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Writer's pictureDiana Varma

164: Preserving Canada's Type History with the Canadian Typography Archives and Sam Archibald



Next on our journey hearing from those in industry who make space for others through community-building, we have the newly-launched Canadian Typography Archives (CTA) with board member, Sam Archibald.


Sam Archibald is a founding board member of the Canadian Typography Archives, owner and creative director of Shortstop, and founding director of Pride Advertising & Marketing (PrideAM). Born in Vancouver, British Columbia and living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, his bi-coastal experience informs his tendency to look at all sides of a problem. He enjoys the creative process, impactful advertising, great typography, and curling up with a good book or reality TV show.


In this episode, you’ll hear about the impetus that lead to the Canadian Typography Archives, as well as the driving force behind it. You'll hear about the uniquely Canadian perspective missing from type history books and how the archive plans to fill in the gaps now and in the future, including the goal to include diverse representation.


In and around the 15-minute mark, Sam describes the significance of one of the pieces in the archive and you can find the link here: 'Corner of the city' - Mono Lino Typesetting, Herb Graab, 1963.


This episode was recorded as part of a guest lecture series in GCM 230 - Typography in fall 2023 at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Let's listen in...


Links:


Canadian Typography Archives (CTA)


Link to CTA ad piece discussed in the episode (‘Corner of the city’ - Mono Lino Typesetting, Herb Graab, 1963)

Gibson

Canada Type


Rod McDonald's ATypeI 2017 talk "Type Night in Canada"

Cartier

Sam Archibald

**Extra Credit - Alcuin Society ’23 Lecture Series

This is a more recent talk that Rod did on some of the work that you can find in our Phase 1 collection now.


Thank you Sam and the Canadian Typography Archives! The community coming up in the next episode is lead by a living legend in print. I had the immense pleasure of speaking with the one and only Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. where we chat about the community he's created in Detroit, Michigan, The Pile of Bricks, among many, many other topics in and around creative living and making. You won't want to miss this one! Stay tuned…



About Out Guest:

Sam Archibald is a founding board member of the Canadian Typography Archives, owner and creative director of Shortstop, and founding director of Pride Advertising & Marketing (PrideAM). Born in Vancouver, British Columbia and living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, his bi-coastal experience informs his tendency to look at all sides of a problem. He enjoys the creative process, impactful advertising, great typography, and curling up with a good book or reality TV show.





Music: Oopsie Doodle Master by John Bartmann, Licensed Under CC0 1.0 Universal


Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle


Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

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