‘Lettercarving for type designers’
Ash Smith / 2024.12.07
Alongside designing books, Françoise Berserik has worked for many years as a lettercarver – making signs, memorials, gravestones to commission. She has also taught lettercarving to students on the Type and Media course at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in The Hague. They take it seriously there: this course is not an optional extra. Now, with the support of the Academy, she has written and published a handbook on this practice, written specifically for type design students and illustrated with their work.
Summer break 2023
Ash Smith / 2023.07.10
The office is now closed for two weeks. Orders for books or music CDs can be made, but will not be processed and sent off until Monday 24 July.
Winding down
Ash Smith / 2023.06.12
As part of the process of winding down Hyphen Press’s sales, we have now closed our agreement with our UK distributor. This means that any in-print book or CD must be bought directly from this website.
An index to the journal
Ash Smith / 2023.01.14
Last year we moved this website to a new hosting company and into a new CMS (WordPress). The appearance of the website has changed only in some details. This has provided an opportunity to check through content, and especially to look at and try to mend the now many broken links. This is a large and still continuing project. It has also provided the occasion to update the occasional indexes to the journal that have been offered here. These are now consolidated as the present post.
Typography papers is being made available again
Ash Smith / 2022.12.15
We are glad to announce that articles from the Typography papers series are being made available as free-to-download pdf files on the University of Reading’s Typography & Graphic Communication website.
‘This is one of the best books on graphic design ever’
Ash Smith / 2021.03.02
We agree with Michael Bierut, a serious reader and judge of graphic design books. He made this comment yesterday on the Instagram feed of Adrian Shaughnessy (another serious reader and judge of graphic design books).
Shipping orders to the USA
Ash Smith / 2020.08.21
Following the recent sharp increase in prices for sending packets by airmail from the UK to the USA, we will ship lower value packets to the USA with surface mail. For orders with a value of £80 and over, we will use a courier.
Sales from this website: new
Ash Smith / 2020.07.04
After a long break during the period of lockdown, we are now able to sell books and music CDs from this website.
Sales from this website
Ash Smith / 2020.03.20
At present, due to restrictions of movement during the outbreak of Covid-19, our office is closed and we cannot respond to orders from books from this website.
Winter holidays
Ash Smith / 2019.12.06
The office is closed for orders for books and CDs, from 6 to 16 December. Orders received during this period will be dispatched on 17 December.
Price reduction
Ash Smith / 2019.09.26
Christopher Wilson’s Richard Hollis designs for the Whitechapel now sells for £15.
Our books with other publishers
Ash Smith / 2019.09.25
As Hyphen Press gradually winds down its activities, we are passing titles on to other, sympathetic publishers.
Summer holidays 2019
Ash Smith / 2019.07.09
The office is closed for orders for books and CDs, from 10 to 28 July. Orders received during this period will be dispatched on 29 July.
David Wild speaks
Ash Smith / 2019.06.13
This video of David Wild talking at the Architectural Association in London in 1998, to launch his book Fragments of utopia, has emerged on YouTube.
‘The stroke’ reissued
Ash Smith / 2019.03.18
Gerrit Noordzij’s The stroke, in the English-language translation that we published first in 2005, is being reissued this year by the Amsterdam printer and publisher De Buitenkant, in collaboration with the KABK (Royal Academy of Art), The Hague.
‘Type spaces’ download
Ash Smith / 2019.03.11
Peter Burnhill’s book Type spaces, published in 2003, has been out of print for several years. The author died in 2007 and there is no question of revising the book – though one might write another one, extending its material and qualifying its ideas. As a service to readers, we are making the work available again as a free download
‘Typeform dialogues’, second edition
Ash Smith / 2019.01.08
Last month we uploaded a second, much extended, edition of the ‘Typeform dialogues’ document, first published here in 2012.
The memory lingers on
Ash Smith / 2018.08.20
This poster by Peter Burnhill has emerged from a tidy-up in the office. It’s a nice example of his talents as an artist, and of his activity as a political campaigner. Peter worked for his local, Stafford branch of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, helping to run a weekly CND stall in the town. This was at the time of Cold War escalation, with the installation of US missiles in Europe.
Summer holidays 2018
Ash Smith / 2018.07.11
The office is closed for orders for books and CDs, from 12 to 28 July. Orders received during this period will be dispatched on 30 July.
Price reductions 2018
Ash Smith / 2018.01.16
From today we have reduced the price of a number of books
Office closed for orders, 11–17 December
Ash Smith / 2017.12.10
The Hyphen Press office is closed this week.
‘Musical offering’ arrived
Ash Smith / 2017.05.05
We have been assembling the discs, booklets, and packs for our next Hyphen Press Music CD, ‘Musical offering’, to be released on 26 May (in the UK, and a week later in continental Europe).
‘Winter light’: a new book
Ash Smith / 2017.02.16
A couple of months ago, just before Christmas, we published a new book: Winter light, and other poems by Jane Howard. This small book (a single section of 32 pages, stapled and with a jacket wrapped around) collects poems written over many years.
Website sales before Christmas
Ash Smith / 2016.12.16
The Hyphen Press office is closed now until 24 December. This means that during these days we cannot process and send out any orders made from this website for books and CDs. Any orders received now will be attended to promptly in the days immediately after Christmas.
‘Richard Holllis designs for the Whitechapel’: progress
Ash Smith / 2016.11.25
Our Richard Hollis designs for the Whitechapel is perhaps the most anticipated, most delayed work on which we have worked. Christopher Wilson’s book was first announced to the world in November 2012, as due for publication in spring 2013. Since then the work has grown and become elaborated.
‘Sleepers awake!’ arrived
Ash Smith / 2016.10.05
The printed materials for the next Hyphen Press Music CD have arrived in the office – we assemble and shrink-wrap these CDs here. This is Sleepers awake!, in which The Bach Players perform two settings by Dieterich Buxtehude of the ‘Wachet auf’ text (‘wake up, the voice calls us’), and one by J.S. Bach – as well as some fascinating, connected extra works.
Tanya Harrod in conversation
Ash Smith / 2016.05.11
On 10 March at the Vitra showroom in London, Tanya Harrod spoke about her work as a writer, in conversation with Grant Gibson, editor of Crafts. This was one of the magazine’s series of Book Club events. For its illumination of her book The real thing and for its discussion of issues in the present art/craft scene, the conversation is well worth listening to.
