Ten

Article by Ken Garland & Pam Bowman

Ken Garland (KG)
Were you familiar with the poem long before you transmogrified it?

Pamela Bowman (PB)
I read it at school first and loved it. I really loved all the war poets we read at school and for the first time found English lessons of interest.

KG
Was it originally to be on opaque paper or did you conceive it on translucent paper from the start?

PB
I worked purely from the text and found a need to make the dream-like lines appear exactly that. The only way I could find to do that was to use translucent stock. Originally I was working on typodetail paper to make up dummies and wanted to print on that.

KG
Were there many versions of it before you settled on the final one?

PB
It began as a student project in 1995 when I was in the final year of my degree. It was designed much more by feel at that point. I was using letterpress but was never one for proper measurement. I have a firm belief in trial and error and was tinkering with the layout as I printed. At that point is was set in Univers and Baskerville, it also included some setting errors, giving the opportunity to prove I understood what corrigendum meant.

When I came to think about the edition with Simon King, a letterpress printer based in Cumbria, we were working with Times New Roman, mostly because that is what Simon had in a similar size but also because I'm a big fan of the lower case ‘e’. Having worked in a more fluid way before it was quite a learning curve to set the parameters for another printer but it had a little more structure and no setting errors.

KG
Have you observed people when they first look at your version: are they initially puzzled, then enlightened? do you think you get different reactions from those who already know the poem?

PB
I usually explain that you just read everything that appears the right way around and in the order that you would normally read. This seems to work. It does make a difference if you are familiar with the poem as the design, then, needs no explanation.

KG
Did you have to go through many proofs before you got what you want? and did you make improvements during that process?

PB
It occurred over many years, with lots of time for reflection, so I guess it was gentle and probably one of the least traumatic design jobs I have worked on.

KG
It was published in 1999; are you still fond of it or would you now do it differently?

PB
I’m still very fond of it. Working with poetry is something I want to spend more time doing but this one just seemed to work. I wouldn't change a thing.

KG
Have you anything else to say about it?

PB
Just that I am so very delighted that you like it so much!

KG

Love, Ken

PB
Love, Pam

Ken Garland biography

The career of Ken Garland as a graphic designer, author and games designer spans seven decades. His First Things First manifesto (1964) has influenced a whole generation of graphic designers. In addition to his output in graphic design, including the 1994 book, Mr. Beck’s Underground Map, Garland is the designer of several games including ‘Connect’, and ‘Rivers, Roads and Rails’.

Pamela Bowman biography

Pamela Bowman is a typographer, graphic designer and lecturer in graphic design at Sheffield Hallam University. She graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University in 1995, having studied alongside Patrick Walker and Alun Cocks with whom she subsequently set up graphic design collective Dust, in Sheffield in 2000.

How to purchase a poster

A strictly limited edition of 100 A2 posters of Pam Bowman’s artwork, beautifully printed by Team and individually numbered can be purchased, priced £25.00 plus P&P. All proceeds will go to The Prince’s Trust ‘Team’ Programme.

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