Inspired Design Decisions: Herb Lubalin

While good use of type helps people to read, great typography can do so much more. Typography can eloquently articulate an idea and colorfully communicate a message in ways which are as powerful as any illustration or photograph.

Herb Lubalin understood this better than almost any designer who came before or after him. His work demonstrated that typography isn't merely a vehicle for delivering text--it's a creative medium capable of expressing ideas, evoking emotions, and communicating meaning through visual form alone.

From his groundbreaking magazine designs for Eros, Fact, and Avant Garde to the creation of iconic typefaces like ITC Avant Garde Gothic, Lubalin revolutionized how we think about letters on a page. His concept of "graphic expressionism" challenged the orderly conventions of Swiss modernist design and introduced gesture, humanity, and creative freedom into modern typography. Understanding his approach provides invaluable lessons for contemporary web designers seeking to make their typography more expressive and impactful.

Who Was Herb Lubalin

Born in 1918 to parents who were immigrants (father from Russia, mother from Germany), Herb Lubalin became one of the most influential American graphic designers and typographers of the twentieth century. His career spanned four decades, from 1939 to 1980, during which he revolutionized the American editorial and advertising landscape.

The Making of a Typographic Revolutionary

Lubalin showed no particular artistic inclination in high school, except for drawing erotic portraits of Tarzan and Jane--which earned him a reputation as a "young pervert" and frequent expulsions. Despite these challenges, he composed a few posters and won prizes, demonstrating his creative spark early on.

Aphasic and ambidextrous (unable to speak but talented with both hands), Lubalin was necessarily more comfortable expressing himself through writing than speaking. His academic struggles in traditional subjects led him to Cooper Union by chance, where he discovered his passion for typography. His teacher initially believed he was left-handed and that holding the pen with his right hand would be difficult--Lubalin was actually ambidextrous but hadn't bothered to mention it. He completed the calligraphy assignment easily and received the best mark, which gave him the confidence to continue his creative journey.

Career Development and Art Direction

Upon graduation, Lubalin began his career designing lettering for a sign company in New York for the 1939 World's Fair. Fired for requesting a $2 raise (about $40 today), he freelanced for magazines and agencies before joining Sudler & Henessey as an Art Director specializing in pharmaceutical advertising in 1945. He stayed there for nineteen years, during which he began using words as images--cutting out and playing with prints made from lead type assemblies.

In 1964, Lubalin left Sudler & Henessey, saying he was "tired of advertising" and opened his own graphic design firm. This liberation marked a creative turning point in his work, allowing him to think about slogans and layout together to make ideas more impactful.

Graphic Expressionism: Typography as Communication

Lubalin developed what he called "graphic expressionism": "the use of typography or lettering as a creative means of expressing an idea, to elicit an emotional response from the viewer... and not just a mechanism for assembling letters on a page." This philosophy was revolutionary at a time when the Swiss International Style dominated graphic design with its emphasis on neutrality, order, and objectivity.

The Letter as Image

At a time when no one dared to have fun with letter drawings (as had been done in the early twentieth century), Lubalin's way of considering words as images shook up the orderly and regulated vision of modern Swiss graphic design. He reinjected into modern typography--which had become neutral and mechanized through universal geometric typefaces--the trace of manual gesture that had disappeared with the New Typography of the 1920s modernists.

The letter became image, as in the first pictographic writings, except that unlike pictographs, it was letters assembled in words that formed the drawing. Freed from the constraints of lead type, Lubalin could reverse and superimpose characters, reuse Victorian or antique typography, and invent new forms. He followed in the footsteps of László Moholy-Nagy, who insisted on the integration of images to directly illustrate text, and Paul Rand, who used typography and page layout to convey ideas.

For modern web designers working in professional web development, this principle translates into thinking about typography as a visual element rather than just a delivery mechanism for text. When you approach type as an image, you consider how letters interact with negative space, how their shapes contribute to the overall visual composition, and how typographic choices can reinforce the emotional message of your content.

Revolutionary Magazine Design

Lubalin's most ambitious typographic experiments found their canvas in three groundbreaking magazines, each pushing the boundaries of what was possible in editorial design.

