Dante: A Typographic Conversation with Barrie Tullett and Dr Catherine Dixon

A conversation hosted online by the International Society of Typographic Design (ISTD) to offer insight into typographic practice and research. This conversation was held between myself and designer Barrie Tullett about his project ‘A typographic Dante’, a body of more than 100 letterpress, typewriter and letraset works made over three decades to illustrate Dante’s ‘The Divine Comedy’, a 384-page poem written between 1308–1320 and originally published in 1472 which describes a journey through Inferno (Hell), Purgatory and Paradise. The event was convened and introduced by Brendy Dermody, Deputy Head of Education and fellow of the ISTD.

The conversation between Barrie and I was semi-structured in that I had prepared questions around certain themes in advance, so that we could plan the time and align our words to relevant images being screened as we spoke. The intention overall was to set out the scope of the work and the significance of what has been achieved in terms of the contribution made through the practice to typographic knowledge-generation.

The conversation explored:
. the range of approaches to the relationship between text and image and what Dante scholar Mika Private-Carlone identifies as a unique bridging of the ‘tacit gap between text and illustration, between word and image.’
. the value of experimentation in enquiry and identification of the practitioners that paved the way for such an approach.
. the ‘alchemy of print’ and the contribution of the different ‘dead’ technologies to the project – how to balance ideas of the ‘traditional’ with the ‘anarchical’ and the benefits of subverting processes in contexts they weren’t designed for.
. the importance of maintaining links in practice to the past, to help us understand the present and future.
. ways of making as an opportunity for enhancing a sense of accessibility to the practice of typography
. how practice informs teaching
. the value of reflection in enquiry through practice and the balance of endeavour with self-doubt

In summary this was a live event (with ongoing free access to the recording and transcript) which offers detailed insights into aspect of typographic practice and research in a richly visual, very accessible and, through the interactive nature of the conversation, a very human way.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GolWQYQh...