twen
twen
Twen (short for ″twenty″) was a magazine for the first generation of postwar teens and young adults. It was a wild conglomeration of the controversial ideas and blooming freedoms of the 1950s. A big part of the impact came from Willy Fleckhaus’ design: a 12-column modular grid with already familiar blown-up headlines set in Schmalfette Grotesk; psychedelic illustrations; extremely tightly cropped or enlarged black-and-white photos, and, of course, a lot of white space perfectly arranged on the page. Twen was stunning, groundbreaking, sometimes shocking (Fleckhaus used a photo of his wife giving birth in one issue) and definitely something that had never been seen before.
Twen (short for ″twenty″) was a magazine for the first generation of postwar teens and young adults. It was a wild conglomeration of the controversial ideas and blooming freedoms of the 1950s. A big part of the impact came from Willy Fleckhaus’ design: a 12-column modular grid with already familiar blown-up headlines set in Schmalfette Grotesk; psychedelic illustrations; extremely tightly cropped or enlarged black-and-white photos, and, of course, a lot of white space perfectly arranged on the page. Twen was stunning, groundbreaking, sometimes shocking (Fleckhaus used a photo of his wife giving birth in one issue) and definitely something that had never been seen before.
Twen magazine, issue 6, 1969. Cover designed by Willy Fleckhaus. Photo by Guido Mangold.
Twen magazine, issue 6, 1969. Cover designed by Willy Fleckhaus. Photo by Guido Mangold.
Twen magazine, issue 2, 1962. Cover designed by Willy Fleckhaus.
Twen magazine, issue 2, 1962. Cover designed by Willy Fleckhaus.
Twen magazine, issue 12, 1966. Cover designed by Willy Fleckhaus. Photo: Sam Haskins.
Twen magazine, issue 4, 1966. Cover designed by Willy Fleckhaus.
Twen magazine, issue 12, 1963. Cover designed by Willy Fleckhaus.