Context Practice: Context of Practice - Anarchy Covers Research

ANARCHY - THE COVERS

Throughout Daniel Poyner's book 'Autonomy' are the covers of 'Anarchy magazine'. Each cover was artistically unique and represented the theme of the content which the Editor Colin Ward would control. Issues such as;

- Planning

- Prison Reform

- Nuclear disarmament

- Education

- Housing and homelessness

- The policing of protests

- Crime

- Sexual Politics

- The law

- Trades' unions

- Foreign policy

- transport policy

- popular arts

- racism

- drugs

-technology

- the theatre

- Workers Control

- Poverty

- Students

Ward would compile essays and contributions of singular topics and release them as one publication rather than sending out multiple messages at once, he wanted to send out clear stands and opinions on topics which are why the journal was monthly and not weekly like its predecessor 'Freedom'. Ward employed a number of designers, illustrators and artists to design the covers of the monthly publications. Creatives such as;

Martin Leman
John Riley
Ivor Claydon
Phillip Sansom
Colin Munro
Rufus Segar

Rufus Segar is the standout name in this list as he is the designer who contributed the majority of the 'artwork' for Colin Ward's Anarchy. His styles have become synonymous with political art and will be of great influence towards the outcome for the project. Ward allowed the artists contributing to having complete free reign with the covers, this gave the unique and stand out the feel of each edition. Certain styles remained throughout the covers which were partially due to printing, the covers use just two colours and off-white yellow stock, usually using just black or red ink but blue and green have both been used on occasion.

Throughout the sixties, clearly seen through the evolution of Anarchy's covers, was a revolution of print, with letterpress slowly giving way to offset lithography, photo-setting replacing metal composition and a division of labour. It was not until the mid-1980's that designers would have been able to generate all of the elements of design and assemble it together digitally for the print. This differed from the production method of Anarchy which was a division of labour which was seen in the design industry in the 60's. Designers giving instructions and specifications to the print trade specialists - typesetters, photo-engraves and the printer themselves.

Early issues of 'Anarchy' clearly shows this division of labour. Headings and text which featured on the covers would be printed direct from the printers typesetting. This was then combined with one or more photo-engraved blocks, made from what 'artwork' the artists would provide. The tight production budget which was used meant that savings had to be made, this would mean that savings were made by re-using the typesetting or blocks of art. For example on a number of occasion the typeset line 'a journal of anarchist ideas' is used in different locations from issue to issue, this was not uncommon as it had been used by Freedom Press before on early publications where they would repeat their 'FP' rectangular logo.

The designer of the cover would be expected to provide specifications for the set type, choices such as the typeface, the size, and the spacing, kerning between the letters and words. The rectangularity of letterpress printing was disguised by a loose more free arrangement of imagery with type. Large headings and subheadings could be achieved through Letraset or transfer lettering.

The nature and style of the cover designs change from cover to cover but the best example of design contrasts is seen in the extremely different techniques seen used on issues 19 and 20.

Issue 19 has a freedom to it usually seen in offset printing almost no typeset lettering (only the line 'a journal of anarchist ideas' and the price and issue number). Issue 20 employs a straight forward, clean cut typical letterpress style design printed from the printers typeset.

These different styles showed the diverse nature of the covers of 'Anarchy' and also the movement and ideas that the publication stood for, it did not conform to singular styles and trends and did not need a set look or brand to be known. The covers were produced like this partly because of Colin Ward's choice to employ a number of different creatives to design them and partly because he gave them complete control of its design, giving them the topic of the journal they would be producing work for and letting them do the rest. Ward would rarely edit or change the cover or content of the publications, on occasion he would not see the the cover art at all and it would be sent straight to print by the designer.

The 1960's saw a move from letterpress to offset typography, this meant that though designers would still work at drawing boards producing elements such as layout, it saw designers have more control over the production side of the design. The change saw parts of the old production process become redundant with no need for process-engravers, instead designers could form 'camera-ready-copy' which would be photographed to make lithoplates.

Design studios began to use visualisers or lucigraphs as a means of enlaging or shrinking down imagery and ready typeset proofs for preparing final sizes ready for print. It was also used to produce lined or half toned imagery (A technique used in a number of 'Anarchy' covers, notable covers showing this technique are 'Anarchy 89', 'Anarchy 48' and 'Anarchy102')

The 1960's saw a decline of illustration and its replacement with photography, most notably within advertisment. From this influx in use of photography, mediums such as collage and image distortion techniques easily made photography more expressive (Examples 'Anarchy 80' Segar, Rufus October 1967, 'Anarchy 91' Segar, Rufus, September 1968 and 'Anarchy 34' Leman, Martin, December 1963) A common techique which also came out of the 60's and one used on 'Anarchy' cover designs was 'Posterization' a method where grey half-tones were removed from photographs to create purely black and white imagery.

Enlarging half tone screens of photographs was a technique used by less frequent or small publications and journals in an attempt to mimic and imitate the look of the newspaper press, this was to try and get an essence of topicality which was around at the time, the designers of 'Anarchy' covers are known to use such techniques but often to as a satire or for social commentary.

