Samuel Winfield "Tommy" Thompson
(1906–1967)
was an American
calligrapher
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 ...
,
graphic artist and
typeface designer
Type design is the art and process of designing typefaces. This involves drawing each letterform using a consistent style. The basic concepts and design variables are described below.
A typeface differs from other modes of graphic production su ...
. He was born
Blue Point, New York
Blue Point is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 5,156 at the 2020 census.
Blue Point is in the Town of Brookhaven.
Geography
According to the United States Censu ...
. In 1944 he became the first designer to earn royalties for a type design, from
Photo Lettering Inc. for his
Thompson Quill Script. Previously, designers had worked in house for foundries or had sold the rights to their faces outright. He maintained a studio in
Norwalk,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
and was the author of several books on type and lettering.
Typefaces
Thompson designed all of these
foundry types:
*
Post Headletter (1943,
Monotype
Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The ...
), privately cast for the
Saturday Evening Post.
*
Collier Heading (1946,
Monotype
Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The ...
), privately cast for
Collier's Magazine
''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...
.
*
Mademoiselle (1953,
Baltimore Type Foundry), matrices cut by
Herman Schnorr. Originally cast for
Mademoiselle Magazine, but later offered for general sale.
*
Baltimore Script (1955,
Baltimore Type Foundry), matrices cut by
George Battee
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
.
* Additional weights of
Futura for
Intertype (1950s).
*
Thompson Quill Script (1953,
American Type Founders
American Type Founders (ATF) Co. was a business trust created in 1892 by the merger of 23 type foundries, representing about 85% of all type manufactured in the United States. De Vinne, Theodore Low, ''The Practice of Typography,'' Century Com ...
), this was also made available for
phototypesetting by
Photo Lettering Inc.
In addition, he prepared a version of Baskerville for the ATF Typesetter; this was the first 7-unit typeface for the machine, which previously used 5-unit typefaces similar to those used by the Justowriter on which it was built.
[Underwood, Richard G., ''Production and Manufacturing Problems of American University Presses,'' Association of American University Presses, 1960.] (Later, in 1964, the ATF Typesetter Model B-8, offered an 18-increment system allowing further improved typesetting.)
Books
* ''The script letter; its form, construction and application,'' New York, The Studio Publications Inc., 1939.
* ''The ABC Of Our Alphabet, 1945.
* ''How to render roman letter forms. A pattern for understanding and drawing roman letters and other styles of lettering and type faces related to them,'' New York, American Studio Books, 1946.
* ''Basic layout design; a pattern for understanding the basic motifs in design and how to apply them to graphic art problems,'' New York, Studio Publications, in association with Crowell, c. 1950.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Tommy
American typographers and type designers
1906 births
1967 deaths
People from Blue Point, New York