• UK-China Humanities Alliance (UKCHA)
• Activities
• Typography

Typography & Graphic Communication

Led by University of Reading, November 2018

Seed funding from the the UK-China Humanities Alliance scheme was utilised to develop the connection between the School of Visual Communication at Tsinghua University and the School of Arts and Communication Design (SACD) at University of Reading.

The goal was to build on an existing relationship between Typography and the School of Visual Communication at the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University. 

The UKCHA funding allowed Reading to invite Professor Zhao Jian (Dean of the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua) to Reading for a few days in November 2018. The schedule of the visit included two structured meetings with selected Typography staff on themes relating to potential research collaboration, sessions introducing Reading's collections and how they are used in research and teaching (an area of intense interest of Zhao Jian) and opportunities to witness PGT teaching with collections material. The visit was timed to coincide with the presence of Gerard Unger in the Department, and the opening of an exhibition of his work. A current PhD student (and MATD graduate) who is Chinese assisted with translation throughout the visit.

The visit was very successful, with a resolution to continue the discussions initiated during the visit on developing a partnership in the areas of collections-based research, PGR training, and staff collaboration on a range of areas. They also discussed workshop-like sessions modelled on the successful TDi summer course and the MResTD blended learning programme, and sandwich PhD options.

In April 2019, Gerry Leonidas visited Beijing following an invitation to run a typography and typeface design workshop for staff and postgraduates, and to further develop discussions. As a result of those discussions Gerry to contribute a number of entries to the 3rd edition of the Encyclopaedia of China, which Tsinghua is supervising. This edition of the major work is the first one to have a set of entries on Design (Gerry Leonidas is the only non-Chinese contributor in that section).