Samuel Winfield "Tommy" Thompson (1906–1967) was an American calligrapher,

graphic artist A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, p ...

and typeface designer. He was born Blue Point, New York. In 1944 he became the first designer to earn royalties for a type design, from

Photo Lettering Inc. A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

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 and was the author of several books on type and lettering.

Typefaces

Thompson designed all of these foundry types: * Post Headletter (1943, Monotype), privately cast for the

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

. *

Collier Heading Samuel Winfield "Tommy" Thompson (1906–1967) was an American calligrapher, graphic artist and typeface designer. He was born Blue Point, New York. In 1944 he became the first designer to earn royalties for a type design, from Photo Lettering Inc ...

(1946, Monotype), privately cast for Collier's Magazine. *

Mademoiselle Mademoiselle (abbreviated as ''Mlle'' or ''M'') may refer to: * Mademoiselle (title), the French-language equivalent of the title "miss" Film and television * ''Mademoiselle'' (1966 film), a French-British drama directed by Tony Richardson * '' ...

(1953,

Baltimore Type Foundry There have been two, unrelated firms using the name Baltimore Type Foundry. First Baltimore Type Foundry The first Baltimore Type Foundry, considered to be the second oldest type foundry in the United States, was founded around 1799 by Samuel So ...

), matrices cut by

Herman Schnorr Herman may refer to: People * Herman (name), list of people with this name * Saint Herman (disambiguation) * Peter Noone (born 1947), known by the mononym Herman Places in the United States * Herman, Arkansas * Herman, Michigan * Herman, Minn ...

. Originally cast for Mademoiselle Magazine, but later offered for general sale. *

Baltimore Script Samuel Winfield "Tommy" Thompson (1906–1967) was an American calligrapher, graphic artist and typeface designer. He was born Blue Point, New York. In 1944 he became the first designer to earn royalties for a type design, from Photo Lettering I ...

(1955,

), 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), this was also made available for

phototypesetting Phototypesetting is a method of setting type. It uses photography to make columns of type on a scroll of photographic paper. It has been made obsolete by the popularity of the personal computer and desktop publishing (digital typesetting). Th ...

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