I had a similar experience at the University of Oregon in the early 90s. We had four Heidleberg presses in our type lab with cases and cases of metal and wood type. The instructor at the time was Paul Tetzner who had studied under Josef Albers of the Bauhaus movement. He was a wonderful instructor and the class was a terrific experience. I was lucky enough to be chosen to create a type specimin book for the lab after I completed the undergrad program. Truly a memorable time that instilled a love and understanding of type which I have carried into all my professional endeavors.
Submitted by artemis826 on Tue, 04/20/2004 - 09:34.
Thanks so much for the article! We at the Visual Communications program at the University of Delaware ( http://designers.art.udel.edu ) have the pieces for the experience you created but not organized into one experience.
All our students have digital cameras and we assign the same found letter assignment. And we also have the letter press facility and students take workshops. Just have not tied it all together.
I really like the research component and the end poster. Would love to borrow that part of the assignment if I may.
I'm been aware of the idea of having students set type with hot type instead of digital for a long time now. That was an exercise that was extremely helpful back when I was in school in the late 70's early 80's. You really remember what leading is about when you actually compose with a stick and frame.
I really liked the idea of the alphabet posters. That really forces the students to see what occurs naturally (or incidentally). The most important lesson I got out of that exercise is how to make your type stand out in a larger environment. (at least larger than a piece of paper) Dealing with foreground/background issues in typography isn't normally explored, but I think that was a great idea. It ties in a lot of larger concepts that you can use in everyday designing.
Submitted by geozinger on Tue, 04/20/2004 - 05:29.
Letterpress from the ground up
I had a similar experience at the University of Oregon in the early 90s. We had four Heidleberg presses in our type lab with cases and cases of metal and wood type. The instructor at the time was Paul Tetzner who had studied under Josef Albers of the Bauhaus movement. He was a wonderful instructor and the class was a terrific experience. I was lucky enough to be chosen to create a type specimin book for the lab after I completed the undergrad program. Truly a memorable time that instilled a love and understanding of type which I have carried into all my professional endeavors.
Similar experience at UD
Thanks so much for the article! We at the Visual Communications program at the University of Delaware ( http://designers.art.udel.edu ) have the pieces for the experience you created but not organized into one experience.
All our students have digital cameras and we assign the same found letter assignment. And we also have the letter press facility and students take workshops. Just have not tied it all together.
I really like the research component and the end poster. Would love to borrow that part of the assignment if I may.
typographic poster and article
typographic poster idea is great! i ordered two
That's a great idea!
I'm been aware of the idea of having students set type with hot type instead of digital for a long time now. That was an exercise that was extremely helpful back when I was in school in the late 70's early 80's. You really remember what leading is about when you actually compose with a stick and frame.
I really liked the idea of the alphabet posters. That really forces the students to see what occurs naturally (or incidentally). The most important lesson I got out of that exercise is how to make your type stand out in a larger environment. (at least larger than a piece of paper) Dealing with foreground/background issues in typography isn't normally explored, but I think that was a great idea. It ties in a lot of larger concepts that you can use in everyday designing.