Press Releases

Typography celebrates the modern world – University of Reading

Release Date : 07 October 2009

The University of Reading is delighted to announce the fascinating book 'Modern typography in Britain: graphic design politics and society', is now available to buy.

Using the expertise of staff within the University's Department of Typography (DoT) and the outstanding collections it holds, this remarkable volume is the first book to provide the social, cultural and political contexts for graphic design in Britain.

Edited by Paul Stiff and designed by Eric Kindel from Reading's DoT, the book is a collection of eleven essays and articles reaching from the Second World War to the early 1970s.

The compilation fizzes with provocative interconnections: between print culture, photojournalism and publishing, as well as the London of émigrés, political meetings and demonstrations, cultural cafés and art schools.

Professor Sue Walker, Dean of the University's Faculty of Arts and Humanities explained: "From these different environments emerged new ideas about designing: configuring and picturing the world of facts and processes, shaping them for understanding, learning and action. This wonderful collection documents the nation's life in war and its reconstruction through the passages of scarcity to plenty and the seeds of later fragmentation.

"The book is rich with multiple intersections between biography and history. We are delighted to have produced an informative and entertaining publication that showcases the expertise and outstanding work for which we are recognized."

'Modern typography in Britain: graphic design politics and society' is the 8th in a series of fascinating publications edited and produced by the University's Department of Typography, entitled Typography Papers.

'Modern typography in Britain: graphic design politics and society' is available to buy from publishers Hyphen Press, http://www.hyphenpress.co.uk/books/978-0-907259-39-8)

Ends

For all media enquiries please contact James Barr, University of Reading Press Officer on 0118 378 7115 or by email on j.w.barr@reading.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

Typography Papers is an occasional, book-length work edited and produced at the Department of Typography, University of Reading, and published by Hyphen Press. It publishes extended articles on its subject, exploring topics to the length to which they want to go. Its scope is broad and international, its treatment – serious and lively.

For over thirty years, the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication has been the only one of its kind in Britain.

Offering a unique approach to design through a combination of practice, theory and history, its teaching is augmented by funding through CETL and our excellent special collections and archives.

The high standard and diversity of research in the department are recognized by its result in RAE 2008, with 80 per cent of our research being rated world-leading or internationally excellent.