Paul Shaw
Grendl Löfkvist
B207 Print it Black: Koch Textura
Although better known for his sans serif Kabel and Neuland typefaces, Rudolf Koch was a master of blackletter. His interpretations of blackletter styles, especially textura, were personal, expressionistic, idiosyncratic, modern, and innovative. This workshop will explore Koch’s powerful interpretations of textura as type, calligraphy, and woodcuts by combining calligraphy with letterpress printing.
Paul will first deconstruct Koch’s textura in its various forms. Participants will learn the letters in a systematic way that allows room for personal interpretation. They will create a text and then refine their calligraphic design until it is both visually strong and press-ready. Grendl will then lead the participants in cutting out the design and printing it on a proof press.
Supply List
- Higgins Eternal black ink
- 1/2" Automatic pen or suede-covered pen
- 11" x 14" bond paper
- 20 lb or 24 lb 9" x 12" tracing vellum
- 10" x 15" 80 lb cardstock or other similar press paper
- Lightweight washi paper if using a baren to print by hand
- Scissors
- Snap knives
- Cutting mat (9" x 12" minimum size)
- Band-aids
Materials Fee
Paul Shaw is a calligrapher/ typographer/ graphic designer/ design historian. He is the author of Blackletter Primer, the co-author of the catalogue Blackletter: Type and National Identity, and editor of The Eternal Letter. He taught calligraphy at New York City-area universities and design schools from 1980 to 2015. A longtime member of the Society of Scribes, Ltd. and the Friends of Calligraphy, he has taught nine workshops on various blackletter hands in the past dozen years. With Grendl Löfkvist, Paul has recently taught combination calligraphy and letterpress printing workshops on Neuland and Rudolf Koch’s textura at the Hamilton Wayzgoose. Paul currently teaches the history of type at Parsons School of Design and the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
Grendl Löfkvist is the Education Director at Letterform Archive in San Francisco, where she teaches type history and theory in the year-long postgraduate Type West program in type design. She also teaches the history of graphic design, book arts, calligraphy, and letterpress printing at City College of San Francisco, and offers letterpress and calligraphy workshops at the San Francisco Center for the Book.