William Addison Dwiggins

William Addison Dwiggins in his studio late 1930s.
Photograph by Robert Yamall Richie.
About the Designer
William A. Dwiggins – born 19. 6. 1880 in Martinsville, USA, died 25. 12. 1956 in Hingham, Massachusetts, USA – type designer, printer, typographer, graphic designer – studied at the Frank William A. Dwiggins – born 19. 6. 1880 in Martinsville, USA, died 25. 12. 1956 in Hingham, Massachusetts, USA – type designer, printer, typographer, graphic designer – studied at the Frank Holme School of Illustration in Chicago under Frederic W. Goudy.

1903–04: runs his own printing workshop in Cambridge, Ohio. 1905–16: commercial artist in Hingham, Massachusetts. 1917–18: director of Harvard University Press. 1919: founds the Society of Calligraphers in Boston and is their president and sole member. 1922: he is the first to use the term "graphic designer". 1923: over the years, Dwiggins designs over 300 book covers for his friend Alfred A. Knopf’s publishing firm. 1928: produces his first type designs for Mergenthaler-Linotype, whom he works with for 27 years. 1929: is awarded a gold medal by the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA).

Fonts: Caravan™ (1938), Metro® (1929–30), Electra™ (1935–49), Caledonia™ (1938), Eldorado (1953), Falcon (1961) and numerous other designs which were never manufactured.Publication: "Layout in Advertisement", New York 1928.

* TYPOGRAPHY – An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Throughout History by Friedrich Friedl, Nicolaus Ott (Editor), Bernard Stein, published by Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. [Ler mais...]

Works and Samples

Metroblack: Comparison of sizes(from "Linotype Faces", published by Mergenthaler Linotype Company)

Main Title (1929)

Electra™ (1935–49)

Cover (1935)

Outros artigos:
William Addison Dwiggins (1880 - 1956) era designer de livros, calígrafo, ilustrador e tipógrafo. Nascido em Martinsville, Ohio. Ele trouxe para o seu design de tipos um caráter presente em de seu trabalho publicitário.
Dwiggins cunhou o termo “designer gráfico” em 1922.
Origem: Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre.


The Type Designs of William Addison Dwiggins
by Vincent Connare
22 May 2000

Abstract
This document is a critical look at the major type designs of William Addison Dwiggins (1880-1956).
Individual letterforms and their letter parts will be critiqued and questioned to their relevance in the font or justify their existence in the typeface. Dwiggins' typefaces maybe compared to other typefaces that were used for inspiration or his own critical deviations. [Ler mais...]