1967 Massimo Vignelli DOT ZERO 3 Unimark J. Szarkowski

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DOT ZERO 3 Designed by Massimo Vignelli � Robert Malone [Editor], Massimo Vignelli [Designer]: DOT ZERO 3. New York: Dot Zero / Finch Pruyn, Spring 1967. First edition. A very good magazine in stiff, printed wrappers. Somebody wrote "50 cents" in black marker on the cover, and then proceeded to use a blue pen to color in the counterstrokes of the "une" of the word "tribune" on the front cover. Other than those unfortunate blemishes, a near fine copy. Please see the scan. Interior unmarked and very clean. Out-of-print.� 9 x 12 perfect-bound magazine with 48 pages of editorial content dealing with design and its effects on the man-made environment. DOT ZERO was an interesting publishing experiment that was about fifteen years ahead of its time. Sponsored and underwritten by a paper company, it paired Robert Malone's editorial sense with Massimo Vignelli's aesthetic sensibilities in a journal that has never been replicated. DOT ZERO made a real attempt to address design issues in the environmental context.� Back in 1966, the medium truly was the massage. Only in the pages of DOT ZERO could inquiring minds find articles about computer graphics, corporate identity, paperbacks as a mass medium and environmental management. A very stimulating publication that only lasted five issues. From Kevin Rau's excellent website devoted to the history of Unimark: � ... Dot Zero was one of the most unique, though short-lived, of Unimark's undertakings...the magazine was aimed at architects, planners and engineers as well as graphic designers... Articles on design theory, concrete poetry and manipulated images appeared regularly. With a circulation of about 18,000, Dot Zero was sponsored by Finch Pruyn, a paper manufacturer based in Glen Falls, NY. After only five issues, Finch decided to pull financial support and production was halted.� DOT ZERO 3 (Spring 1967) contents: Cover design coutesy of the World Journal Tribune The Plastic Parthenon by John McHale Will newspapers ever enter the 20th century? by Clay Felker The Hybrid Media: an interview with John Diebold Paperbacks as a Mass Medium by Germano Facetti Photography and the Mass Media by John Szarkowski Film -- An Essay by Gordon Hitchens Mass Media: the Stimulation System by Jay Doblin Leo Lionni book review by Mildred Constantine The Living Line by Thomas George Massimo Vignelli recalls the exact day that he found the design language that he would be known for. It was 1963, he had a studio in Milan, Lella & Massimo Vignelli Design & Architecture, where he designed in a reductive manner using Helvetica, black rules, and solid colored backgrounds. He put this into practice for Sansoni designing formats for scores of series and hundreds of books until leaving Italy for American in 1965. Today he uses more Bodoni, but hasn’t changed his basic design attitude one iota. He made his early reputation by designing strict formats for series like these. "I always worked like this from the very beginning, I never had another way but this structural approach," admits Vignelli proudly. "My aim was always to reach maximum impact, so I used Helvetica on white or solid color backgrounds, which stood out — boom — from the texture of all the other books on the shelves. I designed many series this way, I had some books with only white covers with type raining down and some with a black and white illustration on bottom. We wanted to develop standards to avoid gratuitous criticism by publisher’s wives or secretaries and sales people. First and foremost we were searching for objectivity. So we convinced the publisher that a book was like a soap box. The publisher’s brand was the important thing, so each book looked alike. We played safe with the illustration by using things from the past. Who could argue with Rembrandt and Durer?" Please visit my Ebay store � for an excellent and ever-changing selection of rare and out-of-print design books and periodicals covering all aspects of 20th-century visual culture. I offer shipping discounts for multiple purch... read more

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