Abstract/Summary

This thesis explores Linotype’s design of new Greek typefaces for photocomposition in the Greek printing market between 1970 and 1980. The thesis draws on original archival research and interviews in Greece, the U.K. and the U.S. in order to build a reliable picture of the design and manufacture of the typefaces. Specifically, it seeks to establish: the reasons that prompted Linotype to embark on a programme of Greek type design; whether this design work constituted a programme, and if so how it came about; the role of the Athens Publishing Center in facilitating Linotype’s efforts to enter the nascent photocomposition market; and which typefaces were developed, and their design process discovered through the documentary evidence of the people who contributed to their design and manufacture. The collaboration of Linotype staff, whose combined expertise included type design, printing technology and business, with their local agent and their clients lies at the heart of this research and is discussed throughout the thesis. This allows conclusions to be drawn about the relationship of the new Greek type designs to the Latin typefaces they were extensively modelled on. The thesis contributes new information to the existing literature on Greek typographic history in the second half of the twentieth century, and aims to facilitate a greater understanding of the role of photocomposition in Greek typography and printing, which is a subject that has been little touched upon in the available literature in this field.