I was interested to read this as Heller was on the ground at a time in design history when significant change was happening. Call it the first-wave of the Democratization of Design. Photo-type and press-type (Letraset) opened the doors to the public’s ability to “set” type without the need for traditional (costly professional) sources.

That written, I will admit I have not finished it.

A comment on the design. It’s an odd set of choices. Strictly from a book design standpoint, the stingy margins seem at once to be expected –get as many words on a page as possible to keep the page-count down– but also a flaw given that this is a book at least tangentially, about graphic design. Following on to that, and more problematically, it appears the text is set in 8- or 9-point Centaur. Rather small for running text. Further to that, and perhaps most curious, it’s being set in Bruce Rogers’ famous Bible face which seems incongruous given the title. In the very least BR’s “white letter Venetian” is designed to be read best from maybe as small as 12- to better at 16-point. Couple that very traditional, arguably “fine press” choice of faces with a forgettable sans serif display (one of Adobe’s wood types?) and it’s a weird look. Iirc, Heller didn’t have anything to do with the design. It was done by someone on Louise Filli’s staff (Filli is Heller’s spouse). Writing as a book designer, I can’t say it’s success. It tired my eye to read which is why I bailed. That written, tons of color photos and examples of work. So there’s that in the plus column.

What I did read was fascinating enough. It certainly described the possibilities for self-invention in a not-yet-entirely “financialized” New York in the late 60s/early 70s. There was still transgressive grit, protest on the right side of history, a nascent punk rock scene, ground zero for art and opportunity before the computer leveled the landscape of possibility and everyone’s tool became a brushed aluminum enclosure and a screen of various dimension. (Ick.) Imagine the pre-digital world with thousands of different ways of making design and illustration, dozens of ways of getting ink on paper, and myriad possibilities untethered to a SaS subscription.

Interestingly, Heller was mentored by, and at times teamed with, the illustrator Brad Holland whose work I’ve been familiar with since the early 80s pouring over back-issues of “Communication Arts” as an ad intern. I’m probably in the 2% that would recognize that Holland it seems was a fan of Leonard Baskin. Several of his illustrations shown in the book are less a “nod” to Baskin’s line work, than direct stylistic copies of LB’s grotesque, chimeric imagery. Huh.

Well, so maybe Centaur makes sense? Baskin and the Western Mass. Fine Press scene at the same time were heavily reliant on Centaur, and certainly Gehenna was (along with Palatino). Is there a thread there? Eh, probably not.

Anyway, there you go. Interesting content if poorly presented. Lots of good pictures. ( )

Awful unless you're a supporter of Screw and this egocentric person. ( )