased bandwidth and so on. and capabilities. – Thank you. m
Companies today must ensure that their identity, Design is at the core of everything that Spencer Francey
their image, their communications in all media can Dynamic Peters does. But, we don’t sell “design,” we sell corporate
be sustainable and robust in a marketplace which is: Three years ago, we launched the Amigo cell phone for Cantel. branding. Ah yes, “branding” – the nineties’ business buzz
Decentralized, Diverse, Digital and Dynamic. Let me We had six weeks to name and brand the product and have it word. Your clients will talk about it and seek your advice
elaborate on these. on the shelf. We used to talk about this extraordinary feat in about it – because, it is what clients identify as their most
our new business presentations as a point of differentiation. critical need.
Today, everyone deals in such dynamic companies and
markets that six weeks from concept to shelf is the norm, not
the exception.

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In Need of a Code Canada’s new Code of Ethics raises standards for graphic “It means not designing dangerous all black
designers everywhere. Written by David Berman and the Ethics Committee for the Society of Graphic Designers Halloween costumes, even though market
of Canada – with thanks to the Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario, AIGA, Icograda, research shows they will sell better.”
and the many individuals who have contributed. – David Berman, R.G.D., FGDC

following the rules of conduct, they could potentially appeal

P R A C T I C E

such a decision to the court of Ontario. This edition of our

C
ourageous new codes of ethical behaviour for the Looking within the design community, these same Code of Ethics also includes a section on the Designer’s
Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) and its minimum standards of conduct encourage us to improve Responsibility to Society, thus entrenching responsibility
member organization, the Association of Registered how we practice. Indirectly this increases the value of graphic for what we can control, rather than simply suggesting it
Graphic Designers of Ontario (R.G.D./Ontario), were formally design in society. For instance, on the important matter of would be a nice thing to do. In drafting this edition, codes
adopted in February and May of 1998. These rules of profes- working on spec, having us all behave uniformly is the only of conduct from over a dozen other related and non-related
B E S T

