Design with Type by Carl Dair, University of Toronto Press

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Contributed by Ian Hooker

Photo: Ian Hooker. Ian Hooker. License: All Rights Reserved.

Carl Dair (1912–1967) first published Design with Type in 1952; it was revised and republished in 1967 by the University of Toronto Press shortly before his death. Largely self-taught, Dair received a federal arts grant to study metal type and hand-punching at Enschedé Foundry in Haarlem, Netherlands, in 1956–57. He afterwards founded the Village Press, a private press.

In his book, Dair discussed the interplay between uniformity in typography (concord) and a unity of differences (contrast), going on to identify seven dimensions in which concord and contrast may be applied: size, weight, structure, form, texture, colour, and direction. From page 108:

Typographic structure can be static or dynamic, passive or active. The title-page with all centered lines, suspended on a vertical axis created by the uniform projection of the type lines on either side of the centre, is typography that has come to rest; there is no movement in the composition whatsoever. It is static, but that is not to say the page will not be read; the static book page is quiet and demands of the reader no visual or intellectual effort to absorb the text; it invites him to sink back with the prospect of entertainment or of concentrated study without any typographic diversion. But advertising and commercial typography must always compete for attention; they must thrust the message of the copy before the reader so that he cannot escape its impact. Active, dynamic structure is required; there must be visual compulsion about the presentation of the message. Dynamic layout means, invariably, an off-centre balance, an asymmetrical arrangement of the whole structure. It also requires that the number of typographical units must be kept at a minimum so that there will be strong visual impact and a free, uncluttered movement of the eye through the printed area. Reducing the number of units involves the organization of the material, at the copy stage, into aggregates, each with its own form, texture, and weight. These units must be placed into direct contrast with each other and arranged structurally on the two-dimensional surface so that they hold together as a harmonious visual unit.

The cover is both a reference to the grid layouts of graphic design and the geometric art of Victor Vasarely, a leader of the Op art movement, and who is cited pp. 142–143 as an innovator in creating a sense of movement on a surface. The word “type” on the cover is set in Folio breit halbfett. The other cover text is set in Helvetica, but Dair replaced both lowercase a’s in his name with a simplified single-storey form that he made by removing the ascender of a d. The spine (not shown) is set in Univers.

The frontispiece is Superficie 290 (1959) by Giuseppe Capogrossi, Rome. The title page is set in Univers.

Victor Hugo’s account of the alphabet comes from his travel notes En voyage: Alpes et Pyrénées, (written 1839, published posthumously in 1890), where in the section “Sur la route d'Aix-les-Bains” he discusses the motif of the letter Y as a universal symbol. The red capital letters are from Palatino. John Manson’s 1898 translation of Victor Hugo:

Have you observed how picturesque a letter is the Y, and how innumerable are its meanings? The tree is a Y; the branching of two roads is a Y; the confluence of two rivers is a Y; a donkey’s or an ox’s head is a Y; a glass on its stem is a Y; a lily on its stalk is a Y; a suppliant raising his arms to heaven is a Y. For the rest, this observation may be extended to all that elementarily constitutes human writing. Everything that is in the demotic language was poured into it by the hieratic language. The hieroglyph is the root of the letter. All characters were first of all signs, and all signs were first of all images. Human society, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. Masonry, astronomy, philosophy, all the sciences have there their imperceptible but real starting-point; and so it ought to be. The alphabet is a source. A is the roof, the gable with its cross-beam, the arch, arx; or two friends who embrace and shake hands. D is the back. B is a D on a D, the double back, the hump. C is the crescent, the moon. E is the base of the column, the pedestal, the lintel—all architecture in a single sign. F is the gallows, the harpoon. G is the horn. H is the façade of the building with its two towers. I is the missile machine of war. J is the ploughshare and the cornucopia. K is the angle of reflection equal to the angle of incidence. L is the leg and the foot. M is the mountain, or the camp, the pitched tents. N is the closed door with its cross-bar. O is the sun. P is the porter standing upright with his load on his back. Q is the rump with the tail. R is rest, the porter leaning on his stick. S is the serpent. T is the hammer. U is the urn. V is the vase (which is why they are often confounded). I have said what Y is. X is crossed swords, it is combat—who will be victor? We know not; hence the philosophers have taken X for destiny, and the mathematicians for the unknown. Z is the lightning, it is God.

The two-page experimental spread emphasizing the letter k was designed by Terry Pritchett, University of Iowa (63MFA).

In the words of Rod McDonald:

Perhaps the most remarkable element of this edition is Dair’s vertical hyphen. Long frustrated by the ragged effect of end-of-line hyphens in justified settings, Dair designed a vertical hyphen that he had hoped to include in Cartier. Due to character limitations in phototype systems, it was left out. But for Design with Type, the University of Toronto Press agreed to cut a custom Monotype matrix – matched to Bembo – so that his vertical hyphen could be used. This may be the only book ever produced to include it.

Text, inside back cover (later editions):

Carl Dair (1912–67) was for over thirty-five years a keen student and user of type, both as a working type compositor and as a designer. A prolific writer of articles and monographs on the subject, his work has been reproduced in more than a dozen countries in Europe, Africa and the Far East. Awarded the Medal of the Royal Canadian Academy for distinguished achievements in the Arts in Canada, 1963, Carl Dair also won the Silver Medal, Leipzig International Book Exhibition, 1959, and numerous awards in Art Directors’ Exhibitions in Montreal and Toronto. He was on the jury of Typomundus 20, was an Honorary Fellow of the Typographic Designers of Canada and Member of the Board of Directors of the International Center for the Typographic Arts, New York. This edition of Design with Type has won several major design awards: it was one of the “Fifty Books of the Year 1967” selected by the American Institute of Graphic Arts; it was chosen for exhibit at the 1968 Association of American University Presses Book Show and at the New York Type Directors Club Show TDC XIII; and it won the Silver Eagle at the Nice Book Fair 1969, The Graphic Designers of Canada Certificate of Excellence 1968, and a Graphic 68 Award of Merit. Mr. Dair taught typography and design in Toronto, Montreal and Jamaica.

The library wordmark uses Brasilia, in its original lowercase-only form.

The Herbert Bayer quote is setin Futura Bold.

Detail featuring two examples for Dair’s vertical hyphen

Colophon

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