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As part of the final series of the St. Thomas Narrative and History Art Lecture Series, freelance type designer Kent Lew spoke about the history and adaptation of font styles April 14 at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts in Minneapolis.

Lew, who specializes in book typography, compared the evolution of font styles to classical music.

“It gave it a different element. It gave it a sound element that kind of helped explain it a little better,” said Lauren Greer, first-year graduate student.

Lew compared the adaptation of classical pieces from Igor Stravinski, Johann Sebastian Bach and Johannes Brahms to typefaces such as Vendetta, Garamond and Nexus.

He said fonts that have recreated a variation of older, metallic fonts “honor the past, but give original expression.”

Kristine Habverstock, a second-year graduate student, said, “I liked the juxtaposition between his old faces, the metal type that he showed us and then digital types that he created based on those. It was interesting.”

Lew created a font called Whitman, an adaptation of the font Caledonia, which has been used in novels and in the Star Tribune’s newspaper. The Type Directory Club also awarded Whitman a Certificate of Excellence in Type Design in 2002.

Michael Ewen can be reached at mtewen@stthomas.edu.