Charles Rennie Mackintosh impeccably hand-lettered his architectural renderings and created posters, book jackets, leaflets and even dance invitations with his distinctive letters, but there is no evidence that he ever drew out an entire alphabet. Mackintosh's own handwriting was fluid, cursive and showed the roots of a formal Victorian education, but the hand-drawn lettering on his architectural drawings was characteristically much more controlled. These letterforms, like every other element of his approach, were designed to convey the specific ambiance and mood of each project. Mackintosh had a passion to design and to control every facet of his work.
In 1995, Colin Brignall, ITC's European type consultant, and an admirer of Mackintosh, contacted the Glasgow School of Art with the intention of suggesting a digital font based on Mackintosh's lettering style. James Murray, a lecturer in Graphics at Glasgow School of Art, had been researching Mackintosh's lettering and related decorative flourishes for many years. Murray studied the school's extraordinary Mackintosh collection, and had drawn many lettering samples that were essentially Mackintosh including Mackintosh's alternative versions of letters. Brignall received the cooperation of the Glasgow School of Art and full access to Murray's research. Type designer Phill Grimshaw was recruited and, under Brignall's art direction, took Murray's initial work and developed it into full typeface fonts in bold and light weights, which maintain the spirit and integrity of Mackintosh's lettering. Bob Tremallo of ITC used his technical expertise to finesse the font to accommodate the alternate letters so typical of Mackintosh, and to incorporate the various ligatures that Grimshaw had designed based on Mackintosh's signature style.
Brignall believed the architectural details and ornamental designs in Mackintosh's work (especially notable in the Glasgow School of Art building) would make a strong graphic ornaments font. He had Grimshaw interpret and create ornaments and refine the stained glass motifs as a complement to the lettering fonts.
The decision to create the ornament font posed an esthetic dilemma relating to the integrity of the lettering font. According to Brignall, "If we were to accurately interpret Mackintosh's pen-and-ink rendered lettering, then the typefaces probably should be designed incorporating a rough edge," he explains. "However, since the ornaments would mostly be used in conjunction with the type, and since research showed that the ornaments worked better with smooth edges, the type was thus designed with smooth edges to complement the ornaments."
"Looking at the final results of the new typeface, we firmly believe that they really do represent the spirit of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's original lettering. As well as the overall design excellence, the alternative letter forms, ligatures and short word combinations that Mackintosh used when restricted for space were included in the design process. The very existence of these means that someone using this ITC font can capture the very spirit of the original lettering," says Brignall.
The unifying energy that bound the ITC team in this unique project was, of course, Mackintosh himself. This artist was an innovator who continues to touch all who see and study his extraordinary work. Now his legacy lives on digitally in ITC Rennie Mackintosh.
The family includes ITC Rennie Mackintosh Light, ITC Rennie Mackintosh Bold, and ITC Rennie Mackintosh Ornaments.
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Learn more about the Glasgow School of Art, which was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
Take an online tour of The Mackintosh House, a reconstruction of the principal interiors from the Glasgow home of the Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) and the artist Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (1864-1933).