U&lc Volume 17-Questions & typefaces for the next decade

The four issues of U&lc, Volume Seventeen, were published in 1990; a year that presented graphic designers with unanswered questions about the future of typographic communication – and one that marked ITC's twentieth anniversary. Among a great crop of articles on everything from Japanese kites to the Vigeland Sculpture Park, two new typeface families were announced in Volume Seventeen and the lives of a pair typographers that changed the course of British typographic history were explored.

In Volume Seventeen, Number Three, U&lc approached a wide range of creative specialist with the question, "Can fine typography exist in the 90's?" The introduction to the article sets the stage for their answers. "The question is not so easily answered. From different perspectives the response can be a resounding "yes," or a qualified "no." Electronic typesetting and type designed for a computer and on a compute have made type lovers anxious. Yet other fastidious and committed type users have found working with type in this electronic age a compelling challenge." The answers may surprise you.

ITC celebrated its twentieth anniversary in U&lc Volume Seventeen, Number Four. However, rather than provide a history of the company or its accomplishments, the six-page "tribute" featured the reflections of 20 luminary designers (from Art Chantry to Hermann Zapf) on images which influenced or inspired them over the previous two decades.

The ITC Quay Sans™ design was announced in the pages of Volume Seventeen – as was the ITC Officina™ family. Even thought the goal for the latter was to "create a small family of type ideally suited to the tasks of office correspondence and business documentation," ITC Officina went on to become a stable for all manner of graphic communication.

The QuarkXPress™ 3.0 software for IBM computers running Microsoft Windows® 3.0 or OS/2® was also announced in the pages of Volume Seventeen – as was the availability of the now ubiquitous PowerPoint® application.

Click the PDFs below to find out what else was in U&lc Volume Seventeen.

Low Resolution:

Volume 17-1 (Low Res).pdf (12.2 MB)

Volume 17-2 (Low Res).pdf (11.0 MB)

Volume 17-3 (Low Res).pdf (12.2 MB)

Volume 17-4 (Low Res).pdf (11.2 MB)

High Resolution:

Volume 17-1.pdf (61.2 MB)

Volume 17-2.pdf (54.0 MB)

Volume 17-3.pdf (63.3 MB)

Volume 17-4.pdf (57.2 MB)

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