February 10, 2015
Art Center College of Design Appoints Gloria Kondrup to Lead Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography
Simon Johnston named Creative Director and Faculty Liaison
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(Pasadena, Calif.) February 10, 2015 — Today Art Center College of Design announced the appointment of Gloria Kondrup as executive director of the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography. Simon Johnston has been named creative director and faculty liaison of the Center. A recent $2 million gift to the College from the Lowell Milken Family Foundation helped to establish the Center to advance the research, teaching and understanding of letterform design and typography.
In this new role, Professor Kondrup will oversee the development and programming of the Hoffmitz Milken Center. She will retain her position as director of Archetype Press, the College’s renowned letterpress studio.
“Gloria’s impressive knowledge of typography, deep dedication to her students as well as her stature in the design profession, all make her a most exciting individual to lead the Center,” said Lorne M. Buchman, president of Art Center College of Design. “She has the fortitude and energy to do something very special.”
“I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to elevate a field I’ve been so fortunate to be involved in for most of my professional career," said Kondrup.
“Simon is a prominent artist, educator and designer, widely respected throughout the global typographic community,” said Fred Fehlau, provost of the College. “I’m certain his influence will result in dynamic new programs and robust support for the Center.”
“Gloria and Simon are the ideal team to launch and guide this initiative to create an innovative model of typographic education, research and international discourse that will serve as a professional destination and global resource for creative and commercial development in the field,” said Nikolaus Hafermaas, chair of Art Center’s Graphic Design department. “While drawing from the rich history of typographic development, this is an opportunity to explore the future of typography in print, digital, emerging media and the growing field of transmedia design.”
Kondrup and Johnston were both close faculty colleagues with typography and letterform expert Leah Toby Hoffmitz Milken, whose legacy is being honored through the Hoffmitz Milken Center and its programming.
Interdisciplinary programming at the Center for Typography will consist of classes, exhibitions, visiting lecturers and symposia. It will also significantly enhance and complement existing Art Center resources serving students and the international professional community, including Archetype Press and transdisciplinary study abroad partnerships. Additionally, the Center will support strategic alliances with other educational and professional organizations.
Kondrup’s career spans both design and fine art practices. As a design consultant to national and international firms, she has contributed to, and helped evolve, extensive branding, identity and packaging systems. Clients benefiting from her expertise include Aon, Avon and Goodwill Industries. As the owner of a letterpress and fine stationery company, she has developed more than 100 custom stationery and gift items sold online, through direct mail and in national retail chains. A dedicated design educator for more than two decades teaching typography and visual problem solving, she works to redefine the value of typography and analog technology in the digital landscape.
Her fine art printworks and fine art press books are in private and public collections including AIGA, the Getty Research Institute, UCLA’s William Andrews Clark Memorial Library and The Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry. In recognition of her interest in social, cultural and environmental issues, she received the AIGA Greening of Design award. She earned her BA in fine art from CUNY at Brooklyn College, New York, and her MFA from Art Center.
As the creative director and faculty liaison of the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography, Johnston will collaborate on programming and serve as a curricular and pedagogical bridge builder between the Center and the Graphic Design department. He studied with Armin Hofmann and Wolfgang Weingart at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel, Switzerland. In London, he founded the 8vo design studio and published Octavo, a typographic journal about the use of letterforms in design and the arts. His current practice includes book design for artists such as Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari and Lawrence Weiner, as well as museums and galleries including the Whitney Museum, Blum & Poe, Gagosian Gallery and David Zwirner. His art/photography book, Meridian, will be published this year by renowned German imprint Steidl. He received his BA from Bath Academy of Art, Bath, England, and his MA from the Kunstgewerbeschule, Basel, Switzerland. He has served as a dedicated member of Art Center’s faculty since 1989.
About Art Center College of Design: Founded in 1930 and located in Pasadena, California, Art Center College of Design (artcenter.edu) is a global leader in art and design education. Art Center offers 11 undergraduate and seven graduate degrees in a wide variety of visual and applied arts as well as industrial design disciplines. In addition to its top-ranked academic programs, the College also serves members of the Greater Los Angeles region through a highly regarded series of year-round educational programs for all ages and levels of experience. Renowned for both its ties to industry and social impact initiatives, Art Center is the first design school to receive the United Nations’ Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status. Throughout the College’s long and storied history, Art Center alumni have had a profound impact on popular culture, the way we live and important issues in our society.
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