A new exhibit of modern typographic design is currently on display in the second floor atrium of the Scott Library. Arranged and curated by Professor David Cabianca, Department of Design, Faculty of Fine Arts, the exhibit features the journals Speak (1995-2000), Emigre (1987-2001), Form+Zweck (1990-current), ANY (1993-2000) and Octavo (1986-1992).
The avant-garde publications on display are all held by the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections. Many feature radical reinterpretations of graphic design and typography. The exhibit also includes examples of the early-20th-century journal The Fleuron (1923-1930), which sought to demonstrate and promote traditional tenets of good typography.
Right: The Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections exhibit, curated by Professor David Cabianca, features work by influential graphic designers
York University is the only Canadian university with a near complete set of Emigre. Complete sets of the work are also held at the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig, Germany; Houghton Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA; the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; the Design Museum in London, England; and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris.
The exhibit features examples of work by such influential graphic designers as Martin Venezky, Simon Johnston, Mark Holt, Michael Burke, Hamish Muir, Stanley Morison, Massimo Vignelli, Rudy VanderLans, Zuzana Licko, and the design teams 2×4 (Michael Rock, Susan Sellers, Georgianna Stout) and Cyan (Daniela Haufe, Detlef Fiedler).
Materials will be on display throughout the month of May.