Books discovered in a cupboard
Ash Smith / 2016.02.03
A familiar book-trade story: a book sells out, is declared out-of-print. A few years pass and a box of fresh copies of this item turns up in some clear-out or tidy-up in a distributor’s warehouse or a publishing office. This has just happened with Typography papers 6, which we published in 2005. We have 30-odd copies for sale.
‘Detail in typography’ available again
Ash Smith / 2015.10.23
Our edition of Jost Hochuli’s Detail in typography has been out of print for some time. The book is now back in print with Éditions B42, along with the original German-language and French-language editions of the work. We are happy to recommend this book to readers.
Anarchy on Nottingham
Ash Smith / 2015.09.22
Copies of the journal Anarchy, which is the subject of our book Autonomy, are certainly now items for collectors. But Anarchy no. 38, devoted to the city of Nottingham, is back in print from Five Leaves, the publisher – and also bookseller – with its home in that city.
New book, new CD
Ash Smith / 2015.02.18
Copies of our new book, Tanya Harrod’s The real thing, arrived before Christmas. We published it formally on 22 January, launching it that evening at a reception at the Art Workers’ Guild in London.
CD packages
Ash Smith / 2014.11.28
The CD An Italian in Paris that we published earlier this year has just received a very nice review in the magazine Early Music Today. The reviewer is Nicholas Anderson, whom a few of us will remember as a warm and knowledgeable voice on BBC Radio 3 in the 1970s – in the days when standards of music broadcasting at Radio 3 were high.
‘Typography papers 9’, and ‘Isotype’
Ash Smith / 2013.12.10
Copies of our two new titles arrived in the office recently, and we are releasing them for sale today. These are Typography papers 9, edited by Eric Kindel and Paul Luna, and Isotype: design and contexts, 1925–1971, edited by Christopher Burke, Eric Kindel, and Sue Walker.
In translation
Ash Smith / 2013.10.18
One of the most gratifying and interesting moments in book-publishing is seeing a book of ours issued by another publisher in a translated edition.
‘Detail in typography’ out of print
Ash Smith / 2013.05.08
We have sold the last copies of Jost Hochuli’s Detail in typography (2008, reprinted in 2009). Demand for this book continues, but we have decided not to make a reprint.
CDs in boxes
Ash Smith / 2013.03.24
Last week we sent off 1550 Bach Players CDs, all assembled in the office, to the warehouse of our new distributor Codaex, in Belgium.
New distributor for our CDs
Ash Smith / 2013.03.19
From next month our CDs will be distributed by Codaex. Through the various Codaex partners we will for the first time be able to reach shops in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, as well as the UK.
Bread and Roses Award 2013 shortlist
Ash Smith / 2013.03.06
We are delighted that Autonomy, edited by Daniel Poyner, is among the books shortlisted for this year’s Bread and Roses Award. The book finally chosen for the award, by a panel of three, will be announced on 11 May at the London Radical Bookfair in the good old Conway Hall.
‘Autonomy’ at Housmans
Ash Smith / 2013.02.10
We were part of a successful and good-spirited event at Housmans bookshop in London last night. The occasion was the publication of our book Autonomy, and the posthumous collection of Colin Ward’s writings on ecological themes: Talking green.
Talking about Colin Ward and ‘Anarchy’
Ash Smith / 2013.01.07
On Saturday 9 February (6.30 pm), our book Autonomy is the subject of an event at Housmans Bookshop in London.
‘Typeform dialogues’
Ash Smith / 2012.11.26
We have today posted – free to download – a document that gathers materials from the Typeform dialogues project, carried out by Eric Kindel, Catherine Dixon, and others at Central Saint Martins, London, in 1994–8 and afterwards.
‘Autonomy’ arrived
Ash Smith / 2012.10.26
Some finished copies of our next book, Autonomy: the cover designs of ‘Anarchy’ 1961–1970 were delivered to the office this morning.
Book and zine fair, Spike Island
Ash Smith / 2012.10.15
This Saturday 20 October we are taking part in the book and zine fair at Spike Island, Bristol – not because we publish experimental literature (we don’t), but because of some Bristol connections (starting with Norman Potter) and because of an exhibition there of pieces designed and printed Desmond Jeffery.
Frankfurt 2012
Ash Smith / 2012.10.05
Our books and catalogues are at the Buchmesse, on the stand of Coen Sligting Bookimport: Halle 4.1, K547.
Reading in public
Ash Smith / 2012.09.12
What happens to books when they leave home and are taken out into the public realm? We posted on this here and here. Now see this wonderful blog on the theme: the Underground New York Public Library.
In Vienna
Ash Smith / 2012.06.07
Next week in Vienna, two events hosted by the Typographische Gesellschaft Austria take place: a workshop with Jost Hochuli (Monday 11 to Friday 15) and a talk by Robin Kinross on ‘Design for meaning’ (Wednesday 13).
They order these things better in France
Ash Smith / 2012.05.16
The photograph below records the entrance space at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, last week, where Robin Kinross gave a ‘conférence’ on the occasion of the publication of the French edition of Modern typography.
Editing as design, in France
Ash Smith / 2012.05.04
On the occasion of the publication of the French edition of Modern typography, Robin Kinross is speaking on the theme of ‘editing as design’ at ÉSAD Valence next Thursday, and at the Centre Pompidou on Friday.
Shipping costs within the UK
Ash Smith / 2012.04.28
Until now we have had a policy of not charging UK customers for the carriage of books and CDs bought from this website. But, on Monday, the Royal Mail is raising its charges markedly. Postage costs will represent an even larger proportion of a purchase – and we have decided now to introduce charges to cover our costs.
Twitter fascination
Ash Smith / 2012.04.16
Postings in this journal column have been light over the last few months. This is partly just because we’ve been busy. But it is partly due to having opened a Twitter account (@hyphenpress).
Our fifth CD
Ash Smith / 2012.03.14
Copies of our fifth CD arrived in the office last week. This is a double CD, offering an extensive selection of pieces by the two composers, Johann Pachelbel and J.S. Bach.
