ERIC GILL’S CALLIGRAPHY, AS SHOWN IN THIS GREETING TO HIS SON, ANTHONY.  LETTERFORM ARCHIVE, SAN FRANCISCO
1928 INK DRAWINGS FOR GILL SANS TITLING CAPS, THE FIRST STYLE OF WHAT WOULD BECOME A LARGE FAMILY OF TYPEFACES
GILL’S NOTES ON A 1937 PROOF FOR GILL SANS MEDIUM CONDENSED, WITH SKETCHES DETAILING HIS PREFERRED SHAPES FOR CERTAIN CHARACTERS
1937 DRAWINGS FOR GILL SANS BOLD EXTRA CONDENSED SHOW HOW FREELY GILL ADAPTED THE FORMS OF SANS LETTERS AS THE FAMILY GREW
MONOTYPE NEWSLETTER NO. 5 (1932) FEATURED MORE OF THE RAPIDLY EXPANDING GILL SANS FAMILY ALONGSIDE MORE ESTABLISHED MONOTYPE FACES
DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF GILL SANS SHADOW NO. 3 WERE TESTED BEFORE ITS RELEASE IN 1932
THE WIDESPREAD POPULARITY OF GILL SANS INSPIRED MANY PLAYFUL DISPLAY STYLES, SHOWN HERE WITH GILL’S NOTES AND ALTERATIONS
GILL’S REVISED DRAWINGS FROM OCTOBER 1932 SHOW THE GILL KAYO DESIGN THAT WAS FINALLY PRODUCED
COPPER PATTERN PLATES FOR JOANNA, CREATED AS AN INTERMEDIATE STEP BETWEEN THE 10-INCH PRODUCTION DRAWINGS AND TYPE CAST AT THE FINAL SIZE
BY 1967, THE MONOTYPE NEWSLETTER WAS FEATURING VERSIONS OF GILL SANS THAT HAD BEEN ADAPTED FOR PHOTOTYPESETTING

Eric Gill Series Exhibition. An advance view.

 The Eric Gill Series Exhibition will be on display in London next week. I’ve been given a unique opportunity to look through the exhibits in advance and share some of my favourite pieces with you.

The exhibition about the designs of Eric Gill will run for one week only, from 4th -10th November and will present rarely seen materials from the Monotype Archive and those of private collections together for the first time.    

Expect to see hand-drawings documenting the development of the Gill Sans typeface, test prints for display fonts that were never digitized, and copper plates revealing the production process of early letterpress typefaces.

Among the rarely seen type artefacts you can also experience interactive installations and type-inspired microbrews—all celebrating the past and future of Gill’s most beloved type designs, Gills Sans and Joanna.

Designers and type-lovers are invited to explore the new Eric Gill Series typefaces through our archive exhibition and interactive installations and workshops. Sign-up here

If you can’t make it, follow @ByMonotype on Instagram for sneak peeks of the exhibits.

Click on images above for captions.