Spanish “Graphis”
Graphis, the International Journal of Graphic Art and Applied Arts, is probably the best Graphic Design magazine ever in the history of our profession. Perhaps only the current “Eye Magazine” measures up to that mythical publication. Under the editorial guidance of Walter Herdeg it published every two months, in three languages -English, German and French-,...
Nueva Forma (New Form), architecture and modernity
Nueva Forma (New Form) was an architecture and art magazine that sought to modernise our culture and open out towards major international phenomena. Spanning across the 1960s and 1970s (1966–1975), it had the patronage of the Huarte family, promotors of a significant number of cultural initiatives that included the Pamplona Encounters in 1972 (see previous...
Temas españoles (Spanish Matters): Verdú’s covers
The magazine Temas españoles (Spanish Matters) was an instrument for disseminating Francoist thought. The content between its covers enables us to gain an understanding of the ideas that evolved during the dictatorship via a selection of relevant issues and the construction of an idiosyncratic imaginary. The two-tone covers belonging to the first four hundred editions...
‘Arte Comercial’ magazine, advertising and organization?
“Arte Comercial” (Commercial Art) was one of the few examples in the Spanish publishing world of a journal specializing in the field of advertising. Founded in 1946 by Emeterio Melendreras, a professional that straddled the fields of advertising and design management, it included works by most of the graphic designers of the time: Manolo Prieto...
“New Artists Collection” (and II)
Among the editions that account for the short life of the “New Artists Collection” (see previous post), number 12 is the one that stands out in the collection. Works appeared under the title “Fantastic Art” in an exhibition with the same name that brought together celebrated artists that included Miró, Calder, Picasso, Oteyza and Tâpies....
“New Artists Collection” (I)
The “New Artists Collection” was a “Clan” initiative, the Madrid bookstore-gallery-editorial, promoted by journalist, writer and editor Thomas Seral y Casas in the late 1940s. The activity of this promoter and inventor of cultural initiatives and founder of different gallery-libraries was significant to the renewed modernity tradition in Spain. The “New Artists Collection” consists of...
(Yo, Gimeno) and the covers of UOMM
José María Gimeno Ávila (Barcelona 1937 – Madrid 1987) signed his works with the pseudonym Yo, Gimeno (I, Gimeno). His oeuvre spanned every field: comics in the magazine Chicos, advertising, window dressing, animation in the Estudios Moro, murals for Renfe (Spanish Railway) and architects, and the decoration of entrance halls, cafes and restaurants. He also...
Prag (and #3)
Issue # 3 of the PRAG magazine, Arte Gráfico Español, appeared as a biannual edition (January-June 1966). The bimonthly cycle was broken. The company, almost chimerical for its time, faded, having completed issue # 4 which never saw the light. The Miguel Ángel Echeverría and José María Gimeno (I am Me, Gimeno) Project was cut...
We all wanted to be Diego Lara
Diego Lara was not strictly a Spanish graphic design pioneer although this definition could be attributed to him for many reasons. He is from a previous generation of designers to those who normally appear in this blog, Lara (Madrid, 1946-1990) employed his short but splendid repertoire of resources and good work in different areas that...
Grupo 13 exhibits in “Control”
In Spain in 1962 the monthly magazine Control de Publicidad y Ventas (Control of Advertising and Sales) began, a pioneering publication with specialised information on advertising and marketing. In its 20th edition, from May 1964, an exhibition by Grupo 13 featured on the cover, with a 40-page special report inside. It opened with an article by...
PRAG Magazine nº 2
A previous entry in this Blog introduced the first edition of the Spanish Graphic Design magazine ‘PRAG’ and detailed numerous professionals who were active in the 20th century during the fifties and sixties and who we now revere as pioneers of Spanish graphic design. The second edition of this new magazine was published in November...
PRAG Magazine nº 1
Without the printers Edicolor, PRAG magazine could not have existed in its three dimensions, as an agency, magazine and yearbook. It was a company equipped with workshops to complete the whole process: editing, reproduction, composition and printing, through to the binding. It was no wonder that such an advanced printers in moments of splendor undertook...