The Centre for Printing History and Culture presents:

The Song of the Sans Serif

DATE: 30 September, 2016

Birmingham City University

This if a free event and tickets can be bought here.

From printing types to digital typography the sans serif resonates across both page and screen; and from the advent of Caslon IV’s Two Lines English Egyptian in 1816* to the present day the voice of the sans serif has greatly influenced communication. In the nineteenth-century the sans serif sang out from billboards competing for attention through the smog of industrialised cities; with the advent of the railways it forged an unique relationship with transport and it became the face of the information age the indispensable choice for tabular matter. In the twenty-first century, with the emergence of new vernacular types, the sans serif continues to speak within contemporary advertising and user-experience design.
 
In September 2016, the Centre for Printing History and Culture is celebrating 200 years of the sans serif through a one-day symposium and accompanying exhibition. Speakers are invited to address aspects of the world-wide development, use and impact of the sans serif from the nineteenth century and beyond. 

SPEAKERS

Professor James Mosley, University of Reading, Primitive types - the search continues; John A. Lane, Netherlands, New dates for the earliest sans serif printing types: the evidence from the type specimens; Chiara Barbieri, Royal College of Art, London, UK, The resonance of sans serif within and beyond the Scuola del Libro in Milan, 1933-43; Robin Fuller, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, Grotesque terminology; Jessica Glaser, University of Wolverhampton/Birmingham City University, UK, 'Block letters of blockheads'; Jon Melton, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK, Revolting sans; Sebastien Morlighem, Ecole superieure d'art et de design, Amiens, France, Nineteenth century sans serif typefaces in France; David Osbaldestin, Birmingham City University, UK, The sans serif in Britain: development, deployment and influence; Ann Pillar, University of Reading, UK, 'Decoration but not decoration' Edward Wright's sans serif letterforms for public buildings, Vaibhav Singh, University of Reading, UK, The ‘sans serif’ beyond Latin?: Univers and the New Nagari project.

The full programme is available here.