Alan Kitching RDI AGI Hon FRCA (born 1940), is a practitioner of letterpress typographic design and printmaking. Kitching exhibits and lectures across the globe, and is known for his expressive use of

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

and metal letterforms in commissions and limited-edition prints.

Early life

Born 1940 in Darlington, Co. Durham, he was an apprentice compositor (1956–61). From 1962 to 1964 he was a technician in hand and line type composition, Department of Printing, Watford College of Technology, Herts. After meeting

Anthony Froshaug Anthony Froshaug (1920–1984) was an English typographer, designer and teacher, born in London to a Norwegian father and English mother. Influenced by ideas of European modernism, particularly the work of Jan Tschichold, Froshaug is considered ...

(the new head of department) Kitching co-established the experimental printing workshop at Watford College of Technology. Kitching later continued to collaborate with Froshaug on student projects at the Central School of Art & Design.

Professional career

In 1973 Alan began his own design practice in London with Colin Forbes. In 1977 he partnered with

Derek Birdsall Derek Birdsall, (born 1 August 1934) is an internationally renowned British graphic designer. Early life Birdsall was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, in 1934 and attended The King's School, Pontefract, Wakefield College of Art and Central Schoo ...

and Martin Lee at Omnific and started letterpress printing there in 1985. He began letterpress workshops in 1986 at Omnific Studios, Islington, London. He then went on to establish The Typography Workshop in Clerkenwell (1989). From 1994 he worked in partnership with designer/writer Celia Stothard (later his wife). In 1999, in partnership with designer and teacher, Celia Stothard FRSA, Kitching purchased a large collection of theatrical

wood type In letterpress printing, wood type is movable type made out of wood. First used in China for printing body text, wood type became popular during the nineteenth century for making large display typefaces for printing posters, because it was l ...

s, now named, 'Entertaining Types' and housed in Kennington, Lambeth, South London

Teaching

1967–70: Part-Time lecturer in Typography, School of Art, Watford College. * of Technology, Hertfordshire, Herts. * 1968–72: Visiting lecturer in Graphic Design, Central School of Art & Design, London. * 1973: Visiting lecturer,

London College of Printing The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...

. * 1974.75: Visiting lecturer,

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wo ...

, University of London. * 1988: Visiting lecturer in Graphic Design,

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

* 1990-2000:

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achiev ...

, School of Graphic Design, visiting * lecturer. * 1991–2006: Typography Workshops at

* 1994:

Colchester Institute Colchester Institute is a large provider of further and higher education based in the city of Colchester. Colchester Institute provides full-time and part-time courses for a wide variety of learners including 16 to 19 year olds, apprentices, adu ...

, School of Art, visiting lecturer. * 1993-1995:

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, an ...

, visiting lecturer.

Awards and Membership of professional bodies

* Designers and Art Directors Association (D and AD

*1999: Fellow of Chartered Society of Designers * 1999: Member of

Alliance Graphique Internationale Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) is a club of the world's leading graphic artists and designers. There are 527 members from 43 countries. Its members have been collectively responsible for the identity design of most of the world's top co ...

(AGI

* 1994: Royal Designers for Industry, Royal Designer for Industry (RDI

* 1996: Member of the Designers and Art Directors Association (D&AD) 1997: Fellow of Royal Society of Arts * 1998: Fellow of the Royal College of Art * 2001: Visiting Professor University of the Arts London, The London Institute (now University of the Arts London)

