Poster for Hermann Zapf exhibition at Cooper & Beatty, 1961

Hermann Zapf visited Toronto, and Cooper & Beatty, three times during the 1960s. This broadside is for his first visit in 1961. Design Director Allan Fleming used the beautiful hand-set foundry type version of Palatino, Zapf’s first major typeface, released by Linotype in 1949. To ensure that these typefaces were shown at their best Fleming worked closely with both the writer and the compositor to rework any awkward lines. The Cooper & Beatty compositors were highly skilled and capable of kerning awkward combinations such as ‘Z’ and ‘a’ in Zapf. A seemingly simple procedure until you realize that this is metal type. The large overlapping outline Palatino letters in red were drawn by Flemings’ long-time assistant, Ken Rodmell, who would go on to become one of the leading editorial designers in the country.

Cooper & Beatty were well aware of branding and very little went out of the shop that didn’t have their mark on it. But there was one exception; invitations, such as this one, announcing visiting designers seem to have been exempt from that policy. Cooper & Beatty invitations straddled the fine line between commerce and culture and Allan Fleming saw to it that the emphasis was always placed on the honoured guest – not the company.

Artifact Text

Hermann Zapf / Calligrapher / Type Designer / Typographer
An outstanding exhibition of original sketches, working drawings and calligraphy for type designs, ornaments, medals, stamps and label; along with books, single proof pages, broadsides and miscellaneous ephemera by the most original type designer of our day. This work was arranged and exhibited by the Contemporary Arts Center, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and has also been shown at the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, and the American Institute of Graphic Arts in New York. This is the only appearance of the Zapf exhibition in Canada before its return to Germany.
June 12–30, at 401 Wellington West, 9–5.30 PM
Cooper & Beatty, Limited Type Craftsmen