Political upheaval, consolidation of power, changes in social structure, and challenges to the status quo have often impacted the design world and have resulted in modifications of scripts and typefaces. In this course we will analyze the role of letterforms in the service of political power or in formulating challenges to that power.
Grendl Löfkvist is the Education Director at the Archive and teaches type history and theory in the Type West program. Outside the Archive, Grendl teaches the history of graphic design, book arts, typography, and letterpress printing at City College of San Francisco, as well as calligraphy at the San Francisco Center for the Book. Grendl has ink in her veins: she was an offset press operator for 20 years; and she serves on the board of directors for the American Printing History Association’s Northern California chapter. Her interests include the study of printing as a subversive “Black Art” and she’s always on the lookout for bizarre or macabre print, type, and lettering lore (she is a bit of a goth).