What I learned from studying William Morris: his life, career, and influences.

William Morris was one of the most significant designers of the 19th century, with an influence that is very much still alive today. He was a renaissance man of many skills, including masterful works of poetry and novels, translating ancient mythology, embroidery, tapestry, furniture, carpets, stained glass, tiles, textiles, wallpaper, books, and type. Join me in this conversation as we study the life, work, and influences of William Morris.

References:

The Life of William Morris by J.W. Mackail

Anarchy & Beauty: William Morris and His Legacy by Fiona MacCarthy

The Beauty of Life: William Morris & The Art of Design edited by Diane Waggoner 

Additional Sources:

The Stones of Venice by John Ruskin

Gods Architect: Pugin And The Building Of Romantic Britain by Rosemary Hill 

Icelandic Saga Stories Series

Beauty by Roger Scruton

The Odyssey by Homer

Theogony by Hesiod

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

What I learned from reading Stanley Morison, His Typographic Achievement.

"Two men stand out as the most powerful influences on 20th-century typography: Stanley Morison, who died in 1967, and Jan Tschichold." -Jan Tschichold

Stanley Morison was a typographical authority, lecturing at the University of Oxford and the Royal College of Art. He was also the author of countless works, friend to many typographic greats (Beatrice Warde, Eric Gill, Berthold Wolpe, Jan Tschichold, and others), and a design director for a number of typefaces including Times New Roman, Gill Sans, Perpetua, and Albertus. Join me in this conversation as we study the life, work, and influences of Stanley Morison.

What I learned from reading The Bentons: How an American Father and Son Changed the Printing Industry.⁠⁠

Morris Fuller Benton was the most secretive type designer in the world, and while having designed over 200 different typefaces, is not widely known. Join me in this conversation as we study the life, work, and influences of Morris Fuller Benton and his father, Linn Boyd.

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(2:24) ⁠⁠Rolls-Royce: The Magic of a Name⁠⁠ by Peter Pugh

(5:08) List of types designed by Morris

(6:41) Mozart: A Life by Paul Johnson

(7:26) Introduction to Linn Boyd Benton (Father)

(13:32) Linn Boyd's personality

(18:21) Introduction to Morris Fuller Benton (Son)

(23:27) ATF merger of 1892

(24:05) Stanley Morison: His Typographic Achievement by James Moran

(25:23) Morris at Cornell

(26:20) Morris joins Linn Boyd at ATF

(28:55) ATF relocates from NYC to New Jersey

(29:20) Morris at home and in the community

(36:34) Morris Fuller Bentons professional career in type

(37:07) ATF's Free Typographic Library and Museum (compiled by Henry Lewis Bullen)

(38:36) Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead⁠⁠ by Jim Mattis

(41:32) The type family

(48:07) Three parameters within which the type designer must work (by Herman Zapf)

(50:07) Franklin Gothic

(52:46) News Gothic

(55:31) Cheltenham type family

(59:46) Cloister Oldstyle (the gold mine of this book for me)

Typefaces designed by MFB:

Bank Gothic, Benton, Cheltenham, Clearface, Cloister, Franklin Gothic, Hobo, News Gothic, Schoolbook Oldstyle, and many more.

What I learned from reading ⁠Frederic Goudy⁠

Frederic Goudy was the most famous type designer in the world, the designer of over 100 different typefaces, the author of a number of published works, and a public lecturer and teacher. Join me in this conversation as we study the life, work, and influences of Frederic Goudy.

