canadiantypography.com A typographic resource

Canadian Typography will showcase the many talented typographers, graphic designers, web

designers, information designers, type designers, printers, educators and countless others in this

country who work and communicate with type every day.

Initially the site will be financed by the Gibson Funds but we are also exploring other funding

options – including grants.

The site will launch early next year, but to meet our goal we will need your help in collecting

material, so think of this as a kind of combination introduction and request for help.

To start the site will consist of ten sections:

1. History of Type in Canada. Beginning in 1751 with the first printing press in Canada.

2. Trade and Craft. Typesetting companies, printers and type manufacturers.

3. Designers and Typographers. We think of these as the ‘stars’ of our story.

4. Books and Editorial. From the earliest uses of type to present day fine printing.

5. Advertising and Promotion. Type in advertising, brochures and magazines.

6. Type Design, Lettering and Calligraphy. The foundations of typography.

7. Signage and Wayfaring. Type that tells us where to go and how to get there.

8. Digital and the Web. Type and typography in the world we live in.

9. Practise and Licensing. Working with type and licensing issues.

10. Multiscript and Multilingual Type. Canada has always been a multicultural country.

Naturally some sections will be larger than others, although we’re fairly certain that over time they

all will be quite large. The following eight pages give a brief overview of our intentions.

Please note that at this time nothing has been cast in lead, we’re still sketching out ideas.

www.canadiantypography.com

A website devoted to type and

typography in Canada.

History of Type in Canada

The first printing press in Canada was brought from Boston to Halifax by Bartholomew Green Jr. and John Bushell in 1751. The history section of the site will trace the many uses of type as it migrated across the country. We were a bit surprised to learn that between 1903–11 Linotype machines were manufactured in Montreal by J. R. McDougall under arrangement with the Mergenthaler Linotype Company. The remarkable King Show Print from Rouleau Saskatchewan will be featured, along with the work and lettering of J. E. H. MacDonald, the man design historian Robert Stacey called ”Canada’s first graphic designer”. We believe the story of the Cree/Inuit syllabics should be in the hands of native scholars. It’s time this important episode in our history be told by the people who actually use the syllabics. In addition to the migration of the trade across the country we will also cover the formation of the Typographic Designers of Canada (TDC) in 1956. In 1968 the TDC became the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC).

Top, clockwise;

An Act For the Relief of Debtors, Halifax, 1752.

Canadian National Railway identity, Allan Fleming, 1959.

Conklin Shows circus poster, Andrew King, 1940.

Norway House, Manitoba, Cree syllabics, c 1842.

Article from The Globe and Mail, early sixties.

The Dougall Linotype, Montreal, 1903–11.

GDC, Graphic Design Journal, Issue 6, 2006.

The Peril and the Promise, Carl Dair, ITCA, 1967.

Keepsake, 48th Annual Convention of the International Typographic Composition Association (ITCA), Toronto, 1967

Trade and Craft

At the beginning of the twentieth century the Inter-national Typographical Union (ITU) was considered to be the most powerful trade union in the world. Every city and town in Canada had at least one type shop, unfortunately most were not very well doc-umented and now may be lost. But some, such as Mono Lino, Cooper & Beatty and Howarth & Smith in Toronto were large enough to have their work and records saved. In the case of Cooper & Beatty their records are now at York University. We would like each new generation to discover for themselves what an important role these type shops played in the formation of Canada. Art directors and designers in the major cities relied daily on these shops – and they did more than just set type. Few people know that the 1967 Centennial project was largely produced at Cooper & Beatty, or that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom was typeset at Mono Lino. Photo-process lettering is now a ‘lost’ craft but it remains important as the link between traditional metal and digital type design. Both Sam Smart and John Gibson were type directors at Mono Lino. Allan Fleming and Tony Mann held that position at C&B and H&S had the equally talented Carl Brett on their staff.

Top, clockwise;

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 1982

The Headliners (at C&B) poster, Ken Rodmell, 1963.

Berthold Trade Ad, Marketing, 1988.

Brochure introducing Cartier, Mono Lino, 1967.

Marks for: Mono Lino, John Gibson. Cooper & Beatty,

Tony Mann. Howarth & Smith, Carl Brett.

Designers and Typographers

The people who make it happen. A major section that will be subdivided into typographers, type designers, lettering artists, calligraphers, graphic and information designers, letterpress printers and writers. This section will also have a directory of typo-graphic services in Canada. People currently active in their field will be listed with a photo or logo and 25 words or less to describe their work. We expect this directory to become a major destination. Carl Dair gets the big treatment here, not that we think he is better than the others, but because he is the real beginning of modern typography and type design in Canada. Don’t be upset if someone you deem important is missing here. We are quite upset ourselves at the large number of remarkable people that had to be left out. But rest assured that they will be featured on the site. We will need your help in identifying the many typographers and designers from across Canada who, for whatever reason, never achieved the prominence they deserved. Let us know who your local heroes were, and are, in many ways they will be the backbone of this site.

