Richard Robert Donnelley established his company in downtown Chicago , which in 1870 became the Lakeside Printing and Publishing Company . The business was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 . After a series of reorganizations and expansions , Donnelley built the Lakeside Press Building on Plymouth Court , and in 1902 began construction of the R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co . Calumet Plant on 21st Street and Calumet Avenue . The company aimed to produce books and periodicals with impressive modern design and mass printed commercial and reference materials . Lakeside Press produced Encyclopædia Britannica , '' Time Magazine '' , '' Life Magazine '' , promotional literature for the Model T Ford , catalogs for Sears Roebuck , among others . The Press produced high quality collectible editions for the Chicago Caxton Club and the Limited Editions Club . Donnelley was the official printer for the 1933 – 1934 World 's Fair , " A Century of Progress , " which took place on the Lake Michigan lakefront just to the east of the plant . The company designed and printed official tickets , postcards , posters , brochures , and magazines which displayed the company 's distinctive modernist design . " The company eventually became a global provider of printing and print-related services . From 1922 – 1945 , the Director of Design and Typography was William A. Kittredge , who commissioned other well-regarded artists and designers , such as Rudolph Ruzicka , Edward A. Wilson , and W.A. Dwiggins
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
RR Donnelley