QWERTY 1 - 6
A Complete Set with Ephemera
Stephen Banham [Editor]
Stephen Banham [Editor]: QWERTY. Melbourne: The Letterbox, 1991 - 1995 [nos. 1 - 6, all published; each issue limited to 200 - 250 mechanically-numbered copies]. On offer is a complete set of the Australian experimental type journal QWERTY, with additional materials from Letterbox studio, circa 1996. Set includes six issues of QWERTY [105 x 174 mm A-7 wire-bound journals, 24 - 64 pp.]; laserprinted letter on Letterbox stationery signed by Stephen Banham; Letterbox business card; and promotional poster announcing the publication of QWERTY no. 6. All housed in publishers mailing envelope. QWERTY nos. 1-4 housed in original ziploc mailing bags, number 6 with belly band. Magazines in fine condition. Letterhead, poster, mailers are all very good to fine.
This collection includes:
Stephen Banham [Editor]: Qwerty 1: For those who get their fingers dirty. Melbourne: The Letterbox, 1991 [no. 202: limited to 250 mechanically-numbered copies]. 105 x 174 mm A-7 wire-bound journal. 24 pp. In original ziploc bag with 'Q' sticker.
A reaction against the artless early desktop publishing period, Qwerty 1 was designed during the late shift at a newspaper design office. This first issue of Qwerty is based on hand-generated type with interviews with Noel Pennington at the St.Kilda-based studio Design Bite and the freelance designer Peter Long. Although never intended to be so, this issue is now considered quite a historical document of an earlier period of Melbourne graphic design. The tiny format of Qwerty (74 x 105mms) was a product of sheer economy and was the only way to get 24 pages out of a small two colour sheet.
Stephen Banham [Editor]: Qwerty 2: Australian Vernacular. Melbourne: The Letterbox, 1992 [no. 165: limited to 200 mechanically-numbered copies]. 105 x 174 mm A-7 wire-bound journal. 24 pp. In original ziploc bag with numbered coardboard chit.
Exploring the sheer diversity of the Australian vernacular, this issue asks noted Australian graphic designer and collector of ephemera, Mimmo Cozzolino, whether there is a distinctive Australian vernacular style. The answer was ultimately inconclusive -- but it was a worthwhile journey to discover that seeking an 'Australian style' is a self-defeating argument. After all, the beauty of Australian culture is its diversity and reluctance to be classified.
Stephen Banham [Editor]: Qwerty 3: A shadow of its former self. Melbourne: The Letterbox, 1993 [no. 164: limited to 200 mechanically-numbered copies]. 105 x 174 mm A-7 wire-bound journal. 24 pp. In original ziploc bag with 'E' sticker and numbered coardboard chit.
Unintentionally anticipating the boom in urban stencilling by a decade or so, the third issue of Qwerty was centred around stamps and stencil typography. All of the text and imagery in the issue hand stencilled, which in a publication of A7 dimensions, is quite a feat. This issue is testimony to the beauty of these portable and unique mediums of expression. Features early career contributions from Fabio Ongarato amongst others.
Stephen Banham [Editor]: Qwerty 4: Recession. Melbourne: The Letterbox, 1994 [no. 162: limited to 250 mechanically-numbered copies]. 105 x 174 mm A-7 wire-bound journal. 24 pp. In original ziploc bag with 'R' sticker and numbered ticket.
Produced after the recession of the early 1990s, this issue of Qwerty was an observation of the typographic fall-out from such economic hardship. This included a survey of business signage being wrenched off buildings and other skeletal remains of spent commerce. The text is set in a customised typeface (Bankrupt) based on the glue outlines that are left after a sign is removed. This issue features a tipped-in four colour letterpress section printed in Sydney.
Stephen Banham [Editor]: Qwerty 5: The Big is Beautiful Issue. Melbourne: The Letterbox, 1995 [no. 186: limited to 250 mechanically-numbered copies]. [2] 105 x 174 mm A-7 journals wire-bound together. 64 pp.
A collection of the biggest letters in Australia from A through to Z, each letter is measured in metres, feet and even points. In case you're wondering the biggest was an uppercase Y estimated at being half a kilometre in dimensions (it was written in the sky). This issue also introduced the now notorious 2 mile Readymix logotype in the Australian desert which has been researched in subsequent writings such as Fancy.
