Friday 21 October 2016

40 years of posters, circulars & talks...

Yesterday evening I was privileged to have been invited to the Typographic Circle 40th Anniversary exhibition, celebration and party!

TypoCircle, as it is usually referred to, was formed in 1976 to bring together anyone with an interest in type and typography. They stage a variety of type and typography related events including a series of diverse monthly lectures by well-known industry speakers, and the annual New York Type Directors Club exhibition. The list of previous speakers have included Alan Kitching, Stefan Sagmeister, Mike Dempsey, Ken Garland, Studio8, Erik Spiekermann, MadeThought, Michael Johnson, Anthony Burrill, Michael Wolff, Sir John Hegarty… to name just a few.  This event also launched the new logo (above) designed by NB: Studio and Studio Sutherl& and made by Bruno Maag.

Besides being serious about type, they are a very sociable organisation with a reputation for staging enjoyable events and this was certainly one of them!
The exhibition was curated in a large part by NB:Studio, working with Studio Sutherl&, Jon Bateson and everyone on the small but dedicated committee. The exhibition features 40 years of TypoCircle posters and Circulars, as well as some incredible ephemera, diligently squirrelled away by past committee members for such an occasion as this.
The exhibition includes a selection of nineteen issues of Circular, the Typocircle publication which in recent times has been designed by Domenic Lippa, printed by Richard Davey on paper sponsored by GF Smith.
This gives you an idea of some of the posters that were on display - printed by Gavin Martin Colournet on paper sponsored by GF Smith.
A publication comprising of three parts has been produced to support the exhibition. Designed in collaboration by NB:Studio, Studio Sutherl& and Jon Bateson. The first section is written by Lynda Relph-Knight and Sallyanne Theodosiou. The second is dedicated to spreads from all of the Circulars produced by Domenic Lippa and his team at Pentagram. And the final section contains 40 individual posters from the TypoCircle archive.
Above is a picture of the book, together with with the poster (designed by Studio Sutherl&) also printed by Gavin Martin Colournet on Colorplan 175gsm sponsored by GF Smith. The superb orange tote bag is sponsored by Streamline. Copies of the book are available from Typocircle.

My thanks to the TypoCircle committee for inviting me. This small band of people need some serious recognition for their time, drive and dedication. They are... Chairman: Alan Dye | President: John Bateson | Honorary Secretary: Val Kildea | Vice Chairman: Louise Sloper |Treasurer: Sallyanne Theodosiou | Membership: Antony Long | Committee Members: Jon Checkley, Dominic Lippa, Jim Sutherland, Olly St John. All these people freely give their time for the benefit of others and must be admired.

I must also mention the Typocircle sponsors, without whom none of this would have been possible: JWT, GF Smith, Pentagram, Baseline Magazine, Magma, NB Studio, Gavin Martin Colournet, Wynkyn De Worde Society, Laurence King, Creative Review, Streamline, Studio Sutherl&.

...and lastly, courtesy of Alan Dye at NB:Studio, here's a great picture of me with Kath Tudball from The Partners, in front of the TypoCircle logo inspired blackboard.

Membership of TypoCircle is open to anyone with an interest in type and typography, and there are no entry tests or examinations. As I have said many times on this blog before, it's very important to support organisations such as the TypoCircle and events such as this - why not get involved! ...individual membership is just £30.00!

The exhibition at the Protein Gallery, Shoreditch, runs until Sunday 23rd October, 10-5pm and entry is free.
https://www.typocircle.com/
Posted by Justin Hobson 21.10.2016

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for such a nice write up Justin. It was a great night and we really enjoyed celebrating with such a great creative communty the last 40 years since Maggie Lewis started to organise the Type Directors Club (as we were known then). We couldn't do what we do without the fantastic support of our many sponsors and the membership. We are all volunteers and the membership cost has not changed since 1997!

    Can I just make one small amendment - Jon Checkley retired as President in 2014 after nearly 40 years of TypoCircle membership; and Alex Hough is our newest member of the committee.

    Hopefully see you at one of our future talks at St Brides; and a TDC talk and the US Awardwinning Exhibition is coming in January to JWT.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment! If I like it, I'll add it on. Cheers J