Women in Type: A Social History of Women’s Role in Type Drawing Offices — Fiona Ross & Nicole Dotin
Channel: TypeCon
Date: 2021-02-01

Recorded during TypeCon2019: “Nice” in Minneapolis, Minnesota

A discussion of the University of Reading research project funded by the Leverhulme Trust that transcends discipline boundaries to examine gender issues in the field of type manufacturing. Design histories have largely overlooked the activities of those — particularly women — who contributed to the type design and manufacturing processes during the rapidly changing social and technological environments of the twentieth century. Fiona and Nicole will describe how their research intends to provide a socio-historical analysis of the pivotal role women played in the (largely male-dominated) British type manufacturing industry from 1910–1990. Focusing on this period of huge technological changes that fundamentally influenced the industry, they examine women’s status and responsibilities at the leading type manufacturing UK companies, Monotype and Linotype.

The talk will illustrate how the research team has drawn from its experiences as type designers and historians to identify and track agencies of change for women in British type drawing offices against the social and technological contexts of the period, with the aim of assessing these women’s contribution to typeface design. The project’s findings are of great relevance to the history of women in printing and publishing.