To celebrate Commercial Type’s latest release, Spectator, Paul Barnes will talk on Scottish type and its impact on the world.

Can a typeface ever represent a country, or is this just something that graphic designers imagine? Does Helvetica really say Switzerland? Does Antique Olive look French? Is Baskerville the face of England? And when it comes to Scotland, what would that be?

Since the eighteenth century through to the twentieth century, Scotland was one of the dominant nations typographically, through its foundries, printers and publishers. The influence was not just south of the border, but across the world; especially in North America, where the term Scotch represented a particular style of serif letter that people still refer to.

Paul Barnes has explored this through a series of typefaces, including the newly released Spectator, that draw on historical models whilst modernising them for contemporary use. In his talk he will explore the research and process in making the typefaces and where they fit in the Scottish canon of typefaces.

Join us at ECA for this special lecture followed by a reception.

About Paul Barnes

Paul Barnes is a type designer and partner at the London and New York foundry Commercial Type. His work reflects a strong interest in both modern historical and vernacular influences, spanning contemporary commissions such as work for Björk through to more extensive type family projects like Chiswick (2017). While consulting for The Guardian, he co-designed Guardian Egyptian alongside Christian Schwartz.

He has created bespoke typefaces for a range of institutions and brands, including the National Trust in England, Visa (Visa Dialect), the Victoria & Albert Museum (Spiller), Puma (including the numbering system used for the 2010 World Cup), and Umbro for the England football team.

At Commercial Type, Barnes has collaborated with Schwartz on Publico, and independently developed typefaces such as Austin, Dala Floda, and Marian. He has also contributed to the Commercial Classics series, which revives historical typefaces sourced from St Bride Library for release through Commercial Type.

He has lectured and taught all over the world, and since 2024 has been a member of the prestigious Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) since 2024.

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