This talk took place on June 11, 2018 in the Rose Auditorium at The Cooper Union as part of Type@Cooper's Lubalin Lecture Series. This event was co-presented by the Society of Scribers and the recording is made possible by our generous sponsor, Hoefler & Co.
Looking at letterforms within graphic design and beyond, Letter Arts Review is an international quarterly that focuses on all kinds of original lettering. Editor Christopher Calderhead presents highlights from his ten years at the magazine.
Articles in the magazine have included profiles and examples of work from such contemporary luminaries as Luca Barcelona and the stonecutter Nicholas Benson. Popular forms such as sign painters making ephemeral notices for supermarkets. Kabuki signs in the bold Kanteiryu script from Japan. Monolithic inscriptions from Kathmandu. And historical surveys of the lettering of Piranesi and ancient manuscripts.
Letter Arts Review presents the highest achievements of historical and contemporary practitioners, but also asks how lettering fits into the world of art, design, and everyday life.
Christopher Calderhead is a lettering artist, designer, and author. He is the editor of Letter Arts Review, an international quarterly magazine dedicated to original lettering, type design, calligraphy, and text-based art. He is the author of Calligraphy Studio and, with Holly Cohen, The World Encyclopedia of Calligraphy. For the past ten years, he has taught design and calligraphy in the Undergraduate Communications Design department at the Pratt Institute.