Though it was known for and limited its two colour covers, design was changing rapidly through the decade of Colin Ward's 'Anarchy', the use of full colour products and images were being used and printed after many years of black and white print. A key turning point in design was the launch of 'The Sunday Times magazine' in 1962 which had Lord Snowden as the design adviser, this is reffered to as 'a new era' according to British graphic designer Richard Hollis as he wrote in his essay 'Anarchy and the 1960's' Hollis also writes 'The years 1960-3 were also when graphic design began, atleast in England' stating that 'The sunday times magazine' and the start of the annual designers convention began between these years.

Hollis also talks about how print methods can share connotations with movements and make design into mannerisms, an example of this would be heavy black lines, red and black colour combinations all symbolised anti-establishment messages, a clear example of this in use is Ken Garlands Aldermaston work promoting a CND protest, this carried strong bold visual lines (through the CND symbol) and modernist style layouts. Modernist style and ideas can be seen in use on a number of covers of 'Anarchy' for example 'Anarchy 51' (Segar, Rufus, May 1965) employs techniques already used by modernist designers- bold, solely typographic covers using san serif typefaces, over-layed to create bold and clear designs which share similar affinities with design by Max Huber and Armin Hofmann, pieces such as Hofmann's 'Gisselle' posters and Huber's 'Sci' (ski) Magazine covers between 1961-63. Other, clearer examples of modernist style bleeding into the cover design of 'Anarchy' can be seen through issue 66 (Segar, Rufus, August 1966. Photography - Ed van Der Elksen and Koen Wessing) which looks at the Dutch Provo movement. A counter-culture movement which occured in the mid 1960's, its aim was to provoke violence from authorities through non-violent baiting, it was founded by activist Robert Jasper Gootveld, known for his anti-smoking campaigns and protests, and anarchists Roel Van Dujin and Rob Stolk.

The first half of Colin Ward's 'Anarchy' was printed on to a yellow stock, and employing various playful imagery as visuals. The choice of stock for the cover became a recognizable feature of the publication it became synonymous to it. The yellow stock usually just acted as a background to the graphic imagery and typography though it is, on occasion, used as an element of the design, for example on 'Anarchy' 17 (Segar, Rufus, July 1962) uses a red overlay on the front cover and has the title as a positive revealing the yellow hue, as well this cover employs black illustrations to accompany the type and red colour, this gives the effect of depth and the illusion of more colours than there are.

There are no clear consistent patterns regarding the styles of 'Anarchy' cover, the means were eclectic and un-conformative in appearance and in production. Though a clear development and evolution can be seen throughout the nine years of the publication under Ward, the differences between the early issues and the later ones, this change can be seen as changes and advancements in design and technology as well as the attitudes and social topics which Ward based the issues on. The approach, in the later issues, became a more visual representation of what we know now as graphic design, modern cultural styles were employed. Another notable evolution with the monthly publication was the changing styles and freedom of the main designer Rufus Segar, where in the very early issues he used small illustrations and then stopped until issue 41 (1964) where he began to frequently used his own drawings from then on, he plays with the technologies at his disposal and tries a lot of different mediums to produce the covers.

Following 'Anarchy 59' the production changed and the yellow paper was dropped for the cover stock and a new cleaner white stock was chosen, this saw an aesthetic change that the publication had not gone through before, and a clear sense of 'design' is seen clearly for the remainder of the publications.

The typography used in 'Anarchy' was regularly printed through letterpress - though at the time only small type could be printed, for the larger cover and header type other methods were employed, methods such as - drawn, photo-print or Letraset. The cover designers employed san - serif type throughout the covers though on rare occasion used serif fonts for the cover. Typefaces such as;

- Grotesque No.9 (Headline Bold)

- Condensed grotesque No.33

- Futura Bold (Direct action - No.13)

- Futura Display (Bold, condensed, type which was used occasionally)

Compacta would give a strong graphic presence on the cover, standing out on the yellow stock of the early issues, whilst also remaining compact, taking up little space on the 'artwork'.

Following 1965 covers changed from anarchic to more tasteful visual design, this is seen through the shrinking of type on the covers which occured between issues 58 (1966) to issue 88 (1967) the change can also be seen through typography used, it became more diverse and Segar in particular experimented more with the type, using types such as;

-Franklin Gothic Condensed (Anarchy 64)

-Caslon (Covers 114,115 ad 118 all Rufus Segar)

This varied mix of styles really shows the eclectic nature of the publication itself and the designers that produced the cover 'artwork'.

QUOTES ABOUT THE COVERS

" Anarchy's covers stand out as significant record of the early years of graphic design in Britain"

-Richard Hollis

"I didn't meet Colin (Ward) often, just one or two times about the covers. He'd write me a postcard once a month and send it" - Rufus Segar (R. Segar - 'Autonomy' - D. Poyner - Hyphen press, London 2012)

"I would just think about it for a week and then say: 'well i've put it in the work diary. I've got to send the artwork off to the block maker, Gee & Watson. I'd put in there 'Gee & Watson, call them at two o'clock on tuesday. Delivery wednesday, that 24 hour was devoted to 'Anarchy'. Things would be shelved until it was done." (R. Segar - 'Autonomy' - D. Poyner - Hyphen press, London 2012)

- "Colin (Ward) wouldn't see it (cover art). I'd do the artwork, two days later Gee & Watson would send me a proof and Colin would get a proof. And at no time did Colin ever say 'I don't like this, do that'."