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(2:52) ⁠"Why Designers Can't Think"⁠ by Michael Bierut

(5:36) Goudy's design philosophy

(8:18) Titans episodes ⁠#1 (Jan Tschichold)⁠ and ⁠#2 (Paul Renner)⁠

(9:39) Goudy's Deepdene typeface

(12:12) Goudy's critique of the types of the past

(15:15) ⁠Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead⁠ by Jim Mattis

(25:02) ⁠Confessions of an Advertising Man⁠ by David Ogilvy

(26:58) Goudy meets Will Bradley, leading Art Nouveau Illustrator and the highest-paid American commercial artist

(28:14) Goudy's first introduction to The Kelmscott Press and ideas of William Morris as well as Charles Ricketts and Charles James Cobden-Sanderson, who all became large sources of inspiration for Goudy's work

(30:00) Frederic and Bertha get married and begin a long career together

(31:40) Jeff Bezos on the "smartest people" in ⁠interview with Inc.⁠

(36:51) Goudys move to Hingham

(38:02) The Goudys are joined in Hingham by ⁠W. A. (Billy) Dwiggins⁠, originator of the term "graphic design"

(40:43) Goudy meets ⁠Mitchell Kennerley⁠

(42:02) The Village Press destroyed by first fire

(44:06) Goudy visits England for the first time

(44:58) The Goudys take a second trip to Europe, which changes Frederic's life

(46:40) ⁠Setting the Table⁠ by Danny Meyer, founder of Shake Shack

(48:17) Goudy now an expert in type design

(50:34) Goudys move again to Deepdene Road in Forest Hills Gardens, Queens

(52:39) Goudy as genius designer and master marketer

(53:56) Goudy wins AIGA Gold Medal and begins to receive criticism

(56:21) Goudys move yet again to house and adjoining mill at Marlboro-on-Hudson, naming the location Deepdene, after their previous residence street

(1:01:03) Goudy's final works, A Half-Century of Type Design and Typography: ⁠Volume 1⁠, ⁠Volume 2⁠

Typefaces designed by Frederic Goudy:

Copperplate, Deepdene, DeVinne Roman, Goudy Sans, Goudy Old Style, Kennerley Old Style, Remington Typewriter, and many others.

What I learned from reading Paul Renner, The Art of Typography

Paul Renner was the designer of the Futura typeface, the author of over 120 published works, and a public lecturer and teacher. Join me in this conversation as we study the life, work, and influences of Paul Renner.

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(3:15) Renner's intersection with Jan Tschichold in episode 1

(12:44) Michael Bierut, Seventy-Nine Essays on Design "Waiting for Permission"

(15:52) General Jim Mattis, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead

( 22:13) Know All of the Details

Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer

Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy

(26:18) Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink

(40:10) The New Typography by Jan Tschichold

(54:06) Typologia by Frederic Goudy

(01:01:33) The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and The Birth of Public Relations

Typefaces designed by Paul Renner:

Architype Renner, Futura, Plak, Ballade, and Renner Antiqua

What I learned from reading Jan Tschichold, Master Typographer: His Life, Work, and Legacy

Jan Tschichold was the author of Die Neue Typography (The New Typography), the the designer of a number of typefaces (including Sabon, Transit, Zeus and others) and a public lecturer and teacher. Join me in this conversation as we study the life, work, and influences of Jan Tschichold.

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(1:33) Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead by Jim Mattis

(4:33) Two of Tschichold's early sources of education: Writing & Illuminating & Lettering by Edward Johnston and Unterricht in ornamentaler Schrift (Instruction in Ornamental Writing) by Rudolf von Larisch

(6:22) Tschichold first visits the Bauhaus

(7:37) Gropius: The Man Who Built the Bauhaus by Fiona MacCarthy

(16:37) The New Typography by Jan Tschichold

(20:11) Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy

(25:35) Tschichold is invited by Paul Renner to teach typography and calligraphy at the Vocational School for Graphic Arts in Munich

(30:09) Tschichold is offered the headmaster's post at the Department of Typography at the Berlin Higher Vocational School for Graphic Arts

(31:43) Tschichold is arrested by the Nazis

(36:03) Tschichold begins to reconsider his work on the New Typography

(38:30) Propaganda by Edward Bernays

(40:29) Letter Forms by Stanley Morison

Typefaces designed by Jan Tschichold:

Transit, Saskia, Zeus, Uhertype-Standard-Grotesk, and Sabon