Type by Association is an installation which is part of By Association, the final exhibition for Fia Backström’s Art as Research Fall 2017 class. The installation explores what it means to consider a typeface an archive and also suggests new ways for displaying graphic design pieces in a gallery.

Type by Association features collected images, documents, and fonts that revolve around the font Monticello. It begins with historical documents showing the origins of the font and its transformation into what it is today. The installation also features several different identities that Princeton has operated under, with Monticello operating as the current font in which all University branding and identity is set in. Finally, the installation introduces a new font, Monti Sans, which was created by me as the final descendent of Monticello and documents its history. In documenting Monti Sans and also introducing a new identity for the university set that font, I am suggesting that the font is now part of the history of both Princeton’s institutional identity as well as the history of Monticello.

I also built custom display technology loosely modeled off the ECAL Graphic Design exhibition in San Francisco where I tried to explore new ways of viewing pieces of graphic design, which traditionally requires a lot of context in order to be super effective, in a gallery. By using a pegboard and displaying the piece by itself on the front and the caption on the back, I attempt to display the piece of graphic design as an object. In addition, I used three different shapes of pegboard (1’x1’, 2’x1’, and 1’x2’) on three different dimensions to signify material from different timelines, those of Monticello, Princeton’s identity, and Monti Sans respectively. This system is mirrored in the typesetting of the captions on the back as well.