TypeThursday London (in Cambridge) 09 May 2019
Symposium and Type Design Critique


Sans serif Bishop Marks from 1673
Practice-based historical research is utilized within the production of an alphabet of letterforms which explore the context for sans serif Bishop Marks from 1673. The limited published history and original (primary source) examples on post, were studied within the production of an experimental digital typeface of the date-stamp glyphs. This initial font is...

Bishop Sans - Type Specimen
Posted Letter Photograph: Jon Melton

Bishop Marks Abstract:
Date Stamps on posted letters were first introduced in April of 1661 by Britain’s first Postmaster-General Henry Bishop to counteract accusations of unwarranted delays and profiteering by unscrupulous employees of the postal service belonging to The Crown. All letters in England and Wales were locally town-stamped and were sent via London, or Edinburgh in Scotland and Dublin in...

Soane Sans U&lc - Type Specimen
Photograph: Jon Melton, emfoundry.com
2 of 2 Research Type specimens
(Type specimens are defined as typographic designs that showcase a typeface design, its context and use.)
The Soane Sans lower-case were derived from the 'soanean' inscriptional capitals found on the Gate-house Lodges at Langley Park in Norfolk - from what is likely the earliest surviving extant example of a Soane serif-less inscription. Their distinctive bold...

Piranesi's Initials - Type Specimen
Research Type specimens

(Type specimens are defined as typographic design that showcases a typeface design and its use.)
These Initial letters were revived directly from an original engraving by Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s of plate 41 Fig. II and III from Le Antichità Romane of 1756, and their design was extended to include all 26 Capitals. Including a specific ‘G’ that reflects the Roman creation of the letter...

ATypI 18 Antwerp Type Legacies Conference

The True source of the Sans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz5X9my_X5Q

Published online January 2019 [Play, and Listen online to the Presentation while studying the Slides on Figshare. Or download the low-res Presentation with presenter notes .pdf]
Abstract:
The search for the origin of today’s commercial sans serif typography has become something of a ‘holy grail’ for type historians. The earliest known example of a deliberately geometrical...

Piranesi's Initials - Information Graphic
Research Type Specimens

(Type specimens are defined as typographic design that showcases a typeface design and its use. Information graphics can in this case, both justify and explain the context for a new type design.)
These Initial forms were revived into an information graphic diagram to explain the content of Piranesi’s letterform ‘beliefs’ within the Graeco-Roman debate. This graphic explains Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s plate 41 Fig. II...

Soane Sans Caps - Type Specimen
Photograph: Jon Melton
1 of 2 Research Type Specimens
(Type specimens are defined as typographic designs that showcase a typeface design, its context and use.)
The Soane Sans Capitals were revived from observed drawings and photographs of Soane's Gate-house Lodges at Langley Park in Norfolk - from what is likely the earliest surviving extant example of a serif-less Soane inscription. Their distinctive bold modelling and...