Articles & Essays

• Of What Consequence, Design?

  Juliet Shen

  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…

• Hearing Type

  Frank Armstrong

  “Rhythm” and “tone” are words that occur frequently in descriptions of both music and typography. As the author of this article points out: “Music notation is directly comparable to typography – both…

• Searching for Morris Fuller Benton

  Juliet Shen

  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

  Daniel Rhatigan

  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…

• A Comparative Study of the Development of the Gurmukhi Script (Part 1)

  Emma Williams

  This dissertation is an excellent introduction to the non-latin script in the Punjab region straddling the border of India and Pakistan. Emma Williams guides the reader through the historical origins and original…

• A Comparative Study of the Development of the Gurmukhi Script (Part 2)

  Emma Williams

  The second part of Emma Williams’ impressive dissertation on the Gurmukhi script continues with a look at the development of the printed character in text typeface designs.

• Approaches to Applying Spacing Methods in Seriffed and Sans-Serif Typeface Designs

  Fernando de Mello Vargas

  The spacing of characters in a typeface is clearly as important as their design. Without optically balanced figure/ground relationships, the character designs do not reach their full potential as artistically nuanced vehicles…

• Thoughts on Type and the Digital Revolution

  James Clough

  A broad and engaging observation from a teacher, historian, typographer, lettering designer and calligrapher who has lived in Italy for the past thirty years. Clough looks from personal and historical points of…

• Three Typefaces for Mathematics

  Daniel Rhatigan

  The most effective typefaces for mathematical notation are those that have been created or adapted especially for it, anticipating both the typographic and the technical issues involved. This extensive dissertation examines the…

• French Type Foundries in the Twentieth Century

  Alice Savoie

  The value of this dissertation lies not only in what it imparts to the reader, but also in its rarity, since relatively little information on the recent history of type in France…