Alan Kitching

Alan Kitching RDI AGI Hon FRCA (born 1940) is an English typographer, artist and printmaker. Kitching is known for his expressive use of wood and metal letterforms in commissions and limited-edition prints.

Early life Born 1940 in Darlington, county Durham, Kitching began his career aged 15 as an apprentice compositor at a local jobbing printer J. W. Brown & Son (1956–62) where he learned to set type for catalogues, tickets and posters. From 1962 to 1964 he was a technician in hand and line type composition at the Department of Printing, Watford College of Technology in Herts. After meeting designer Anthony Froshaug, He later continued to collaborate with Froshaug on student projects at the Central School of Art & Design. He left Watford in 1970 and moved to London.

Professional career In 1973 Kitching began his own design practice in London with Pentagram co-founder Colin Forbes. In 1977 he partnered with Derek Birdsall and Martin Lee at Omnific Studios.

Kitching created posters for the National Theatre, The British Library,

Selected works

Teaching 1967–70: Part-Time lecturer in Typography, School of Art, Watford College of Technology, Herts. 1968–72: Visiting lecturer in Graphic Design, Central School of Art & Design, London. 1973: Visiting lecturer, London College of Printing. 1974–75: Visiting lecturer, Goldsmiths College, University of London. 1988: Visiting lecturer in Graphic Design, Royal College of Art 1990–2000: University of Brighton, School of Graphic Design, visiting lecturer. 1991–2006: Typography Workshops at Royal College of Art 1994: Colchester Institute, School of Art, visiting lecturer. 1993–1995: Glasgow School of Art, visiting lecturer.

Awards and memberships Designers and Art Directors Association (D and AD) 1999: Fellow of Chartered Society of Designers 1999: Member of Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) 1994: Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) 1996: Member of the Designers and Art Directors Association (D&AD) 1997: Fellow of Royal Society of Arts 1998: Fellow of the Royal College of Art 2001: Visiting Professor The London Institute (now University of the Arts London)

Commissions 1999: Stamps for Royal Mail: Magna Carta Millennium series 2000: Dazed & Confused Magazine – Typographic artwork for magazine cover 2000: D&AD – Typographic artwork for Invitation 2002: Poems on the buses for Transport for London 2002: Posters for the National Theatre's Transformation season of plays 2002: Stamps for the Royal Mail: Love Occasion series 2001/2003: Typographic artwork for The Guardian Newspaper 2003: Typographic artworks for VSO poster campaign 'We need professionals' 2002: National Theatre – Typographic artwork for ‘On Love’ by Alan Bennett – London, UK 2003: Typographic mural for The Guardian Newspaper building reception 2005: The Guardian – Typographic artwork for alternative Front Page 2009: ONE Africa – Typographic artwork for poster 2011: Clarks Shoes – Typographic artwork for wall display – London, UK 2012: FT Weekend Magazine – Typographic artwork for magazine cover 2012: San Miguel – Typographic artwork for mural wall – Spain 2014: Southbank – Typographic artwork for mural wall – London, UK 2016: A Life in Letterpress: Alan Kitching — Book published 2017: Glenlivet – Typographic artwork for packaging design 2017: National Union of Journalists – Typographic artwork for wall mural 2017: Comme des Garcons – Typographic artwork for apparel design 2018: Brexit – Typographic artwork for protest posters & merchandise 2018: Cleaver Square – Typographic artwork for signage 2018: FX – Typographic artwork for magazine cover 2018: Bridge Theatre – Typographic artwork for ‘Allelujah!’ production – London, UK 2018: Alan Kitching's A-Z London – Box Set 2018: Globe Theatre – Typographic artwork for ‘Emilia’ production – London, UK 2018: Tipoteca – Typographic artwork for museum – Cornuda, Italy 2019: British Airways – Typographic artwork for 100th anniversary 2019: English Heritage – Typographic artwork for Corporate Identity for 2019 2019: Kia & Sunday Times – Typographic artwork for advertorial 2020: Folio Society — ‘ The Stories of English’ — Typographic artwork for book cover design 2020: FORA – Typographic artwork for Berners St Map 2020: Hall for Cornwall – Typographic artwork for triptych – Truro, UK 2020: Get Impressed – Typographic artwork for book cover design 2021: The Poster: A Visual History: ‘Taxi’ typographic artwork featured in book, V and A. 2022: Berry Bros & Rudd Wine – Typographic artwork for spread in No. 3 catalogue 2022: Woman Life Freedom – Typographic artwork for campaign poster 2022: POMPE charity – Typographic artwork for online assets 2022: The Art File – Typographic artwork for greeting card collections 2023: PORT Magazine – Typographic artwork for editorial spread 2023: Collins Agency – Limited Edition Print for 15-year anniversary 2024: AGI Congress – Letterpress Workshop & Lecture at The Poster Archive – Basel, Switzerland 2024: Chemistry World – Antiaromaticity – Typographic artwork for magazine 2024: Johns Hopkins Magazine – Breaking Barriers – Typographic artwork 2024: Mary Quant Wall Mural – Typographic artwork – London, UK 2024: Ferrari – Typographic Artwork Print – Limited Edition of 10

