Martin J. Weber Graphic Arts Collection
name: label: Donor
content: Weber, Carl
label: Creator
content: Weber, Martin J., 1905-2007
topic: label: Topic
content: Graphic arts
label: Topic
content: Graphic artists
label: Topic
content: Inventors
label: Topic
content: Printing
label: Topic
content: Printing machinery and supplies
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated to the Archives Center by Martin J. Weber's son, Carl Weber, 2011.
creator: label: Donor
content: Weber, Carl
label: Creator
content: Weber, Martin J., 1905-2007
setName: label: See more items in
content: Martin J. Weber Graphic Arts Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: This collection features business documents, legal papers, and examples of prints from Martin J. Weber, who pioneered the "Weber Process."
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Martin J. Weber was born in 1905 and worked as a graphic artist, inventor and typographer in the commercial art industry into his eighties. He died in 2007 at the age of 102.

Weber invented and patented the Weber Process in 1942, which utilized a photomechanical apparatus that altered  images and text photographically to give pattern, texture, and shadow. Also known as Posterization, the process gave two-dimensional surfaces the "illusion of being reproduced in three dimensions" by printing multiple layers offset from one another. Weber helped to define the look of mid-twentieth century American advertising art, offering a "low-cost way of simulating multiple color reproduction." The process revolutionized lithography, screen printing, and standard printing, and later influenced computer typography.

Sources

Heller, Steven. "Martin Weber in the Third Dimension." Design Observer. June 19, 2007. Accessed August 03, 2016. http://designobserver.com/article.php?id=5657.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.75 Cubic feet (2 boxes, 1 map folder)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1931-1980
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1209
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Advertisements
label: Type
content: Annual reports
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: Contracts
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Design drawings
label: Type
content: Magazines (periodicals)
label: Type
content: Patents
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into nine series.

Series 1: Articles, 1931-1971

Series 2: Awards, 1931-1971

Series 3: Business Documents, 1931-1971

Series 4: Correspondence, 1931-1971

Series 5: Legal Documents, 1931-1971

Series 6: Prints, 1931-1980

Series 7: Weber Process Documents, 1931-1971

Series 8: Photographs, 1931-1971

Series 9: Large Prints, 1931-1971
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection was processed by Holly Nelson, intern, 2016.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Advertisements -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Annual reports -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records
label: Genre/Form
content: Contracts
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Design drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Magazines (periodicals) -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Patents
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection documents the Weber Process for printing that made images on paper appear more three dimensional, as well as the photomechanical apparatus Weber developed to implement it . The collection contains patent documents, contracts and business papers, correspondence, design drawings, advertisements for the Weber Process and for his studio, and a paper he delivered to the American Photo Engravers Association. It also contains numerous samples of Weber's work, including magazines covers and advertisements, annual reports from companies featuring images enhanced by Weber, brochures, and other printed material.