Commerical Classics: Paul Barnes & Tim Ripper on building a new foundry

Commercial Type presents Commercial Classics

For the last ten years the team at Commercial Type have been exploring the history of fonts at St Bride Library in London, uncovering long forgotten classics and bringing them back to life. Finally in 2019 they launched a new foundry to release these faces, Commercial Classics. Starting off with faces from the beginning of the nineteenth century, they have created a series of diverse faces, from workhorses like the sans Caslon Doric, and the serifs Brunel and Caslon Ionic, through to some of the most radical and strange faces ever made such as Caslon Italian. The aim was always not to make perfect copies, but faces that captured the spirit of the original and to expand them for today’s users. 

Commercial Type partner Paul Barnes and designer Tim Ripper, will tell the fascinating and exciting story of this new foundry. They will explain what inspired Commercial Type, of researching through archives, and of creating new families that offer designers a rich and varied palette of faces.

Details

Doors will open at 6:00pm and the lecture will start at 7pm, ending around 8pm. Questions after.

There will be a cash bar with non-alcholoic options. Games and mingling with the Saint Louis design scene before and after the lecture.

Brennan’s Work & Leisure is located at the heart of Midtown; there are plenty of pre/post lecture dinner/drinks options around.

This lecture is sponsored by AIGA Saint Louis and Typefounding.

About

2020 marks the tenth anniversary of Commercial Type, one of world’s leading independent foundries. During this decade they have released a string of what have become classic typefaces, including Graphik, Guardian, Publico, Lyon, Dala Floda, Druk and Austin. At the same time they have also issued more experimental and groundbreaking faces like Marian, Tanja and recently Orientation. During this period they have created custom typefaces for clients as diverse as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, England’s Soccer Team, Chobani, Rapha and multiple magazines and newspapers across the world.

Paul Barnes is a British graphic designer, type designer, and founding partner with Christian Schwartz in the London and New York based foundry Commercial Type. Over the last ten years with Schwartz and individually he has designed a number of acclaimed custom and retail faces, from the enormous editorial Guardian family through to the more experimental such as Dala Floda and Marian. He has a particular interest in the history of letterforms, which has led to Commercial Type’s new venture Commercial Classics an exploration of reviving long forgotten and extinct typefaces.

Tim Ripper (b. 1986) studied physics at Amherst College and worked in educational publishing in China before obtaining an MFA in graphic design from the Yale School of Art. At Yale, he discovered a passion for type design through a class with Tobias Frere-Jones and Matthew Carter, and was a designer at Frere-Jones Type before joining Commercial Type in 2016. Tim has also worked at Fathom Information Design and independently as a freelance graphic designer and developer.

FAQs

Are there ID or minimum age requirements to enter the event?

There is not: come one, come all. Bar purchases will be carded, of course. 

How can I contact the organizer with any questions?

Email ben@typefounding.com

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?

Nope! RSVPs are a way of judging how many seats we'll need 

Is it ok if the name on my ticket or registration doesn't match the person who attends?

Yes, don't worry about it!