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Edward Johnston: Appearing in Tipografía Laitinoamericana

Page Range: 32-43

This chapter is the culmination of Clayton’s on-going research into the work of Edward Johnston, the calligraphic pioneer and designer of the London Underground type. Johnston was born in Uruguay, but has not been recognised within Latin America’s calligraphic history. Claytons’ research into Johnston’s early life and influences inform this chapter, which forms part of the opening section to the first ever survey of Latin American typography and the contribution of Latin America to the graphic arts, specifically through the work of Edward Johnston.

In this chapter I set out the known facts about Edward Johnston's family connection with Uruguay. I draw the parallel between Johnston's work as a pioneer in a new field of the graphic arts and his family's story of emigration. For a new audience I articulate Johnston's principal achievements, and conclude that what was significant about his work was his broad synthesizing view. This viewpoint, expressed with vitality in several media, articulated a structural and cultural relationship between calligraphy and typography that has helped ensure a broad cultural context around letterforms has been transmitted into new digital graphic environments.