Eric Gill Research Paper

Eric Gill, an English sculptor, typeface designer, and printmaker. He is known to be a controversial figure and is associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. Eric Gill was born Feb 22, 1882 in Brighton, England and died 17 November 1940 at age 58. Eric Gill is most well-known for his Gill Sans type face, erotic imagery and sculptures.

Eric Gill took lessons in lettering with Edward Johnston at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. Gill then became inspired by nature and Indian temple sculptures. One quote from Eric Gill clearly states of what he thought about type design in his time, “There are now about as many different varieties of letters as there are different kinds of fools.”

Eric Gills first public success was Mother and Child in 1912, a statue of a woman sitting on a rock pedestal with her infant within her arms. Gill was fascinated

Drawing heavily on Johnston’s work, Gill first experimented with his so called ‘improvements’ in 1926 when he hand-painted lettering for a bookshop sign in his hometown, Bristol.2 Typefaces he designed included the following: Perpetua in 1925, Gill Sans Serif in 1927, Joanna in 1930, and Bunyan, designed in 1934, but recut for machine use and renamed Pilgrim in 1953. Gill was made an associate of the Royal Academy in 1937 and of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1938. His books include Christianity and Art in 1927, Work and Property in 1937, and Autobiography in 1940. Today over two dozen Gill Sans designs are available digitally, with mainstream reach thanks to its inclusion on Mac OS X and Microsoft Office. It can be seen everywhere, used (and/or overused) on everything from corporate logos to movie posters—one industry that has actually embraced the unusual Ultra