Arthur Baker ( – December 2016) was the creator of a distinctive and dramatic style of brush and pen

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

Biography

Baker grew up in Berkeley, California. He attended school on the West Coast of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and New York City, where he studied under Oscar Ogg,

George Salter George Salter (5 October 1897 – 31 October 1967), born Georg Salter, was an originally German, and from 1940 onwards an American book cover designer. He revolutionized cover design for books. He claimed worldwide fame for his design for Alfred D ...

, and Tommy Tompson. Baker studied letterforms and historical calligraphic styles, about which he wrote many books. Baker also designed typefaces, and his own pens and brushes. Baker lived most of his life in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

. His hobbies included designing, making and flying paper airplanes. Baker died in December 2016, at the age of 86. His archive is held at

Letterform Archive Letterform Archive is a non-profit museum and special collections library in San Francisco, California dedicated to collecting materials on the history of lettering, typography, printing, and graphic design. It is curated by graphic designer Rob S ...

Typefaces

*Amigo *Baker Sans—

Eddie Bauer Eddie Bauer, LLC is an American clothing store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Eddie Bauer sells its merchandise via retail stores, outlet stores, and online and via phone, with a call center in Groveport, Ohio. Its flagship store is ...

catalog logo and text. *Baker Signet—designed in 1965. *Calligraphica *Cold Mountain *Collier Script *Daybreak *Duckweed *Fish Face *Hiroshige *Kigali *Kigali Block *Kigali Decorative *Kigali ZigZag *Marigold *Mercator *Oak Graphic *Oxford *Pelican *Sassafras *Signet—

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

used Signet Bold for the word 'Coke' and

Fleet Bank FleetBoston Financial was a Boston, Massachusetts-based bank created in 1999 by the merger of Fleet Financial Group and BankBoston. In 2004 it merged with Bank of America; all of its banks and branches were converted to Bank of America. History ...

uses it for its logo. *Tiepolo—

Lipton Lipton is a British brand of tea, owned by Ekaterra. Lipton was also a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, later sold to Argyll Foods, after which the company sold only tea. The company is named after its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton, who fo ...

foods. *Visigoth

Bibliography

“Arthur Baker”, in David Consuegra, ''American Type Design and Designers'' (New York: Allworth Press, 2004), page 49-53

Books by Arthur Baker

*Arthur Baker, ''Calligraphic Alphabets'', (Dover, 1974) *Arthur Baker, ''The Roman Alphabet'', (Art Direction Book Co., 1976) *Arthur Baker, ''Dance of the pen'', (Art Direction Book Co., 1978) *Arthur Baker, ''New Calligraphic Ornaments and Flourishes'', (Mineola: Dover, 1981) *Arthur Baker, ''Chancery Cursive: Stroke by Stroke'', (Dover, 1982) *Arthur Baker, ''Cut and Assemble Paper Airplanes That Fly'', (Dover, 1982) *Arthur Baker, ''Celtic Hand Stroke by Stroke (Irish Half-Uncial from "The Book of Kells")'', (Dover, 1983) *Arthur Baker, ''Calligraphic cut paper designs for artists and craftsmen'', (Mineola: Dover, 1983) *Arthur Baker, ''Calligraphic Swash Initials'', (Dover, 1984) *Arthur Baker, ''Arthur Baker's Historic Calligraphic Alphabets'', (Dover) *Arthur Baker, ''Encyclopedia of Calligraphy Styles''

References

External links

Biographical sketch and designer page on MyFonts.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Arthur 20th-century births Year of birth uncertain 2016 deaths American calligraphers American male non-fiction writers People from Berkeley, California