Tag Archive: Type History

  • Braille, A Tactile Writing System

    It would take a type designer well acquainted with Braille, the writing system used by the blind and the visually impaired, to arrive at the conclusion that even this centuries-old system of…

  • Trump Mediaeval: The Story of its Creation

    Trump Mediaeval is one of those versatile typefaces that book designers turn to when they want something decidedly different from the usual book types (Garamond et al.). Norbert Krausz tells the story…

  • Frederic Warde: New York State of Mind

    The book and type designer Frederic Warde is little more than a phantom in most histories of type, known only for creating the typeface Arrighi, and for being the husband of the…

  • The Scribe and the Silhouette

    Rudolf Koch (1876–1934) was an artist-craftsman of tremendous capabilities and one of the great type designers of the twentieth century. As a scribe, he created works in blackletter of such breathtaking energy…

  • Of What Consequence, Design?

    This essay is an evaluation of how the Initial Teaching Alphabet was designed. Juliet Shen looks at the history and aesthetics of this curious “alphabet reform” which, amazingly, is still in use…

  • Searching for Morris Fuller Benton

    The twentieth century went by with little being written about one of America’s most important type designers. The information on Morris Fuller Benton remained scant, partially because his work stood outside of…

  • The Monotype 4-Line System for Setting Mathematics

    The companion piece to Rhatigan’s Three Typefaces for Mathematics, this essay looks closely at the version of the Monotype keyboard and caster used to set mathematics. After years of development in the…