Explore the aesthetic and technological dimensions of typography and book design in Chicago, with an in-depth look at the Newberry’s collection of type specimens, book designs, and advertising.

9:30 - 11:30 am Event Display

ITW Seminar Room (just west of Ruggles Hall)

Please visit a display of Newberry materials in the ITW Seminar Room, just west of Ruggles Hall, including items from the papers of: designer and calligrapher Raymond F. Daboll; type designer Oswald Cooper, whose “Cooper Black” became the largest selling single type face in the late 1920s and 1930s; designer and print historian Douglas McMurtrie; graphic designer Robert Hunter Middleton; and printer and commercial artist Will Ransom.

10 am Discussion

Ruggles Hall

Paul F. Gehl, Curator Emeritus at the Newberry, and Tanner Woodford, Executive Director of the Design Museum of Chicago, will provide historical depth to what we utilize every day: the fonts on our computer. What is a font, and how did it come into being? What role did Chicago play in font design?

To answer these questions, Woodford and Gehl will describe materials from the Newberry collection, including from the papers of designer and calligrapher Raymond F. Daboll; type designer Oswald Cooper, whose “Cooper Black” became the largest selling single type face in the late 1920s and 1930s; commercial lettering artist James Hayes; designer and print historian Douglas McMurtrie; graphic designer Robert Hunter Middleton; and printer and commercial artist Will Ransom.

11 am Holiday Card-Making Workshop

Baskes and Rettinger Halls

Overseen by staff from the Design Museum of Chicago, audience members will have the opportunity to create holiday cards from words, letterforms, images, and handwriting reproduced from the collections discussed earlier.

Download a PDF flyer for this event to post and distribute, and check out a Quick Guide to related materials in the Newberry collection.

Please note that space is limited and only those registered will be admitted to the card-making workshop.

This program is part of Art Design Chicago, an exploration of Chicago's art and design legacy, an initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Art with presenting partner The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.

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