Classic Typefaces: American Type and Type Designers

by David Consuegra

Illuminates the people behind America's typographic legacy. Graphic designers will enrich their understanding of American type design and type designers with this unique and extensive reference. The fascinating history of type in America is chronicled through the typefaces and biographies of sixty-two of the most influential type designers, including Linn Boyd Benton, Morris Fuller Benton, and Darius Wells, and through the description and history of nine American type foundries. Complete with samples of 334 different typefaces, and 700 black-and-white illustrations, this eye-popping reference reveals the expansive contribution America has made to the world of type design. 700 black-and-white illustrations

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2011

About the author

Born in 1939 in Bucaramanga, the capital of the Colombian Department of Santander. At the age of 16, he traveled to the United States to study fine arts at Boston University, where he graduated cum laude. He then went to Yale University, where he graduated with highest marks in 1963 and was made a professor. He worked with Paul Rand at his New York studio.

He returned to Colombia, becoming a university professor at Universidad de los Andes, Universidad Nacional (where he was designated professor emeritus in 1991) and Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, where he founded the first graphic design studies program at a Colombian university in 1967. However, he participated in Universidad Nacional's advertising design contests in 1966, 1977, and 1982, which changed his career path to being a graphic designer.

In 1964 and 1968 respectively, he founded the magazines Nova and Acteón. Also in 1964, the Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá (MamBo) hired him as a graphic designer. Consuegra would design the logo for the museum. He continued to teach; he would also be a visiting professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1984 and Barcelona University in 1998. He also published works, including a translation and edit of Rudolf Koch's The Book of Signs, as well as his own: ABC del diseño de marcas; Origami, el arte del doblez; and El diseño tipográfico. In 1994, he joined Belgium's International Trademark Center.

He died on 30 October 2004, in Mexico City, while participating as a judge in an art contest there. He died of a heart attack. Colombia's National Graphic Design day is celebrated on the 30 of October to commemorate Consuegra's departure.