Fernand Baudin

L’Effet Gutenberg (1994) talks about 500 years of typography. The first pages are on pre-Gutenberg manuscripts followed by chapters on Plantin, Moxon, Fournier, Baskerville, Bodoni, Thibaudeau, Morison, Tschichold & Zapf. Afterwards there are pages with considerations about writing and the computer and to finish there are annexes on Morison, Kandinsky, Bayer, Tschichold, Albers...

In 1986 he was asked to speak at a colloquium organised by the University of Namur. His lecture was called: ‘Pour la qualité “typographique” en informatique’. The focus was on the relationship between information provider and consumer.

Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI), is a French society that provides meetings for people professionally or otherwise concerned with typography. It was founded in 1957 and Baudin has been a member since. In 1991 he became vice-president. At a meeting in Hamburg on 12 June 1985 he suggested the idea for ‘A tentative scheme for the abc programme or series of the so-called Printing and the Hand of Man project, abc and more letterforms’. For quite a while the Dutch were superior on these meetings, whereas Baudin was the only Belgian present.

How Typography Works is the English version of La Typografie au Tableau Noir which was first published in French in 1984. The book gives a general introduction to the subject of letterforms and layout. It discusses among others the variations and the principles of letter design but also the layout of pages from papyrus fragments to the modern newspaper. How Typography Works also gives a glimpse at Baudin's philosophical ideas on the meaning of literacy in the modern age. It can be used by teachers as a manual. It's written in Baudin's handwriting and is accompanied by his own illustrations. The result is a dynamic work in which the character of Baudin is prominently visible.

Plantin-Moretus Prize was founded by the Federation of Belgian Publishers. It awards the 20 best designed Belgian books of the year by giving them gold, silver and bronze medals. Fernand Baudin was elected chairman in 1975.

He was also initiator, designer and editor of the "Dossiers" for the Association des Compagnons de Lure, Rencontres internationales de Lure, Lurs-en-Provence (1969–1975).

Before How Typography Works, Fernand Baudin wrote De drukletter (1965). Which could also be considered as a manual for typography. It includes chapters on various typefaces, type sizes, book formats, punctuation marks...

The Graphica-Belgica Prize is an award that is given to the best technically and graphically designed book. It was founded in 1962 on the initiative of Count de Villages de Clercamps. Baudin won the prize two times before he was asked to be a member of the jury. He edited and designed the reports.

Rencontres internationales de Lure is an organisation where different artists come together every year and talk about various problems in the graphic arts. It was established in the early fifties by Maximilien Vox, together with Robert Ranc and Jean Garcia. Fernand Baudin attended from 1958 to 1974. With every meeting there would be a report published which would include the topics that were discussed. From 1960 onwards Baudin made same-like reports for the Belgian press. First in La revue graphique, later Imprivaria, and Grafisch tijdschrift. He edited Dossier Michel Butor (21st meeting) and Dossier mise en page (22nd meeting). He concluded his activities with Dossier Vox (25th meeting).

In 1956 Fernand Baudin approached the chief curator at the Royal Library, Herman Liebaers, and asked him if there was a job available. Liebaers who appreciated well designed books saw an opportunity to introduce a house style for the library and so hired Fernand as a typographic consultant. During his career he worked regularly for the library. At request by Liebaers, he even wrote a paper entitled L’écriture des écritures: la lettre avant l’image.

After leaving school and serving as a prisoner of war Fernand searched for a stable employment which was with the Brussels branch of type-foundry ‘Amsterdam’. During the twelve years of his employment, from 1954 to 1966, he met with different designers such like Dick Dooijes and Willem Ovink. Throughout his career he received assignments mainly for small-scale printed matter and so stayed on as freelance typographer and consultant.

In 1936 the family moved from Ghent to Brussels, where they agreed that Fernand could follow night classes at the Academy for fine Arts in Elsene and by day would work as an apprentice with the printing house Tilbury.

Fernand Baudin (1918, Bachte-Maria-Leerne - 2005, Grez-Doiceau) was a Belgian book designer, author, typographer, and teacher. Baudin was active in the field of graphic design in many ways and described himself as a “typographiste”. He was part of national and international typographic organisations, like ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale), the Graphica-Belgica Prize, and Rencontres internationales de Lure.