Loving Avant Garde - great editorial design, great editorial content - a match made in heaven!
Avant Garde was founded in the late 1960s by Ralph Ginzburg and art directed by Herb Lubalin. It was as much about its typography and design as its editorial content. Lubalin created a typeface of the same name for the launch of the mag. As can be seen from the covers, he was a genius in arranging overlapping letterforms. Avant Garde was creative, erotic and political, often creating content that pushed boundaries.
Here's a few from our EP collection...
Avant Garde Issue 3
For this issue, 19 illustrators redesigned the U.S. dollar bill. The one on the very right of the cover is by Herb Lubalin himself. Teaser Fact - Lubalin once hired Andy Warhol as an illustrator at the advertising agency; Sudler & Hennessey. Inside this issue Warhol is featured with some of his Factory women, nice!
Avant Garde Issue 8
A special issue dedicated entirely to the erotic gravures of Pablo Picasso. Fact: Herb Lubalin was colour-blind.
Avant Garde Issue 13
One of 3 Avant Gardes that was devoted entirely to a single subject -this one looks at the photographs of Texas born Alwyn Scott Turner’s documentary of American people. Apparently he turned up at the Avant Garde editorial office, dropped off 2,000 of his photos and invited Lubalin and Ginzburg to dedicate an entire issue to his work - and they did!