158 Answers, 11 Studierende des Masterkurses Type and Media führen Interviews mit 11 Schriftgestaltern und veröffentlichen sie in Buchform. Mein Interviewpartner ist Ken Barber von House Industries und es geht um Lettering und nationale Identitäten. Projektleitung Peter Biľak.

158 Answers, 11 students of the Type and Media master class conduct interviews with 11 lettering artists, book and type designers. My interviewee is House Industries’ Ken Barber and it is all about lettering and national identities. Under the auspices of Peter Biľak.

S N I P P E T

From a more general perspective now, do you think that national differences in typographic culture do play a role in contemporary industrialized societies?

I think they do. They must continue to have some importance, even if the perpetuation of those differences is not a conscious endeavour. Even if it’s just habitual, the fact is they continue to exist. I don’t know how crucial the role is that they play. However, I think that those features are important insofar as they represent or encapsulate a small bit of culture, not in an effort to exclude others but in a way to ensure that cultural nuances aren’t eradicated completely. I think that in a broader scope, there isn’t anything wrong with maintaining a certain kind of cultural identity. There is a strength to it, and I’d like to think that Studio Lettering points to that. It’s certainly not solving the problem of eroding cultural boundaries, but maybe it can drive the attention of others to it in a way that perhaps designers, or whoever it may be, continue to hold on to that cultural identity.

Buch Peter Biľak [Hg.]: 158 Answers, Eleven interviews conducted by the Type]Media class 2009/2010, 112 Seiten, 11,5 × 19 cm, 35 Abbildungen, davon 9 in Farbe, ISBN 978-90-809483-2-7. Interview mit Ken Barber, Master Type and Media, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten (KABK), Den Haag. Gestaltung Frank Grießhammer, Yohanna My Nguyen, Tânia Raposo. Verlag Typotheque, Den Haag.