Commissions

* 1999: Stamps for Royal Mail: Magna Carta Millennium serie

* 2002: Poems on the buses for Transport for London * 2002: Posters for the National Theatre's Transformation season of plays * 2002: Stamps for the Royal Mail: Love Occasion series * 2001/2003: Typographic artwork for The Guardian Newspaper * 2003: Typographic artworks for VSO poster campaign 'We need professionals' * 2003: Typographic mural for The Guardian Newspaper building reception Kiss, Graphic Poetry.jpg, Kiss - Graphic Poetry National Theatre Poster 'Transformation!'.jpg, Poster for National Theatre Transformation series. File:Why Iraq? Why Now?.jpg, Iraq war demo poster for The Guardian File:Alan Kitching on Press at The Guardian.jpg, Guardian graphic File:The Media Guardian 100.jpg, Guardian graphic File:Spirited, The Guardian.jpg, 'Spirited' for The Guardian File:Boldly, The Guardian.jpg, 'Boldly' for The Guardian File:Glory to the New Born King.jpg, Glory to the New Born King File:Big Top, The Wrington Suite.jpg, 'The Big Top' - The Wrington Suite File:Burned Books.jpg, Burning books File:Magna Carta Stamp.jpg, Magna Carta File:Stellar Reflections, The Wrington Suite.jpg, Stellar File:Advertisement for Kew Gardens, 1999.jpg, Kew Gardens File:A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever.jpg, A thing of beauty

Exhibitions

1992: Gallery at Pentagram, SOLO SHOW * 1993: Royal College of Art, SOLO SHOW * 1994: Crafts Council 'True to Type', 5 works, catalogue, * 1994: D&AD "Festival of Excellence', 4 works * 1994: Paperpoint shop, several works * 1996: '20 Designers for a Silhouette', Centre Pompidou, Paris * 1996: Royal Mail Stamps, London * 1997: 'British Graphic Design', Cologne, Germany * 1997: The Gallery at Pentagram, London * 1998: Coningsby Gallery SOLO SHOW * 2000: 'Powerhouse', UK * 2001: Gallery at Pentagram, 'In Darkest England' * 1998: The British Pavilion, 'Information expertise @ UK'; The Library and Information Commission, Amsterdam * 1999: 'A K TypeArt 98', The Coningsby Gallery, London, one man show * 2002: Gallery at Pentagram, London, one man show * 2004: Public Address System, London and Berlin * 2004: Pax Britannica, London Advanced Graphics London * 2016: Somerset Hous

* 2016: Suffolk * 2016: The Lighthouse, Glasgow

Talks and conferences

* 1994: icograda, London * 1995: icograda, Lisbon * 1995: AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale), Amalfi, Italy * 1997: AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale), Barcelona, Spain * 1998: A Typ.1, Lyon, France * 2002: University of NSW Sydney & AGI Ideas Melbourne Australia * 2002: AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale), Zurich/Pontresina, Switzerland * 2003: Typo3 Johannesburg SA * 2004: London College of Communication 23/6/04 * 2004: Forum Laus, Barcelona May 2004 * 2005: AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale), Berlin

Guest lectures / Workshops

* 1999-2000: Hereford - College of Art * 2000: Rotterdam - Willem de Kooning Academie * 2002: Copenhagen - I T University * 2004: D&AD Workout * 2004: University of Delaware * 2015: Workshop, Tipoteca, Italy Books on Alan Kitching or featuring work * 1966: 'Frontiers of Printmaking', Michael Rothenstein, Library of Congress 66-24551 * 1974 Printed in Watford, Watford School of Art, Herts. * 1993: The Sixties, David Mellor * 1994: D&AD Annual * 1995: D&AD Annual * 1996 D&AD Annual * 1996: 'G1 subj: contemp, design, graphic, * 1996: 'A Double Life of 80 AGI designers .....' Armando Milani/Burgo * 1997 'First Choice', Ken Cato, ISBN * 1999: Royal Mail Millennium Stamps * 1999: New Design: London, The Edge of Graphic Design, Ed. E.M.Gomez, Rockport, USA, D&AD Annual * 2001: Master of the 20th Century, Ed. Mervyn Kurlansky/Icograda, Graphis, New York * 2000: Anthony Froshaug: Typography & Texts (2 vols), Robin Kinross * 2002: Helvetica – Homage to a Typeface, Lars Müller, Switzerland * 2003: Creative Island, John Sorrell, Lawrence King, * 2002: The Graphics Book, D&AD, Rotovision, * 2003: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Graphic Design and Designers * 2015: A-Z in Letterpress, Laurence King, London, * 2016: A Life in Letterpress, Laurence King, London

Bibliography

1970: 'Typography Manual', School of Art, Watford College of Technology 2016.
A life in Letterpress
Laurence King, London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitching, Alan 1940 births Living people British typographers and type designers