Typography, like the dot on the i – print ad, Howarth & Smith, Carl Brett, 1959

Graphic design created by typographers was often simple and powerful – much like the letterforms they worked with. Following the Second World War, major typesetting shops went to great lengths to position themselves not merely as typesetters, but as typographers. The leading firms saw themselves as collaborators – working closely with designers, printers, and, most notably, advertising agencies. Within a decade, even the agencies would come to embrace this thinking more fully than anyone might have imagined in the 1950s.

The H&S mark, paired with the tagline Creative Typographers, is deliberately not centered on the stem of the ‘i’, and introduces a subtle tension into an otherwise carefully balanced composition. Like the dot on the ‘i’ – which, for optical reasons, is almost always set slightly to the right of the stem in most typefaces – this ad demonstrates the care and typographic sensitivity that Howarth & Smith brought to their work. Now under the direction of the talented Carl Brett, recently hired as Type Director, H&S signaled a new era of creative and considered typesetting. – Rod McDonald

Artifact Text

Typography, like the dot on the “i”, is a vitally related part of the total expressive design. More than giving life and legibility to the printed word it must consider paper, process and the suitability of type to layout. We use it with skill and imagination but also with that care and understanding which makes the difference between just typesetting and typography. Howarth & Smith Monotype Limited, 318 Richmond Street West, Toronto, EM 6–7861. Creative Typographers.