PM
April – May 1940
Joseph Binder, Robert L. Leslie and Percy Seitlin [Editors]
Robert L. Leslie and Percy Seitlin [Editors]: PM [An Intimate Journal For Art Directors, Production Managers, and their Associates]. NYC: The Composing Room/P.M. Publishing Co., April-May 1940 [Volume 6, No. 4]. Original edition. Slim 12mo. Photographically printed perfect bound and sewn wrappers. 56 pp. Illustrated articles and advertisements. Multiple paper stocks. Original 4-color photo offset cover design by Joseph Binder. Wrappers lightly rubbed, especially to the blank rear panel, so a nearly fine copy.
5.5 x 7.75 perfect-bound digest with 56 pages of articles including Editorial notes; Joseph Binder; Art and the Machine; Size - Selection simplified; Editorial Notes; Posters for the London Underground, and A-D Shorts.
Issue highlights are the Cover and 16-page insert on Austrian poster artist Joseph Binder. This the first American article to showcase the efforts of this legendary poster artist. Includes samples of his poster work for the 1939 New York Worlds Fair, Ballantine Beer, Travel Posters and magazine covers.
Also, this issue includes a 16-page insert titled ART AND THE MACHINE, featuring streamline product and packaging designs of Society of Designers for Industry members Clarence P. Hornung, Egmont Arens, George Blow, Clarence Cole, Thomas D'Addario, Frank Gianninoto, Francis Goldsborough, Bond Morgan, William O'Neil, Frederic H. Rahr, Martin Ullman and Georges Wilmet. The insert was designed by Hornung and is jaw-dropping beautiful, with some of the most beautiful photo engraving you will ever see.
PM Shorts mention: The Composing Room, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sascha Mauer, T. M. Cleland, Herbert Roan, First issue of Print magazine released, Georges Schreiber, Adolph Dehn, The Pres of the Wooly Whale, Otto W. Fuhrmann, Norman Vogel, and the AIGA.
Listing of Advertisements: Ralph C. Coxhead Corp., Barnes Press, Offset Engravers Association, The Composing Room, Strathmore Paper Co., Wolf Envelope Co., Wilbar Photo Engraving, Ludlow Typograph Co., Frederick Photo Gelatine Press, Flower Electrotypes, Reliance Reproduction Co., Whitney Press and Walker Engraving.
Joseph Binder's poster work used simple compositions and geometric patterns derived from Cubist and DeStijl principles. In 1924 he won the poster design for the Buro des Festes, Vienna. He emigrated to the United States in 1934 and was influential in developing the pictorial graphic design style of the 1930's and 1940's. In 1939 he designed the poster for the New York World¹s Fair. His success in the US was further increased by winning many poster competitions organized by the Museum of Modern Art, for such agencies as the National Defense, the United Nations and the American Red Cross. He also designed covers for Fortune and Graphis Magazine. After 1950 he was art director for the US Navy Department in Washington, DC.
Clarence P. Hornung studied at City College and at Columbia University. He was a designer for American Type Foundry and a member of the Society of Designers for Industry in New York City. In addition to designing several hundred trademarks, package designs and industrial designs, he designed book bindings for such clients as Harper¹s, Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. Wolff, Limited Editions Club, Encyclopedia Britannica, Heritage Press and DuPont.
PM magazine was the leading voice of the U. S. Graphic Arts Industry from its inception in 1934 to its end in 1942 (then called AD). As a publication produced by and for professionals, it spotlighted cutting-edge production technology and the highest possible quality reproduction techniques (from engraving to plates). PM and A-D also championed the Modern movement by showcasing work from the vanguard of the European Avant-Garde well before this type of work was known to a wide audience.