TYPE DESIGN INFORMATION PAGE last updated on Wed Nov 20 11:39:38 EST 2024

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ABOUT

Alan Meeks

Prolific type designer, b. London, 1951. Alan started working in 1970 for Graphic Systems as a lettering artist. In 1975, he joined Letraset as the Senior Type Designer and Studio Manager where he was responsible for all the artwork produced by the Letraset studio. During his tenure at Letraset, he designed over 40 popular typefaces, including Bramley, Candice, Bickley Script and Belwe. Most of these typefaces also showed up in the Scangraphic collection. Together with type director Colin Brignall, Alan contributed to the success of Letraset. All the original typographic artwork produced at Letraset was produced by hand cutting the fonts in Rubylith, a highly-skilled technique known as stencil cutting. Alan was responsible for training the entire Letraset studio in this art. Most of the original Letraset artwork has now been archived at St. Brides Printing Library, London. Today, Alan works independently, specializing in all facets of corporate identity including type design, typography, packaging, and development of logos and symbols.

His oeuvre (sold via MyFonts) includes:

• Letraset: Aardvark (with Colin Brignall, 1969). Also see Aargau (Softmaker).
• Font Factory: Chalfont (2003: similar to Antique Olive), Brigade (classic roman), Fairway (curly sans), Copacabana (italicized roman).
• Elsner&Flake fonts: Bramley, Cabaret, Candice, Chesterfield, Einhorn (1980, Scangraphic, a revival of a 1931 typeface by Heinrich Maehler called Salut), Frankfurter (1978-1981, with Nick Belshaw and Bob Newman; for digital versions, see Farnham by Infinitype and F821 Deco by SoftMaker), Galadriel (1975; specimen; another specimen), Glastonbury, Knightsbridge, Plaza, Princetown (athletic lettering font done in 1981 based on Princetown by Dick Jones at Letraset), Rialto, Shelley, Tarragon (1981, art nouveau).
• ITC fonts: Algerian Condensed, Ambrose, Belwe Mono, Bertie, Bickley Script, Burlington (1985), Cabaret, Campaign (stencil), Cancellaresca Script (1982), Champers, Claude Sans, Dynamo Shadow (1977), Fashion Compressed (1986, Letraset: a fashion mag didone typeface), Flamme (1993), Follies (1991), Frankfurter (1978-1981, with Nick Belshaw), Glastonbury (1979), Inscription, Jazz, Lightnin' (1994), Limehouse Script (1986), Locarno (1986), Malibu (1992), Plaza, Ragtime, Regatta Condensed, Savoye, Shelley, Tannhauser (1988), Varga (1991), Waterloo Bold (1987).
• Letraset fonts: Aachen, Ambrose (1985), Belwe Mono (1989), Bertie (1985, a Mexican simulation face), Bickley Script, Burlington (1985), Campaign, Champers, Claude Sans (1988), Fashion Compressed, Flamme, Follies, Inscription, Jazz (1992, art deco), Lightnin, Limehouse Script, Locarno, Malibu, Ragtime, Regatta Condensed, Savoye (1992), Tannhauser, Varga, Waterloo Bold.
• Linotype fonts: Aachen, Algerian, Belwe Mono, Bertie, Bickley Script (1986), Bramley, Burlington, Cabaret (1980), Campaign, Cancellaresca Script, Candice, Champers (1991), Chesterfield, Claude Sans, Dynamo, Einhorn, Fashion, Flamme (script), Follies, Frankfurter, Galadriel, Gill Display Compressed, Glastonbury, Inscription (1994), Jazz (1992), Kestrel (1985, a connected signage script at Letraset based on Commercial Script; Ralph Unger's 2011 typeface Faulkner Pro is based on Kestrel; see also Kestrel Script (2010), Meeks's own digital version, its informal version Falcon Script (2013), and Subflux's Ballpark Weiner), Knightsbridge, Lightnin, Limehouse Script, Locarno, Malibu, Plaza (1975), Plaza, Ragtime (1987), Regatta Condensed, Rialto, Savoye, Shelley, Tannhauser, Tarragon, Varga.
• Typefaces from 2011: Dublin (a Celtic typeface), Chalky.
• Typefaces from 2014: Pinot Grigio Modern (a modern rounded multi-style update of Peignot, originally designed in 1937 by A. M. Cassandre), Falcon Script.
• Typefaces from 2015: Park Lane (a classicitalic roman).
• Typefaces from 2017: British Empire (a colonial typeface).
• Typefaces from 2018: Arequipa (a titling font), Independence Script (a cursive script loosely based on the Declaration of Independence; co-designed with calligrapher Satwinder Sehmi), Witchcraft. A classic roman.
• Typefaces from 2019: Aquitania Script (calligraphic).
• Typefaces from 2020: Bodoni Elegant. An 8-style family in Bodoni's style with oh so slight curves thrown in.
• Typefaces from 2021: Pantomime (a heavy monolinear script).
• URW++ revivals: Glastonbury (2009).
• Allan Meeks collection (Cedars, PA): Astoria (2006, miniserifed family based on Gill Sans), Astoria Sans (2011), Astoria Classic (2016), Astoria Classic Sans (2017, with a Peignotian feel), Brigade (2003, serif family), Copacabana (2004, based on Goudy Old Style Italic), Vatican (2005, a calligraphic typeface characterized by the sharp edge style of Arthur Baker), Colosseum (2008, a sans based on Trajan roman and influenced by Friz Quadrata), Chalfont (2003, a News Gothic style typeface with thinned strokes near the bottom---strange and somewhat unattractive), Fairway (2003, a quirky sans), Chalfont Roman (2020), Spartacus (2014), Winterfell (2019).
• Custom type: Benson&Hedges, Lilt, The Woolmark Company, Somerfield, Tarmac, Clearstream.

FontShop link. Linotype link.

View Alan Meeks's typefaces. Yet another page with Alan Meeks's typefaces. Klingspor link.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Alan Meeks
 [Buy fonts]
 [Designer info]
Fontspring link [Buy fonts]
Monotype link
Monotype foundry link
Klingspor Museum page
MyFonts search
Monotype search
Fontspring search
Google search

INTERNAL LINKS
Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Athletic lettering faces ⦿ Stencil fonts ⦿ Type scene in Pennsylvania ⦿ Calligraphic typefaces ⦿ Type design in the United Kingdom ⦿ Art Nouveau typefaces ⦿ Signage typefaces ⦿ Art deco typefaces ⦿ Mexican simulation typefaces ⦿ Chancery hand, cancellaresca ⦿ Typefaces inspired by the Trajan column in Rome ⦿ Modern style [Bodoni, Didot, Walbaum, Thorowgood, Computer Modern, etc.] ⦿ Fashion mag typefaces ⦿ Celtic/Gaelic fonts ⦿ Commercial fonts (small outfits) ⦿ Eric Gill and his typefaces ⦿ Curly typefaces ⦿ Typefaces that emulate chalk ⦿ Monoline script fonts ⦿