Typography Design

The selection of design posts and articles about the last 150 years of typography design offers a fascinating insight into the evolution of typography as an art form. From the early days of letterpress printing to the digital age, typography has significantly changed in style, technique, and technology.

The collection includes articles on iconic designers such as William Morris, who played a crucial role in the Arts and Crafts movement, and Paul Renner, who created the timeless Futura typeface. It also covers contemporary designers pushing the boundaries of typography with innovative approaches to lettering and typeface design.

Through this selection, readers can gain a deeper understanding of how typography has evolved and how it continues to shape our visual culture today. Whether you are a seasoned designer or simply interested in the history of design, this collection will inspire and inform.

May 1968 Posters featured image

In the turbulent days of May 1968 in Paris, a group of artists calling themselves the Atelier Populaire created posters that were vital in spreading the call to unite student and workers.  The propaganda of the French revolt was fed by immediate pressures.  The day by day events – the disruption of classes at Nanterre University led by Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the supporting student demonstrations in Paris, the police invasion of the Sorbonne and its occupation by students, the barricades, and the government’s reaction and referendum…Read More →

AIGA promotional poster

The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a group of professional designers who aim to show how important design is to industry, society, and our future as a whole. It was started in 1914 by a small group of graphic designers, printers, publishers, and illustrators. Since then, it has developed into a national network of skilled designers, educators, students, and fans. AIGA aims to help individuals in business, the media, and the government understand how vital design and designers are. It also works to improve professional growth, promote the value of design, and set worldwide conventions and moral guidelines.Read More →

Sniffin Glue fanzine cover featured image

The DIY style was one of the novelties that British punk introduced in the 1970s. There were hundreds of these fanzines, the most well-known of which being Sniff in ‘Glue. i-D, published by the art director Terry Jones, evolved from a fanzine into a publishing success.Read More →

Glyphs Sign

Glyphs are graphical symbols that are more or less universally used. The Ancient Greeks had a word for most of today’s needs,  the glyph is a Greek word meaning carving. Glyphs should carve a road to international communication by breaking down language barriers.Read More →

Penguin Book Covers

Tschichold created new standards of text arrangement and style that inspired all of the British postwar graphic design, although only working for the publication for three years. Then, with the formulation of the “Penguin Composition Rules,” he was able to apply Modernist theory to the requirements of book manufacturing.Read More →

Peter Behrens German designer featured image

Peter Brehens (1868 – 1940) was a German graphic artist, architect and designer. He studied at the Karlsruhe and in Düsseldorf and Munich.Read More →

Capitalisation spelled out with scrabble tiles

If you have ever read an old newspaper (early nineteenth century) and you look carefully at the old broadsheets.  You will notice that words are capitalised here and there and that the rules of capitalisation, some of which you will learn shortly, seem nonexistent.Read More →

Peter Behrens German designer featured image

Peter Brehens (1868 – 1940) was a German graphic artist, architect and designer. He studied at the Karlsruhe and in Düsseldorf and Munich.Read More →

He was dubbed “the father” of New Wave or Swiss Punk typography . LEARN MORERead More →

Ikko Tanaka was a Leading Graphic Designer in Japan. He had an enormous impact on the post-war visual culture in Japan.Read More →

Little is known about the early life of France’s most distinguished type designer Claude Garamond, though he is mentioned as being “at work” in the printing business early in the sixteenth century, Garamond was commissioned by the French monarch, Francis I, to cut a font of Greek letter which later became known as the “Royal Greek Type.” Read More →

Million Mark Note featured image

The Bauhaus was the most well-known design school of the 20th century. Herbert Bayer created notes in denominations of one million, two million, and two billion. The designs exemplify the ideology of hardline Modern Movement graphics.Read More →

Universal Typeface - Herbert Bayer

The universal typeface, 1925, was a geometric alphabet based on bar and circle and was designed by Herbert Bayer. READ MORERead More →

Typography featured image with the word 'Art' hidden in middle of image

It helps to have an appropriate language to talk about typography.  The following is a glossary of some of the words and their definitions that are used to described typography.Read More →

Frederic Goudy initials

Less dramatic accomplishments and contributions to the culture of modern civilisation by artists, artisans and designers have been but little publicised. It was in 1937 that a mild-mannered, quiet and kindly man was recognised as a real genius – Frederic W. Goudy, one of the most famous type designers in the world!Read More →

Typography Books featured image

Typography is one of design’s most delightful frontiers, a strange medley of timeless rituals and timely transformation in the face of technical progress, whether you’re a serious artist, a recreational type-nerd, or a casual lover of the fine letterform you will enjoy this selection of books.Read More →