Dictionary for Moderns
Date
1956
Credits
- Hal Stebbins 3 Author
- Advertising Designers 2 Studio
Format
- Booklet 108
Type of Work
- Finished work 5644
Printers
Dimensions
4 × 7 in
"A Dictionary for Moderns, an intimately scaled 40-page booklet, was written by Hal Stebbins, who often hired Advertising Designers, and printed at Ward Ritchie Press. A letterpress project, edition of 50, it was likely created as a holiday gift for Stebbins’s self-named agency. The booklet presents a cynic’s worldview, with charming but wry slogans such as “Advertising: Free speech—except that you pay for it,” “Ears: Through these portals pass the most beautiful lies in the world,” “Eyes: A Technicolor camera that never needs reloading,” and “Hollywood: A place where people actually believe what they write about themselves.”"
–Louise Sandhaus, Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires & Riots: California and Graphic Design 1936-1986, pp. 76