Eros (1962)

In the 1960s, Lubalin worked with editor and publisher Ralph Ginzburg, with whom he collaborated "like Siamese twins." Their first project was Eros in 1962, a "magazine of love" featuring erotic images of quality that was unjustly controversial as "obscene material." After publishing only four issues, the magazine was shut down and Ginzburg was sent to prison--Lubalin escaped legal consequences.

Despite its brief existence, Eros won more awards in 1963 than any other American magazine. The magazine's interior revealed a rich and varied layout, alternating photographs and illustrations in ways that were unprecedented for the time. The design demonstrated Lubalin's ability to create sophisticated visual narratives through careful typographic and layout choices.

Fact (1964-1967)

Upon Ginzburg's release from prison, they published Fact, with Lubalin designing the logo and layout entirely in black and white, using Times Bold on the cover and Regular inside in two columns. Fact was a politically engaged magazine that supported or denounced causes through investigative journalism. Its minimalism, unique serif typeface, bold typographic statements on the cover, and distinctive visual approach made it a kind of statement or manifesto.

Avant Garde (1968-1972)

Avant Garde became the support for Lubalin's most advanced graphic expression as a designer-typographer. The magazine dealt with American society, politics, eroticism, and photography, and provided a square-format canvas for his typographic experiments. The magazine's logo was particularly significant--it was created using photocomposition, a technological innovation that freed designers from the constraints of lead type that had been used since 1885.

The Avant Garde logo was an immediately recognizable acronym that Lubalin created through this new technology. Photocomposition allowed the creation of models and lines of text by photographic principle using films cut and assembled on transparent supports. Lubalin would later say: "Now the blades, the clamps, are finished, finished. The new techniques allow me to break all the rules of all the typography manuals, easily, effectively, and legibly."

Typeface Design and Legacy

Lubalin's impact on typography extended far beyond his editorial work. His contributions to typeface design have left an indelible mark on the industry that continues to influence designers today.

ITC Avant Garde Gothic

For Avant Garde magazine, Lubalin created the complete Avant Garde Gothic alphabet in capital letters with numerous ligatures (designed by Tom Carnase) to allow for typographic games. The typeface became one of the most influential of the twentieth century, with the G and A forming a distinctive ligature in the logo. Ten years later, Lubalin designed a lowercase version that he distributed through his ITC foundry.

He was dismayed by how the typeface was used by many graphic designers, except for Adidas and Audi, whom he congratulated directly for their creative applications of the font in the 1970s.

International Typeface Corporation

In 1970, Lubalin co-founded the International Typeface Corporation (ITC) with Aaron Burns. ITC was the first virtual typographic library that also fought for fair pay for type designers. The company offered new typographic collections to industrialists four times a year, providing typefaces that could be photographed and manufactured--a considerable time saver compared to the traditional process.

U&lc Magazine

Along with ITC, Lubalin launched the magazine U&lc (Up & Lower Case), for which he was artistic director and illustrator. The new typefaces were distributed free of charge around the world to studios, agencies, and designers through this publication. Both ITC and U&lc set the tone for a new worldwide typographic impulse that broke the codes of modernism, echoing the liberation and humanization of society in the face of rising criticism of mass consumption and standardization.

This democratization of typography--making innovative typefaces accessible to all designers--remains relevant today as web fonts and services like Google Fonts and Adobe Fonts continue to put quality typography within everyone's reach.

Iconic Logo Designs

Throughout his career, Lubalin designed hundreds of visual identities and logos, perfecting his art of playing with letters to transform them into visual messages. His approach to logo design demonstrates how typography can carry symbolic meaning beyond its literal function.

Mother & Child

One of Lubalin's most famous creations was the Mother & Child logo, where he transformed an ampersand into a fetus. This logo was originally designed for a magazine that was unfortunately never published. It remained Lubalin's favorite for years, and he was finally able to reuse it several years after its creation for a book cover entitled "Mother & Son."

New York City Logo

In 1966, the City of New York invited Lubalin's studio to create a logo that could be used to identify the city. The logo was approved but apparently never used--Lubalin said he once saw it on a truck. The lettering was done by his son Robert Lubalin, and the design is reminiscent of the WGBH logo created a few years later, and even the current New York City logo.

