Protirazník: tvorba písma v 16. století a dnes?

Typography is still dominated by the letterforms created during the first hundred years of European printing. What were the processes and approaches behind these forms? Fred Smeijers is a type designer who learned to design and cut punches: the basic tools for creating metal letters. The book is based on a study of historical precedents and has significant relevance for the present. The publication of The Counterstriker (1997) opens up some fundamental questions: what exactly is - in any era - a typographic typeface? How does it differ from what we call writing? How do we evaluate typographic typefaces? The historical excursus begins with the fonts of the Italian humanists of the 15th century. Their abstract ideals are completely at odds with the material possibilities of production. Two basic principles are distinguished here: the first, where a set of counterstrikes (or counterpunches) is used to create the stamps, and the second, where each stamp is engraved anew. Smeijers considers the counter punch to be an essential tool. It ensures form regularity, repeatability, speed of production and creates a distinctive design system. The central chapters of the book take this discussion further, focusing more closely on the 16th-century typographic typefaces and embossers that are preserved, particularly in the Antwerp Plantin-Moretus Museum.

Czech edition