Difference between revisions of "Walter Porstmann"
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| − | A German engineer and mathematician, the creator of format A4. | + | A German engineer and mathematician, the creator of format A4. |
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| + | In his 1920 book ''Sprache und Schrift'' he advocated, for purely economic reasons, a "single alphabet" (all lower case) and envisioned the development of a universal typeface with which eventually all languages of the world could be written. The idea of unicase typography was adopted by [[Bauhaus]] and proponents of the New Typography. [[Laszlo Moholy-Nagy]] read the book; [[Herbert Bayer]] designed a unicase font called Universal; [[Jan Tschichold]] made another. [http://books.google.com/books?id=VEmZRkK2aDoC&pg=PT203] [http://books.google.com/books?id=cAj85QYZmLUC&pg=PA142] [http://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?A2=TYPO-L;0JA3Jg;19960704004700%2B0200] | ||
; Works | ; Works | ||
| − | * ''[http://archive.org/details/Porstmann1920 Sprache und Schrift]'', 1920. (in German) | + | * ''[http://archive.org/details/Porstmann1920 Sprache und Schrift]'' [Languages and Writing], 1920. (in German) |
; Literature | ; Literature | ||
Revision as of 12:30, 11 August 2014
A German engineer and mathematician, the creator of format A4.
In his 1920 book Sprache und Schrift he advocated, for purely economic reasons, a "single alphabet" (all lower case) and envisioned the development of a universal typeface with which eventually all languages of the world could be written. The idea of unicase typography was adopted by Bauhaus and proponents of the New Typography. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy read the book; Herbert Bayer designed a unicase font called Universal; Jan Tschichold made another. [1] [2] [3]
- Works
- Sprache und Schrift [Languages and Writing], 1920. (in German)
- Literature
- Markus Krajewski, Restlosigkeit. Weltprojekte um 1900, Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 2006, pp 64-140. (in German)
- Links