Returning
Ash Smith / 2012.01.22
Many apologies to anyone who has been trying to find this website in the last few days. Our provider had put it on a new server – with essential elements missing, and nothing showed. But now we’re back.
A pause, and greetings
Ash Smith / 2011.12.23
Our office is now closed for the Christmas and New Year holidays. Any orders made on the website will be gratefully received during this period – but the books and CDs cannot be posted to you until the first week of January. Greetings of the season!
‘Type spaces’ sold out in Europe
Ash Smith / 2011.11.20
We have sold the last copy of Peter Burnhill’s book Type spaces. Our North American distributor, Princeton Architectural Press, still has some copies left.
Asleep in the East Village
Ash Smith / 2011.11.17
Any book seems to have its appropriate, though inevitably temporary, resting place. Here we see a copy of E.C. Large’s Asleep in the afternoon in the Mast second-hand bookshop in Manhattan’s East Village.
Martens on TV
Ash Smith / 2011.11.09
A 30-minute film about Karel Martens and his work is being shown on Canvas, the Belgian TV channel, on Sunday 13 November at 20:15.
Typically Swiss?
Ash Smith / 2011.11.08
Is there still a ‘Swiss typography’. That is the broad theme of the first Tÿpo St.Gallen conference, running from 18 to 20 November.
‘Jazzpaths’ exhibition
Ash Smith / 2011.11.07
An exhibition of photographs and photomontages by David Wild opens this week at the Beardsmore Gallery in Kentish Town, London, and runs until 10 December.
Peter Campbell obituary
Ash Smith / 2011.10.27
Diana Souhami’s good account is in The Guardian today.
Catalogue & almanack 2011–2012
Ash Smith / 2011.10.21
We have produced a new catalogue and almanack (for 2011–2012) and will be distributing copies primarily at book fairs, conferences, lectures, and other public events, and will send a copy to anyone who buys books from our website.
At Frankfurt 2011
Ash Smith / 2011.10.12
This week at the Frankfurt Book Fair our books will be at the stand of our Dutch distributor, Coen Sligting: Halle 4.1, N547.
Amazon and tax
Ash Smith / 2011.09.07
Richard Fletcher in The Daily Telegraph: “… the likes of Amazon, Google and eBay are no longer the loss-making start-ups they once were, but are now among some of the largest companies in the world”.
‘Counterpunch’: second edition at the printer
Ash Smith / 2011.09.06
The long-delayed and much-anticipated second edition of this book is now in the last stages of production: it was printed yesterday and now goes to the binder. We expect that copies will go on sale in Europe at the end of this month.
Isotype: a new book
Ash Smith / 2011.08.01
We are working on a book, with the title Isotype, which will provide an extensive and detailed history of the work in graphic communication produced under the direction of Otto Neurath. This is a collection of freshly written and fully illustrated essays, supplemented by documents published for the first time in English translation or in transcription.
Price reductions
Ash Smith / 2011.07.23
We have reduced the prices of these books: Models & Constructs, Anthony Froshaug, and A view of early typography.
On Anthony Froshaug
Ash Smith / 2011.07.19
Lucy Sisman’s recollections and estimation of Anthony Froshaug.
A waking dream
Ash Smith / 2011.06.09
Every publisher or author’s dream is to see someone reading their book on the bus or underground train. This really happened to us with Jost Hochuli’s Detail in typography.
Smeijers interviewed
Ash Smith / 2011.06.07
Fred Smeijers interviewed, as OurType makes a deal with WebInk.
‘Designing books’: out of print
Ash Smith / 2011.05.27
The original hardback edition (1996) and the subsequent paperback edition (2003, reprinted 2007) of this book have now sold out. Despite its popularity, we have decided to let the book stay out of print now.
‘Human space’ arrived
Ash Smith / 2011.05.05
Human space, our edition of O.F. Bollnow’s Mensch und Raum, is at last finished.
Martens at Monash
Ash Smith / 2011.04.05
This month Karel Martens is at Monash University, near Melbourne, for a talk, workshops, and an exhibition of his work on Oase.
‘Printed matter’: the three editions
Ash Smith / 2011.02.23
Clear proof that you need to get the third edition, even if you already have the second and the first.
Paul Stiff
Ash Smith / 2011.02.15
Paul Stiff died in Reading last Saturday. He was a great friend, over 35 years, and shared in much of what has issued from Hyphen Press – especially, of course, Typography papers.
Our fourth CD
Ash Smith / 2011.02.02
Copies of our fourth CD, Italy versus France by The Bach Players, arrived in the office this week. It will be released to the trade in the UK on 28 March.
‘From hieroglyphics to Isotype’: book launch (report)
Ash Smith / 2011.01.26
A short report, with the introductory remarks by Robin Kinross and Eric Kindel, and Christopher Burke’s more substantial exposition of the making of our edition, can now be found on the ‘Isotype revisited’ website.
‘Typography papers’: a list of contents
Ash Smith / 2011.01.09
We get quite frequent enquiries about Typography papers: which issues are still available? how best to try to get hold of out-of-print numbers? contents of the back numbers? And, from subscription agencies: please send us the issue for 2010!
‘From hieroglyphics to Isotype’: book launch
Ash Smith / 2011.01.06
On Thursday 20 January, thanks to the kind hospitality of the Austrian Cultural Forum in London, we are launching From hieroglyphics to Isotype.
Recent production
Ash Smith / 2010.12.01
Three books and a music CD have been published in the last couple of months. There will be a pause for breath now.
‘Printed matter’ 3 (update 2)
Ash Smith / 2010.11.30
We do now have copies of the new edition of Printed matter / Drukwerk in the office.
‘Modern typography’ reprinted
Ash Smith / 2010.11.09
The book Modern typography has just been reprinted and copies are on sale now.
‘Printed matter’ 3 (update 1)
Ash Smith / 2010.10.29
We have had many enquiries about this book. So, further to the last post here: the first batch of books has been bound and is now waiting to be put into boxes.
‘Nun komm!’ Outstanding!
Ash Smith / 2010.10.20
Nun komm!, our recently released music CD, has been given an ‘outstanding’ award by International Record Review in its November issue.
