Respects to The Letter Man

:: Video from Kadambari Gladding
The design community lost another legend last week; Samoan-born, and New Zealand type designer Joseph Churchward on April 26th. He will long be remembered as one of the pioneers of hand-rendered type, and may well have the distinction of the most prolific type designer of all. Churchward left us with more indelible marks on this world than anyone. Over a year ago, I think it was at least 654 typefaces he designed since he first drew letters in the sand as a young child in Samoa. All of them were hand-lettered without the aid of the computer and each of them began with the name "Churchward".

In 2009, fellow New Zealand designer David Bennewith designed an account of Churchward's life and work in a 272 page book, Churchward International Typefaces. Published by Cloud, it went on to receive numerous accolades and awards. The small edition has long since sold out, but a video of it can be seen at Colophon.
::Image above from Churchward Intrntnl Typefaces 
  

I'm very grateful to reader Sean Duffell to bringing the news of Joseph Churchward's passing to my attention today. Respects are long past due.    
:: Image above of Churchward Maori font, and on left are from David Bennewith's book on Churchward, via 
It's Nice That.