Other Notable Works

Lubalin created logos for Sprite (Coca-Cola's new drink in 1964), Coca-Cola itself, the Cooper Union logo, and many corporate identities. In 1979, he worked in France on the visual identity of 3 Suisses, demonstrating how his studio could apply a more modernist approach when appropriate.

For web designers working on brand identity design, Lubalin's approach offers a masterclass in how thoughtful letter manipulation can create memorable logos that communicate instantly and emotionally.

Applying Lubalin's Principles to Web Design

Although we don't yet have the same control over typography on the web as we do in print, new file formats, font delivery services, and web fonts have meant far more typographic flexibility than designers had even a decade ago. Typography controls in CSS have helped designers be more creative with type. Beyond basic font style properties, designers can now reliably fine-tune OpenType figures, hyphenation, ligatures, and even kerning.

Typography as Visual Expression

Studying the work of graphic designers like Lubalin can open designers' eyes to what can be achieved using today's type technologies. His approach to treating letters as images translates into opportunities for creative type treatment on the web--through SVG manipulation, CSS transforms, and careful attention to how type interacts with other visual elements.

Modern CSS properties like letter-spacing, line-height, text-transform, and CSS transforms allow for creative manipulation of type. SVG text elements offer precise control over typography, including the ability to manipulate individual letters and create the kind of word-as-image effects that Lubalin pioneered.

Combining Elements for Impact

Lubalin understood how a choice of typeface could fundamentally alter the look and sound of words to communicate messages to readers. On the web, this translates into thoughtful selection of typefaces for different contexts, sizes, and purposes. A headline should speak differently than body text, and both should work together to create a cohesive visual message.

When designing headers and calls to action, consider how typeface selection, size, weight, and spacing contribute to the emotional impact of your message. A bold, tightly-spaced headline creates urgency, while a light, airy typeface suggests elegance and sophistication.

Technical Implementation

Modern web typography offers numerous tools for implementing Lubalin-inspired techniques:

• CSS Font Features: Enable OpenType features like ligatures, small caps, and stylistic sets for sophisticated typographic expression
• Variable Fonts: Adjust weight, width, and other attributes fluidly for responsive typography
• SVG Text: Manipulate individual letters for logo-style treatments
• CSS Transforms: Rotate, scale, and position text for dynamic compositions

These technical capabilities, combined with the design principles Lubalin pioneered, give web designers unprecedented tools for typographic expression. Our web design services incorporate these principles to create websites where typography serves as a powerful communication tool.

Lessons from Lubalin's Approach

Typography Is Communication First

Lubalin's entire approach was grounded in the belief that typography exists to communicate--not just to convey information, but to express ideas, evoke emotions, and create meaning. Every typographic choice should serve a purpose in the overall communication strategy of a design.

Rules Are Guidelines, Not Commandments

Lubalin understood the rules of typography thoroughly--and then broke them intentionally and effectively. His mastery of photocomposition allowed him to "break all the rules of all the typography manuals, easily, effectively, and legibly." This doesn't mean ignoring best practices, but rather understanding them well enough to know when and how to deviate for creative effect.

Craft Matters

Despite his creative innovations, Lubalin was a master craftsman. His ability to create sophisticated letterforms and typographic compositions came from years of practice and technical understanding. Contemporary designers can honor his legacy by developing their own craft skills alongside their creative vision.

Looking Forward

Lubalin's work reminds us that typography is not a neutral medium. Every choice--from typeface selection to letter spacing to the relationship between text and image--carries meaning and emotional weight. By approaching typography as a form of visual expression rather than mere information delivery, we can create designs that communicate more powerfully and connect with audiences on a deeper level.

For those interested in exploring these principles further, studying Lubalin's work alongside contemporary typographic practice reveals how his ideas have influenced modern design and continue to offer inspiration for new generations of designers working in digital spaces.

Sources

1. Andy Clarke - Inspired Design Decisions: Herb Lubalin - Primary source for Lubalin's typographic philosophy and design principles
2. Smashing Magazine - Inspired Design Decisions With Herb Lubalin - Technical applications for web designers
3. Graphéine - Herb Lubalin: The Letter as Image - Comprehensive biography and career analysis
4. Typography.com - Lubalin's Legacy - Typeface history and legacy information
5. Cooper Union - Herb Lubalin Study Center - Academic resource on Lubalin's work