Design Quarterly is an interesting industry publication. It was considerably diverse in the themes it explored, and did so with an air of the academic. In this way, it shares a lot in common with the British journal icographic. Published by the Walker Art Centre in Minneapolis, the journal covered a breadth of themes with issue titles such as A Guide to Well Designed Products, Mass Transit: Problem + Promise and the much sought after A Paul Rand Miscellany. Also viable on the LogoArchive.Shop.

“[The graphic designer] may come to realize that signs, symbols, and pictures are not mysterious: their appeal is not ineffable, nor is one picture worth a thousand words.”

This issue, Martin Krampen, an alumni of Germany's Hochschule für Gestaltung offers an introduction to the signs and symbols of visual communication. He examines aspects of visual perception and gestalt psychology, and the challenges present in the conventionalised systems of pictograms of the 1960s.

Highlights include the light format and exceptional insight it contains, the contrast of glossy cover and uncoated interior pages, the layouts, and the legality tests of logos for W.C. Pinkard (Cover) and that of the proposed International World's Exhibition logo designed by Ernst Roch.

Beauty is in the clarity, precision and brevity of the document. It is thus a unique publication, a great expression of its time, and something graphic designers of today will likely find intriguing.

Title: Design Quarterly
Issue: 62, Signs and Symbols in Graphic Communication
Year: 1965
Pages: 32
Size: 215 x 280mm
Format: Soft Cover Industry Journal
Language: English
Condition: V. Good