Type & Paper
Booklet
Carl Dair
1946
Spacing — booklet, E. B. Eddy Paper Company, Carl Dair, 1954
By placing the characters of the word ‘spacing’ in boxes, Dair illustrates the area – or space – each letterform occupies. In metal type, space between characters could be opened up by inserting thin strips of lead. The same principal applies in photo and digital type.
A double page spread illustrating how spacing can affect the meaning of words. Dair demonstrates that letters cannot exist without the space around them. Space not only helps us create the shapes of letter, it is also how we arrange those letters into meaningful patterns that can then be read by others.
Notes
Carl Dair’s fourth booklet in the E.B. Eddy series, Spacing, offers a concise examination of a topic often ignored by beginners – and misunderstood by more experienced practitioners. It had been six years since Type Talks, the last booklet he produced for E. B. Eddy. During that time he had moved to Toronto and built a new house with a detached studio just north of the city. He was doing a great deal of work for the prestigious Toronto typesetting firm Cooper & Beatty and his book Design with Type had recently been published. This booklet is an expansion of ‘it happens in space’ one of the chapters in that book. – Rod McDonald
Artifact Text
“By way of introduction … This is the story of the metal the printer uses which is not type-high … the metal that makes no impression on the paper but which everyone sees. This is the story of the spaces … the leads and slugs … the mut quads and the nut quads … the reglet and furniture without which no printing form is ready for the press. This is the story of spacing.
It is the logical sequel to the series we have published on type and design, for good typography and fine design consist not only in the knowledge of type and its arrangement … but when, and how much, space should enter into the composition.
We are happy to make this contribution to the printing industry since perhaps space concerns us most … for space in the type form is where the paper shows on the finished job … and papermaking is our business.
The E. B. Eddy Company
Items in this Collection
Design for Printing
Booklet
Carl Dair
1947
Type Talks
Booklet
Carl Dair
1948
Spacing
Booklet
Carl Dair
1954
The Art of the Printer
Booklet
Carl Dair
1956
Title: Curabitur blandit tempus porttitor
Media format description
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Artifact
Article Data
Category
Date
1954
Title
Spacing
Description
Booklet
Two-colour booklet; 16 pp
5.75 × 8.75 inches
Publisher
The E.B. Eddy CompanyClient
The E.B. Eddy CompanyCredits
Principal Typefaces
Cover: Caslon Italic
Text: 20th Century (Futura), Caslon, Times New Roman
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Region
OntarioLanguage
English
Holding
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Copyright Status
Artifact copyright
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Notes copyright
Accompanying notes are licensed under Creative Commons licensing CCbyNC which allows for non-commercial use with attribute.
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