Colin Brignall (born 1942) is an English

type 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 ...

and photographer. In addition to designing typefaces himself, he has worked as a type director and typographic consultant to

Letraset Letraset was a company known mainly for manufacturing sheets of typefaces and other artwork elements using the dry transfer method. Letraset has been acquired by the Colart group and become part of its subsidiary Winsor & Newton. Corporate histor ...

and the

International Typeface Corporation The International Typeface Corporation (ITC) was a type manufacturer founded in New York in 1970 by Aaron Burns, Herb Lubalin and Edward Rondthaler. The company was one of the world's first type foundries to have no history in the production of me ...

(ITC), selecting and overseeing other designers' typefaces.

Early life and career

Brignall was born in 1942 in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. He began his career as a

press photographer Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

in London, and in 1963 joined the type design studio

as a photographic technician. While working at Letraset, he developed an interest in typography and began to design his own typefaces, despite having no formal training. He produced numerous typefaces for Letraset's

dry transfer Dry transfers (also called rub-ons or rubdowns) are decals that can be applied without the use of water or other solvent. The decal itself is on a backing material such as paper or plastic sheeting much like a transparency. The dry transfer is ...

range beginning in the 1960s, including Aachen (1969), Premier Shaded (1970),

Harlow Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upp ...

(1977) and Superstar (1977). He later designed Italia (1977), Romic (1979), Corinthian (1981) and Edwardian (1983), which were designed for use in text rather than display, in contrast to his earlier work. In 1980, Brignall became Type Director at Letraset, a role in which he was responsible for the selection and art direction of all new typefaces released by Letraset. He left Letraset in 1995 and was appointed Typographic Consultant to the

(ITC) in 1996, scouting new typefaces and designers. At ITC, he collaborated with other designers on several historical typeface revivals, including ITC

Rennie Mackintosh Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdo ...

, ITC Golden Cockerel and ITC Founder's

Caslon Caslon is the name given to serif typefaces designed by William Caslon I (c. 1692–1766) in London, or inspired by his work. Caslon worked as an engraver of punches, the masters used to stamp the moulds or matrices used to cast metal ty ...

. He later rejoined Letraset as Typographic Consultant. The

Type Directors Club The Type Directors Club (TDC) is an international organization devoted to typography and type design, founded in 1946 in New York City. TDC believes that type drives culture, and that culture drives type—and is dedicated to cataloging, showcas ...

awarded Brignall their TDC Medal in 2000, largely for his work in sourcing, directing and encourage the work of other type designers. It was the 20th medal awarded by the club in 32 years and the first presented outside the United States. Individually, Brignall has designed over 100 alphabets.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brignall, Colin 1942 births English typographers and type designers English art directors Artists from Warwickshire Living people