SWET Workshop, 10 am to 4 pm, June 14
The Japan Forum
26th Floor, Shinjuku Daiichi Seimei Bldg. 2-7-1 Nishi-Shinjuku
Fee: ?3,000 for members (join at the door!)

On Saturday, June 14, Arnie Olds, the designer and indefatigable print enthusiast who last year discussed with us the art and craft of typography, will lead a workshop. A primary focus on the design of newsletters and other periodicals will draw on Olds’s general philosophy and problem solving approach to typography, and lend itself to the full range of graphic design.

His approach to typography, honed in a career at Stanford and Cornell university presses, can be summarized as essence, structure, and texture or as logic, grammar, and articulation. The essence or logic of a typography project has to do with the propagator/message/audience nexus. What is who trying to communicate to whom? Who is in charge? What do they expect? What are the parameters of the message? What is the medium? What is the budget? Just what is needed when?

That is where problems begin to present themselves, and Olds proposes that, properly considered, typography is problem solving. The trick is in carefully defining the problem at the outset.

He hopes that after a brief review of his approach we can settle down to discussion of newsletters and other projects of interest to the group. Participants are encouraged to bring samples of their publications, preferably accompanied by brief descriptions of their purposes, ranges of material, and intended audiences. Arnie will welcome the opportunity to examine any such packages available in advance. Send them to Ruth McCreery, 55-13-202 Miyagaya, Nishi-ku, Yokohama 220. Reservations: Ruth McCreery, 045-314-9324