Beginning under Carl Dair, left to right: Tony Mann FGDC,

Nick Shinn, Alanna Munroe and Matt Warburton FGDC.

Top, left to right: Jim Rimmer FGDC, Ed Cleary, Glenn

Goluska, Val Fullard, Jack Trevett, Friedrich Peter FGDC,

Robert Bringhurst and Robert R. Reid.

Books and Editorial

Type had modest beginnings in Canada but as the trade expanded, newspapers, magazines and advertisements were added to its list of services. Today little is communicated without type being used in some form. Some of the highlights in this section are the 1949 redesign of Canadian Business by Carl Dair and Henry Eveleigh in Montreal, the first redesign of a Canadian magazine. The 1957 Mayfair cover by Allan Fleming is both inventive and daring – it was also one of his first projects! Canada has always had talented typographers; the 1967 English language version of Asymmetric Typography by Jan Tschichold, one of the founders of the international modernist movement, was pro- duced at Cooper & Beatty. Initiated by President Jack Trevett, the project was first handled by Allan Fleming, when he left to join Maclaren Advertising John Gibson took it over. In 1964 Toronto hosted Typomundus 20, the most complete showing of international typogra-phy from the first half of the twentieth century. The book of the exhibition is now treasured by typogra-phers and designers Most people know The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst but few know of his little pamphlet The Typographic Mind from Gaspereau Press. We will also cover the role of private presses and letterpress printers and publishers. The rare 1938 Chronology of Trade Typesetting in Canada by Ed Cooper will be available on the site as a downloadable PDF. Despite the constraints she had to work under Donna Braggins 2002 redesign of Maclean’s is a masterful study in design and organisation.

Robert Bringhurst

The TYPOGRAPHIC

MIND

Advertising and Promotion

Who could have foreseen that the mild-mannered child of printing who would humbly ask if they could ‘beg our attention’, would one day become the loud, brash hustler that we equate with con- temporary advertising? Although advertising in Canada generally mirrored that of the United States it did manage, on more than one occasion, to hold its own against Madison Avenue. In the major cities the big type shops worked around the clock setting an enormous number of ads that would be shipped daily to newspapers and magazines across the county. It was demand-ing work but also exciting and challenging. A good ad typographer can be the equal of a fine book typographer, different in style and goals, but equally as skilled. The big type shops also had lettering artists on staff who could handle the most demanding work without breaking a sweat. In 1968 Les Usherwood and Dave Thomason founded Typsettra, an ad type shop in Toronto that would soon have a major influence on advertising typography around the world. Both hand lettering and photo lettering were an essential part of good advertising typography. Today remarkable lettering artists like Al Elliott and Alex Hobson have almost been forgotten and the loss is entirely ours.

Top, clockwise; Emigration poster, Toronto, 1912.

The Rush Job, one of the famous Typesettra posters

that graced the walls in many art directors offices.

Illustration of Les Usherwood.

Molson Canadian full-page ad.

Type Design, Lettering and Calligraphy

Typefaces are the building blocks of typography and they come in an astonishing variety of shapes and styles. Canadians were slow in producing their own typefaces. James Evans casting of the first syllabics at Norway House in 1842, although a remarkable achievement, barely qualifies to be placed in the broader world of typeface production. It wasn’t until Carl Dair received a government grant in 1956 to study type making in Holland, that led to the release of Cartier in 1967, could it be said that a Canadian created a typeface. Prior to that time no one in the country had the ability to cast metal type, a highly skilled and costly process. However, when photo type appeared in the sixties Canadian designers quickly got to work. Lettering artists, like Al Elliott and Friedrich Peter, were soon creating alphabets for international suppliers of photo lettering. Fontographer, the first type design software, was released in 1984 and by the end of the decade designers across the country were busy develop- ing digital typefaces. Type design is now a thriving business in Canada.

Center; Al Elliott’s hand lettered formal script for The

National Ballet of Canada, early ’70s.

Top, clockwise; Triade, Étienne Aubert Bonn. Capital R,

Kevin King. FF Mambo, Val Fullard. Suzette, Ross Milne.

Wood type Goluska Q, Rod McDonald. Original drawing

for Cartier, Carl Dair. Gibson G, Canada Type. Some types

from Nick Shinn. Bandhani, Keya Vadgama. Carl Dair

cutting a punch in Holland, 1956. Types by André Simard.

Raleigh, David Anderson.

