The typewriter, sleek forefather of the computer, was the product of over a hundred years’ worth of worldwide experimentation and design, the first commercially successful version finally reaching consumers in 1868 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sparking
Who: The typewriter, sleek forefather of the computer, was the product of over a hundred years’ worth of worldwide experimentation and design, the first commercially successful version finally reaching consumers in 1868 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sparking a revolution in written communication, typewriters soon became an integral facet of modern life and remained so until the late 1980s when word processors and personal computers began to displace them, rendering them vintage relics of a bygone era. Now the subject of a new book by the Exit Creative Company – a team of innovative branding consultants and creatives based in New York – the typewriter is being celebrated for its beauty and considered for its vast technological impact.
What: A follow-on from Exit Creative’s successful one-night-only 26 Typewriters exhibition, held at New York’s Envoy Enterprises gallery last September, the book (of the same title) is a beautiful 36-page limited edition containing the 26 images from the display. Initially, the company sourced 150 vintage typewriters from all over New York – from a time span of almost 7 decades – including the Groma, a classic model manufactured in 1940s Germany, and the iconic Olivetti Valentine, Ettore Sottass’s 1969 invention (conceived as the “anti-machine machine”). They then commissioned photographer duo Ioulex to capture each machine on 35mm and medium format film before narrowing the selection down to the final 26.
"Sparking a revolution in written communication, typewriters became an integral facet of modern life and remained so until the late 1980s when word processors and personal computers began to displace them, rendering them vintage relics of a bygone era"
Why: Not only interested in the wonderful and varying aesthetic appeal of typewriters and their Romantic connotations with authors and poets alike (Kerouc famously typed On the Road on one gargantuan roll of paper so as not to be interrupted by the need to change sheet), Exit Creative also wished to use the machines as the basis for their exploration of the power of the written word and the ever evolving act of exchanging ideas. They explained: "In exponential numbers since the advent of the typewriter, we’ve been typing at and to and for each other. Not an hour goes by when we aren’t punching on some form of keyboard and hitting send. Have we devalued our own thoughts and ideas in the interest of speed?"
26 Typewriters is available now from Colette who are also currently displaying the exhibition at their store in Paris.
Text by Daisy Woodward
