To celebrate Commercial Type’s latest release, Spectator, Paul Barnes will talk on Scottish type and its impact on the world. Can a typeface ever represent a country, or is this just something that graphic designers imagine? Does Helvetica really say Switzerland? Does Antique Olive look French? Is Baskerville the face of England? And when it comes to Scotland, what would that be?
Since the eighteenth century through to the twentieth century, Scotland was one of the dominant nations typographically, through its foundries, printers and publishers. The influence was not just south of the border, but across the world; especially in North America, where the term Scotch represented a particular style of serif letter that people still refer to.
Paul Barnes has explored this through a series of typefaces, including the newly released Spectator, that draw on historical models whilst modernising them for contemporary use. In his talk he will explore the research and process in making the typefaces and where they fit in the Scottish canon of typefaces.
Join us at ECA for this special lecture followed by a reception.
[Tickets for this event are free. Register to reserve your spot.]