Nick ShiNNBeaufortBodoni EgyptianBrown gothic Scotch Modern panopticaNEOLOGY Oneleigh Fo ntesqu e Pratt

Ross Milne

rbadcfcdabadcfcdabadcfcdabadcfcdabsgkhkikjkgkhkikjklllllllllllll

lllllllllllllgkhkikjkgkhkikjkBandhani Serif ococococococococococococococ

emxmemxmemxmemxmemxmemxmemxmetuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuv

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwz

rgrshrsgrshrbrgrshrsgrshrbrgrshrsgrshrbrgrshrsgrsaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxa

ppoppppoppppoppppxqqqqoqqqqoqqqqoqq

Although we have enough to start we still need help in finding missing or additional material. Some areas where help is needed are: The Cree/Inuit syllabics. To date this remarkable story has only been told from the European side. If you know anyone who can help rectify this imbalance please let us know. Any stories or background infor-mation about Les Usherwood and Typesettra, especially from someone who either knew Les personally or once worked at Typesettra. If you have any old type specimen books, brochures or posters we sure would like to see them. We don’t need the originals, a good scan of a few pages will do just fine. Share your knowledge, even a few sentences could help.

It may be unrealistic to ask for photos of people who worked in the trade but there’s no harm in asking. Besides, it would be wonderful to see some of those folks. We’re desperate to gather this material before it’s too late. Future generations need to know how we got here – we all need to know! Please forward this proposal to anyone you can think of who might be interested in helping out on this project. Thank you for taking the time to read this proposal. We look forward to working with you on this exciting project.

Please contact: Rod McDonaldstylus@eastlink.ca

The Canadian Typography site is being

developed with Gibson Funds.

Designed by Rod McDonald to honour

John Gibson FGDC, his long time friend

and mentor. The fonts were developed

by Canada Type. All money raised from

the sales of Gibson go directly to support

typographic education in Canada.

The Society of Graphic Designers of

Canada, The Carl Dair Typographic Work-

shops and the Sheridan Typographic Hub

have all received Gibson Funds.

To learn more about Gibson fonts visit:

https://www.gibsonfont.com/

You can license Gibson directly from:

https://www.canadatype.com/

Gibson Volume 1

Gibson Light

Gibson Light Italic

Gibson Regular

Gibson Regular Italic

Gibson Semibold

Gibson Semibold Italic

Gibson Bold

Gibson Bold Italic

Gibson Volume 2

Gibson thin

Gibson Thin Italic

Gibson Book

Gibson Book Italic

Gibson Medium

Gibson Medium Italic

Gibson Heavy Gibson Heavy Italic

Let’s Get Started!

Cover credits: clockwise starting upper

left. Bronze plaque recognizing the

Grey Cup, Cartier Book, Historic Sites

and Monuments Board of Canada, n.d.

Jim Rimmer drawing letters, n.d.

Maclean’s cover, Allan Fleming, 1962.

Photo of Carl Dair, 1956. Liebhaber’s

Wood Type, Glenn Goluska, 1987.

Salden Cyrillic Italic, Canada Type, 2019.

Frame from the film Gravers & Files, show-

ing the making of a smoke proof, 1956.

Conklin Shows poster, King Show Print,

1940. Design with Type, second edition,

Carl Dair, 1967. Blackberry OS10 using

Slate typeface, 2013.

“Inspired typography could give the world a means

of visual communication that hurdles the

barriers of race, religion, language, politics and

economics and give the human race a

common basis of communication, and from this,

understanding and tolerance.”

Carl Dair, Print ‘typography today’ issue, January/February, 1964

These questions are really meant to ‘jog’ your memory, please rewrite or expand on them as you see fit. If possible try to get exact dates, if you’re not sure give an approxi-mate date, it might help someone pinpoint the exact date later.

Who were the important typesetters in your area? The ‘go to’ people for art directors and designers. In the large centers designers would often have three levels of supplier; typically; the ‘A’ shops were the best, but also the most expensive, and were reserved for the more import-ant jobs. The ‘B’ shops handled the regular day-to-day work and the ‘C’ shops did the tight budget jobs.

What made those typesetters so memorable? It doesn’t have to be work related. For Instance, some shops held yearly picnics or parties that brought the community togeth-er. Others held workshops to keep their clients and friends up-to-date on new technologies or designs. Or maybe they just ‘saved your ass’ on a regular basis.

Who were the outstanding typogra-phers or graphic designers in your area? The people who really knew how to design with type.

Who was known for hand lettering or calligraphy, or produced great signage?

Who were the best clients, agencies or studios? Why did you think they were so good?

What advertising, book, editorial or other typographic projects stand out for you?

Was there something unique to your province or area that other places didn’t have?

Was there anyone doing good work in your area but they never really found the spotlight? The Underdogs.

Are you aware of any work that has been improperly credited publicly? These things do happen.

What we’re looking for.