Wednesday, April 16, 2008

BBC4: Stephen Fry and the Gutenberg Press

This is a programme that I have been looking forward to for months*. Obviously, because Mr Fry is a great entertainer and one who we believe we know is able to understand subjects rather than parrot them. But also because of the involvement of two of my Reading University Typography lecturers, Alan May and Martin Andrews.

Alan May is maker of models of historical things, who understands how things work by constructing them – or perhaps it is the other way round: perhaps they gain understanding of what they do because he constructed them, I’m not sure. Martin is a great communicator who can bring history to life with immense and engaging enthusiasm and insight. At Reading they taught me the basics of typographic design, in terms of analysis of the design problem, use of time and materials, etc and I look forward to watching them interact with Fry.

*It is also an iPlayer link to a BBC4 programme so it will disappear. Full details:

Stephen Fry and the Gutenberg Press.

Duration: 60 minutes

Stephen Fry examines the story behind the first media entrepreneur, printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg, to find out why he did it and how.


10:24. Update: forgot to thank Ruth for the link.

Posted by Ben Weiner at 8:50 AM [Permanent link]

Comments (5)

8:28 PM | Blogger Ben Weiner said:
There is also a permanent link, thanks to Matt for pointing this out.

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10:42 AM | Blogger Steve C said:
Ben,

I know this is the wrong place to ask this, but I've found no other way of getting in touch with you.

I'd like to use your font, Acknowledgement, in a book I'm writing about design in Photoshop. I'd also like to include it on the CD that accompanies the book so readers can try out the tutorials for themselves.

Can you get in touch? email me at c@plin.com

Many thanks

Steve

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2:05 PM | Blogger Ben Weiner said:
Tangentially blog-whacking this post with one a self-indulgent one I wrote about the iPlayer from August 2007 comes a quote from Owen Gibson in the Guardian makes some of my worlds collide: "There is this marvellous idea the iPlayer is secure. It's anything but secure," said Fry, host of the TV quiz show QI. His recent documentary on the Gutenberg printing press was one of the most popular programmes on the iPlayer catch-up service. "The BBC is throwing out really valuable content for free. It shows an incredible naivety about how the internet and digital devices work."

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2:12 PM | Blogger Ben Weiner said:
Sorry, forgive my incoherence in that last comment.

comes a quote => with a quote

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6:44 PM | Blogger shop said:
Just in passing, as regards the
invention of typecasting, one ought to have a look at the museum
at Vindolanda on Hadrians wall, and
see the branded names of the suppliers on various ROMAN barrel staves. Those brands will have been cast in bronze, into ?? cut
by ?? to produce right reading names. The face used is pleasingly like Bembo about 36 point. Now the
guy who made those brands had customers in the Mainz area ....
and G. used an adapted winepress
they say ... In Mainz ...

You work it out.

regards

J. Stafford Baker
The Happy Dragons Press
PS see our web site
www.happydragonspress.co.uk

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