French Type Foundries in the twentieth century
This dissertation recounts the evolution of French type design throughout
the twentieth century, in an attempt to understand what caused its gradual
weakening and the eventual demise of the industry in the 1970s. The study focuses
on the activity of the French foundries and the manufacturing of type in France
during the last hundred years.
The first part gives an overview of the policies followed by the type foundries in the
first half of the twentieth century. It shows how the French type design industry
started to decline because it ignored the threat of hot metal, and developed ideas
apart from the modernism flourishing in the rest of Europe during this period.
In the second part, the period of prosperity that followed the Second World War is
analysed. The initiatives undertaken by a hard-core of personalities to renew the type
design scene and cultivate an awareness of typography are highlighted; this review
is followed by an attempt to understand the sudden closure of the French foundries
in the 1970s. In the third part, the consequences of this demise are studied: the slack
period that followed the closure of the foundries, as well as the actions undertaken in
the 1980s to establish a French education in type design. The study finishes with an
appraisal of the influence of digital technologies and the internet on the French
practice of type design.
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