sional conduct are a global beacon for designers and other way to result in a more fruitful practice for everyone involved. professions were carefully studied.
professionals who choose to recognize the influence their
work has on the world and the benefit to their clients and A Personal and Public Choice New directions
society at large in having a commonly agreed standard Personally, ethics define the way we choose to relate to every- Our rules likely now stand as the most earnest commitment
of professional practice. In Ontario, where accreditation one and everything around us in a way that is consistent with to ethical behaviour of any design organization. They serve
has recently been established for graphic designers, the new our inner principles and values. Basing personal and commer- abused. Discrimination is often encouraged and perpetuated as a beacon to other professions as well, for how to help
Rules of Professional Conduct are enforced under the laws of cial choices on the same principles is an indicator of a by the powerful force of visual images in advertising and heal the world.
the province. For the first time in the world, graphic designers balanced professional. other media – the very stuff which we manipulate for a living. For myself, they fulfill a dream I have held since naively
must uphold a standard of professional conduct and social For the pure professional, responsibility always accompa- We are often the inadvertent propagators of images which posing the idea at my first GDC meeting 12 years ago: to
responsibility in order to practice as accredited designers. nies power. In contrast, a pure entrepreneur can see power foster stereotypes and victimization. Graphic designers can formally commit to social responsibility, and in so doing raise
This means they risk losing their designation as a Registered as simply a tool for realizing financial goals in a game greatly control the choice of images in the work they produce. the bar of our professional standards and the value of graphic
Graphic Designer if they don’t act in a principled manner. measured by monetary rewards. The profits may be spent In all visual communications, our opinions on the potential design in our society. In this way, we both enlarge our circle
altruistically, however the end does not always justify the impact of imagery carries respect and influence. of influence, and then apply that influence toward lofty ideals.
Why do we need rules of professional conduct? means. For the professional, ethical use of power is not Our Code now speaks to how we should conduct
As opposed to fine art, graphic design is a professional pursuit optional. True professional responsibility is a non-negotiable MASS MESSAGING We burst into the 21st century in a world ourselves in business and in practice. It has been carefully
firmly rooted in day-to-day commerce. Graphic designers, like part of personal conduct. of global economics. A world where the influence of mass crafted to stand the test of time, based on those in our profes-
other professionals, are part of an economic system. A public messaging from multi-national corporations has never been sion with decades of experience in what can happen and
statement of the minimum standard of a professional group’s Our Circles of Influence so broad, so ubiquitous and so generally accepted. These what we can make happen.
ethical behaviour establishes a formal trust on which to base Graphic designers hold conspicuous influence in many messages are just as often about style, mood, and acceptance In the future, from this new platform, we will work
more sophisticated business relationships. important areas. The most obvious are: as they are about features and functionality. The way that together to publicize this commitment to professionalism
Lawyers, for instance, promise to never compromise a • how paper products are consumed entire Third World nations are emerging into global econom- in all its aspects; encouraging designers to elevate their
client’s privacy for personal financial gain. For a chartered • how people are portrayed visually, and ics is influenced greatly by these corporate messages. Next to own work, the prominence of graphic design in the economy
accountant, this entails not using privileged information to • how messages are crafted and delivered to influence the those who bankroll such campaigns, professional communica- and the influence that designers can properly use to nurture
make a personal investment decision. For a graphic designer, behaviour of large audiences. tors have the greatest power to change how corporate our society. How people perceive both our process and our
it can mean not knowingly infringing upon someone else’s messages are delivered and understood. Not only do we influ- results will be enhanced by active acknowledgement of the
copyright while designing for your client. A strong Code FOREST PRODUCTS There is no question now that the ence what is said; we influence who is equipped to perceive role that Ethics and professional conduct play in the role of
of Ethics makes graphic designers easier to do business with. global impact of human activity is having an effect on messages, whether disabled, illiterate, or poorly educated. the graphic designer.
And by establishing and publicizing our Code, we relieve the ability of our planet to sustain us in a way we all enjoy... We also have the experience to better predict the potential As well, firm rules of professional conduct will help make
clients of having to decide for themselves the sort of the consumption of forest products is a significant part of downside of such activity based on our understanding of accreditation become more prevalent and more respected.
professional conduct they should expect in a designer: this. Graphic designers have a strong hand in the selection how people respond to marketing and advertising. Accreditation will in turn increase the focus on Ethics and
the business community (let alone many less experienced of paper for printing. We have an ethical responsibility to act its value in professional practice. With such heightened
designers) doesn’t know what to look for, while we have as stewards of these resources. We must apply our creative What’s new about this code? In anticipation of accredita- awareness for the role of skilled, responsible graphic design-
decades of experience which help us dictate what conduct abilities and knowledge to devise ways of getting more tion becoming popular throughout Canada and other parts ers in the global economy, we will be even more able to
should be expected. from less. We can avoid the use of virgin materials and of the world, our Code has been carefully reworked with take stewardship of those things that matter to us the most.
It is also sound economics for everyone that we organize ensure that products can be reused and recycled more the aid of legal counsel to go as far as possible in defining And we are now on record, as a profession, as aiming to
ourselves in such a way that we can work together for the easily. When advising our clients, we can encourage a careful the behaviour we are demanding of ourselves, while staying do just that. Graphic designers in Canada have spoken.
public good, as opposed to simply performing well for assessment of needs, while recommending stocks that are within the bounds of provincial and federal law. As fundamental as the design work itself, is the process by
ourselves and for individual clients. There are situations, environmentally friendly. This represents a strengthening of our Code because we which we deliver it. m
for instance, such as upholding good local signage laws, now believe it to be defendable in a potential court challenge.
where cooperation is required in order to get excellent PORTRAYAL OF PEOPLE Our understanding has never This measure was made necessary by accreditation in Ontario,
results for everyone. been better of how visible groups, whether distinguished where the term Registered Graphic Designer is now protected
by gender, race, or disability, are discriminated against and by law. If someone were to lose their accreditation by not

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Code of Ethics
P R A C T I C E

