Differing Accents
International typographic and lettering conference, Prague, 2012
Prague College in partnership with Letter Exchange and Teeside University
Differing Accents was a four-day typography and lettering conference that brought together practitioners, academics and students to examine the history and trends of letterforms in Central and Western Europe. Speaking at the conference on the topic of lettering practice within the context of the development of New York graffiti art in the early 80s, I focused on the visual presentation of letters, and in particular, their ability to both inform and express different aspects of culture.
The conference united Czech and British experts in the area of typography, with a vision of sharing knowledge from their profession. It focused on traditional typographic and lettering practice from the past, the present, and the future, as well as the underlying aspects of type as a craft. Topics included a talk on Oldřich Menhart, Ladislav Sutnar’s theory of information flow, the legibility, proportions and semiotics of Italian medieval manuscripts, national type identity and way-finding systems, European diacritics, and the influence of Letraset. There were also talks and demonstrations from various practitioners, including stone letter carving, graffiti writing culture, and typeface design.
