How Typography Happens

Is typography an art or a science? The gradual tendency of the word "typograph" to mean "typographic design" and the emergence of the typographer as a professional in his own right is examined by Ruari McLean.

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Is typography an art or a science? The gradual tendency of the word "typograph" to mean "typographic design" and the emergence of the typographer as a professional in their own right is examined by Ruari McLean. Looking at the work of well-known typographers in England, Germany, France and the USA, McLean examines the development of typography, starting with in the 17th century with the "Mechanick Exercises" of Joseph Moxon, and progresses to the influences and work of the German typographer Jan Tschichold and his contemporaries.