David Shields

I just signed a @theactionnetwork.bsky.social petition: Higher Ed Needs Collective Bargaining: Restore All Higher Education Workers' Collective Bargaining Rights. Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/hi...

I’m down with Bad Bunny’s pan-Americanism! Benito ftw!

Alamo Drafthouse was bought out by Sony in ‘24, and now the corporation is shredding basic components of what made the Alamo a great place so watch a movie (and grab a bite), I know such a shocker. Sign the petition to end this myopic corporate view of automated “efficiency” https://c.org/jz4NqMBPnC

Some noodling on the RISO w/ variants of Page & Co’s Gothic Paneled — 1st shown in 1874’s _Specimen of Chromatic Wood Type…_ & patented on 3 March 1874 as US Design Patent 7,230. http://www.woodtyperesearch.com/chromatic-gothic-paneled/ #WoodType #TypeSpecimen #TypeDesign #letterforms #typography

HBD William Thomas Morgans born 2 July 1844! He was one of the dominant producers & innovators of wood type in the US in the late 1870s, as founding partner of the wood type companies Young & Morgans (1876) then Morgans & Wilcox Mfg Co (1880) http://www.woodtyperesearch.com/william-morgans #WoodType

I’ve updated the list of Rob Roy Kelly’s 1964 folio w/ newly located copies http://www.woodtyperesearch.com. No 5, in a private collection, was Kelly’s personal copy, recently consigned by his daughter. #WoodType #TypeSpecimen #type #typography #LetterForms #NineteenthCentury #Archives #Bibliography

I just backed The Coast Manual of Lettering and Designs on @kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com/projects/coa...

(Late) springtime in the high desert.

Darius Wells born 26 April 1800 Kingsboro, NY. Invented the router (lateral revolving cutting tool) to make the 1st machine cut #WoodType in 1828. An active abolitionist he ran a station on the underground railroad in Patterson, NJ helping enslaved humans move north to Canada to live as free humans.

Accidental typographic palimpsests, encountered in Special Collections at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. ———
#WoodType #letterforms #typography #archives #libraries #collections #bibliography #TypeSpecimen #TypeDesign #TypeHistory #letterpress #type #design #NineteethCentury #Palimpsest

HBD Henry P Hamilton born 21 Apr 1862 youngest of 3 brothers, worked with older brthr George at _The Detroit Record_ as a printer & then with oldest brthr James at Hamilton & Baker, later Hamilton Mfg Co Credited patents USD37308 & 37309 http://www.woodtyperesearch.com/hamilton-mfg-672-673 #WoodType

Not sure what will come of it, but l’m giving Bluesky’a Flashes a whirl (w/ a different account handle)… @19cwt-obscura.bsky.social I believe in a decentralized web (and maybe even buy into it being “billionaire-proof”) so I’m also federated at… typo.social/@19cWT & pixelfed.social/@19cWT

Howdy! As an introduction… I’m David, he/him. A typographer & archivist. I also teach design at VCU in Richmond, VA, USA, and author & designer of _The Rob Roy Kelly American Wood Type Collection: A History and Catalog_. Wrapped up my MLIS degree and working on making my way to more archival work.

Here are the options on the table (which are not mutually exclusive): 1. House Dems bring articles of impeachment* 2. Senate Dems play constitutional hardball and obstruct everything 3. State AGs litigate (and prosecute) everything they can 4. Citizens march en mass

A friend sent me some 1980s catalogues from a Biswanath Studio in Calcutta that collect the shop’s readymade wood blocks. They feature delightful lettered units in Bangla and Latin mostly. I find it particularly educational to see the same phrases lettered in dozens of different styles.

Some of the best writing* on the topic of typography can be found in the _Typography Papers_ published at The University of Reading within the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication. They are now available to read online. typography.network/typographypa... *I might be biased.

I’m voting Anne De Marcken’s _It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Gone_ as my favorite read of 2024. It’s a lovely hybrid of genres (speculative fiction, horror, fantasy…) It also won the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. Compelling story questioning what it means to be human, impeccably written.

HBD! George Case Setchell born 17 Dec 1838 in Norwich, CT. He was a typecutter for Page & Co in ‘68 & later perfected the die-cut method. http://www.woodtyperesearch.com/setchell/ 
#WoodType #letterforms #typography #archives #libraries #bibliography #TypeSpecimen #TypeHistory #letterpress

Just spending sometime outside with the art in town.

Today in pulp I look back at the simple idea that launched a thousand fanzines: Letraset! Launched in 1959 by Dai Davies and Fred Mackenzie it heralded a graphic design revolution that brought funky fonts and trendy typefaces to the masses... #fontsunday #booksky

Amazing crowdsourcing project by Richard Ardagh documenting the Type Archive in London. Stunning, handsome, pretty, luxe, erudite…pick your adjectives & consider supporting the project! vol.co/collections/... #typography #letterpress #archives #libraries #collections #bibliography #WoodType #design

Dafi Kühne’s phenomenal follow up to _True Print_ arrived in my post box this morning. Wow wow. _Poster Cult!_ is an excellent addition to any library! (Plus the attention to production detail is just over the top.) #typography #posters #woodtype #letterpress #books