DA, A Journal of the Printing Arts DA (The Devil’s Artisan), Ontario, Canada
96pp and 124pp
These two volumes contain articles about the work of Allan Fleming by historians of design, photography and the book. They also contain a chronology and images of his work and life, autobiographical fragments and a survey of Fleming archival resources.
'My father, Allan Fleming, has been called ‘Canada’s first design guru.
His best-known legacy is the symbol that he created for Canadian National Railways as part of their mid-century modernisation programme. The CN symbol was itself like a train driving Modernist design straight through the 1960s in Canada and beyond, and it still adorns countless bridges and trains over 50 years later. The first of the two issues, DA 62, is packed with information about mid-century graphic design in North America, the conditions in which it took place, and the specifics of the Canadian scene. The second issue, DA 63, contains articles by leading Canadian photo historian Carole Payne and design historian Brian Donnelly. The issues also contain evaluations of Allan’s work and its impact from practising designers working in related fields — Donna Braggins, who, like Allan years before, led a redesign of Maclean’s Magazine, and Robert Tombs, who, like Allan, had been chief of design in a major University Press.’
