Always Now: Typography and Semiotics

Peter Saville in conversation with Paul Barnes

Thursday 14 March 2024

Location: St Bride Foundation and Online via Zoom

In-person time (GMT):
Doors/bar: 18:15
Talk: 19:00-20:30
In-person tickets: SOLD OUT.

Please note: In person tickets for this event are no longer available. Online tickets only.

Online time (GMT):
19:00-20:30
Online tickets: £5, £7

Please note: you will be emailed the Zoom link at 18:00 GMT on the day of the talk.

Book tickets HERE

Throughout his career, Peter Saville has consistently put type to work, often in conjunction with imagery, to elegantly sign the ‘way' for many of us. In conversation with his friend and typographic consultant, Paul Barnes, Saville will discuss how his work, from his time as Co-founder and Art Director of legendary UK label Factory Records through to a more recent collaboration with Sir Jonathan Ive’s studio LoveFrom, has been informed by an intuitive understanding of the semiotic power typography has to shape contemporary culture.

Peter Saville (b.1955, Manchester, England). As co-founder and art director of the independent UK record label Factory Peter Saville created some of the most iconic record covers of all time, best exemplified by those he designed for Joy Division and New Order between 1979–1993. His radical approach seemed to break all the rules, sometimes omitting information about artists or titles, or employing visual codes, fundamentally questioning modes of consumption and communication.

Paul Barnes (b. 1970) is a graphic designer specializing in the fields of lettering, typography, type design and publication design. He is partner with Christian Schwartz at Commercial Type, a type foundry based in London and New York.

commercialtype.com

We would like to thank Google and The Wynkyn de Worde Society Charitable Trust for their generosity in sponsoring this lecture.