Culture
Words by Michel Wlassikoff
Mise en page, The Theory and Practice of Layout
It seems that Alfred Tolmer's 1931 publication, by using the decorative elements of New Typography with contributions from top illustrators and photographers, became a seminal work in the world of luxury brand advertising and graphic design.
It seems that Alfred Tolmer's 1931 publication, by using the decorative elements of New Typography with contributions from top illustrators and photographers, became a seminal work in the world of luxury brand advertising and graphic design.
Alfred Tolmer (1875–1957) was a Parisian advertising publisher whose workshop produced packaging for luxury brands and, from the 1920s, prestigious printed matter (almanacs, brochures, invitation cards, etc.). He called on the best illustrators: André Hellé, Jack Roberts, Edy-Legrand, and, from the 1920s, a whole host of Russian artists including Brodovitch, Rojankovsky, Nathalie Parain. Young photographers like Jean Moral, Roger Parry, Pierre Boucher, Lucien Mazenod and Louis Caillaud helped to instill the spirit of the “new photographic vision” within the workshop.
Tolmer published in 1931, Mise en page, The Theory and Practice of Layout, published by The Studio Ltd, London — which also publishes the journal Modern Photography. The text is in French and English, in a single illustrated edition of fifteen color plates outside the text, mounted on tabs. The work presents itself as a manifesto for a “New Typography”, much more decorative than that claimed in Germany by Jan Tschichold in particular. Tolmer would have designed the principle, and would have finalized it with Jean Moral and Louis Caillaud. However, Brodovitch’s “imprint” is easily detectable, although he then left the workshop. Mise en page is also a response to the publications of Arts et Métiers Graphiques and the productions of Studio Deberny et Peignot, created in 1930.
Document: Mise en page, The Theory and Practice of Layout, London, The Studio Ltd, 1931. Archives Signes.
