Visit to Santiago de Chile
From 13 to 19 July I was the guest of the Departamento de Estudios Tipográficos of the Universidad Católica de Chile (www.det.cl). I had never before been in the southern hemisphere, so that the sun in the north and trees without leaves in July came as a surprise. Apart from three lectures, two master classes and various meetings with the staff at the Department and a number of colleagues, the programme included visits to the amazing port city of Valparaiso, the museum of pre-Columbian art in Santiago, and a vineyard to the north of the capital.
It goes without saying that I studied the local newspapers – the dignified broadsheet El Mercurio and the tabloid La Nacion, published by the Chilean government, La Segunda, La Tercera, La Cuarta, and Las Últimas Noticias, and of course Diario Financiero, printed on the obligatory pink paper. Times dominates as the text face, but El Mercurio surprisingly uses a modified version of Palatino. So far, there is no sign in the newspapers of typefaces designed in Chile; hardly unexpected, I suppose, given that type design is still very much in its infancy here.
Far and away the most enjoyable part of the trip was the meetings and conversations I had with Chilean colleagues. Like their counterparts in Argentina and Mexico, they are working hard to make typography and type design accepted subjects for serious study. Pioneers in Chile include Francisco Galvez Pizarro with his Australis (which recently won him the gold in the Morisawa competition) and Corpus Sans, and Rodrigo Ramírez with his IndoSans and Digna, which he is still working on. It was a pleasure to be able to contribute to this development.

Gerard Unger has recently given lectures in:
Berlin, Germany, at Typo 2003 – May 15–17, 2003
Stavanger, SND Conference, May 22–24, 2003
Vancouver, A.Typ.I. Conference, September 25–28, 2003

Future visits:
Buchmesse, Frankfurt, October 9, 2003
Haus Busch, Hagen, October 28–30, 2003
Tag der Typografie, Zürich, November 1, 2003

  1. El Mercurio,
  2. La Nacion,
  3. Australis, designed by Francisco Gálvez,
  4. Corpus Sans by Francisco Gálvez,
  5. Indo Sans, designed by Rodrigo Ramirez,
  6. Francisco Gálvez (right) with Gerard Unger,
  7. Dinner in Santiago,
  8. Teaching,
  9. Gerard Unger teaching,
  10. Gerard Unger facing his audience,
  11. The end of the trip, Rodrigo Ramirez (right), José Manuel Allard (left) and Gerard Unger with a present.