Dot Zero, Complete Set, 1966-1968 [Massimo Vignelli, Unimark]

Dot Zero, Numbers 1–5 (Complete Set), 1966–68. Editor: Robert Malone; Consulting Editor: Mildred Constantine, Museum of Modern Art. Published by Ralph Eckerstrom of Dot Zero Inc. for Unimark International and Finch, Pruyn and Company, New York, NY. Each issue is 9 x 12, 48 pp. Designed by Massimo Vignelli.

Published quarterly in New York, NY from 1966–68 in a total of 5 issues, Dot Zero was the important experimental quarterly for professionals in the fields of visual communication and design; an early critical voice for the design profession. In an interview with Michael Beirut, Vignelli said “There was really no model, for either of content or design. I wanted to design a magazine with one type size in only two weights, a grid, and one color, just black and white. We wanted something visually exciting, but not visually spectacular. Perhaps one sort of model was Neue Grafik Design, the Swiss magazine from the early sixties” (Design Observer, 2010). 

• Dot Zero, Number 1, 1966. Contents: Finding Dot Zero by Herbert Bayer, Decline of the Visual by Marshall McLuhan, Computer Graphics by Maurice Constant, Variations on the Face by Bruno Munari, Psychology of the Visual by Martin Krampen, Printing as an Art Form by Eugene Feldman, Questions of Legibility by Bror Zachrisson, Alternatives to Architecture by Arthur Drexler, Greetings, and Book Review by Douglas MacAgy. 
• Dot Zero, Number 2, 1966. Contents: Editorial Statement, Trademark Design by Jay Doblin, Corporate Identity as a System by Nan Adams (devoted to the Varian Corporation's design program by Unimark), Canadian Flag by George Bain, Museum Graphics by Allon Schoener, All That Glitters is not Stainless by Reyner Banham, Visual/Verbal Rhetoric by Gui Bonsiepe, Economics and Environment by Dr. John Kenneth Galbraith and Book Review: The Bettmann Portable Archive. 
• Dot Zero, Number 3, Spring 1967. Contents: Editorial Statement; The Plastic Parthenon by John McHale; Will Newspapers Ever Enter the Twentieth Century? by Clay Felker; The Hybrid Medium, an Interview with John Diebold; Paperbacks as a Mass Medium by Germano Facetti; Photography and the Mass Media by John Szarkowski; Film–An Essay by Gordon Hitchens; Mass Media: The Stimulation System by Jay Doblin; Book Review: Frederick by Leo Lionni by Mildred Constantine; and The Living Line by Thomas George. 
• Dot Zero, Number 4: World’s Fairs, Summer 1967. Contents: A Theory of Expositions by Umberto Eco; The Concept of Environmental Management by Serge Boutouline; Designing Creative America by Ivan Chemayeff; Creating Emotional Involvement in Geography, Geology, and Space Science: an interview with Rudolph de Harak; Thoughts on Three-Dimensional Science Communications by Will Burtin; Alpha Chambers by Kenneth Isaacs; Expo 67 Puts You in the Picture by Bosley Crowther; and Five Films at Expo by Willard van Dyke. 
• Dot Zero, Number 5: Transportation Graphics, Fall 1968. Issue devoted to the Symposium “Transportation Graphics: Where Am I Going? How Do I Get There?” held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, October 23, 1967. The papers presented at the Transportation Graphics symposium have been edited and included in this issue. Editorial Statement by Mildred Constantine and Introduction by George Nelson. Followed by excellent, critical contributions by designers, architects, officials, planners and engineers: Lowell K. Bridwell, Jock Kinneir, Pierre Bourgeau, Henry A. Barnes, Will Burtin, Jonathan Barnett, Donald Appleyard, Peter Chermayeff, Bob Noorda, Charles M. Haar, Harmon H. Goldstone and Daniel T. Scannell.

This rare, complete set of historic design journals is highly recommended! All issues are in near fine condition with light wear and toning on covers (most noticeable on white areas) and edges. Pages are clean and bright.