Who needs another German type designer?

This is one of the first questions Gerry asks aspiring typeface designers, and is usually met with the sound of jaws hitting the floor. Yet typeface design is the most obvious area where design is losing any regional identity it had (such as it was). In the process, it confronts us with questions about typography, and our roles in design. It also makes things really exciting.

Transcript

1. Who needs another
   German type designer?
   Gerry Leonidas
   Typography & Graphic Communication
   University of Reading
   Monday, 20 May 13
   

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2. German
   German
   German
   German
   Austrian
   (+ Swiss)
   France, Israel, Italy,
   Japan, South Korea
   (and UK )
   Monday, 20 May 13
   

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3. “I want to be a type designer!”
   Monday, 20 May 13
   

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4. Type design as a career
   To be good enough to be paid repeatedly
   for something you are motivated to do
   for many years.
   Monday, 20 May 13
   

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5. Matthew Carter, Adrian Frutiger, Robin Nicholas,
   Gerard Unger, Hermann Zapf…
   Monday, 20 May 13
   

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6. Years of craft development, apprenticeship,
   and supervised production
   Monday, 20 May 13
   

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7. Monday, 20 May 13
   

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8. Hot-metal, phototypesetting:
   both big industries
   Monday, 20 May 13
   

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9. 1972
   Monday, 20 May 13
   

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10. 1973
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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11. 1976
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12. text?
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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13. 1989–90
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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14. David Berlow, Petr and Erik van Blokland,
    Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones,
    Martin Majoor, Fred Smeijers, Jason Smith,
    Jeremy Tankard, Zuzana Licko…
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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15. Very very quickly,
    things turn upside down
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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16. text?
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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17. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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18. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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19. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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20. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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21. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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22. Type designers as
    one-[wo]man bands
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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23. > gender barriers
    > starting investment
    > entry speed and risk
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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24. In reality…
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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25. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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26. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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27. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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28. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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29. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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30. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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31. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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32. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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33. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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34. Type design is now
    a professional discipline
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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35. > knowledge +research
    > methods + skills
    > career paths
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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36. Studying type design
    Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic,
    Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico,
    Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain,
    Switzerland, UK, USA
    (and others)
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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37. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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38. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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39. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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40. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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41. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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42. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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43. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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44. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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45. You may have something
    interesting to say,
    but it’s a crowded room.
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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46. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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47. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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48. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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49. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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50. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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51. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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52. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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53. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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54. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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55. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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56. Monday, 20 May 13
    

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57. Teaching type design
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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58. Education is becoming
    a “managed process”
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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59. > break down of unified
    learning experience
    > threat to global assessment
    > focus on quantitative
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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60. What you can measure
    may not be worth considering
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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61. Type design as agile education
    > face to face
    > facing desks
    > everything public
    > mixed groups
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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62. > eye openers
    > foundational history
    > thinking prompts
    > script skills
    > disruptors
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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63. > no fixed expectations
    > value in failure
    > student-responsive objectives
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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64. “Now what?”
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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65. An impulse, and
    a worthy opinion
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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66. @gerryleonidas
    Monday, 20 May 13
    

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