eye
contents no.28 vol.7 summer 1998
cover

2 Editorial
Rescue Meaning
To communicate more than mere messages for a client, designers must adopt an editorial point of view
Max Bruinsma

6 critique
Inflated Intangibles
The self-congratulary message of a show about UK creativity was little morethan electronic ticker tape
Judith Williamson

8 Screen
You are under control (excerpt)
Design, technology and psychology conspire to find new ways of teasing and fraying the passive viewer's nerves
Jessica Helfand

10 Language
Mandarin to Mao
The modern Maoist versions of traditional Chinese characters introducd ambiguity and confusion by deleting information
Chin-Lien Chen and Chris Vermaas

12 Reputations
John Plunkett
"We wanted to avoid the unspoken design taboos... it was more important that Wired be alive than subtle"
Steve Heller

26 Profile: Post Tool
Serious doodling
Working in the crash-prone pre-history of multimedia, Post Tool has a brand of graphic design that is closer to television
Max Bruinsma

32 Manifesto
The Museum of the Ordinary
The 'exhibits' are the entire contents of a swathe of blocks in downtown Ney York. A proposal and a manifesto
Michael Rock and Susan Sellers

36 History
Building a graphic language
From the 1930's to the 1960's, The Architectural Review's eclectic methods made it a landmark in magazine design
Richard Hollis

46 Visual Essay
Global City
Screens from a documentary about graphic design in four cities: New York, San Francisco, London and Amsterdam
Rob Schröder

52 Report
The chair man dances
This little red book is a capitalist keepsake - Tibor Kalman's testament to the corporate culture of Vitra chair company
Victor Margolin

54 Report
Money^©. Magic^TM. Light^®
Factors of sale ensured a glittering take-off for two corporate identities. But what do they actually communicate?
Will Novosedlik

58 Critique
Drag me. Click me.
But don't try to understand me. Why are so many of the icons devised for interface design opaque and meaningless?
James Souttar

64 Travelogue
China, Hong Kong, Taiwan
Travelling graphic designers supplu a personal vision, in words and pictures, of professional and vernacular work in the East
Chris Vermaas & Chin-lien Chen

73 Reviews
Punk graphic design. The fine art of Design without Boundaries. Poster power on display. Steven Johnson's Interface Culture

78 Archive
Before the home video revolution, Fotonovels provided a graphic way to re.live the experience of Hollywood movies
Russel Holmes