I started working in 1986, spanning the transition that desktop computers brought to the design and print industry, while gathering qualifications of mostly peripheral relevance. In 1994 I found a home in the Department of Typography at the University of Reading, where I teach typography and typeface design. Since 2001 I have been running the MA Typeface Design programme. I am involved heavily in knowledge transfer projects, consultancy, and course development.
I have been contributing to Greek typeface design projects for over fifteen years, working with most of the designers and foundries that matter. My perspective is one of placing typography in a wider context, and helping designers develop an understanding of the basic principles, and an insight into the potential for originality. I am frequently invited to speak, teach, and review the work of others.
Elsewhere
I write ocassionally on this site, on Typenotes, and on Typography at Reading.
I tweet personally at @gerryleonidas and professionally at @typefacedesign.
The Work section contains a reasonably up-to-date list of activities. My academic output is listed on the University of Reading’s CentAUR repository, and on Academia.edu.
Longer bio
I am a Senior Lecturer in Typography in the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication at the University of Reading, UK. My responsibilities cover both undergraduate and postgraduate modules, with a heavy bias on taught postgraduate teaching, course development, and enterprise / outreach activities.
Since 2001 I have been the Programme Director for the MA Typeface Design, responsible for planning and delivery of a significant proportion of the teaching hours. The course is considered a reference for practice-based teaching in an academic environment, and, through the output of its students and graduates, is contributing considerably to the transformation of a domain of practice into a field of study.
I co-supervise and sit on Research Advisory Groups for PhD candidates, have served as an expert reviewer for funding applications in Arts & Humanities, and assessed tenure promotion portfolios for a number of institutions internationally. I am currently the External Examiner for the MA Graphic Design at the University of Portsmouth.
I am the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication’s Senior Tutor, with responsibilities for implementing Personal and Professional Development initiatives, and overseeing pastoral provision for students. I sit on a number of committees, boards, and fora, and am currently the Enterprise Coordinator for the School of Arts & Communication Design.
I am heavily involved in course development, at module, course, and programme level. A major contribution in this area is the development of the MA Typeface Design programme, and the successful one/two-week summer course summer course ‘TDi: intensive course in typeface design’. I have recently completed scrutiny for a new distance-learning MA programme, with the aim to enroll the first cohort in the autumn of 2014.
My consultancy focuses on typeface design and typography with particular expertise in Greek typography. Projects have been concluded with include Adobe, Ascender, Bitstream, Cambridge University Press, DaltonMaag, Linotype, Microsoft, Monotype, and many smaller companies. In this area, I was been the academic lead on a successfully concluded two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership between the University of Reading and Monotype Imaging, and lead a Partnership with Merson Sign Design on bi-lingual airport sign systems.
I help to organise conferences, notably the ICTVC series in Greece and Cyprus, and was a Board member of the ATypI from 2004 to 2010. I am frequently invited to speak on typography and typeface design, and increasingly on typographic education, both at academic and professional events.