Thursday 9 April 2009

Love letters







My love of letters and typography started when I was studying graphic design at Bolton College of Art and Design. Two tutors were instrumental in helping me develop this passion Tony Forster and Ken Adshead. Between them they introduced me to the Americans Herb Lubalin, Paul Rand, Saul Bass, Ivan Chermayeff, Milton Glaser and the Swiss style of Joseph Muller Brockman, Wolfgang Weingart and Armin Hofmann. Around the same time I discovered Herbert Spencer’s books Pioneers of Modern Typography and The Visible Word which gave me a greater understanding and appreciation of the evolution of typography. I was fortunate then to get a place at the Royal College of Art where I was taught by Herbert Spencer. Here are some of my favourite quotes from his book Pioneers of Modern Typography.

‘In centred typography, pure form comes before the meaning of the words.’
Jan Tschichold

‘The more uninteresting a letter, the more useful it is to the typographer.’
Peit Zwart

‘A photograph neither lies nor tells the truth.’
John Heartfield

‘Concepts should be expressed with the greatest economy.’
El Lissitzky

‘Typography must be clear communication in its most vivid form... clarity is the essence of modern printing.’
L. Moholy-Nagy


















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