dot on the i – Howarth & Smith Monotype, Carl Brett, 1959

Notes

Like the letterforms they worked with, graphic design created by typographers, was both simple and powerful. After the Second World War the major typesetting shops went to great lengths to be seen as typographers – not just typesetters. The leading type shops saw themselves as working partners with designers, printers and, most especially, advertising agencies. Within ten years the agencies would also come to embrace that thinking far more than could have been imagined in the 1950s.

The H&S mark and the words ‘creative typographers’ are not centered on the stem of the ‘i’; this brings an element of tension to the otherwise strongly centered ad. This simple ad demonstrates the care and understanding that Howarth & Smith brought to all their typesetting and typography which was now in the hands of the talented Carl Brett who had recently been hired as Type Director. – Rod McDonald

  • Category
    Advertising and Promotion

    Title
    dot on the i

    Date
    1959

    Client
    Howarth & Smith Monotype, Limited

    Credits
    Design: Carl Brett (1928–2009)

    Principal Typefaces
    Display: hand-lettered ‘i’
    Text: Venus Light Extended, Venus Bold Extended

    Description
    Full-page, two-colour ad
    Size: 8 × 11 inches

    Region
    Ontario

    Languages
    English

    Number of images
    1

    Holding
    Canadian Typography Archives

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