Michael Harvey was a designer’s designer, revered by other graphic artists and letter carvers, but little known outside those hallowed circles.
This exhibition at Suffolk’s Lettering Arts Centre hopes to change that, as it brings together Harvey’s collected works; from myriad book jackets and digital fonts to his letters carved into stone.
Harvey, who died in 2013, started out as a stone carver in the 1950s, working under Eric Gill’s first apprentice, Joseph Cribb. Although he was highly influenced by Gill, Harvey was also inspired by wood engraver, engraver, designer, typographer and painter Reynolds Stone, and was his assistant in the 1950s. German font designers Georg Trump and Hermann Zapf were other important influences.
From the 1960s to the 1990s his career was dominated by book jacket design – he produced around 1,500 elegant typographic offerings for publishing houses including Hodder & Stoughton, MacMillan, Chatto & Windus, Hamish Hamilton, Methuen and The Bodley Head.
In later years, Harvey designed a number of well-regarded digital fonts for the likes of software company Adobe, but the notebooks and drawings featured in the show at the artistic rural hub of Snape Maltings demonstrate that drawing was always at the front of his mind.
'Drawing frees the hand from the demands of the broad-edged pen, the sign-writer’s brush,' Harvey wrote in his 2012 memoir, Adventures with Letters. 'The pencil is neutral. Eye and mind are in control.'
The graphic mastery on display includes myriad book jackets, digital fonts, and his letters carved into stone
The exhibition hopes to expand Harvey's legacy further than the design community, where his work is revered
Harvey, who died in 2013, started out as a stone carver in the 1950s, working under Eric Gill’s first apprentice, Joseph Cribb
Although he was highly influenced by Gill, Harvey was also inspired by wood engraver, engraver, designer, typographer and painter Reynolds Stone, and was his assistant in the 1950s
German font designers Georg Trump and Hermann Zapf were other important influences
From the 1960s to the 1990s, Harvey’s career was dominated by book jacket design – he produced around 1,500 elegant typographic offerings for publishing houses including Hodder & Stoughton, MacMillan, Chatto & Windus, Hamish Hamilton, Methuen and The Bodley Head
In later years, Harvey designed a number of well-regarded digital fonts for the likes of software company Adobe...
... but the notebooks and drawings featured in the show demonstrate that drawing was always front of mind for Harvey
Pictured: Some of Michael Harvey's 1500 book jacket designs, available to rifle through at the exhibition
INFORMATION
’Michael Harvey: In His Own Words’ is on view from 25 March – 28 May. For more information, visit the Lettering Arts Centre’s website (opens in new tab)
Photography: Frank Barrett
ADDRESS
The Lettering Arts Centre
Snape Maltings
Near Aldeburgh
Suffolk, IP17 1SP
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