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Eye Magazine at 100

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Wes Del Val interviews the acclaimed graphic design magazine’s editor, John L. Walters, on the publication of <em>Eye</em>’s 100th issue.

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Deck:

If you’re reading this you’re certainly already familiar with Eye, but you might not know how it got its name. Here’s founding editor, Rick Poynor, on how it came to be:

“When I told Tibor Kalman about our plans on a trip to New York, he immediately proposed ‘Eye.’ I liked this at once, but it was essential to the magazine’s international aspirations that the title worked abroad, since the text would be in three languages: English, French, and German. Only when a marketing survey produced “Eye” as the favorite was the name adopted.”

That comes from Poynor’s essay in the latest issue on the early years of the magazine. It’s fitting that it appears in this issue because after thirty years in publication, Eye’s hardworking, dedicated staff and contributors just released number 100, a perfect time to reflect on the beginnings. Also a perfect reason to speak with its editor since Eye 33, John L. Walters. While only English (French and German were dropped by issue 7) still appears in the magazine, the title still very much works all over the world.

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Wes Del Val: First of all, congratulations on your 100th issue, that’s a remarkable print achievement today, especially for a specialized independent magazine. Did you feel any added pressure that, say, issue 99 didn’t have, and how did the final result match up with your original plan for 100?

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