Typeface design education from Cooper Union
20th century metal type ephemera

20th Century Metal Type Foundry Ephemera
with Rob Saunders

As the pace of new type designs accelerated in the early twentieth century, foundries and designers sought to outdo each other in the sumptuous design and production of their ephemeral specimens. They’re exquisite artifacts, but they are also the type designer’s manifesto of intent by example. Rare original examples from 1900 to the mid sixties including all the major designers and foundries of Europe and America will be presented in a superbly photographed high definition show-and-tell.

The specimens will be presented in chronological order and include a balance of popular and obscure, serif and sans, featuring the work of Auriol, Bayer, Behrens, Bernhard, Cassandre, Excoffon, Goudy, Koch, Mendoza, Middleton, Miedinger, Novarese, Oppenheim, Renner, Trump, Weiss, and Zapf; for foundries Amsterdam, ATF, Barnhart Brothers & Spindler, Bauer, Berthold, Deberny & Peignot, Enschede, Haas, Klingspor, Ludlow, Ludwig & Meyer, Monotype, Nebiolo, Schelter & Giesecke, Stempel, and Weber.

This is an expanded version of the talk at TypeCon 2014, now including a sampling of specimens in the Lubalin Center.

Registration is now closed

When:
Mon, October 6, 2014

Where: Rose Auditorium
41 Cooper Square, Manhattan


About Rob Saunders

Rob saunders w
Rob Saunders is the curator and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Letterform Archive. He is a designer, teacher, publisher, and management consultant. He taught at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and Tufts University, while serving freelance clients and agencies, before founding a book publishing enterprise that included Alphabet Press (graphic design), Picture Book Studio (children’s books), and Rabbit Ears Books (book/audio packages), which was acquired by Simon & Schuster. Prior to becoming Curator of Letterform Archive he served as a creative and marketing consultant with clients in the hospitality, technology, and financial industries.