Ken Barber is a letterer, type designer and type director at design studio and type foundry House Industries. He is also a partner of Photo-Lettering, Inc., the online lettering-vending service nominated by the Design Museum London as a 2011 Design of the Year recipient. Ken’s work is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum and has been honored by the New York Type Directors Club. Association Typographique Internationale recently selected several of his typefaces for inclusion in the organization’s decennial design competition. In addition to teaching at Maryland Institute College of Art, Ken regularly lectures internationally on the subjects of lettering and typography. He also manages typeandlettering.com, an online resource for students and attendees of his frequent workshops.
"Everything I've ever learned about lettering and type was from someone who was generous enough to share their knowledge in a book, classroom, lecture or workshop. I suppose I feel that teaching is my attempt to repay that debt."
food
Any veg ethnic peasant food.
book
Sixteenth century texts concerning obscure religious cults in rural Bengal generally take care of any insomnia I might have.
drink
Tamarind Jarritos, kvas and homemade Pennsylvania Dutch root beer always hit the spot.
film/tv
I will watch a documentary about anything...anything.
travel
Came down with some serious wanderlust while studying abroad during college. Haven't shaken it since.
collection
I need to be more judicious about buying books these days; my personal library is getting out of hand.
invention
The smug child of necessity.
plant
The basis of my diet. Though, you wouldn't guess it based on my expanding midsection.
sound
I've been really into mellow instrumental stuff lately--the more it sounds like background music to an offbeat indie rom-com drama, the better.
blog
Why, www.houseindustries.com of course. Might as well have a look at www.typeandlettering.com while you're at it.
animal
Animal? Pfft. Manimal is where it's at! A TV show about a guy who can turn into any animal he chooses?! C'mon, what kid wouldn't dig that?!
expert
Type: Making things more complicated than they need to be.
Personal: Reaching things on high shelves.
when not at type camp
Designing typefaces and lettering at House Industries