This talk presents the work of Riccardo Olocco & Michele Patane on reviving John Baskerville’s types, to create a new open-source digital Baskerville type family, as part of Small performances, a three-year interdisciplinary project now in its second year.

Jointly led by the University of Cambridge and Birmingham City University, the project seeks to reconstruct 18th-century punch-cutting through a unique blend of heritage science, artisanal practice, and design research, with outcomes relevant to both scholarship and contemporary industry.

A central focus is the reverse engineering of Baskerville’s punch-cutting methods. This involves advanced scientific analyses adapted from heritage science, engineering, and archaeology, alongside experimental replications carried out with jewellers, blacksmiths, engravers, and typeface designers.

Auditorium ENSAD, Entrée libre