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BERG at St Bride
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Timo Arnall and friends enlighten us about their work with design studio BERG
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February 2012
Fred Smeijers
Life after Counterpunch
The seventh annual Justin Howes memorial lecture
- Tuesday 21 February 2012 at 7pm
- In the Bridewell Hall, St Bride Foundation
- Admission £5
Having been out of print for nearly four years, a second edition of Counterpunch: making type in the sixteenth century, designing typefaces now was published in summer 2011. The first edition was introduced in 1996 at the ATypI conference in The Hague, and nearly fifteen years later it seems the book is still sought after. One reason for the sustained interest over those years may have been the book’s down-to-earth approach. It offered a clear view on punchcutting, that was easy to understand, and which was joined up with essential historical knowledge not easily accessible at the time. Counterpunch also included many illustrations that brought the subject to life and linked it into (then) contemporary digital practices.
This talk is not a sales pitch for the new edition. Instead, it will reflect on what has happened in the years since 1996. My research has continued along lines that are not very different from those I was following in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In those days I did what was within reach of my research tools, technically speaking. But since Counterpunch was published, I have been able to reflect on earlier conclusions by comparing them with findings arrived at through research tools of greater technical precision, in particular microscope images of historical type material at the Plantin-Moretus Museum. These images have brought a more objective perspective to my conclusions and will be a feature of this talk.
My research since 1996, however, should not be understood as merely a Counterpunch ‘check-up’. I have also been able to consider my findings alongside the stimulating ideas of two other researchers: Peter Burnhill, as recorded in his book Type spaces; and Justin Howes, who shared his work with me during four lengthy conversations we had in 2003. They have both enabled me to locate my own work on a much wider horizon.
Fred Smeijers is a Dutch type designer, teacher, and writer. After studying at the school of art at Arnhem, he worked as a typographic advisor to the reprographic company Océ, then became a founding member of the graphic design practice Quadraat, which provided the name for his first published typeface (FontFont, 1992). Among his other retail typefaces are: Renard (TEFF); Nobel (DTL); Arnhem, Fresco, Sansa, Custodia, Monitor, and Ludwig; all published by OurType, the company that he co-founded in 2002. His custom type designs include bespoke typefaces and lettering for Philips Electronics, Canon Europe, and Tom-Tom.
His first book, Counterpunch, was published by Hyphen Press in 1997. In 2001 he was awarded the Gerrit Noordzij Prize for outstanding contribution to type design, part of which was a book about his work, Type now (Hyphen Press, 2003).
Smeijers is research fellow at the Plantin Museum in Antwerp, professor of type design at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig, and creative director of OurType.
March 2012
BERG at St Bride
- Wednesday 21 March 2012 at 7pm
- Bridewell Hall, St Bride Foundation
- Standard £12.00
- Concession (Friend of St Bride Library or full time student) £8.00
Following the highly successful Critical Tensions conference last November, St Bride Foundation is pleased to welcome Timo Arnall and friends to enlighten us about their work with design studio BERG.
A growing and significant amount of design work takes place in systems, software and electronics. But these technologies are increasingly abstracted and black-boxed, so how can designers engage with these things meaningfully? How might we be involved in developing, critiquing and reflecting upon complex, opaque and invisible technologies?
Over the last four years BERG have produced a series of films exploring and explaining emerging technologies, building models and materials for understanding and invention.
Timo Arnall is creative director at the design studio BERG in London and a research fellow at the Oslo School of Architecture & Design. Timo has been making films, designing digital products, and researching emerging technologies for 15 years.
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