I am pleased to report that R.G.D. Ontario’s Rules of Professional Conduct, which are Responsibility to the Organization 9. A Member working outside Canada shall observe
the basis for this revised GDC Code of Ethics, have cleared legal counsel and R.G.D. and the Profession the relevant code of conduct of the national graphic
design society, provided that his or her behaviour is not
Ontario board ratification. For the first time in the history of graphic design, the
1. A Member shall not contravene any provision of in contradiction to this Code of Ethics.
professional conduct of accredited graphic designers is defined in law. Looking
the Charter, the Constitution, or any of the By-laws of
B E S T

towards national accreditation, this draft of GDC Code of Ethics includes all of the the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada. 10. A Member shall at all times act in a way that supports
wording changes recommended by R.G.D. Ontario lawyers, with modifications made the aims of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada and
for applicability on the national level so that the code can be of service in provinces 2. A Member shall not authorize, permit, counsel, aid, shall exercise honesty and integrity, as well as a reasonable
with and without accreditation, with similar value and symmetry, incorporating abet or acquiesce in any contravention of the Charter, standard of design and professionalism.
the Constitution or any of the By-laws of the Society of
input from GDC National Executive members and GDC Ethics Committee. In every
Graphic Designers of Canada by any person. 11. A Member who holds a certificate of registration and
step of the development of this document, the future applicability of this code on
who is engaged in the practice of graphic design shall keep
a national level, in consideration of existing GDC and Icograda codes as well as 3. A Member shall not authorize, permit, counsel, assist, his or her certificate prominently displayed in his or her
federal law, has been taken into account. – David Berman, R.G.D., FGDC aid, abet or acquiesce in any act that constitutes a disregard place of practice.
for our Code of Ethics.
12. A Member shall not authorize, permit, counsel, assist,
4. A Member shall not contravene any federal, provincial, aid or abet a person who is not a Member or a holder of a
CO N T E N T S or municipal law, regulation or by-law relating to the certificate of membership issued under the Constitution
practice of graphic design. to engage or hold herself or himself out as a Member, or
otherwise misrepresent his or her category of membership.
A. PREAMBLE A . P R E A M B L E This is the Code of Ethics cited 5. A Member shall not authorize, permit, counsel, assist,
B. D E F I N I T I O N S in the Constitution of the Society of Graphic aid, abet or acquiesce in any contravention of a federal, 13. A Member shall abide by the terms, conditions and
C. RESPONSIBILITIES Designers of Canada. It is written to guide our provincial or municipal law, regulation or by-law relating limitations imposed on the person’s category of member-
Organization and the Profession Members in their professional practice in a way to the practice of graphic design. ship by the Charter, or the By-laws of the Society of Graphic
Other Members that ensures a fair balance between the needs Designers of Canada.
Clients and Employers of our Members, our clients, our profession and 6. A Member shall notify the registrar of the Society of
The Society and the Environment our world. Our code of ethics not only recognizes Graphic Designers of Canada upon becoming bankrupt, 14. A Member shall, upon request by the National
Competitions and Fees our professional responsibility but also our and when being discharged from being bankrupt under Executive or a committee created by the National Executive,
Intellectual Property and Authorship commitment to taking a courageous role in those the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada), and before provide any document, record, or electronic data relating to
areas of society where graphic designers hold making a proposal in bankruptcy for the benefit of his or an investigation or a proceeding in respect of the profes-
conspicuous influence. her creditors. A member, by becoming bankrupt under sional conduct, competence or capacity of a Member.
the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada), may be guilty
B. D E F I N I T I O N S For the purposes of this of a breach of this Code of Ethics. 15. Every Member shall meet his or her financial obliga-
By-law, capitalized terms shall have the meaning tions to the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada and
provided in the Constitution, unless otherwise 7. A Member shall not misrepresent the qualification or to his or her employees and the financial obligations related
herein defined. References to singular shall capabilities of a Member, nor of an officer, director, partner to the provision of graphic design services, including the
include the plural, and vice versa, and references or employee of a Member. timely payment of premiums, levies, assessments and
to gender include all genders. deductible amounts.
8. A Member has a duty to serve as an expert witness,
C . R E S P O N S I B I L I T I E S For the purposes of where qualified and when properly retained, in a judicial, 16. A Member shall not disclose confidential information
this By-law, it is each individual Member’s respon- arbitration or other legal proceeding, upon being requested to any third party, unless and except where otherwise
sibility to conduct his or her professional practice to do so. compelled by law to do so, received as a director, officer,
in accordance with the following Code of Ethics. committee member or as a representative of the Society of
Graphic Designers of Canada.

