Robert Harling

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Robert Harling Born in Highbury, North London in 1910, Robert was brought up by an aunt after the early deaths of his parents, and went to school in Brighton and London. He lived in Godstore, Surrey, and died in 2008. He studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London. He first worked as a designer for the Daily Mail and was simultaneously an adviser on typography for London Transport and for the Sheffield-based foundry Stephenson Blake&Co, designing their literature and three popular display typefaces: Playbill (1938) is a Western saloon face. Digital versions exist at Softmaker (as Prescott), URW++ (as Playbill), Elsner&Flake, and Bitstream (as Circus 721). Chisel (1939) is an engravers typeface done at Stephenson Blake. Compare Bavo (Enschede). Digital versions exist at URW++, Elsner&Flake, and SoftMaker (where it is called Carlisle). Tea Chest (1939, Stephenson Blake) is an elegant stencil typeface. Digital revivals: Tea Chest (1999, Sigred Claessens and Günther Flake, Apply Interactive), East India Company NF (2011, Nick Curtis), Pekoe JNL (2020, Jeff Levine). While still in his twenties, Robert co-founded and became editor of Typography, a journal of contemporary lettering and print, published by his friend and ally James Shand at the Shenval Press. When it first appeared in 1936, the journal broke new ground in its coverage of the European avant garde---including the first serious article on Jan Tschichold's work to be published in Britain. In 1951, he designed Keyboard (at Stephenson&Blake; Schnelle mentions 1949). Typographic adviser to London Transport, and director of one of London's leading advertising agencies. With James Shand, he was the founder of the Shenval Press in Hertford. He published the quarterly magazine Typography. After WWII, he published Alphabet&Image. He was also the typographic adviser and architecture correspondent for the Sunday Times. He was a during their service with naval intelligence in the second world war. Author of Ian Fleming (2015), a book about Fleming published seven years after his death. Linotype link. FontShop link. Obituary by Fiona MacCarthy in The Guardian.	EXTERNAL LINKS Robert Harling [Designer info] MyFonts search Monotype search Fontspring search Google search INTERNAL LINKS Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Western fonts ⦿ Stencil fonts ⦿ Type design in the United Kingdom ⦿ Avant Garde typefaces ⦿ Avant Garde typefaces ⦿ Popart typefaces ⦿ Fashion mag typefaces ⦿ Copperplate ⦿