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LogoArchive#2: Richard Baird again explores the form language of mid-century symbols

London-based freelance designer, writer and publisher Richard Baird has launched the second issue of LogoArchive, a zine that explores the form language of mid-century symbols and the potential it has to tell an ongoing story, share ideas and be reconfigured over time.

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Black and white cover of LogoArchive Issue 2 featuring a stylised eye symbol with radiating iris lines on dark background, with publication details below

Building on his popular Instagram account LogoArchive – an extensive collection of mid-century symbols with a following of 126k – and inspired by a panel discussion on independent publishing the day before, Richard conceived, designed and sent LogoArchive Issue 1 to the printers in a day.

In the momentum of its design LogoArchive seeks a closer connection between the passion of its author and material object. Following a successful launch and sold-out first release, LogoArchive returns with Issue 2, which begins to reconfigure itself.

"LogoArchive is founded on an enthusiasm for a well-crafted symbol; a convivial metaphor, a communicative immediacy and smart use of form language," explains Baird. "However, in print, it was never conceived as an object with a singular intention; the simple documentation of symbols, rather a delivery mode in which to build a story and share thoughts.

"A conversation on Twitter; digital dialogue lost in the passage of time but forever coded into the electronic aether, is materialised as ink on paper and written into the story and ongoing development of the zine. This sits alongside an anthropological text; a musing on the distinctive qualities of the human eye."

This second issue begins to express the potential of the zine to reconfigure itself. It does this by introducing a "cover as content philosophy" and in the addition of an insert. This insert is a small but considered provocation. It asks a question. Some may find the text uninteresting. Some may choose to pull the insert out–an act of destruction–enjoy the small poster and maintain a continuity with Issue 1. Others, however, will be completists, keeping the zine intact, retaining its explorative nature and juxtaposition of form and word.

The zine is now arranged chronologically, but in the selection of 25 symbols, intends to use pairings to be playful or call out commonalities and differences in technique and context. This is augmented by an introductory design-focused article and a text on cooperative eye hypothesis.

You can grab a copy from today, over at Counter-Print.

Two-page spread from LogoArchive Issue 2 featuring a bold white and black stylised eye symbol with concentric circles on the right page, alongside publication details and descriptive text on the left page about mid-century logo design and form language
Two open pages of LogoArchive Issue 2 zine displaying dense text columns with mid-century logo symbols and typography examples integrated throughout the layout
LogoArchive spread displaying mid-century logos including Communicart, 1971, designed by Claude A. Simard for Canada Graphic Design Consultants, featuring circular eye-based symbols on dark background
LogoArchive Issue 2 zine spread showing four mid-century logo designs on black pages and pink cover with vertical line pattern detail
Spread from LogoArchive Issue 2 showing pink left page with black vertical stripes and dark right page featuring four mid-century logo symbols with eye motifs
Two pages from LogoArchive Issue 2 showing mid-century logo designs including Cruz Novillo's 1981 TVE 1 Spanish television symbol and five other geometric logos from 1982-1984 by various designers, all rendered in white on dark backgrounds
Two-page spread from LogoArchive Issue 2 showing Guillermo González Ruiz's 1984 TVA logo design for an Argentine TV station alongside five other mid-century symbol variations in white on black background
Back cover of LogoArchive Issue 2 showing publication details, ISBN barcode, editor information and credits on black background
Geometric eye illustration with radiating iris segments and concentric circular lines on black background, LogoArchive Issue 2 cover
Geometric eye symbol with concentric circles and radiating lines in white on dark background, accompanied by publication details and barcode for LogoArchive Issue 2
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