Windows (1986) - CARLI Digital Collections Featured Image

Backstory: Windows is the name of the fine arts annual featuring writing, visual arts and musical compositions submitted by Lewis University students, faculty, staff and alumni. The digital collection is current in its inclusion of all 36 issues to date.

You wouldn't name a magazine Windows nowadays, that was my first thought. Although less pervasive than Apple's iEverything, the word "Windows" is too strongly associated with the Microsoft operating system. But the first issue of Lewis University's fine arts magazine was published in 1981 and the OS wasn't released until 1985, so that explains that.

The cover graphic of the sixth annual issue, featured here, is another chronological curiosity. Noticing a pre-emoji smiley face paired with a splash of red (in this case, the smudgily-drawn title), the second thought to pop into my head was the blood-splattered smiley of Watchmen--the first issue of which, as it just so happens, was released in September 1986. Coincidence or (subconscious) influence?

The smiley designed by art professor (and Windows art director) Paul Mitchell deviates from the conventional symbol in a few ways--the additional suggestion of a nose, for one. More tellingly, in place of the usual black oval eyes are double-hung windows. The eyes are the windows to the soul, I thought thirdly.

Turning the page--or, in digital terms, advancing to the next image--reveals a quotation from the poem "My Psalm" by John Greenleaf Whittier: "The windows of my soul I throw / Wide open to the sun." Turns out this quote is printed inside the front cover of each issue through no. 14, appearing intermittently after that before fading entirely. Though I haven't found it explicitly stated anywhere, this excerpted verse would certainly seem to be the source of the magazine title.

Also worth noting is that Mitchell created the cover art for the first 14 issues, and the window motif appears on every single one--strictly ideogrammatic at first, but with this issue he begins to branch out beyond the basic. What clinches the connection between text and image for me is that this smiley looks more orange than classic yellow. Not knowing how to describe the particular oranginess of the big round shape, I used a color picker to determine its hex value, plunked it into Name That Color, and the resulting color name was … wait for it … Sun.

Tl;dr: Artist produces mashup of title-inspiring poem and pop culture icon, I write about it 30 years later.

Written by Ellen K. Corrigan, Associate Professor, Cataloging Services, Booth Library, Eastern Illinois University

For more information about this and other CARLI Digital Collections, visit http://collections.carli.illinois.edu

To learn more about becoming part of CARLI Digital Collections and using CONTENTdm, see https://www.carli.illinois.edu/products-services/contentdm.