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By choosing to join GDC, you choose to uphold

a common Code of Ethics shared with graphic designers
across Canada... you share in the power.

Responsibility to Other Members 24. Any self-promotion, advertising or publicity shall not 32. A Member shall not accept instructions from a client or 40. A Member shall not work for a client or employer
contain statements designed to mislead others regarding employer that involve infringement of another person’s or without compensation, with the exception of occasional
17. A Member shall not make a false, exaggerated, the competence, experience or professional capabilities of group’s human rights or property rights without permission pro bono work for charitable purposes and objects or for
misleading or malicious statement or publication that any graphic designer. of such other person or group, or consciously act in any work performed for family members.
injures or maligns the professional reputation or the manner involving any such infringement.
practice of graphic design performed by another Member. 25. A Member shall perform graphic design services with 41. Except as otherwise provided for herein, a Member
A Member shall be fair in criticism and shall not unfairly reasonable professional skill and judgment. 33. A Member shall not make use of goods or services shall not undertake any speculative project or schematic
denigrate the work or reputation of another Member. offered by manufacturers, suppliers or contractors that are proposals for a project either alone or in competition with
26. A Member shall not disclose confidential information accompanied by an obligation that is detrimental to the others for which compensation will only be received if a
18. A Member shall not knowingly solicit or accept a received from a client or employer except as authorized best interests of his or her client, society or the environment. design is accepted or used.
project from a client where there is reason to believe another by law or with the consent of the client or employer, as
Member has been so engaged or employed on the project, applicable. A Member shall treat all work in progress prior 34. A Member shall not display a lack of knowledge, skill or 42. A Member who is asked to advise on the selection
unless prior to accepting such work the Member has to the completion of a project and all knowledge of a client’s judgment or disregard for the public or the environment of of designers or other consultants shall not accept a payment
received reliable assurance from the client that the other intentions, production methods and business organization a nature or to an extent that demonstrates that the Member in any form from the designer or other consultant so
designer has been discharged or that all designers have as confidential and shall not divulge such information is unfit to be a Member of the Society of Graphic Designers recommended.
been fully and accurately informed of the situation. outside their organization in any manner whatsoever of Canada.
without the consent of the client or employer, as applicable.
19. A Member shall not knowingly accept any professional A Member shall take appropriate care to ensure confidential- 35. A Member shall not contract directly with the client
assignment on which another Member has been or is ity if divulging such information to other staff. of his or her client or employer without obtaining the Intellectual Property & Authorship
working without notifying the other Member or until he permission of his or her client or employer to do so.
or she is satisfied that any previous appointments have 27. A Member shall not release for publication to the press 43. A Member shall not knowingly copy the design or
been properly terminated and that all materials relevant or otherwise any information about work in progress unless work of another person without the consent or agreement
to the continuation of the project are the clear property of the client or employer, as applicable, has given consent. of the person who owns the copyright or their agents and
the client. Competitions & Fees in accordance with the copyright laws of Canada.
28. A Member shall not withdraw services except for
20. A Member shall not directly compete with another reasonable cause and upon reasonable written notice. 36. A Member, when consulted, shall encourage 44. A Member shall not represent, pass off or claim
Member for a project by means of unethical inducements. procedures that support fair and open competition based authorship of the design of another person without the
29. Subject to the limitations of other parts of this Code of upon professional merit, and thereby promote and achieve consent or agreement of the author or creator.
Ethics, a Member shall carry out the terms of every contract the protection of the public.
to provide graphic design services that she or he enters into. 45. A Member shall not claim sole credit for a design on
Responsibility to Clients & Employers 37. Except as otherwise provided for herein, a Member which other designers have collaborated.
30. A Member shall fully disclose fees for graphic design shall not take part in or conduct open competitions for
21. A Member shall act in his or her client’s or employer’s services by an express written or oral contract that clearly commercial purposes on speculation. 45. When not the sole author of a design, it is incumbent
best interests within the limits of this Code of Ethics. sets forth the services to be performed and the method of upon the Member to clearly identify his or her specific
determining compensation for those services. 38. A Member may compete in any design competition responsibilities or involvement with the design.
22. A Member shall not work simultaneously on for projects of general, community or public interest if they
assignments that create a conflict of interest without the are of a non-profit nature and if the rules of competition 46. A Member shall not claim credit for having performed
agreement of the clients or employers concerned, except have been approved by the National Executive of the graphic design services on a project with respect to
where it is the convention of the trade to which the client Responsibility to Society & The Environment Society of Graphic Designers of Canada or conform to which the Member did not have a personal or supervisory
belongs for designers to work at the same time for various general competition rules approved by the National involvement.
competitors. 31. A Member, while engaged in the practice or instruction Executive of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada.
of graphic design, shall not do or fail to do anything that Furthermore, a Member may take part in any open or 47. A Member shall not transfer property rights to
23. A Member shall not misrepresent herself or himself, constitutes a deliberate or reckless disregard for the health limited competition for work whose terms are specifically original work unless it is specifically purchased apart from
or his or her firm by making, or being party to, false state- and safety of the communities in which they live and approved by the National Executive of the Society of reproduction rights.
ments, false representations, or non-performance of stated practice or the privacy of the individuals and businesses Graphic Designers of Canada.
scope of services. therein. Members shall take a responsible role in the visual 48. Members shall encourage their clients to publish design
portrayal of people, the consumption of natural resources, 39. Except as otherwise provided for herein, a Member credits on work whenever feasible.
and the protection of animals and the environment. may not take part in a limited competition for work unless
each participant in the competition is paid an equivalent
compensation in accordance with the work involved, and
in which the names of all those invited to participate are
made known to all participants upon invitation.
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be fore &after
Accreditation in Ontario
The requirements for Registered Graphic Designers What may Accreditation Accomplish?
C A N A D A

