Edward johnston

Johnston abandoned his medical studies in Edinburgh and set off for London to "go in for art". He had a stroke of luck. He was put in charge of 'illuminating' classes at the Central School of Arts and Crafts.
He is considered the 'father' of the 20th century revival of formal lettering. His most well-known design is the block letter for London Underground, which is based on Classical Roman proportions.

Google Dance Type

Google used a special logo for the 117th birthday of the late Martha Graham. The logo is a very elegant dance logo, which slowly and elegantly forms the Google logo through dance motions.


Martha Graham is known by many as mother of modern dance. She is credited for forming a new dance style and was the first dancer ever to perform at The White House, travel abroad as a cultural ambassador, and receive the highest civilian award of the USA: the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
She was born today on May 11, 1894 in Pennsylvania and died at the age of 96 on April 1, 1991 in New York City.

Extreame calligraphy

This is just fun

Hermann Zapf

 

Hermann Zapf was born into a turbulent time in 1918 in Nuremberg, Germany.


He joined the Karl Ulrich and Company printing firm, as an apprentice, in 1934. After this apprenticeship he worked with Paul Koch in Frankfurt. During this period he gained experience of working with handpress type and producing lettering for musical notation. However, his work was interrupted by the second world war and he worked as a cartographer in the German military. After the war Zapf worked at the Stempel AG typefoundry as artistic director.

In 1977 he was made Professor of Typographic Computer Programming at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York and his fonts Palatino, Optima, Zapf Chancery, and Zapf Dingbats are now familiar designs found on all personal computers. Optima, Zapf's personal favourite font, was selected for the engraved names on the Vietnam War Memorial.

From his first typeface designed when he was just 20 years old (Gilgengart), through more than 200 others right up to the present day, Zapf's work has achieved an unmatched popular success, while maintaining an aesthetic level which has earned him praise from professionals throughout the world. Several of his most popular type designs, such as Palatino, Optima, ITC Zapf Chancery Italic, and , are resident on most home computers. Other fonts, such as Michelangelo, Zapf International, and Zapf Renaissance - among numerous others - are the mainstay of many of the finest graphic designers of today.

Optima

Palantino

ITC Zapf chancery italic

Sheila Waters

Sheila Waters (born 1929) is a calligrapher and teacher. She was born in Gravesend, England and graduated from the Medway College of Art in Kent and at the Royal College of Art in London. There she developed her calligraphic skills under the tutelage of Dorothy Mahoney (assistant to the great pioneer of calligraphy, Edward Johnston).

At twenty-two, Waters was elected a Fellow of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators and began a career devoted to commissions for royalty, museums, libraries, collectors and publishers.

A gifted teacher, Waters has shared her extensive knowledge and techniques with calligraphers in innumerable workshops in North America and Europe She inaugurated the program of calligraphy courses at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. and later developed her own private classes and annual workshops. She travels extensively, lecturing and teaching workshops for every major calligraphy society in North America between 1972 and 2007.

The first President and founding member of the Washington Calligraphers Guild, Sheila was included in the 1981 World Who's Who of Women. Her work is included in many of the important books which have been published about calligraphy after 1950. She is the author of Foundations of Calligraphy, published in 2006. This book quickly established itself as one of the classic instructional works on the subject. Waters was married to bookbinder, library conservator Peter Waters from 1953 until his death in 2003.

Sheila's sons include Julian Waters (calligrapher), a leading lettering designer and typographer, who was also protegé of the legendary German type designer Hermann Zapf; Michael Waters, inventor of an automated boxmaking machine for phase boxes and Chris Waters an entrepreneur.

Julian Waters

The work of Julian Waters is familiar to all those in thecalligraphic community. Through his lettering for the most prestigious of clients, such as National Geographic Magazine and The United States Postal Service.

Julian Waters is the son of calligrapher Sheila Waters and bookbinder/conservator Peter Waters. He also studied extensively with the legendary type designer Hermann Zapf, who later picked Julian as his successor to teach the summer master classes at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Julian’s clients have included the U.S. Postal Service, National Geographic, and many agencies, institutions and companies. His typeface designs include Adobe Waters Titling Pro and a custom typeface family for the new Visitors Center at Jefferson’s Monticello where he was the typographic designer/advisor. He has received many awards from the Type Directors Club, Gra¬phis, Art Directors Club, Print, and Letter Arts Review, among others.

Denis Brown

Denis Brown has been inspired by Ireland’s ancient manuscripts since his schooldays; his formal training in traditional calligraphy was at London’s Roehampton Institute. Now his work explodes from and extends those traditions in the form of innovative modern works of art, with awards and commissions over four continents

Brown push boundaries while continually refining and extending traditional skills. He uses letterforms and writing to create three-dimensional layered works of art where a thousand words may paint a picture. At a time in history where handwriting is being eclipsed by e-mail, text messaging and other digital means of communication, Browns work explores the meaning and function of being a scribe in the 21st century.

The great book of Ireland is a huge volume of 250 pages, 510 by 360 by 110mm, it bring together the work of 121 artists, 143 poets and 9 composers who painted, drew and wrote directly on the vellum. Calligraphy by Denis Brown to each opening serves to unify the book

A Thousand Wishes' series, Calligraphy in Glass, 2009 

Brown asked people to e-mail him a wish, he then wrote many hundreds of their wishes into these works. Etched in glass and with writing layered on top of writing, the wishes remain mostly secret/illegible, but they embody 3-D images of dandelion 'blow balls'. In releasing a private wish to he  hoped it might become more tangible to the wisher.

 

Glass Table  with centerpiece made of layered glass calligraphy

Tabletop
10mm glass, toughened, edge-beveled, and acid etched on both sides.

Centerpiece
8 sheets of hand engraved & etched picture glass, in an asymmetric shape. These are layered 6mm apart over a background sheet of watercolor paper, which bears a mono printed image composed from blurred scans from the glass engraving. All are held together in a wooden frame that slots into a plywood base that has been painted & rough gilded with aluminium.

Description of central image
A vortex of engraved lettering, whirling outward in 3-D from a black central cavity. The top left corner of the asymmetric form features layers of frosted glass stepping downward over the 3 dimensional depth. In context of themes brown has used in other glass art, the central vortex may suggests either an eye or a womb.

 

Preview image of proposed architectural glass installation of calligraphy by Denis Brown. Aluminum frames of 5cm depth hold multiple spaced layers of hand engraved glass & Plexiglas. 3-D 'text'ures of overlapping layers of writing build images that contain messages that may be partially deciphered by the careful observer on close inspection and related to site specific concerns.

 

 

Gothic lettering does not have to follow traditional alphabet styles or so called Old English calligraphy. This example derives as much from an understanding of italic. It is browns own style as much as any style.

Rythmic typography