Featured Article
Chromatic Gothic Paneled
The shaded, chamfered sans serif design named Chromatic Gothic Paneled was first shown as a two-color chromatic ((Chromatic types were designed to print a letterform in two or more colors simultaneously. These types, produced in register as corresponding pairs, were designed so that when printed one color would overlap another in certain places to create a third color. Chromatic types were shown regularly in foundry type specimen books of […] Read more – ‘Chromatic Gothic Paneled’.
Wood Type Research
Wood Type Research is a blog of current research in wood type design, manufacture and use during the 19th and 20th centuries by David Shields, Associate Professor of the Department of Graphic Design at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Latest Articles
- Unit Gothic & Uniform Set Gothic: wood type as precursor
- “Innovations, being prepared over a long period of time, remained dormant for the most part, undiscovered and misunderstood, only to suddenly awaken, providing a characteristic expression for an entire century.” ((Friedl, Fredrich. The Univers by Adrian Frutiger. Translated by Katja Steiner and Bruce Almberg. Frankfurt am Main: Verlag form GmbH, 1998.)) — Fredrich Friedl The development of the typographic sans serif follows a path of revival and renewal from a […] Read more – ‘Unit Gothic & Uniform Set Gothic: wood type as precursor’.
- The Nicholas J. Werner Typographic Collection
- The personal collection of specimen catalogs, periodicals, and ephemera belonging to the multi-talented Nicholas Joseph Werner (1858–1940) is held by the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department at St. Louis Public Library in the Nicholas J. Werner Typographic Collection. Werner began his work as a printer in 1873 in Atchison, Kansas at the age of fifteen. He became a compositor at the Central Type Foundry in St. Louis in 1882 and […] Read more – ‘The Nicholas J. Werner Typographic Collection’.
- 50th Anniversary of Kelly’s American Wood Type: 1828–1900
- 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the publishing of Rob Roy Kelly’s pioneering text American Wood Type 1828–1900, Notes on the Evolution of Decorated and Large Types and Comments on Related Trades of the Period. The book was officially published on 13 October 1969. American Wood Type: 1828–1900, Notes on the Evolution of Decorated and Large Types and Comments on Related Trades of the Period. / by Rob Roy Kelly. […] Read more – ‘50th Anniversary of Kelly’s American Wood Type: 1828–1900’.