After passage of the legislation which created the Association, • Professionalism: The standards of the profession will be raised.
The idea for professional accreditation for graphic designers In late 1993, professional advisor Joanne Radford was hired by a grandfathering provision was established and was in effect • Quality Education: Design programs will have some benchmarks
the Accreditation Steering Committee to organize and orchestrate until December 31, 1998. This provision granted Registered Graphic on which to base their curricula.
was not new to the design community in Canada. This topic
its political lobby. In one year, GDC in Ontario grew from two Designer or R.G.D. status to graphic design practitioners or educa- • Designers who are limited in their experience may be able to
had been discussed, debated and argued about for decades, chapters to five chapters. The Steering Committee also recruited tors with five years of relevant experience or education and move into other areas, for example, from print into multimedia or
O H

many volunteers and began networking on an extensive scale to experience totaling five years. After expiration of the grandfathering into exhibition or packaging design.
around the world. In Ontario it has become reality.
enlist designers’ agreement and financial support. Graphic designers period, the new rules for qualification for registered membership in • Companies and design firms may have less trouble finding
in Ontario had to make the transition from belonging to one the Association required that a person be able to demonstrate either qualified designers.
Objectives The aims of accreditation for Ontario graphic designers of several regional chapters in the province, within the framework three years of relevant education and four years of professional • Certified designers may feel more comfortable in business
were: to ensure and enhance professional standards in graphic of the national organization (GDC), to being united under a single experience in the field, or vice versa, and also pass the Registered situations in their careers, because they’ve learned about business
design; to encourage high standards in graphic design education; legislated body encompassing all of Ontario. Graphic Designers Qualification Examination, a test created by the practices and client relations.
to promote rules of professional conduct and ethics; and, to protect Examination Board for Registered Graphic Designers, which is a • Certified designers may have an edge – Clients may be protected
and promote the professional rights of graphic designers. The objec- The Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario corporation founded by the Association. The Examination Board when they can find someone capable of providing a certain range
tives included developing the status of the graphic design profession The Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario is is responsible for administering the examination. of professional services.
and its recognition by the government, by the business sector, by the self-regulatory, professional body for graphic designers in the (It is worth noting that none of these things happen overnight).
other professions and by the general public. province of Ontario. The Association was created by an Act of the What Accreditation is All About The definition of accreditation
The impetus for the drive to accreditation was a 1988 survey Ontario Legislature which received Royal Assent on April 25, 1996. varies from region to region and from country to country. It can be Rome was not Built in a Day Accreditation is a gradually
commissioned by the Canadian federal government, which identi- It is the only graphic design association in Canada to have such defined as a voluntary continuing education and testing program to evolving process. Notes Jean-Pierre Lacroix, R.G.D., current President
fied 3,000 firms across Canada offering graphic design services and legislation and only the second such organization world-wide. determine the professional competence of individual designers. It of the Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario:
approximately 8,000 graphic designers working for these firms. The founding bodies of the Association were the former Ontario, can be seen as an aid to help young designers on their way up the “We have laid a good foundation on which to build. Now we meet
Just three years later, Canada’s national census put the number of Ottawa, Northern Ontario and Windsor Chapters of GDC, the career ladder. It may level the playing field for those who have grad- the many challenges we face as a new professional body. We must
