CfP for the upcoming conference: Jan Tschichold’s The New Typography: Its Roots and Impact on National Scenes at ECAL

Conference

Jan Tschichold’s The New Typography: Its Roots and Impact on National Scenes

Date and Place

Wednesday 26 April 2023, 9:00–18:00
ECAL / University of Art and Design Lausanne, Renens, Switzerland

Convenors

Prof. Dr Davide Fornari, Dr Chiara Barbieri, Dr Jonas Berthod
ECAL / University of Art and Design Lausanne (HES-SO)

Keywords

new typography, graphic design, design history, national scenes

Call for Papers

Jan Tschichold’s The New Typography is a critical essay and an operative handbook that paved the way to modern graphic design. It is a game-changing book that still attracts the interest and curiosity of design historians and practitioners after almost a century since its publication in 1928. Yet, The New Typography is simultaneously a victim of its own success and it has to deal with the consequences associated with canonisation. Having reached an almost mythical status, The New Typography is often taken for granted and rarely questioned or closely scrutinized.

This paradox was the starting point of the research project “The Sources of Jan Tschichold’s The New Typography” (die-neue-bibliographie.ch). Conducted at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne (HES-SO) and supported by the Strategic fund of HES-SO, the project reconstructed, collected and contextualized the body of bibliographical sources included in The New Typography.

The research team invites scholars in the field of art and design history and print culture to submit their applications for an international conference to be held at ECAL on April 26, 2023. The conference aims to provide a better understanding of the larger cultural context of Tschichold’s book and the typographic movement that stemmed from it. The results of the project will be presented at the conference along with keynote lectures by Dr Paul Stirton, Professor emeritus at Bard Graduate Center, New York, Dr Christopher Burke, Principal Research Fellow at University of Reading, and others.

We invite contributions from a range of constituencies that take typography, graphic design and book design from the 1910s to the 1940s as their remit. Proposals of interest include (but are not limited to):

→ the cultural background of Jan Tschichold’s The New Typography;
→ its reception on different European and non-European national and local scenes;
→ issues of mediation and dissemination;
→ how Tschichold’s ideas were incorporated into everyday practice.

Deadline for Submission

Wednesday 30 November 2022

Application and Assessment Process

All applications will be evaluated by the convenors who are committed to principles of equity, integrity and confidentiality in the treatments of all submissions.

Applications must be received by November 30, 2022, for consideration via the online form at researchday.ch/form/view.php?id=21704 (abstract of max. 2000 characters, together with a short biographical profile).

Any questions or queries regarding the application process can be addressed to Prof. Dr Davide Fornari at davide.fornari@ecal.ch.

Selected applicants will be informed in writing and invited to participate in the conference, which will take place in Renens (Switzerland) on April 26, 2023.