Isotype exhibition in London
Ash Smith / 2010.10.18
In December an exhibition presenting the history of Isotype opens at the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Music for viola d’amore
Ash Smith / 2010.10.11
We are selling copies of a CD of music for viola d’amore, issued this month on the German label Genuin.
Antwerp talk
Ash Smith / 2010.09.28
On the occasion of an exhibition about Jan I Moretus – the Moretus in ‘Plantin-Moretus’ – Fred Smeijers is giving a public lecture on ‘present-day typography’ at the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp on 28 October.
Local talk
Ash Smith / 2010.09.27
On Thursday 28 October (7.30 pm) at the Highgate Library in Chester Road, London N19, Robin Kinross will be speaking about his work with Hyphen Press.
‘Printed matter’ 3
Ash Smith / 2010.09.10
The third edition of Karel Martens’s Printed matter / Drukwerk is being printed by Thoben in Nijmegen now; sheets will then be sent to the binders, Hendricks–Lützenkirchen in Kleve, across the border in Germany.
‘From hieroglyphics to Isotype’ arrived
Ash Smith / 2010.09.09
Copies of Otto Neurath’s ‘visual autobiography’ arrived in London a few days ago.
Amazon once more
Ash Smith / 2010.08.23
Some previous posts here have offered indirect criticisms of the shop Amazon.1 Now here is a direct assault on the behemoth, made by a publisher with much mainstream experience, just starting out on a new venture that will work outside the existing book trade and sell direct to customers. (It’s interesting to compare Colin Robinson’s […]
Our third CD
Ash Smith / 2010.07.28
The Bach Players’ Nun komm! arrived from the printers and CD-multipliers some days ago, just in time for a launch-party for its subscribers. The CD is now waiting for its official UK release, after the summer holidays, on 20 September. This new Bach Players recording uses the kind of thinking evident in the last one […]
Designer as publisher
Ash Smith / 2010.07.07
Some years ago – I recall events and publications in the early 1990s – there was some noise about the ‘designer as author’: graphic designers would have a hand in writing (or maybe ‘authoring’) the texts that they also designed, and designers could even be considered as authors.
Interview about Hyphen Press
Ash Smith / 2010.07.05
Last December, Michel Aphesbero and Thomas Boutoux came to London to interview Robin Kinross, for the rosab.net web-magazine, made at the École des beaux-arts de Bordeaux.
Lifestyle and Letraset
Ash Smith / 2010.06.24
Simon Esterson’s lecture on ‘British magazine design, 1960–2000’, at the St Bride Library, London, January 2008: an insider’s view.
Shapes versus outlines
Ash Smith / 2010.06.07
Gerrit Noordzij at the blackboard in March of this year.
Tweet!
Ash Smith / 2010.05.26
We have opened a twitter account, with the promise to restrict it to hard news.
A must-read critic
Ash Smith / 2010.05.25
Along with (among others) Pauline Kael, James Wood, and Susan Sontag, Peter Campbell is recommended by the The Guardian‘s Andrew Dickson as a must-read critic.
Exhibition pamphlet posted
Ash Smith / 2010.05.06
The pamphlet can be seen here at the Werkplaats Typografie, Arnhem, posted in a way that makes sense.
To be fired with enthusiasm
Ash Smith / 2010.04.16
An obituary of Bernard Coutaz, founder of Harmonia Mundi, an exemplary publishing company.
London Book Fair 2010
Ash Smith / 2010.04.15
We are at the London Book Fair next week, with a metre-width of space at stand E200.
CD distribution
Ash Smith / 2010.04.01
As from today, our CDs are being distributed to the trade by Harmonia Mundi UK.
International Project Space exhibition
Ash Smith / 2010.03.25
Our exhibition at International Project Space opened last Saturday and will be there until 8 May. The show could be an occasion for a visit to the model village of Bourneville. In some respects the exhibition tries to be a model too.
St Gallen comes to London (2)
Ash Smith / 2010.03.11
The exhibition was opened last Thursday with Jost Hochuli’s presentation of the topic – a wide-ranging history of book-making in St Gallen.
St Gallen comes to London
Ash Smith / 2010.03.03
The exhibition ‘Book design in St Gallen’ opens this week at the St Bride Library and runs for two short weeks.
More on binding
Ash Smith / 2010.02.26
A short notice about our article on the binding of books, with a vivid photo of a hotmelt binding and a diagram of how Otabind works.
Peter Campbell in conversation
Ash Smith / 2010.02.19
On 24 March Peter Campbell will be in conversation with Julian Bell, another painter and writer about art, at the London Review Bookshop.
Hyphen Press in Birmingham
Ash Smith / 2010.02.16
International Project Space, at Bourneville (Birmingham, UK), is the host for a Hyphen Press exhibition opening on 20 March and running through to 8 May.
Write your own academic sentence
Ash Smith / 2010.02.04
From the University of Chicago’s Writing Program (the whole site is worth exploring).
Design for music / Music and design
Ash Smith / 2010.01.26
This Friday the lively events programme at the St Bride Library offers a conference on Design for music / Music and design.
Judging books
Ash Smith / 2010.01.25
The National Mental Coach of the Netherlands – Wim de Bie – recently visited Zutphen (‘book-city Zutphen’) to ask and answer the question ‘how do you choose a book?’.
Our CDs
Ash Smith / 2010.01.05
Last Saturday morning, the two Bach Players CDs were included in a roundup of recent Bach recordings on BBC Radio 3’s ‘CD Review’ programme (one can listen back to this on the BBC website for the rest of this week).
Price changes: less good news
Ash Smith / 2010.01.04
Books are zero-rated for Value Aded Tax in the UK, but CDs are not. From this week, the rate of VAT on CDs goes up from 15 to 17.5 per cent.
Price changes: good news
Ash Smith / 2010.01.03
As from today we are reducing the price of Fred Smeijers’s Type now, from £17.50 to £10. The book was made on the occasion of the award of the Gerrit Noordzij prize to Smeijers and surveys his work up to then (November 2003).
The new year, 2010
Ash Smith / 2010.01.02
Thanks to everyone who sent greetings and good wishes for the new year.
A great venture
Ash Smith / 2009.12.18
Every one a chaconne, the new release from Hyphen Press Music, is Editor’s Choice of new vocal CDs – with five stars (= ‘exceptional’) – in the January 2010 issue of Classic FM magazine.
