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Making a (type)case for Stephenson Blake

Was lucky to be peripherally involved in a pitch to bring the Stephenson Blake & Co. Type foundry from storage and back to its home in Sheffield.

Stephenson Blake & Co. were the punch-cutters behind many famous fonts (including Windsor and Impact) and closed shop in the 1990’s (while the business, happily, lives on as an engineering specialist) and fortunately all that lead was saved and went into storage.

The Tender was to provide the services associated with relocating and displaying the collection in the grounds of the historic steel foundry (hence the lovely idea of a foundry within a foundry) so as to generate a visitor attraction in addition to the existing industrial heritage of the Quarter.

The setting (lol!) was also apposite as not only was the site just down the road from the original building (now flats, called Impact House) but in a buzzing part of the city filled with street art, creative and small manufacturing industries.

Although the Tender didn’t call for a visual or creative response, I couldn’t resist the amazing potential something like this as a project would offer to a graphic designer. So while the team wasn’t successful, this has been burning a hole in my pocket ever since. So better to get it out of the system :)