(Bigmore and Wyman)Anna Van Veldhuizen
Instructor Julie Longo
GDES 2345
Fall 2015
Great Faces: Classic Fonts & Type Designers
John Baskerville had a great impact on typography and printing. At the young age of 20, John Baskerville started a writing-school in Birmingham and a business of cutting the letters on tombstones and memorials (Bigmore and Wyman p. 36). He made is fortune in japanning due to his wide success. Japanning is the popular 18th century process “for finishing and ornamenting wood, leather, tin, and papier-mâché in imitation of the celebrated lacquerwork of the Japanese” (Encyclopaedia Britannica). In 1750, his artistic tastes and love for literature led him to the world of printing. When he saw the “very unsatifacotry condition” it was in, he began his improvements. As told by Bigmore and Wyman, “He began by establhisng a type-foundry, and used unceasing efforts to excel all of the existing English founders” (Bigmore and Wyman p. 36). His attention to detail and drive to succeed lead him to pursue the best punch-cutters. He made his own type, moulds for casting, chases, ink, and presses. Not only is
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Although she did not come into prominence until the late 1980s, Twombly has created many fonts throughout her career (Shaw p. 103). When she first started at Rhode Island School of Design, she was studying sculpture. However, she decided to study graphic design because it “offered a welcome balance between freedom and structure” (Adobe Type). She was introduced to the world of graphic design by Chuck Bigelow, her RISD professor, and Kris Holmes. While working in their studio during the summer, she gained valuable experience from editing letters and creating outline letters. A year after graduation, she joined the newly formed digital typography program at Stanford University. Twombly was awarded a Masters of Science degree after two years of studying computer science and typographic