Typographers book by Jiwoon Phee

THE INFLUENCES

OF TYPE DESIGNERS

Jan Tschichold

Tobias Frere-Jones

N rD s L

ideological stances who was a master in his field, worked

as a teacher, wrote a number of books, designed typefaces, and worked his entire life as designer and writer. Currently Tobias is one of the world’s leading typeface designers, creating some of the world’s most widely used typefaces. Two typographer’s different nationalities, cultures, and technologies influenced thier typography into different aesthetics.

Typographers’ works and aesthetic are influenced by their circumstances. It can be culture, family, nationality, or technology. Two great typographers who are deserved to be remembered as one of the great designers of the 20th century are Jan Tschichold and Tobias FrereJones. Jan Tschichold is known as one of the most defining voices in 20th century typography Because of his strong

s Jan Tschichold was born in 1902, in Germany. Jan

Tschichold was destined

to be a typographer at a

young age. His home town

of Leipzig was the center of

the German book trade, and the young Jan was naturally drawn into the world of print. Jan Tschichold was the son of a provincial sign writer, and he was trained in calligraphy, learning the ins-and-outs of sign writing while assisting his father.

“His father’s profession gave him an early introduction to the many forms of written scripts. He often helped his father and learned script writing without ever thinking of this as his future”(Linotype). In1933, there was the election of Hitler in Germany, and all designers had to register with the Ministry of Culture. All teaching posts were threatened for anyone who was sympathetic to communism. In 1933, Jan Tschichold and his family managed to escape Nazi Germany. Tschichold lived in Switzerland for the rest of his life. Tobias Frere-Jones was born in 1970. He was formerly a partner with designer Jonathan Hoefler at Hoefler & Frere-Jones, a type foundry in lower Manhattan. Tobias Frere-Jones was also influenced to be a typographer since he was young.

He was raised in artist family in New York City, and he was surrounded by an artistic environment.“An artist being raised in a family of writers and printers, he learned the power of written text, and naturally slipped into design of letterforms”(Fontbureau). His interest of Typography began while he was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design where he designed the typeface Garage Gothic based on the typography of parking garage tickets. After receiving a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, Tobias Frere-Jones joined the Yale School of Art faculty in 1996 as a Critic, appear to have been difficult: with an established reputation and connections with the School of Arts and Crafts in Basel, Tschichold was soon teaching, designing posters, curating exhibitions and writing on typographic practice and history”(Richard Hollis). Tschichold also lived in England where he oversaw the redesign of 500 paperbacks published

elegant

cultured &

corrupt

& derelict

as he moved back towards neo-classicism in typography. “Toward the end of the 30’s, he began to loosen his grip on the principals the Bauhaus had impressed upon him nearly 15 years prior. The two covers below show the transition fantastically. On the left (1938), is a piece of work that, compositionally, is fitting to the Tschichold of the recent past at this point, yet is is typographically more classic than modern. On the right (1941), the modernness is stripped completely”(Alexander Ross Charchar). The typeface showing neo-classicism of Jan Tschichold was Sabon, Tschichold’s best known typeface. “A font inspired by a Claude Garamond font specimen sheet that would go on to become an instant addition to the annals of classic typographic design”(-

Perfect typography is certainly the most

elusive of all arts.

Sculpture in stone alone comes near it in

obstinacy

der Ross Charchar). The typeface showing neo-classicism of Jan Tschichold was Sabon, Tschichold’s best known typeface. “A font inspired by a Claude Garamond font specimen sheet that would go on to become an instant addition to the annals of classic typographic design”(Alexander Ross Charchar). Tobias Frere-Jones created his typefaces through a variety of inspirations. The most famous typeface of Tobias FrereJones’ called Gotham was built from inpirations of New York City. “Gotham was inspired by a variety of unassuming, often

Typographers’ works and aesthetic are influenced by their circumstances. It can be culture, family, nationality, or technology. Two great typographers who are deserved to be remembered as one of

L the great designers of the 20th century are Jan Tschichold and Tobias Frere-

Jones. Jan Tschichold is known as one of the most defining voices in 20th century typography Because of his strong

ideological stances who was a master in his field, worked as a teacher, wrote a number of books, designed typefaces, and worked his entire life as designer and writer. Currently Tobias is one of the world’s leading typeface designers, creating some of the world’s most widely used typefaces. Two typographer’s different nationalities, cultures, and technologies influenced thier typography into different aesthetics.

