Graphisme en France Issue 25
Ten years have passed since the publication of the 2009 issue of Graphisme en France wholly dedicated to typography, a follow up to the 1999 issue which also covered the developments being made in the field at the time. Many changes have taken place over the last decade: in teaching, which has been reinforced and strengthened, and which has also seen the development of research, in the creation and distribution of typefaces, an area in the midst of a period of robust expansion, and in the development of tools to accompany the transformations and mutations in digital uses. These are the issues and subjects dealt with in this 25th issue of Graphisme en France.
Thomas Huot-Marchand, designer, and also Director of the Atelier national de recherche typographique (ANRT) in Nancy, provides a review of the different types of training and education, and of the personalities who have contributed to and participated in the transmission of the know-how and history of Typography in France. Sébastien Morlighem, PhD in the History of Typography and teacher, shares with us his vision of typographic creation, foundries and the numerous initiatives that have emerged over the last decade, revealing a real and tangible dynamic in the current French scene which benefits from, among other things, a growing international recognition. Finally, Indra Kupferschmid, a designer and researcher from Germany, highlights the importance of variable fonts, a recent technological development which is considered in light of the history of different formats which have accompanied typeface creation over the last thirty years.
This new issue of Graphisme en France was designed by Rozenn Voyer and Clément Faydit, recent graduates of the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts of Lyon. They have designed an editorial object which is flexible, with a format which allows easy access to the content, texts, letters and images. The issue has been composed using the typefaces Henry by Matthieu Cortat and Figure by Alain Papazian.
Graphisme en France represents a national distribution network which is committed and engaged, supporting and spearheading a number of important initiatives and events.
The Centre national des arts plastiques is fully invested in, and committed to the field of creation. An example of this is the commission of the typefaces Infini by Sandrine Nugue and Faune by Alice Savoie, which, thanks to their distribution, have brought French typographic creation to the attention of a much wider public. Finally, it is important to note the fact that the Cnap regularly acquires typefaces for its collection in order to constitute sets of typefaces and conserve the processes at work in the dynamic field of contemporary creation.
Also available on the Art, Book, Magazine(ABM) digital library app.
