Gerard Unger

A long-time guest lecturer at the University of Reading, he mentored many modern typeface designers. He lived and worked in Bussum, Netherlands.

Gerard Unger studied at Gerrit Rietveld Academie. The recorded working language is Dutch. The field of work recorded is typography and graphic design. Places of work recorded in the authority are Bussum. Employment is recorded with Leiden University. Work by Gerard Unger is recorded in the collections of National Museum Paleis het Loo, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Nationaal Archief. Distinctions recorded are BNO Piet Zwart Prijs, H.N. Werkman Award, SOTA Typography Award and honorary doctorate of Hasselt University.

• Name — Gerard Unger • Born — 22 January 1942 • Birthplace — Arnhem, Netherlands • Died — 23 November 2018 • Place of death — Bussum, Netherlands • Known for — Typographer, Graphic designer • Training — Gerrit Rietveld Academie • Spouse — Marjan Unger (1946–2018)

Unger developed many typefaces over the years, of which several were specially developed for newspapers (usually typefaces with a large x-height and large inner counters), such as Swift, Gulliver, Coranto and Vesta. He also developed designs for magazines, coins, books, logos and stamps. A large number of Unger's typefaces are available from Linotype and the Dutch Type Library; his more recent faces are also available through the foundry Type Together. He released new work on his own website from 1995. Unger designed typefaces for the signage systems of both the Dutch highways (ANWB-fonts) and the Amsterdam metro. His newspaper face Gulliver (1993) is familiar to millions of readers, as it is the typeface used by several European newspapers, including the Stuttgarter Zeitung. It was formerly used by USA Today over the course of a decade. His typeface Coranto is the typeface for The Scotsman and the Brazilian newspaper Valor. • Illustration — Wibautstraat metro station (Amsterdam, Netherlands), July 2005 In addition to his work in type design, he was active in the field of education. Unger taught at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie for over 30 years, and from 1994, he was a visiting professor at the University of Reading at the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication. From 2006 to 2012, he was a lecturer in typography at the Department of Fine Arts of the University of Leiden. His most important publication was Terwijl je leest (1997) (in English While You're Reading). It later appeared in various languages, and in 2006 it was completely revised and reprinted. In 2004, he delivered the Tiele-lecture (of the Dr. P.A. Tiele Stichting) under the title Veranderend lezen, lezend veranderen (rough translation: Transformed Reading). In September 2013, he received a PhD degree on a new typeface called Alverata, which he developed while researching medieval lettering.

Gerard Unger died at his home in Bussum on 23 November 2018, approximately five months after his wife's death.

• Demos (1976/2001 [Neue Demos]/2015 [Demos Next]) • Praxis (1977/2001 [Neue Praxis]/2017 [Praxis Next]) • Hollander (1983) • Flora (1984) • Swift (1985/1995 [Neue Swift]) • Amerigo (1986) • Argo (1991) • Gulliver (1993) • ANWB-fonts (1997) • Capitolium (1998/2011 [Capitolium 2]) • Paradox (1999) • Coranto (2000/2011 [Coranto 2]) • Vesta (2001/2011) • Big Vesta (2003/2011) • Capitolium News (2006/2011) • Capitolium Headline (2011) • Coranto Headline (2011) • Alverata (2013) • Sanserata (2016)

Gerard Unger is recorded as graphic designer, university teacher, postage stamp designer, typographer and writer. Identity and origins. The authorities additionally record the headings Gerard Anthony Unger and G.A. His recorded language was Dutch. He married Marjan Unger.

Shortly after his death, the type foundry TypeTogether, publisher of many of Unger's typefaces, announced that their Typeface Publishing Incentive Program would be renamed the Gerard Unger Scholarship in his honor. The yearly scholarship gives a student or recent graduate the opportunity to receive feedback and mentorship, as well as a monetary grant, as they complete a typeface designed during their studies.

• Gerard Unger, Letters, Uitgeverij De Buitenkant, Amsterdam, (1994) • Gerard Unger, Veranderend lezen, lezend veranderen, Walburg Pers, Zutphen (2004) • Gerard Unger, While You're Reading, Mark Batty Publisher, New York, (2006) • Gerard Unger, Typography as Vehicle of Science, Uitgeverij de Buitenkant, Amsterdam (2007), inaugural lecture at Leiden University • Jos A.A.M. Biemans & Gerard Unger, Eeuwenlang letters: lettervormen in de Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Bekking & Blitz, Amersfoort (2012) • Gerard Unger, Alverata: hedendaagse Europese letters met wortels in de middeleeuwen, Uitgeverij de Buitenkant, Amsterdam (2013), academic dissertation at Leiden University • Gerard Unger, Theory of Type Design, NAi010 Publishers, Rotterdam, (2018)