Last summer I visited
Phil Abel and Nick Gill at Hand & Eye Letterpress in London. After lunch, Nick and I got to
talking about the feasibility of making a new typeface for Monotype composition
casting. Nick had been studying the finer points of typefounding at the Type
Archive in south London and he had been unable to locate one specific piece of
information that would make a new composition face possible: he could not find
detailed instructions for the creation of patterns for the pantographic
punchcutting machine used by Monotype. Unlike direct matrix engraving processes
in which a letter’s fit and alignment can be determined after the engraving,
the Monotype process requires each letter’s fit and alignment to be figured out
in advance. Those calculations are manifest in the pattern used to engrave
punches, and they are followed through to the punch, the matrix, and the final
piece of type. If the letterform is not in the right place on the pattern, in
other words, it will never be in the right place on the piece of type. The
trick is in figuring out the specific relationship between the pattern and the
resulting piece of type, and the literature on this relationship is lacking.
Intrigued, I lightheartedly suggested that we try to figure it out—Why not?—and Nick and I agreed
that he would discuss it with Duncan Avery at the Type Archive and get back to
me.
A few months later I was
back in London for a meeting at the Type Archive. In the time that had passed
since our discussion at Hand & Eye, Nick had assembled an impressive, multi-generational
group of collaborators to assess the feasibility of the project and, hopefully,
to figure out the missing pattern information. The assembled group included
Duncan Avery, who worked for Monotype from 1945 until 1992, at which point he
initiated the Type Museum; Graham Sheppard, whose tenure at Monotype spanned
1952–1995 and included work in the Type Drawing and Type Development Groups; Parminder
Kumar Rajput, who began at Monotype in 1965 and is now the only person
qualified to operate every machine used in the production of matrices; Doug
Ellis, who began as an apprentice at Monotype in 1955 before eventually
becoming foreman of the Monotype Toolroom in 1991; Thomas Mayo, a printer who
has been making a name for himself through his innovative use of laser cutting,
the technology he will use to cut the patterns for our type; and finally Nick
himself, a printer and typefounder who is the only person other than Kumar
Rajput qualified to cut punches and make matrices for Monotype Composition
Casters.
After a brief tour of
the Type Archive’s facility, we found ourselves in front of the punchcutting
machine where Nick and I were hoping to begin the long, arduous process of
discovering the missing pattern measurements. Kumar pointed out the various
parts and functions of the punchcutter for my benefit and then Nick posed the
thousand dollar question: How do we figure out the relationship between the
pattern and the piece of type? It is difficult in retrospect to capture the comedy of
the ensuing exchange, but imagine our surprise when, rather than getting a long
bibliography of hints and sources, Graham Sheppard chimed in from behind us
with a list of precise measurements from the top of his head. Sometimes all you need to do is ask the right
person the right question. In an instant the focal point of the day changed
from figuring out how to make a single piece of type to endeavoring to make a
complete typeface, Hungry
Dutch.
The job ticket, pattern, punch, matrix, type, and print from the "proof of concept" Hungry Dutch "H"
Since that meeting in
October there have been many fits and starts. Discussing the abstract idea of
type manufacture over lunch is quite different from actually manufacturing
type, and my learning curve has been long and steep. But nearly six months to
the day after our meeting at the Type Archive, Duncan Avery sent me a packet
containing newly made type, matrix, punch, and pattern, all derived from my
drawing of a letter H. The thrill of opening that packet is one that has no
equivalent in my experience—in my hand was evidence of something I had assumed
was utterly impossible.
The thought that we
might be able to manufacture new composition typefaces is almost too exciting
to bear but the excitement is tempered by the enormity of the undertaking. At
the current working schedule of the Type Archive, it is estimated that making Hungry Dutch would require nearly two
years. It is not, in all honesty, a project that is likely to be completed. But
completion is not always the most rewarding outcome of creative work. Instead,
the process of making the new type is
the aspect of the project that promises to bear the most enduring fruit. We are
at a jump or fall moment in the history of this technology. The four men
involved in the manufacture of the Hungry Dutch matrices—Duncan, Graham, Kumar, and
Doug—are the brain trust of the Monotype Corporation. The only way to fully
access the knowledge that they have acquired is by going through the process of
manufacture with them. The only way we can preserve that knowledge is by
documenting everything we can along the way.
I
propose to make this a communal endeavor. I will work with the Type Archive to
go as far as we can, and to collect as much information as we can. I will print
fun ephemera as we progress and, eventually, a book about the process. The
first step it to make the thirteen “medial trial letters”—a, C, e, f, g, H, h,
i, n, O, o, p, t—and proceed from there. What I am looking for are supporters
who are willing to sponsor the making of a letter or two (or more), at a cost
of $600 each. In exchange for your support you will receive a pattern, matrix,
and piece of type for each letter you sponsor*; copies of all ephemera printed
from the type; and a discount on the resulting book that I publish, in which
you will be listed as a patron. This project is conceived as a typographic
adventure, and, in the spirit of all real adventures, it is undertaken without
a clear idea of what will result. All that is required is people who are willing
to come along for the ride. If you would like to sponsor a letter, please
email, call, or visit the “Books in Print” section of my website and click on HungryDutch.
*An important part of this project is that we follow Monotype's in-house procedures as closely as possible. Those procedures necessitate the manufacture of what are called the thirteen "medial trial letters" before moving on to the full face. From these letters—a, C, e, f, g, H, h, i, n, O, o, p, t—the head of drawings, Graham Sheppard, and the head of punch cutting, Kumar Rajput, are able to glean the necessary information for production of the remaining letters. In the spirit of this project, I am reticent to promise sponsors that they will receive letters other than the initial thirteen. However, due to the response thus far it does seem certain that we will be able to go beyond them. So this is what I propose: choose your letter or letters from the thirteen medial letters: a, C, e, f, g, H, h, i, n, O, o, p, t. If you would prefer different letters, let me know and, if we get as far as making them, they will happily be yours.
*An important part of this project is that we follow Monotype's in-house procedures as closely as possible. Those procedures necessitate the manufacture of what are called the thirteen "medial trial letters" before moving on to the full face. From these letters—a, C, e, f, g, H, h, i, n, O, o, p, t—the head of drawings, Graham Sheppard, and the head of punch cutting, Kumar Rajput, are able to glean the necessary information for production of the remaining letters. In the spirit of this project, I am reticent to promise sponsors that they will receive letters other than the initial thirteen. However, due to the response thus far it does seem certain that we will be able to go beyond them. So this is what I propose: choose your letter or letters from the thirteen medial letters: a, C, e, f, g, H, h, i, n, O, o, p, t. If you would prefer different letters, let me know and, if we get as far as making them, they will happily be yours.