Technology also influenced Jan Tschichold’s aesthetic of his typefaces. As he lived in machine age, he had done many of book design through metal type printing and photo type printing. “One English achievement that he respected was the quality of typeface designs

available for machine typesetting. For the covers of the main series, Tschichold retained Eric Gill’s elegant, and binding”(Richard Hollis). Jan Tschichold invented the first photo-typesetting machine in operation, the Uhertype, in 1925. It was a combination of manual phototypesetting machine and make-up machine. The machine’s typefaces were designed by Jan Tschichold. The respected such a elegant and clean typeface of machine typesetting, Jan Tschichold’s typefaces could follow the aesthetic of Gill’s. Technology also influenced Tobias Frere Jones’s typefaces. Tobias who lived in digital age created typefaces that are used for variety of media such as Internet, Signage, Mobile Devices, Desktop Computer, print, Branding, and Identity. Transportation would be

visiting the first Weimar Bauhaus exhibition, his focus in typography changed to San Serif. Later, the Nazi suspected Jan Tschichold as a “cultural Bolshevists” with his un-German style and arrested him. “the Nazi party remained deeply suspicious of modernism, regarding it as fundamentally “un-German”, and after Tschichold took up a teaching post in Munich at the behest of Paul Renner, best-known for his design of the modernist typeface Futura, both he and Tschichold were denounced as “cultural Bolshevists”. Only 10 days after the Nazis surged to power in March 1933, Tschichold was taken into “protective custody”. The authorities had made it clear that progressive appear to have been difficult: with an established reputation and connections with the School of Arts and Crafts in Basel, Tschichold was soon teaching, designing posters, curating exhibitions and writing on typographic practice and history”(Richard Hollis). Tschichold also lived in England where he oversaw the redesign of 500 paperbacks published by Penguin Books, leaving them with a standardized set of

DIGITAL

mechanical

as he moved back towards neo-classicism in typography. “Toward the end of the 30’s, he began to loosen his grip on the principals the Bauhaus had impressed upon him nearly 15 years prior. The two covers below show the transition fantastically. On the left (1938), is a piece of as he moved back towards neo-classicism in typography. “Toward the end of the 30’s, he began to loosen his grip on the principals the Bauhaus had impressed upon him nearly 15 years prior. The two covers below show the transition fantastically. On the left (1938), is a piece of work that, compositionally, is fitting to the Tschichold of the recent past at this point, yet is is typographically more classic than modern. On the right (1941), the modernness is stripped completely”(Alexan-

The day we stop needing

new type will be

the same day that we stop needing

new stories and

new songs

ideological stances who was a master in his field, worked

In early life, Jan Tschichold was influenced to be a typographer by his father who was provincial sign writer. His German nationality exposed to historical Blackletter and the asymetrical typography of the Bauhaus. The technology of printing machine helped his aesthetic of San Serif.Tobias Frere Jones was influenced to be a typographer by his artists family, and his nationality of New York City in United States. Also the technology of transportation, computers, and mobile influenced him as a diverse area of typographer.

work-cited Richard Hollis, “Jan Tschichold: a titan of typography”.theguardian.web.5 December 2008.<http:// www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/dec/05/ jan-tschichold-typography> Alexander Ross Charchar, ” Jan Tschichold – Typographic Genius”. retinart. 2009. <http://retinart.net/ artist-profiles/jan-tschichold/> “IN HONOR OF THE 100TH BIRTHDAY OF JAN TSCHICHOLD“.Linotype.<http://www.linotype. com/794/childhood.html> “Tobias Frere-Jones”.Fontbureau.<http://www.fontbureau.com/people/TobiasFrereJones/> Dmitri Siegel, “Tobias Frere-Jones, type designer”. typotheque. 2004. <https://www.typotheque.com/ articles/tobias_frere-jones_type_designer> David Kim, “Surface Magazine”. Power 100 issue. Journal on web. 2014. <http://www.frerejones.com/ assets/Surface-Power100-2014.pdf>

colophon Name Jiwoon Phee Typefaces Gotham, Sabon, Interstate, Tschichold Project Typographers Book Design Course Typography 3 Faculty Francheska Guerrero College Corcoran College of Art + Design

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