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Typography and Graphic Communication at Reading

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An afternoon well-spent earlier this week, exploring the mechanics of Monotype systems at Reading, as part of my Masters degree. I found myself moved, reminded of my Dad, and oddly welling up at the sight and sound of greased wheels turning; tools laying strewn atop a work bench.

Amidst the hiss of the heat and scent of metal, my mind turns to heritage crafts in their most immediate sense - ‘Master’ and ‘Apprentice’, a paternal lineage passed down from father to son.

Tin oil tankards and dust-covered brushes decorate the workshop, as I press letter-by-letter with pink glitter fingernails. Punching holes in the roll of a small plastic sheet, I spell out ‘To be or not to be, that is the question.’

This sheet, shiny to the light, is then fed through a type caster - its punch-cut holes denoting letters of the alphabet. Spitting out each letter one by one, I’m gifted a number ‘6’ which, as I write, I realise must be spinning in my washing machine. I love it here.

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In disbelief to share that after five or so years of trying, fretting and fear-of-failing, I’m starting my Masters at @uortypography, @uniofreading. A long-winded title, I know: ‘MA by Research in Typography and Graphic Communication’.

I’ll be part-time for the next two years, to begin building @tentativepress with purpose, continue working with @cvanwestmidlands amongst other people and places, and most importantly, to finally take my time on my own terms.

As lamented in personal essays, getting here has been hard. There was a time when this didn’t feel like an option for me, and any alternative presented was a hoop I had to jump through, a barrier I had to clamber. Now, those blockades set to stall me have disintegrated.

Between Birmingham and Reading, I’ll be thinking about love, about grief, about devotion and ornament. From the print room to the writing desk, here’s to new challenges.

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The Otto and Marie Neurath Isotype Collection (part of Lettering, Printing and Graphic Design Collections, University of Reading @uortypography ) has significant holdings about work on filmstrips undertaken by the Isotype Institute for Common Ground between 1952 and 1972. This includes correspondence, notes, sketches as well as filmstrips and accompanying booklets with notes for teachers (on Common ground also see @the.merl and @unirdg_collections)

In her blog, Professor Sue Walker @typowalker at the reveals the connections between Marie Neurath’s and the Isotype Institute’s children’s books and filmstrips, all part of resources designed to support visual education in schools in the mid-twentieth century.

All images are from the Otto and Marie Neurath Isotype Collection, reproduced with permission.

For the blog (and more images and more blogs) check the website link in our bio!

Image:

1. Example slide from the filmstrip Peter and Jean in the Country (1951).

#filmstrips

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2. Example slides from the filmstrip Peter and Jean in the Country (1951).

For the blog (and more images and more blogs) check the website link in our bio!

#filmstrips

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3 Spread from “How Cave Man Hunted Big Animals,” Living in Early Times (London; Max Parrish, 1948).

For the blog (and more images and more blogs) check the website link in our bio!

#filmstrips

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4. Marie Neurath’s sketch for “How Cave Man Hunted Big Animals.”

For the blog (and more images and more blogs) check the website link in our bio!

#filmstripstamps

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5. Frame from the filmstrips Cavemen and Hunters (1952), based on the same material as “How Cave Man Hunted Big Animals.”

For the blog (and more images and more blogs) check the website link in our bio!

#filmstrips

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To cap off our recap of the 2026 Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century Conference (a.k.a. /gʁafematik/) in Reading, UK, here’s one final collage of scholars whose talks collectively constellated the worlds of Unicode, blackletter, and Sri Lanken script, to name just a few. Big shout-outs to:
Zanna van Loon—How Material Forms Shape Early Modern Missionary Linguistic Knowledge
Yu Li—Graphematic Chineseness as Intertextual Discourse in the West
Keith Murphy—Unicode and the Resolution of Chaos into Order
Hanan Alshawi—Arabic Dominance and Latin Presence in Saudi Print
Sumanthri Samarawickrama—Script-Sensitive Typographic Classification of Visual Structures in Sinhala Newspaper Titles
Amalia Gnanadesikan—A Philographer’s Manifesto: How and Why a Linguist Studies Writing Systems
Helen Magowan—Disentangling Masculinity, Femininity and Chineseness in Japanese Script (the first thousand years)
Irmi Wachendorff—Entangled Histories, Divergent Readings: Perceptions of Blackletter Across European Contexts
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#hotpresssummer #grapholinguistics #archivesoutloud

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SEI in June 🌞

Featuring: the SIGCIS computer history conference at Berkeley, ISO/IEC 10646 character standards meetings in Paris, and Grafematik workshops and talks at Reading.

Thanks to all we crossed paths with for the fun and heated (in more ways than one..) conversations 🫠 🪭

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Pictured: Bethany talking up the Re(un)Covered Podcast recently at the 2026 Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century Conference (a.k.a. /gʁafematik/ ). As always, ask BQ anything about archives, design history, and the women of the hot metal type era!
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#hotpresssummer #grapholinguistics #archivesoutloud

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I was sad I couldn't attend the Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century conference in @uortypography in person, due to complications from the weather, but I very much enjoyed watching all the papers online! A few snippets from my own paper.

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Bethany’s in Reading, UK, this week for the 2026 Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century Conference (a.k.a. /gʁafematik/ ), and to beat the heat she got to participate in two amazing workshops with University of Reading’s own @geoffwyeth @gerryleonidas and @maddiisobelle •
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#hotpresssummer #grapholinguistics #archivesoutloud

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A dream come true: Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to conduct a workshop dedicated to archival material of the earliest period of digital type and typography at @stanford as part of the 2026 @atypi_org conference!

The Special Collections at Stanford hold unique primary source materials related to ᴍᴇᴛᴀғᴏɴᴛ, Donald Knuth and other key figures of Stanford’s short-lived Digital Typography program that was formed in 1982. We engaged with materials such as selected papers, drawings, printed code, photographs and more unconventional archival material like “digital smoke proofs” in order to understand why letterforms look a certain way, who made those decisions and how they may have informed a curriculum in digital type design.

A big thanks to all who participated in the tour and who shared the excitement for this subject! I am especially grateful to @firstgenprofessor & Audrey Gao of @stanfordsilicon, @nadabdalla & @laurence.penney of @atypi_org and Hanna Ahn & Benjamin Stone of Stanford University Archives for making this workshop a reality!

Photo credits:
slide 5 @briarlevit
8–10 @thomashuotmarchand

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March has been a month of meaningful conversations and connection.

I had the privilege of speaking at the @uniofbrighton and @uniofreading with students across Years 1, 2, & 3 in their graphic design pathways.

My talk titled, Producing Projects with Purpose, explored not only a range of publications created, but also my design process and practical tips that students can begin applying in their own practice.

What I always value most in these lectures is the Q&A part. The level of curiosity, honesty, and ambition at both universities was inspiring. There’s a real desire among students to challenge and reshape the norms within our industry. At the same time, you can feel the uncertainty—especially from those nearing graduation and stepping into the unknown.

It’s a reminder that those of us with experience have a responsibility to share what we’ve learned, to support, guide, and open doors for the next generation of creatives.

Thank you, Brighton & Reading. Until next time✌🏾

#University #GraphicDesign #Students

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Neste dia 6 de março apresentei minha primeira palestra na Inglaterra, na University of Reading, no Simpósio Global Perspectives on Lithographic Printing, in the Footsteps of Michael Twyman, traçando conexões entre minha pesquisa no Brasil e a realizada ano passado na Twyman collection. As sementes estão florescendo. Obrigada por tudo que você continua a me oferecer, Michael Twyman. ❤️🙏✨️

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