The Typographic Hub, part of Birmingham City University's Design and the Creative Industries Centre of Excellence, works to promote the history, theory and practice of typographic design.
We've just launched the all-new Typographic Hub website which is full to the brim with articles, research and forthcoming typographical events, as well as a section all about Birmingham's own typographic heritage. Definitely one for the font geeks!
We worked closely with archivist and Research Fellow, Dr Caroline Archer, to ensure the logo and overall look of the site is sympathetic to the subject matter – and the hub's location.
For example, the masthead is set in Elephant from Steven Shanks (recast for Birmingham's Kynoch Press in the 1930s) and the background pattern is made from tessellating a John Baskerville glyph.
The website homepage is a complementary contrast to the in-depth Articles and Research within, being highly visual. The entire site is structured simply and clearly, to enable those searching for something specific to easily locate the information they're after, as well as encouraging casual browsing.
An easy-to-update Diary section holds forthcoming events which may be of interest to the site's visitors, and within Heritage you can find out about Birmingham's myriad links with the art, craft and industry of typography.
The Typographic Hub website launch caused a huge stir in the typographic community, all across the world; reinforcing its importance and reputation as a growing typographic resource.
Currently in development is a bespoke, searchable catalogue database, which will enable people to browse the contents of the Typographic Hub library, which currently holds over 4,000 reference books, journals, periodicals, trade literature and other items of typographic ephemera.
Supercool were a fabulous team to work with. They fully understood the practical requirements of the site and interpreted the design brief perfectly.
Dr Caroline Archer