Hyphen in Paris
Ash Smith / 2009.11.16
It has always been difficult to see our books in France. But copies of most of them are now on sale at Section 7 Books in Paris.
‘At …’ arrived
Ash Smith / 2009.11.14
We have received copies of the next book, Peter Campbell’s At ….
Hyphen Press catalogue & almanack 2009–2010
Ash Smith / 2009.10.30
The Hyphen Press catalogue for 2009–2010 was ready (as is traditional) just in time for the Frankfurt Book Fair. New books are announced here, and every in-print title is shown too.
UK postal workers on strike
Ash Smith / 2009.10.29
During the present postal strike in the UK supply of books and CDs ordered from the website may be slow.
E.C. Large in Zurich
Ash Smith / 2009.10.28
On Thursday 5 November (while the English are busy letting off fireworks), if you are in Zurich there is a chance to learn more about E.C. Large.
Desmond Jeffery the printer
Ash Smith / 2009.10.27
An exhibition of the work of the English printer Desmond Jeffery opens at the St Bride Library in London tonight. This is the first chance for the public to see something of his production.
Best Swiss books in London
Ash Smith / 2009.10.20
The Helvetic Centre in London is again organizing a show of the ‘most beautiful Swiss books’.
The new CD launched
Ash Smith / 2009.10.14
A report of the launch of HPM 002 for subscribers and friends.
Hyphen in Amsterdam
Ash Smith / 2009.10.05
Through this month and next, some of our core books are on display and for sale at the Kunstverein in Amsterdam.
Isotype revisited
Ash Smith / 2009.09.22
The ‘Isotype revisited’ research project at the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, University of Reading, has now launched its website.
London after the war
Ash Smith / 2009.09.21
Following his ‘Mitteleuropa and Bethnal Green, 1946’, Paul Stiff expands on another theme of Modern typography in Britain.
Our second CD
Ash Smith / 2009.09.12
Every one a chaconne, the second recording by The Bach Players has just arrived in physical form and will be launched publicly at the group’s concerts in Cork, Norwich, and London in the coming week. This new recording brings together pieces by J.S. Bach, Henry Purcell, and Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, linked by the common thread […]
‘Type spaces’ discovery
Ash Smith / 2009.09.11
In another of those warehouse discoveries, a few copies of the late Peter Burnhill’s Type spaces have come to light, after we had declared it out of print here (our North American distributor still has some left). There are several reasons to get hold of this book, which we are unlikely now to reprint. The […]
‘Modern typography in Britain’ arrived
Ash Smith / 2009.09.10
This week we received copies of Modern typography in Britain: a very packed and rich set of discussions, which will surely come to define its still too little comprehended subject. The book is at the same time Typography papers 8, and continues Typography papers’s work of publishing fully serious, lively and comprehensible articles.
‘Modern typography’ in translation
Ash Smith / 2009.07.26
One of the most pleasing aspects of publishing is to see translated editions of your books appearing. Italian, Spanish, and now Korean editions of Modern typography have been made in recent years. Meanwhile our own second edition of the work is out of print and awaiting a reprint, with corrections and small updatings. We hope […]
‘Typography papers 8’ (update)
Ash Smith / 2009.07.21
The next Hyphen book, Modern typography in Britain: graphic design, politics, and society – a special issue of Typography papers (no. 8) – is now at the printers. It will be published in September.
A4 and before
Ash Smith / 2009.06.02
On 11 June at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in The Hague, Robin Kinross is giving a lecture on standard paper sizes. This is the culmination of his period this year as a joint Fellow at the KB and NIAS. The talk will have the character of preliminary survey, towards a long history of paper sizes.
‘Transformer’ arrived
Ash Smith / 2009.05.21
We now have copies of this book, which this month goes on sale generally in the UK, the Netherlands, and elsewhere in Europe. It is of course also for sale from our website. Those in North America – to whom we can’t sell from the website – will need to wait at least a couple […]
Our first CD (4)
Ash Smith / 2009.04.21
‘Einzelgängers’ – it takes one to know one. Hyphen Press Music is joint winner of the best record label of 2009 in the Prelude Classical Music Awards 2009.
Amazon again
Ash Smith / 2009.04.14
More on ‘one of the most powerful forces in the publishing industry – with the power to make or break a book’: another in an occasional series.
‘Typography papers 8’
Ash Smith / 2009.04.13
For a foretaste of Typography papers 8, have a look at Paul Stiff’s ‘Mitteleuropa and Bethnal Green’ (‘Mitteleuropa’ = Central Europe).
Ludwig
Ash Smith / 2009.03.25
This new typeface designed by Fred Smeijers has just been released by OurType. As its name promises, it is an echt-German production: recalling the early-nineteenth-century Grotesk letter.
Information Design Conference 2009
Ash Smith / 2009.03.22
From 2 to 3 April the Information Design Association in the UK is holding a two-day conference at the University of Greenwich, London – admirers of Christopher Wren’s work will have good reasons to go and then get distracted.
Edit!
Ash Smith / 2009.03.21
Under this splendid title, a conference on the ‘norms, formats, supports’ of publishing (in a wide sense) was held a couple of weeks ago in Bordeaux.
Back online
Ash Smith /
This website has been offline for the last three days, for inexplicable technical reasons, but is now restored.
Kinross at the KB
Ash Smith / 2009.02.04
From this week to the end of June, Robin Kinross is living and working in the Netherlands: taking up this year’s Fellowship at the Konkinklijke Bibliotheek [Royal Library].
Our first CD (2)
Ash Smith / 2008.12.23
Early public reactions to our first CD – given the hopeful catalogue number HMP 001 – have been encouraging.
Benjamin and New Left Books (now Verso) – and Libris
Ash Smith / 2008.12.13
Further to this discussion of the Benjamin archive book, published in English by Verso, some invaluable notes on the history of the publication of Walter Benjamin’s writings can be found [here], as a prelude to the publication next year of Erdmut Wizisla’s Walter Benjamin and Bertolt Brecht: the story of a friendship, 1924–1940
Our first CD
Ash Smith / 2008.11.19
Bach arranging and arranged, the first recording by The Bach Players, and the first issue from Hyphen Press Music, is now finished and awaiting formal release next month.
