Salvatori and Sekford carve an era of type onto stone

Clerkenwell-based watch brand Sekford and Italian stone specialist Salvatori have collaborated to create a timeline of typography, carved by the UK’s top lettering sculptors

(Image credit: TBC)

By Sujata Burman

last updated 18 August 2022

in Features

‘Typography evokes a period. Even if you don’t know anything about typography, you sort of know what period it is from,’ says Sekford creative director Kuchar Swara on the power of type. In a special new collaboration, the most prominent typographical periods in history have been engraved into Italian brand Salvatori's stone wares in celebration of typography's evolution.

In an effort to honour the art form, Sekford set out to explore lettering through a technique that inspired its dials: stonemasonry. Titled 'Cutting Through Time', the exhibition went on show during London Design Festival last month, with 26 letters and 12 numbers that delved into a typographical timeline from Ancient Greek and Imperial Roman, to Bauhaus via handsome stones and eloquent carving methods.

typography on a slate — *A hand-carved slate in typeface designer and sculptor Richard Kindersley's studio*

Sekford approached British typeface designer and stone letter carver Richard Kindersley to rally the nation’s top cutters for the project. Together, they took on the task of working with Salvatori's impressive catalogue for the first time in this way, mastering the shapes in textured fine stones including Pietra d'Avola for Bauhaus, Silk Georgette for Scotch Roman and Avana for Gill and Johnston.

Aside from the challenge, Swara intended the exercise to be an educational one, distinguishing a visual narrative of the different styles. 'If you look at the very first one, the Ancient Greek letterings are so fine, simple and pure,’ he says. ‘There is almost a line coming back, a full circle when you look at the Bauhaus lettering. The postmodernist interpretations also have simple lines, no thick and thin stresses – it's all to do with the angles.’ To wit, the stones evoke the genesis of type, where decorative experimentation had a moment, but circled back to clean line work.

The timeline concludes on the contemporary carving, which is relatively open to interpretation. Realised in 7, 8 and 0, the designs exude surprisingly decorative shapes, yet still in a modern aesthetic, keeping in line with typography’s intimate tale of ‘going back to go forward.’

Man typing on a slate — Sekford approached lettering master Richard Kindersley, pictured here in his studio, to spearhead the project

Typography — Entitled ‘Cutting Through Time,’ the exhibition proposes a typographical timeline from Ancient Greek to Bauhaus-inspired type

INFORMATION

For more information, vist the Sekford website

Sujata Burman is a writer and editor based in London, specialising in design and culture. She was Digital Design Editor at Wallpaper* before moving to her current role of Head of Content at London Design Festival and London Design Biennale where she is expanding the content offering of the showcases. Over the past decade, Sujata has written for global design and culture publications, and has been a speaker, moderator and judge for institutions and brands including RIBA, D&AD, Design Museum and Design Miami/. In 2019, she co-authored her first book, An Opinionated Guide to London Architecture, published by Hoxton Mini Press, which was driven by her aim to make the fields of design and architecture accessible to wider audiences.