Leonardo

Editorial: The Format of LeonardoAuthor(s): Cynthia RiceSource: Leonardo, Vol. 17, No. 3 (1984), p. 143Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1575180 .

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The Format of Leonardo

Editorial

This issue introduces a new visual format for Leonardo-the first substantial layout change in the Journal since its inception in 1968. The editors, with the cooperation of Pergamon Press, have instituted the change not simply as a cosmetic modification, but to improve the accessibility of information in the Journal.

The major revision is from a two-column to a three-column format. This new format will provide more flexibility in coordinating illustration with text and it is indicative of a new emphasis on the Journal's visual aspects. In addition, type specifications have been changed throughout. Articles have larger line spacing than before-improving readability. Abstracts have been set in bold type, as have the newly expanded figure captions, to permit quick summary inspections of the articles. The cover, masthead, subscription information and editorial guideline pages have been reorganized to consolidate their contents.

Design at its best should enhance communication by providing a somewhat invisible perceptual organization for the reader. It must perform in response to human needs. For Leonardo, the design's effectiveness must be measured by the Journal's success in its various missions, as outlined in recent editorials.

INFORMATION, THE OBJECT AND THE FUTURE

Revising the format of the Journal required countless design decisions. During this process I became acutely aware that while Leonardo is primarily a medium for communication and documentation, it is also a special 'object'-a material form crafted beyond the basic requirements necessary for presenting information. To the extent that the special 'objectness' furthers the Journal's primary purposes, it is clearly important. Beyond that, I question it.

The role of objects designed to present information is changing today. Most cultures have a special reverence for carefully crafted objects. The art-world (in which Leonardo participates) has long been a bastion of object-worship. The level of skill and individual care applied to the production of objects often dictates their meaning and value. However, this meaning and value is being altered not only by electronic data processing, but also by mass production and single-use objects.

Publications are gravitating increasingly towards the domain of electronic media as a result of the current revolution in information storage and transmission technologies. For example, it is now possible to subscribe to major newspapers and receive the news through a data-bank service on a computer terminal-the necessity and value of the published object diminishes.

If Leonardo's only mission were to transmit verbal and visual information, we should 'publish' it through a computer data-bank subscription, or at least in a less expensive newsprint format. By contrast, if producing a valuable object were our first priority, we would be striving to produce one-of-a-kind or perhaps signed-and-numbered editions.

We desire for the Journal to be a voice of innovation, to report on the volatile present and forecast the turbulent future in the art/science/technology culture. Paradoxically, the form we use to report on this culture may lag the activities within the culture. Leonardo, in form, may be a kind of forward-looking dinosaur.

An electronic edition of the Journal may indeed be 'published' in the future. For the present, we intend to stretch the possibilities and minimize the liabilities of the Journal as 'object'. While remaining cautious of becoming too enamoured with curating the object, we will use the Journal to communicate and document in its widely accessible and currently valued object form. In this way we can be most effective in providing an international forum of communication.

We are indebted again to the loyalty and support of the individuals at Pergamon Press in implementing a new format for the Journal. Their forbearance in working with the editorial office on the countless details involved in these changes has been extraordinary. In particular, I acknowledge the special interests given not only to this most recent effort, but to all of our novice efforts, by Martin Key, Managing Editor-Journals Editorial, and Janet Spiller, Deputy Production Supervisor, at Pergamon Press.

Cynthia Rice Managing Editor

Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain. LEONARDO, Vol. 17, No. 3, p. 143, 1984 0024-094X/84 $3.00+0.00

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