‘The most beautiful Swiss books’
Ash Smith / 2008.11.13
Further to the last post, we can mention an exhibition of this year’s ‘most beautiful [what most of the rest of the world knows as ’best-designed’] Swiss books’.
Jost Hochuli in London
Ash Smith / 2008.11.05
On Thursday 27 November at 7 pm Jost Hochuli will give a lecture on ‘Systematic book design?’ – the question mark is important here – at the St Bride Foundation.
Design in the real world
Ash Smith / 2008.11.02
Road signs are indeed mostly written & designed by harassed public servants.
E.C. Large novels have arrived
Ash Smith / 2008.10.22
We have received our first copies of Sugar in the air and Asleep in the afternoon.
Events at Somerset House
Ash Smith / 2008.10.21
Next week Stuart Bailey and David Reinfurt – Dexter Sinister – present three nights of talks at Somerset House in London, which will create the content for the next issue of Dot Dot Dot (no. 17).
Otto and Marie Neurath in exile
Ash Smith / 2008.09.24
On 24 October, Christopher Burke is speaking, in a Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies Seminar, on ‘Otto and Marie Neurath in Exile’.
‘Designing books’ discussed
Ash Smith / 2008.09.17
Twelve years after publication, a new generation of readers is finding ‘the best single volume on the subject’.
Trying to explain
Ash Smith / 2008.09.04
On 15 October, in a talk at this year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival, Robin Kinross will attempt to explain what typography is.
Merchandise
Ash Smith / 2008.06.25
Now that we are preparing to publish CDs, a reader has suggested that we consider selling Swiss chocolate (‘in various point sizes’) and sweaters (‘Norman-Potter-style pullover with cross-patterns’).
‘Counterpunch’ discovery
Ash Smith / 2008.06.12
Not for the first time in the history of publishing, a book that had been declared ‘out of print’ makes a return to availability.
‘Detail in typography’ arrived
Ash Smith / 2008.06.11
Copies of Hochuli’s Detail in typography have arrived in London. The book is officially published later this month.
Edward Wright
Ash Smith / 2008.05.23
We are now selling copies of the book Edward Wright: readings, writings, published last year by the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, University of Reading.
Hochuli and tools for reading
Ash Smith / 2008.05.13
Jost Hochuli, author of Designing books and Detail in typography, is responsible for an exhibition of the remarkable book production of his home town of St Gallen.
Hyphen Press catalogue & almanack 2008
Ash Smith / 2008.04.16
We have just received finished copies of our new catalogue of books.
Martens in London
Ash Smith / 2008.04.15
Among the speakers at the Friends of St Bride Library Conference on 15 and 16 May is Karel Martens.
London Book Fair 2008
Ash Smith / 2008.04.14
We are present at the London Book Fair (14–16 April) c/o our new UK distributor, Publishers Group UK.
UK distribution
Ash Smith / 2008.03.25
From the beginning of April our books will be distributed in the UK by Publishers Group UK.
New titles (2)
Ash Smith / 2008.02.28
We are announcing some new titles for publication in the course of 2008, which will add more than just numbers to the list.
Johnston’s ellipsis
Ash Smith / 2008.02.27
Alastair Johnston, printer & publisher in Berkeley CA, but of UK origins, has collected more than twenty years’ worth of his occasional writings. The central theme of the pieces is the small press poetry scene on the West Coast and in the UK since the 1960s, with a sprinkling of articles on typography and publishing […]
Nice book, well glued
Ash Smith / 2008.02.17
Good evening, Mrs Craven, the collection of Mollie Panter-Downes’s stories written during the Second World War and published originally in The New Yorker, then collected in 1999 by Persephone Books (London), has just been reissued in their ‘Classics’ series.
Branding nonsense
Ash Smith / 2008.02.12
Andrew Martin on the ingratiation-strategies and the deceits of corporate identity.
Cypher House, London N7
Ash Smith / 2008.01.24
This building, designed by David Wild, is now very near to completion: it provides an artist’s studio and connecting top-lit rooms arranged in an interlocking L-shaped configuration.
‘Counterpunch’: the second edition
Ash Smith / 2008.01.03
Prompted by this nice review, we can confirm that a second edition of the book is in preparation.
Kafka in Oxford
Ash Smith / 2007.10.31
On 15 November a presentation of the new ‘Historical-Critical Edition’ of Franz Kafka’s writings will take place at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, followed by a panel (and open) discussion.
A new Zurich Bible
Ash Smith / 2007.10.30
The Zurich Bible was published in a new translation this year. This is the Bible in its Swiss-Protestant text, first published in 1531. Not only is it a bestseller (26,000 copies sold since June), but it must be one of the best-looking and best-made books published anywhere for some time.
‘The new standard work’
Ash Smith / 2007.08.24
‘… meticulously researched, splendidly illustrated, and very nicely designed – without doubt the new standard work on Tschichold … even experts will find new and surprising things in it.’
Socialism and print
Ash Smith / 2007.08.20
The latest New Left Review leads with a dazzling article by Régis Debray, lamenting the end of print, and of socialism: the one death implies and necessitates the other.
Renner re-clothed
Ash Smith / 2007.08.14
To coincide with the launch of Christopher Burke’s new book, we have put a new jacket on the remaining copies of his first book, Paul Renner.
Vertigo: Collecting W.G. Sebald
Ash Smith / 2007.08.13
Terry Pitts’s blog about these books: interesting, and not just for the Sebald content.
Buy this book by Nicolette giovanni M Gray today!
Ash Smith / 2007.07.30
Why it is safer to look at the website of the publisher of a book, rather than at one of the websites of the internet shop Amazon.
More on cold glue
Ash Smith / 2007.07.26
A letter published in the London Review of Books, 2 August 2007.
‘Typography papers 7’ finished
Ash Smith / 2007.07.24
We have received the first copies of Typography papers 7 in the office.
‘Active literature’ arrived
Ash Smith / 2007.07.12
This week we received copies of Christopher Burke’s new book.
‘Active literature’ advance
Ash Smith / 2007.06.22
On Tuesday of this week, Christopher Burke talked in London on ‘Jan Tschichold: the missing typefaces’ to the Friends of St Bride Library. Speaking without notes, and in full command of his subject, he described and analysed the previously almost unconsidered typeface designs that Tschichold made in the 1930s.
