Current Exhibit in the Star Tribune Foundation Gallery

On display July 12 through September 21, 2008
Opening reception Saturday, July 12, 6-9pm
Exhibition website: www.stthomas.edu/facethenation

What role did typefaces play in the modernist milieu of Weimar Germany, or under the Nazi Third Reich? How did a new type design support Ireland's independence from Britain? What did aspirational names like "Futura" and "Univers" mean? Discover "the last great era of metal type" at Face The Nation, on display at Minnesota Center for Book Arts. Co-presented by MCBA and the University of St. Thomas, this historical exhibition investigates how the desire to reinforce, redefine or transcend national identities shaped the design of typefaces between 1900 and 1960, an era of two world wars and unprecedented cultural transition. The exhibition includes a number of case studies, showing original printed examples, historical curiosities and objects from the printing trade.

Two coordinating exhibitions feature the work of two contemporary designers, Romäno Hanni (Switzerland) and Erik Brandt (U.S), who explore typography in contemporary graphic design and new challenges in designing for global markets and cross-cultural messaging. Alongside the exhibitions, MCBA and University of St. Thomas will be hosting a number of presentations, workshops, panel discussions and even a film screening to provide multiple opportunities for the public to engage these topics.

An integral component of the exhibition is the Face The Nation website, which will include additional historical insights on the featured case studies, photographs of the exhibit, and a series of audio guides, which you can download to an MP3 player and use in the gallery for a virtual guided tour.

Face The Nation is presented by MCBA and the University of St. Thomas, curated by art history professor Dr. Craig Eliason.

 

COORDINATED EXHIBITIONS:

Swiss Impressions: Romano Hänni and the Art of Metal Type
July 12 through September 21; Open Book Lobby Gallery
View the stunning technique and design mastery of Basel designer/printer Romano Hänni in this exhibition of hand-printed books. Educated at the Basel School of Design, Hänni returns to the core values of traditional printing technique and modernist European design. The strict limitations of hand typesetting are his cornerstone, everything composed from the incremental units of type and spacing available in the type shop. Hänni's work encompasses a wide range of fields in visual communication, from books, magazines, catalogs and newspapers to drawings, photography and journalism about design and everyday culture.

Tÿpøgrafika: The Work of Erik Brandt
June 20 through August 3; Open Book Cowles Literary Commons
Brandt’s interests focus on issues of globalization that affect and drive the complexities of intercultural visual communication systems. Brandt began his career as a magazine editor in Japan; taught typography and visual communication in Doha, Qatar; and is currently an assistant professor of design at MCAD.

 

COORDINATED PROGRAMMING:

Opening Reception
Saturday, July 12; 6-9pm
Join designers, artists and fellow book arts enthusiasts to view the exhibitions, enjoy refreshments, and print a commemorative letterpress broadside to take home. Free and open to the public.

Dialogue: The Place of Letters
Tuesday, July 15; 7pm
Face the Nation curator Craig Eliason will lead a conversation about how type designs acquire associations with national identities. We will consider competing ideas about how a typeface can express the values or outlook of its country of origin. Seen historically, what motivated commentators to draw those associations? Evaluated now, how persuasively can those associations be substantiated? In our web-enabled world, in which digital fonts can originate anywhere and be accessed everywhere, what has become of national cultures of design? Craig Eliason is a type-design historian and professor of art history at the University of St. Thomas.

Family Workshop: Design Your Own Font
Saturday, July 19; 1-4pm
Pre-registration and payment required

CANCELLED: Geotÿpøgrafika Nuovo: Global Issues in Graphic Design and Typography
Due to an illness in his family, Erik Brandt's presentation scheduled for July 29 has been cancelled. We hope to reschedule these events for later this summer.
Designer Erik Brandt provides context and projections to stage a discussion on contemporary issues and challenges facing designers in rapidly changing globalized market. How to practice or teach graphic design and typography in a truly massive global market where competition is as fierce as never before? While highly intimidating in some respects, the new global market offers new and exciting problems for designers to solve.

Screening: HELVETICA
Thursday, Aug. 14; 7pm
Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type. Helvetica encompasses the worlds of design, advertising, psychology, and communication, and invites us to take a second look at the thousands of words we see every day.

Dialogue: About Face: Deeper into Type Design and National Identity
Tuesday, Sept. 16; 7pm
Four panelists, contributors to the Face the Nation exhibition, will offer presentations on some of the most interesting intersections of national identity and type design, expanding on the displays in the gallery. Natalie Stanton will discuss Colm O Lochlainn’s Colum Cille type and its relation to his efforts to establish and support the Irish Free State. Caroline Baum will talk about Rudolf Koch’s interest in updating the German blackletter alphabets while they competed with roman types of foreign origin. Lisa Melander will trace the career of Vojtech Preissig, whose designs satisfied the emergent demand among Czechs for a type of their own. And Traci Olinger will explore the modernist milieu of Weimar Germany, within which pared-down sans serifs were proclaimed to transcend national interests. All four panelists are enrolled in the Master of Arts in Art History program at the University of St. Thomas.

All exhibits and associated events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.

 

Minnesota Center for Book Arts is open to the public: Monday: 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday: 10 am to 9 pm Wednesday - Saturday: 10 am to 5 pm Sunday: 12 to 4 pm Minnesota Center for Book Arts is located in the Open Book Building in downtown Minneapolis 1011 Washington Ave S, Suite 100 Minneapolis, MN 55415 Phone: 612.215.2520 Fax: 612.215.2545 Email: mcba@mnbookarts.org © 2008 Minnesota Center for Book Arts