Stephen Banham [Editor]: Qwerty 6: At home with the Alphabet. Melbourne: The Letterbox, 1995 [no. 092: limited to 250 mechanically-numbered copies]. 105 x 174 mm A-7 wire-bound journal. 38 pp. With publishers belly band.
Based on domestic forms of typography, this issue features typefaces made from icing sugar and a study of type featured on Australian letterboxes. Being the sixth Qwerty, this issue was the last of the set and drew to a close the series a very specific time and place in Australian typography. Having sold out the edition of 250 copies in 1996, they are now collected all over the world.
Stephen Banham [Designer]: Qwerty: At home with the Alphabet #6 [poster title]. Melbourne: The Letterbox, 1995 [unknown limitation, this copy mechanically-numbered 496]. Poster. 16.5 x 23.5 offset litho folded into quarters [as issued].
Stephen Banham [Author/Designer]: Letterbox letterhead from July, 1995. Watermarked A4 letterhead [210 x 297 mm] printd in three colors. Laserset type. Initialed by author.
Stephen Banham is an Australian typographer, writer, lecturer and founder of Letterbox, a typographic studio. Banham was born in Melbourne in 1968. He completed a BA in Visual Communication at RMIT University from 1986 - 1988. In 2003 he completed a Master of Design in design research from RMIT. Banham has been lecturing in the field of typography since 1990. In 1991 he printed the first small issue of Qwerty, the first in a series of six experimental spiral-bound issues.
"It's hard to believe now, but there was very little happening in Australia in terms of typography in 1990. I began teaching typography at about this time and I would constantly see my students copy entire designs straight from Emigre or other international publications. I knew that we could create our own typographic language here so I began Qwerty. It was a series of six publications – q, w, e, r, t and y -- each one a7 in size [74 x 105 mm]. This size wasn't because I wanted to create a precious art book. It was simply the only way I could afford to have 24 pages up on a single sheet. Things were quite tough then – one week I had only $300 in my bank account and I had the choice of paying the rent or sending the first issue to press. Over the next five years, I released the other issues. It received a lot of interest in the international design press and showed my students by example that one can create typographic work that reflects aspects of one's own culture, though now I don't agree with that early rather nationalistic notion of identity." -- Eye magazine [no. 46, vol. 12, Winter 2002]
In 2011 he was inducted into the International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD).
In 1996 he produced Ampersand the first of a five-part series by the same name. These featured extended texts on the social significance of typography not possible in the small A7 format of Qwerty. This was then followed by Rentfont (1997) featuring an experimental typeface Futures, made entirely from logotypes. In 1998 Banham produced Convoy, a comment on the commodification of graphic design. Assembly (1999) was an exploration of the visual memory of a child in relation to corporate identity. This involved the individual interviewing over 600 schoolchildren. Grand (2001) investigated the relationship between typefaces and socio-economic environments by noting and analysing every instance of typography across a 1000 metre area of the Melbourne central business district.
In 2005 Banham began a series of forum events discussing the social role of typography and graphic design. Know as Character these events were held alongside the State of Design Festivals attracting up to 500 people at a time. These events took a different form each year. First appearing as an open discussion format looking into the branding of cities (2005), The politics of graphic design (2005), The role of accident in design (2006) and 26 Letters a Second -- typography and the moving image (2007) which featured the Australian premiere of Helvetica, including a discussion with Gary Hustwit who was brought out for the event. In 2008 The fifth Character event saw the publishing of Characters and Spaces in partnership with the State of Design Festival. This free booklet, bound within the festival program, featured one city block of Melbourne's design secrets from the stories behind corporate identities through to art and architecture. Character 6 (2010) saw the Australian premiere of the documentary film TypeFace from Chicago, along with a discussion on the 'slow design' movement in graphic design and the resurgence in craft.
A series of typographically thematic publications called Obliques began in 2008. Orbit Oblique (2008) was a typographic tribute to the animals lost in space research (1949 - 1990) during the space race. The second Utopia Oblique (2009) was based around the utopians who have used language and/or typography to express their ideal notion of society.
After three years or writing and research, Thames and Hudson published 'Characters: Revealing cultural stories through typography' in 2011, Stephen Banham's extensive look into the cultural significance of typography with an emphasis on the most public of typographic forms, signage. Although the book uses Melbourne as its case study, the idea of viewing a city through a 'typographic lens' is a universal one. The book was co-published by the State Library of Victoria. In 2011 Banham was made a Creative Fellow at the State Library of Victoria.