Burnhill obituary
Ash Smith /
Paul Stiff’s obituary of Peter Burnhill is published in The Guardian today.
Typefaces of their times
Ash Smith / 2007.05.15
There has been much discussion in recent years about the typeface Helvetica, prompted by the book made by Lars Mueller and now a film by Gary Hustwit. In this connection, Erik Spiekermann has been active. Much of Erik’s work has been a wonderful effort in surpassing the unthinking, formulaic and bureaucratic approach that often entails the use of Helvetica. In 1991 Erik brought out his typeface Meta. With the great success of Meta, it came to be some sort of alternative to Helvetica: more subtle and humane than the essentially regularized-industrial forms of Helvetica. The tag ‘the Helvetica of the 1990s’ has become attached to Meta, and has sometimes been attributed to Robin Kinross.
The x-height ribbon
Ash Smith / 2007.05.08
Sergei Egorov (it must be him) has made an analysis of a column of Aldine text that seems to correlate with Peter Burnhill’s findings in Type spaces.
Tschichold at St Bride’s
Ash Smith / 2007.04.29
In connection with his forthcoming book Active literature, Christopher Burke will be talking on 19 June at the St Bride Printing Library in London on ‘Jan Tschichold: the missing typefaces’. An exhibition at the Library of work by Tschichold, curated by Christopher Burke and Robin Kinross, will open then and be on display through to 23 August.
Architectural positions
Ash Smith / 2007.04.25
The faculty of architecture at the TU Delft commissioned Karel Martens to design booklets, flyers, stationery, and a poster for their series of six seminars this spring on ‘Architecture, Modernity and the Public Sphere’.
London Book Fair 2007
Ash Smith / 2007.04.15
We are taking part in the London Book Fair, at Earls Court, from 16 to 18 April.
Peter Burnhill
Ash Smith / 2007.03.13
Peter Burnhill died in hospital at Stafford on Sunday 11 March, aged 84. We will publish something here soon about him and his work.
Wright in Reading (further)
Ash Smith / 2007.03.09
The Optimod website has further material on the Edward Wright show.
The Stafford papers
Ash Smith / 2007.02.22
The ‘Optimism of modernity’ project has posted its first ‘documents’.
Wright in Reading
Ash Smith / 2007.01.20
An exhibition of Edward Wright’s design work opened yesterday at the Department of Typography in the University of Reading. For two months or so, the public has the chance to see some of the products and working materials of this special man, who in the spirit of the heroic modernists of the earlier twentieth century, did not pay much attention to boundaries between art and design. Yet – he was working in mid-century Britain, and in situations that were often pretty torpid.
A very English blunder
Ash Smith / 2007.01.09
James Mosley has welcomed the new year by adding two substantial posts to his blog Typefoundry: an update on his thesis about the appearance of sanserif letters in eighteenth-century Britain; and an explanation of why the inscription recently added to the National Gallery in London is all wrong.
Three dances
Ash Smith / 2006.12.20
Some of the video material shot by David Reid at our concert for the presentation of Morton Feldman says has now been posted on YouTube.
Feldman in review and in Huddersfield
Ash Smith / 2006.11.18
Feldman is among the featured composers at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Tomorrow afternoon (19 November), Chris Villars is speaking about his engagement with Feldman’s music. Coinciding with this, two articles by the composer Christopher Fox have been published: a general introduction to Feldman in The Guardian, and a review article about the book in the Musical Times (autumn 2006).
A visual field
Ash Smith / 2006.09.30
An article by Juliet Fleming on ‘How to look at a printed flower’ throws surprising light on a usually unregarded element of the typographic armoury.
After Neurath
Ash Smith / 2006.09.28
A symposium on Otto Neurath and the after-effects of his visual work (Isotype) will be held on 31 October at Stroom Den Haag.
‘The stroke’: a review
Ash Smith / 2006.09.26
Reviews of The stroke have begun to appear. Gerrit Noordzij’s writings present a particular challenge to their readers. ‘Do not believe what you read’, the author seems to say. ‘What I am saying is what seems to me to be true; but you need to sort it out for yourself, with the help of my explorations, if they interest you.’
‘Modern typography’ in Italian
Ash Smith / 2006.03.06
An edition of Modern typography in Italian, translated by Giovanni Lussu and published at the end of last year by the Stampa Alternativa & Graffiti, is now available from Aiap.
‘Typography papers 6’
Ash Smith / 2006.02.01
After much delay, copies of Typography papers 6 are available for sale in Europe.
Hyphen New Series
Ash Smith / 2006.01.12
In collaboration with the graphic design practice Polimekanos we are planning to publish books that can be placed in areas contingent to design, which illuminate design, and which are also good contributions to their own fields.
Hague weather
Ash Smith / 2005.11.30
Last Friday, while a twenty-four-hour tempest of near-Shakespearean strength blew across the Dutch coastline, Gerrit Noordzij launched his book with a lively seminar in The Hague, at his old home of the Royal Academy of Art.
Next books
Ash Smith / 2005.10.10
We now have printed sheets of The stroke; finished copies should be available in Europe before the end of the month. Typography papers 6 is running as late as its quality will be high; we expect finished copies in December.
Representation in the UK
Ash Smith / 2005.08.06
From this month, Hyphen Press books are represented to the book-trade by Troika.
The stroke
Ash Smith / 2005.07.08
A new forthcoming title is added to this website today: an English-language edition of Gerrit Noordzij’s De streek.
Die S-Klasse
Ash Smith / 2005.06.06
A pleasant report on Fred Smeijers’s class at the HGB Leipzig has been published in the heavy-duty weekly Die Zeit.
‘Modern typography’ second edition, reviewed
Ash Smith / 2005.02.23
A long review of the book is published in the current (number 309) issue of Idea magazine.
Plans for the new year
Ash Smith / 2005.01.01
As well as Typography papers 6, expected now in early summer of this year, we are working on two new titles.
‘Modern typography’ second edition
Ash Smith / 2004.09.21
The much delayed second edition of Robin Kinross’s Modern typography is now finished and available.
