History and Contributions of Eric Gill

Throughout time, there have been countless artists, designers and typographers that had the opportunity to make a bold statement, invent the next best thing or to engrave their name in the design industry for all eternity. Although ordinary people don’t realize a good design when they see it, they know it has attracted them somehow and they feel the need to ask and wonder how it came to be. Without question, Eric Gill has note ably revolutionized the type world. Without him there would be no benchmark for humanist typefaces; without Gill, there would be no Gill Sans, the font that will consistently be seen as a crisp, clean and readable font; as all typefaces should be. Despite for his one notorious face, he has created 11 typefaces, wrote and designed significant books, sculpted and painted nudes and has contributed his designs to numerous companies. Without Gill, the design world would be missing a link that enhanced the design industry. As well, without him, people wouldn’t have given much care to his work if it weren’t for his unorthodox and eccentric behavior.

THE BEGINNING
Born on the 22 of February in 1882 in Brighton, Sussex, Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, also known as Eric Gill, attended Chichester Technical and Art School. He studied for four years until later deciding to move to London in the 1900’s to train as an architect. Unfortunately, this wasn’t an enjoyable experience for him until he decided to attend stone masonry and calligraphy at the Westminster Technical Institute and at the Central School of the Arts and Crafts. During his calligraphy classes, he was easily intrigued and influenced than none other than Edward Johnston. Gill being inspired by Johnston, he left architectural training to become a calligrapher, letter-cutter and monumental builder. After marrying in 1904, he began having a knack for sculpture where his obsession began with the arts. It wasn’t until 20 years later where he designed his very first font, Perpetua for Roman