April Greiman was asked to design the 113th issue of the long-running magazine “Design Quarterly” in 1986 and was flattered to take on the task.
She defied the magazine norm, reinterpreted it, and transformed the usual 32 pages of the magazine into a 449.58 x 64.77 cm double-sided fold-out poster.
It was printed in color on a large-format offset press and was then folded to the same size as the original magazine and housed in a paper cover.

For the entire piece, Greiman used Apple’s Macintosh programs MacDraw, MacPaint, and MacVision on one side, and video and Macintosh texture images on the other. With the MacDraw software, it was possible to integrate images taken by a video camera and create typography.

The title “Does it make sense?” of the work refers to the Viennese philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Greiman wants to explore the question of what is considered an appropriate contribution to design history.

Once it was determined that an actual-sized image of hers would be used as the basis, April Greiman collected materials for six months, sketched and digitized images for three months, and composed, layered, and stretched for another three months until she was able to print the work.

The front cover features a life-size self-portrait of Greiman. It is overlaid with images that trace the history of life and creativity: dinosaurs, a hand holding a marble slab, paired with cosmic and scientific elements. A timeline at the bottom shows the birth of the solar system and various technological advances from the camera obscura to the Macintosh.

On the back, colorful video images are combined with text. This ranges from existential poetic reflections to a meticulous documentation of the process of creating the piece.

Incorporating digitized and video images is a classic example of Greiman’s use of what she calls “hybrid imagery.” After some deliberation, the decision was made to mount the poster in a case. However, due to budget constraints, this could not be glued but had to be folded. The solution was a slit flap and a diagonal cut.

The work was later criticized as too personal, whereupon the established male graphic design community in New York suggested that this was not design but art. Greiman commented on the acceptance of technology in an interview with the Times in 1988: “At the heart of the concept of hybrid imagery is a recognition that, in inventing new technologies, we reinvent ourselves.” (kl)