On Monday, January 16th, 2017, our CEO, Mr. Tomio Yanagisawa gave a short lecture on fonts, as a part of a session given by Prof. Tetsuji Kuboyama of Gakushuin University Computer Center.
This session was a part of the lessons by Prof. Tetsuji Kuboyama （PhD, Engineering） of Gakushuin University Computer Center. Prof. Kuboyama, who always teaches his students how to choose proper types when they write essays and reports, on this occasion, called on Ms. Ai Sasaki, honto Business Operations, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd., to lecture on the significance of typography in communication from the standpoint of a professional who tackles letters.
First, the introduction by Prof. Kuboyama.
The words from Mr. Hidekatsu Shimono, Research Institute of Global Media Services, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
Then, our CEO, Mr. Yanagisawa gave a presentation. He talked about the history of Western calligraphy including “The Book of Kells” and “Gutenberg Bible”, introducing some episodes that seem to attract students, and showed them a rare book manufactured in 17th century.
Now, the time for the main lecturer. Ms. Sasaki’s passion for letters highly stimulated the students’ intellectual curiosity.
Afterwards, by courtesy of Prof. Kuboyama, we had a chance to read the students’ comments. One student commented, knowing that it takes 2 years to manufacture 23,000 letters of a type, with every letter handmade, it is significant to use types properly according to TPO. Many students commented that they could see things from a different way by knowing the labor of creators and the meanings and reasons behind those things. There are also comments on Mr. Yanagisawa’s talk, e.g. it is impressive that we can tell when the book was written by the type used for printing, it is interesting that paper size used for printing is silver ratio, etc. One student says Western calligraphy is so cute that she wants to learn by herself.
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