Blueprint for a skilled job in the construction industry – booklet, National Film Board, Carl Dair, 1945

Carl Dair’s first job as a professional typographer was with the newly formed National Film Board (NFB) in Montreal. He spent two years there, beginning in 1945, and later recalled in his only biography, Typecast for Thirty Years*: “In 1945, Donald Buchanan invited me to join the graphics division of the National Film Board.”

During the Second World War, and for a time afterward, the NFB served not only as a film agency but also as a public relations office for the Canadian government. It produced visual and printed material – including propaganda – for departments such as the Industrial Production Co-operation Board and the Department of Labour.

Dair’s earlier experience painting signs during the Depression, along with his lifelong interest in calligraphy, prepared him well for the visual demands of graphic design. Throughout his career, he frequently incorporated hand lettering into his work—both as a way to lend personality and as an economical alternative to typesetting. – Rod McDonald

* Canadian Printer and Publisher, November 1960.

Artifact Text

blueprint | for a skilled job in the construction industry