OutWest

Designer Rudy VanderLans born 1955

Typographer Edward Fella born 1938

Date1993

MediumOffset Lithography

Dimensions32 1/2 x 22 1/4 in. (82.6 x 56.5 cm)

ClassificationsPoster

Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection

Terms

Object numberPH.732

DescriptionEdward Fella had an established career as a commercial designer before he began experiment- ing with lettering and avant-garde type styles. His influence on most of the other designers in this exhibition cannot be overstated—he has been called everything from “the guru of the new expressive typography” to the “Graphic godfather.” OutWest was originally commissioned by Laurie Haycock Makela (wife of P. Scott Makela, whose work is also featured in this exhibition) as a display typeface for Design Quarterly, a magazine published by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. As art director, she collaborated with some of the most avant-garde designers of the era and established the Walker as a vibrant, contemporary space. Fella created the letterforms by hand using the 15-degree ellipse on a standard architectural template, adding his own flair to the novelty font. In the magazine, he noted that anyone could use the typeface free of charge provided they digitized it. A few months later, Rudy VanderLans contacted Fella asking if Emigre could offer it. Zuzana Licko then transformed Fella’s sketches into a digitized typeface.

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