Pencil to Pixel NYC by Monotype

3—9 May 2013

The forthcoming exhibition by monotype brings together the past, present and future of a unique typographic institution.

Spanning over a hundred years, the expertise and craftsmanship of monotype has shaped the way in which we see and read the everyday world around us.

Tribeca Skyline Studio

205 Hudson Street

Penthouse, New York 10013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWDhhCGywI0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nP-bkqiah4

To book a guided tour or reserve a ticket

Free Admission

http://penciltopixel.eventbrite.com/

https://twitter.com/byMonotype

http://www.monotype.com/

Monotype’s highly anticipated ‘Pencil to Pixel’ exhibition runs from 16th November, 19th— 23rd  November featuring Monotype’s rich archive of original artwork, type drawings, equipment and publications.

The exhibition is free and visitors can also book a free guided tour via Eventbrite

http://www.penciltopixel.org/

http://monotypeimaging.com/

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Monotype started to produce typefaces for its type-casting machines back in the late 19th century. The production process at the time started with a set of technical drawings to establish the design and dimensional characteristics of each letter in a typeface that would eventually be cast in lead. Initially, designs were based on existing foundry typefaces in common use in the printing trade at the time, but within a few years new designs were developed, some based on historical types, some completely new designs such as Gill Sans and the iconic Times New Roman, which started as a bespoke family for The Times in the early 1930s before achieving widespread popularity in the following decades.

Monotype’s office in Salfords, Surrey, is on the site that used to be its sprawling factory, which has made it possible for the company to hold onto the complete archive of its Type Drawing Office, even as the company’s manufacturing activities ceased.

The archive records about 80 years worth of typeface development (plus material from other sources gathered over the years), containing detailed drawings for all of Monotype’s hot metal typefaces from 1900 onwards, as well as original artwork, correspondence, production records, and promotional material.

Today the archive is a storehouse of information about many of the world’s classic typefaces currently in common use, as well as being a source of inspiration for contemporary designers both within the company and elsewhere. This month, Monotype is hosting an exhibition of this historical material and forward-looking recent work at Metropolitan Wharf in Wapping. On display will be a selection of rarely seen drawings, artefacts, and publications that capture the history the company alongside examples of the typographic contributions still being made at home and abroad.

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Dan Rhatigan — Type Director, UK Monotype

From the San Francisco Chronicle — A brilliant insight a man who has been working with Monotype casting machines for over 62 years.

A recent Thursday at 10:23 a.m.: In the basement of Arion Press, where they still print books the old-fashioned way, Lewis Mitchell slid open a box of parts used to change the font size on the Monotype casting machines he has maintained for 62 years. “I thoroughly enjoy the sound of the machines turning, and seeing the type come out is a joy,” Mitchell said. He can tell by the sound of the moving springs and levers if something is awry with his machines — a skill he said all good technicians should have.

Four different owners have run the business since Mitchell walked through the doors at age 18, and he has had several opportunities to leave, including a scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that he declined. Now 80, Mitchell can’t imagine retiring from the job he loves so much.

When Mitchell started making this kind of type, it was really the only way to print things, and now he doesn’t know how many books he’s helped print over the decades. There were once type-casting operations in most major U.S. cities, but now the practice is almost extinct. There are only two companies left in the world that cast type for printing presses, and Arion is by far the largest.

Mitchell has four grown children and nine grandchildren, but he calls the 20 type-casting machines his “babies.” “I treat them with kindness. I don’t use a hammer on them or an over-sized screwdriver.” The first machine, which started the company during 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, is still its best machine — proof that Mitchell’s methods work. “My dad taught me from square one if you going to do something, you’re going to do it right or you don’t do it.”