The studio is on the second floor of a former cutlery works on Kelham Island. The building is red brick, the windows are tall, and the floor still has the marks of the benches that were here before us. We have five people and eight families. A week is usually a mix of drawing, testing, licensing and packing.
Monday and Tuesday
Monday starts with a short meeting around the long table. We look at the week's proofs, the orders that need attention and any custom work in progress. Hana and Will usually have a drawing question for each other by ten o'clock. The rest of the day is quiet, which is the point.
Drawing happens in the morning. After lunch we test. That might mean setting a page in Pelham at three sizes, checking a new set of figures in Sable, or printing a proof on the uncoated stock we keep for the specimen book. The printer is small and slow, and that suits the work.
Tuesday is often a licensing day. A studio will write with a project that does not fit the four standard licences: a campaign that runs on a client's site and on the agency's own, or an app that also needs a web licence for its help pages. We read the brief, work out which licence covers what, and reply in plain language. If the answer is a quote, we say so and give a date.
Wednesday to Friday
Wednesday is for the specimen book. Volume two is 248 pages at 240 by 320 mm, cloth hardback, sewn, on uncoated 120 gsm paper. The pages are laid out months in advance, but the proofs keep arriving. We check the order of the families, the page numbers, the colour of the black and the position of every caption. A book of this size hides small errors well, which is why we look at it on paper.
Thursday is production and admin. Trial files go out, orders are checked, download links are confirmed. Priya answers licensing questions and keeps the records straight. The licence is the order, so the confirmation email and the order in the account are the proof. There are no keys and no activation steps. That makes the conversation simpler at both ends.
Friday is for the future. We review the week, tidy the studio and make a list for Monday. Sometimes there is a visit from a designer or a publisher, and the afternoon goes to looking at type on the table. We keep the good proofs in a plan chest by the window.
The shape of a week
The week has a rhythm, but it is not rigid. A press proof can move everything. The list below is the version we aim for.
- Monday: drawings, proofs, the week's plan.
- Tuesday: licensing questions and quotes.
- Wednesday: specimen book pages and print checks.
- Thursday: trials, orders and records.
- Friday: review, visits and the list for next week.
People sometimes ask whether the building matters. It does, a little. The rooms are quiet, the light is good, and the history of the place is a reminder that type is a made thing. You can read more about the way we license the families we draw here.
