Blueprint – Booklet cover for Department of Labour, Ottawa, Carl Dair, 1945

Carl Dair’s first job, as a typographer, was at the newly formed National Film Board (NFB) in Montreal. He was only with the NFB for two years and in his biography, ‘Typecast for Thirty Years’,* he simply mentions that; “In 1945, Donald Buchanan invited me to join the graphics division of the National Film Board.” Throughout the Second World War, and for some time after, the newly formed NFB also acted as a public relations agency for the Canadian government, creating film and print material for various government departments such as the Industrial Production Co-operation Board.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s Dair would occasionally earn a little money by painting signs. That experience, along with a life-long interest in calligraphy, helped prepare him for his later role as a graphic designer. Throughout his career Dair would often use his own hand lettering to add a unique, and inexpensive, touch to his work.

*Canadian Printer and Publisher, November 1960.