3dmnt

typeworship:

E-motional Type, Design lecture

As part of their Spring Festival the British Library hosted a typography event the I attended last week.

Adrian Shaughnessy compered a great panel of type designers featuring Neville Brody and Jon Wozencroft, editors of the influential, experimental typeface publication FUSE. Jonathan Barnbrook, Type designer and an old visiting lecturer of mine was also joined by graphic design historian and educator Teal Triggs. 

Each of the panellists gave a 10 minute presentation on their work and role of type and emotion in visual language.The forthcoming FUSE book (FUSE 1-20) steered Brody and Wozencroft’s talks, while Teal Triggs discussed female design empowerment, captured and promoted through the conceptual type face ‘Pussy Galore’, (originally designed for FUSE). Adrian Shaughnessy talked about Herb Lubalin and his research on the man and his designs, providing some great insights into Lubalin’s taciturn manner and working style. (While the masthead for ‘Families’ was being designed, Lubalin has seen that the designer was struggling with the concept, and telephoned across the studio simply to say “dot the ‘L’ before hanging up).

I was moved by the work Jonathan Barnbrook presented, who in that past I’ve found to have a slightly cynical stance, but here was some wonderfully compassionate, positive work. A typeface (shown above) created from the wall paintings in Northern Ireland, which has then been used to visualise altruistic murals, declaring “Compassion is the new Radicalism” and “Sometimes it is better to be kind than right”.

See the event’s webcast and slides of work here, free from the British Library.