Publishing ‘Typography papers’
Ash Smith /
We are very pleased to announce that Hyphen Press is taking over publication of Typography papers: the distinguished, occasional, book-length work from the Department of Typography, University of Reading.
A new Martens book
Ash Smith / 2004.09.08
The first ‘Martens book’ is out of print now, and we will not reprint it. But this new title is just going into production. It should be in the shops before summer begins.
‘Type spaces’ reviewed
Ash Smith / 2004.05.24
n an unusually perceptive appreciation of the book in his ‘Schrift & Charakter’ column (Institut für Textkritik), Roland Reuß defends Burnhill against the charge of over-interpretation.
Nordic distribution
Ash Smith / 2004.05.03
Coen Sligting in Amsterdam now has a representative in the Nordic countries.
Smeijers further
Ash Smith / 2004.04.09
Last month Fred Smeijers spoke about his work to an enthusiastic and packed audience.
Smeijers in London
Ash Smith / 2004.02.17
On Tuesday 16 March at the St Bride Institute, London, Fred Smeijers will give a public lecture on the theme of ‘type now’.
The new year 2004
Ash Smith / 2003.12.30
Greetings to friends and colleagues for the new year. Instead of a greetings card, you may like to look at a snowy image of the place in which we now work, run by Workplace Co-operative 115 Ltd.
OurType
Ash Smith / 2003.12.18
Fred Smeijers’s dream of his own font label is now a reality. OurType will publish all his new typefaces, together with work by others, chosen by Fred and co-director Rudy Geeraerts.
Buying our books
Ash Smith / 2003.12.01
All Hyphen Press books can now be bought direct from the website of our UK distributor, Central Books.
The claim of reason
Ash Smith / 2003.11.11
Robin Kinross is giving a talk with this title at the Information Design Histories conference at Coventry (UK), 10 December 2003.
Smeijers so far
Ash Smith / 2003.10.15
Type now, made at top speed, was finished just in time for its presentation on 17 October at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.
Smeijers: exhibition and book
Ash Smith / 2003.08.14
We are spending the hot summer indoors, working hard on new titles. The latest to be announced is Type now by Fred Smeijers. This will consist of an essay on the present situation in type design, fifteen or so years into the ‘PostScript revolution’, together with a colour section showing Fred’s own work as a designer.
‘Type spaces’ coming
Ash Smith / 2003.05.10
The next Hyphen Press title to be published will be Peter Burnhill’s Type spaces. Page make-up and proofing of the book is in its final stages.
‘Designing books’ in paperback
Ash Smith / 2003.05.09
A paperback edition of Jost Hochuli’s long-lasting Designing books is now available in Europe. It will be released in North and South America later in the year.
‘Type spaces’ reviewed (2)
Ash Smith / 2003.03.02
An appreciation of the book by Jacques André is published in La Lettre Gutenberg (number 29), with some lamentations about how such a work could not possibly be published in France.
Published and reviewed
Ash Smith / 2003.01.15
Unjustified texts is available in Europe now. In North America, copies will be in bookshops at the end of January. In his ‘Schrift & Charakter’ column (Institut für Textkritik), Roland Reuß discusses the book, together with another Hyphen work: Christopher Burke’s Paul Renner.
ATypI, Rome
Ash Smith / 2002.09.29
At the ATypI conference in Rome last week, three Hyphen authors spoke.
New Series
Ash Smith / 2002.08.02
Andy Crewdson’s ‘New Series’ is now launched. This is a natural successor to his weblog Lines & Splines, which in its later entries had begun to move towards more extended discussions.
Students read Potter
Ash Smith / 2002.06.10
This spring What is a designer has been used as a reading text in a class on design at the University of Connecticut.
Werkplaats at the Stedelijk
Ash Smith / 2002.06.09
An exhibition of the work of the Werkplaats Typografie (Arnhem) will open at the end of June at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, running through to September.
‘A view of early typography’ published
Ash Smith / 2002.03.28
Our reprint of Harry Carter’s A view of early typography: up to about 1600 is published in Europe today. In some weeks’ time copies will be available in North and South America, via Princeton Architectural Press, and in Australia, via Books at Manic.
New titles
Ash Smith / 2002.02.14
The new editions of Karel Martens: printed matter / drukwerk and of Norman Potter’s What is a designer are now finished and have been published in Europe. Copies of both titles are on their way to the USA and will be available this spring in North and South America through Princeton Architectural Press.
New typeface
Ash Smith / 2002.02.13
The new edition of Norman Potter’s What is a designer is set in the typeface Arnhem, designed by Fred Smeijers. Arnhem was designed and developed from 1998 onwards for a redesign of the Nederlandse Staatscourant that was undertaken by the Werkplaats Typografie in Arnhem (thus the name).
Wild in the USA (2)
Ash Smith / 2001.10.25
David Wild is making a rare return to academic life this autumn, as visiting professor in the architecture department at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville).
New distribution arrangements
Ash Smith / 2001.09.08
In North and South America, all Hyphen Press titles are now distributed by Princeton Architectural Press. In Australia, all titles are distributed by Books at Manic.
‘A view of early typography’
Ash Smith / 2001.07.22
We are planning a reprint of Harry Carter’s A view of early typography: up to about 1600.
Hibernia Type
Ash Smith / 2001.05.13
Christopher Burke, author of Paul Renner, now residing in Barcelona, has established a website, principally for his foundry Hibernia Type
Burke at Hay
Ash Smith / 2001.04.28
On 26 May at the Sunday Times literature festival at Hay-on-Wye, in the Welsh-English borderlands, Christopher Burke will be speaking on ‘Typography’.
‘Dot Dot Dot’ 2
Ash Smith / 2001.02.23
The second issue of Dot Dot Dot is just out. Among the more directly Hyphen-related contents are a review of Anthony Froshaug by Paul Barnes, and an article by Robin Kinross on ‘The uses of failure’.
Smeijers prized / Noordzij presented
Ash Smith / 2001.02.16
The Gerrit Noordzij Prize 2001 was awarded to Fred Smeijers in a meeting at the Konklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in The Hague. The prize was first given in 1996, to Noordzij himself, during the ATypI meeting there.
This site
Ash Smith / 2001.01.14
After too many months of languishing in outdated and bug-filled form, this website now reappears in a ‘second edition’.