graphic designers in Ontario alone at 12,000; for the entire country, national organization that has been devoted to serving the graphic uated from design programs which may have been found lacking in constantly expand membership to include the registration of as
the number of graphic designers and illustrators was set at 26,000. design profession and the public since 1956. one area or another. many qualified graphic designers in Ontario as possible. We must
The survey identified four key areas which Canadian graphic The Association’s mandate is to serve the best interests of Accreditation should be granted to graphic designers on the intensify our speaking tours in high schools to promote graphic
designers were most concerned with: the impact of new technology both the graphic design industry and the public in the province basis of a combination of education, experience and verification of design as a professional career choice. We have to gear up our infor-
on the design industry (resulting in a large influx of people with no of Ontario by establishing and promoting uniform standards of minimum standards of professional competency, not merely on the mation campaign aimed at the business community to promote the
training into the field); the lack of recognition and public awareness professional knowledge, skill and ethics for all graphic designers basis of either a diploma, degree or professional work experience. idea that good design is good business and to explain why R.G.D.s
of the profession of graphic design; the need for industry standards in Ontario. The Association grants to graphic designers who qualify Professional accreditation should determine whether an individual do it better. We have to help the rest of Canada achieve accredita-
and professional qualifications in graphic design (the only one of the exclusive usage rights to the designations “Registered Graphic has attained the level of skills and knowledge required to serve a tion. Ontario has set a precedent for North America. An exciting
five core design disciplines whose members were neither licensed Designer” and “R.G.D.” The Association is the governing body and client independently. new age of graphic design has arrived. The legislation that enabled
nor registered); and, the quality of graphic design education offered disciplinary body for its members. The best certification programs are educational programs that accreditation for graphic designers in Ontario is a mere punctuation
in colleges and universities. The rationale and perceived need for bridge the gap between what is taught in school and what is mark in the entire story that is about to be written.” m
proceeding with a drive for accreditation was evident. Definition of a Registered Graphic Designer (R.G.D.) expected of a professional. This kind of program is about profession-
Submitted on behalf of the Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario by
In late 1990, after a year of research on the feasibility of A Registered Graphic Designer (R.G.D.) is a graphic design practitioner alism, not style. Accreditation will not regulate or standardize style. Albert Ng, R.G.D., FGDC Founding President. Albert Ng served as Vice-President of Icograda
accreditation by Albert Ng, R.G.D. and Rene Schoepflin, R.G.D., and or educator who has met the Association of Registered Graphic from 1995–1997.
with less than 10 people (including practitioners, educators, repre- Designers of Ontario’s qualification criteria and has been granted ©2000 the Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario
sentatives from related industries and students), the Graphic Design the right to use these professional designations. No one else may use
Professional Accreditation Committee was established. In order these designations. Persons in Ontario who are not members of the
to convince the Ontario government to support the legislation Association are not excluded from “practicing” graphic design, but
required for accreditation, the group needed to demonstrate that they would be guilty of an offense if they either used the designations
a majority of the industry in the province was behind the idea. Registered Graphic Designer or R.G.D., or if they implied, suggested
Since the regional Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) or held out that they were Registered Graphic Designers.
chapters in the province of Ontario, which became the founding
bodies of the Association, could only claim a few hundred members
from a population of over 2,000 graphic design practitioners and
educators in Ontario, the first task was to build membership.

The Act of the Ontario Legislature and official seal of the

Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario.

GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5 m m GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5

58 Professional development. Professional development
59
GDC-3100.Journal_0602.qx 6/28/02 7:42 PM Page 60

About the Graphic Design Journal:

The Graphic Design Journal is published by the Society of Graphic
Designers of Canada (GDC) in support of its objectives: to promote and

Call for Papers & Graphics develop a defined, recognized and competent body of graphic designers
and to encourage high standards of graphic design for the benefit of
Canadian society.
The Graphic Design Journal welcomes contributions
The Journal’s main goals are to:
on a wide variety of subjects relevant to graphic design.
1. Provide a forum to encourage dialogue on topics
Submissions may consist of articles, research reports, related to graphic design;
2. Promote excellence in design practice and education;
design evaluation, book, reviews, or papers of a general 3. Help record the history and development of graphic design in Canada.
or technical nature. Responses, comments, and letters
The Journal covers topics such as:
to the editor are also welcomed. Applied semiotics
Copyright in the electronic age
Corporate design
Cross-cultural communications
Guidelines for submission of papers Cross-disciplinary design
Design criticism
Length Articles should not exceed 6,000 words.
Design education
Please include an abstract of no more than 200 words. Design for learning
Biographical Note Include text of about 100 words Reproduction Rights Design for people with disabilities
touching on your background and interests. A photo Design history
Permissions It is the author’s responsibility to obtain Design management
(or self-portrait of some kind) would be appreciated.
all copyright permissions before submitting materials Design theory and methodology
Format Please submit your article electronically (if possi- to this Journal. GDC and the editor bear no liability Environmental concerns
ble) by e-mail, or by post, in one of the following formats for materials submitted and published without consent. Ethics, professional conduct, and social responsibility
accompanied by three paper copies: Word, AppleWorks, Health, safety and consumer information
Copyright The copyright to Graphic Design Journal Human/computer interaction
SimpleText, or as an ASCII text file. Please remove any
contributions remains with the author or creator. Human factors (legibility)
formatting (justification, tabs, underlines, caps, bolding,
However, please be advised that the Journal grants, Literacy, reading, and plain language
etc.). Paragraphs should be indicated by one hard return
permission for the photocopying of articles for research Promoting design
(one line space). Sentences should have only one space Public policy
or educational use if credit is given to the Journal and
between them. Use single line spacing (not 1.5 or 2). Multimedia
the author.
Plain old typewritten copy will also be accepted, albeit National and international standards
grudgingly. Editorial Review Articles are subject to editorial review Strategic design in business
before being accepted for publication. Articles accepted Sustainable design
Illustrations Diagrams, photos, and illustrations are
are subject to editorial revision; authors will be provided Typography
encouraged. They should be submitted on separate
a final edited version for their approval whenever copy
sheets and with captions. We also accept line illustrations Production Notes
is substantially altered.
on disk in TIFF or EPS (preferred) files. Please do not Typefaces Cartier Book (donated by FontShop) & Myriad Multiple Master
embed illustrations within word-processed files. Line Author’s Copies Authors of main articles will receive five Software Quark XPress 3.31, Adobe Photoshop 6.0, & Adobe Illustrator 9.0
illustrations created as vector artwork (Aldus Freehand copies of the Journal issue in which their article appears. on a Macintosh
or Adobe Illustrator) are also acceptable. If in doubt, Should additional copies be desired, they will be made Paper Printed on paper donated by Domtar: Luna Matte 100lb. Cover &
contact the editor before supplying files. available at cost to contributors. Luna Matte 80lb. Text
Printing PrintCrafters Inc., Winnipeg, MB
Language Authors my submit articles in English or French.
Submissions which are accepted will be published in the
“For Graphics’ Sake” Guidelines
language of the author. When feasible, an abstract in the
other language (French or English, as applicable) will be If you would like to submit a visual exploration of a design-
published. related topic we welcome your contribution. Please send
a sketch or preliminary visual with an appropriate caption
Return of Materials Please enclose a stamped,
for review before sending final artwork.
self-addressed envelope if you wish for your submission
to be returned to you, or enclose a note with your Submissions of any size up to a double-page spread will
submission listing a common courier and your courier be considered. Final artwork can be submitted digitally
account number. or as traditional camera-ready art, suitable for scanning.

P R I N T C R A F T E R S I N C.
taking fine printing direct-to-plate

GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNAL 5 m

60 Contributions welcomed
78 Hutchings Street | Winnipeg, MB | T 204.633.7117 | F 204.694.1519