Exhibitions 1992: Gallery at Pentagram, SOLO SHOW 1993: Royal College of Art, SOLO SHOW 1994: Crafts Council 'True to Type', 5 works, catalogue, 1994: D&AD "Festival of Excellence', 4 works 1994: Paperpoint shop, several works 1996: '20 Designers for a Silhouette', Centre Pompidou, Paris 1996: Royal Mail Stamps, London 1997: 'British Graphic Design', Cologne, Germany 1997: The Gallery at Pentagram, London 1998: Coningsby Gallery SOLO SHOW 1998: The British Pavilion, 'Information expertise @ UK'; The Library and Information Commission, Amsterdam 1999: 'A K TypeArt 98', The Coningsby Gallery, London, one man show 1999: The Coningsby Gallery — 'A K TypeArt 98', Solo Exhibition – London, UK 2000: 'Powerhouse', UK 2001: Gallery at Pentagram, 'In Darkest England' 2002: Gallery at Pentagram, London, one man show 2004: Public Address System, London and Berlin 2004: Pax Britannica, London Advanced Graphics London 2016: Somerset House 2016: The Lighthouse, Glasgow 2017: Manning Tree – Solo Exhibition – London, UK 2018: London Craft Week – Open Studio – London, UK 2019: Chelsea Arts Club – Solo Exhibition – London, UK 2019: Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft – Solo Exhibition – Ditchling, UK 2021: Coningsby Gallery – Solo Exhibition – London, UK 2022: AGI Congress – Typographic poster – Group Exhibition— Trieste, Italy 2023: AGI Congress – Typographic poster – Group Exhibition – Auckland, New Zealand 2024: AGI Congress – Typographic poster – Group Exhibition —Basel, Switzerland 2024: Chelsea Arts Club – A-Z London – Solo Exhibition – London, UK 2024: The Coningsby Gallery – Two Printers, Duo Exhibition — London, UK

Talks and conferences 1994: icograda, London 1995: icograda, Lisbon 1995: AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale), Amalfi, Italy 1997: AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale), Barcelona, Spain 1998: A Typ.1, Lyon, France 2002: University of NSW Sydney & AGI Ideas Melbourne Australia 2002: AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale), Zurich/Pontresina, Switzerland 2003: Typo3 Johannesburg SA 2004: London College of Communication 23/6/04 2004: Forum Laus, Barcelona May 2004 2005: AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale), Berlin

Guest lectures and workshops 1966: 'Frontiers of Printmaking', Michael Rothenstein, Library of Congress 66-24551 1999–2000: Hereford – College of Art 1974 Printed in Watford, Watford School of Art, Herts. 1993: The Sixties, David Mellor 1994: D&AD Annual 1995: D&AD Annual 1996 D&AD Annual 1996: 'G1 subj: contemp, design, graphic, 1996: 'A Double Life of 80 AGI designers .....' Armando Milani/Burgo 1997 'First Choice', Ken Cato, ISBN 1999: Royal Mail Millennium Stamps 1999: New Design: London, The Edge of Graphic Design, Ed. E.M.Gomez, Rockport, USA, D&AD Annual 2000: Rotterdam - Willem de Kooning Academie 2000: Anthony Froshaug: Typography & Texts (2 vols), Robin Kinross 2001: Master of the 20th Century, Ed. Mervyn Kurlansky/Icograda, Graphis, New York 2002: Helvetica – Homage to a Typeface, Lars Müller, Switzerland 2002: Copenhagen – I T University 2002: The Graphics Book, D&AD, Rotovision, 2003: Creative Island, John Sorrell, Lawrence King, 2003: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Graphic Design and Designers 2004: D&AD Workout 2004: University of Delaware 2015: Workshop, Tipoteca, Italy Books on Alan Kitching or featuring work 2015: Tipoteca – Legacy of Letter Tour & Workshop – Cornuda, Italy 2015: A-Z in Letterpress, Laurence King, London, 2016: A Life in Letterpress, Laurence King, London 2016: Hay Festival – Guest Lecturer & Book Signing – Wales, UK 2017: Letter Exchange – Guest Lecturer – London, UK 2018: Woolwich Art Fair – Letterpress Workshop & Lecturer — London, UK 2019: TIPO – Guest Lecturer – Azores, Portugal 2019: Lettering Arts Trust – Letterpress Workshop – London, UK 2019: The Typography Workshop – Letterpress Workshop – London, UK 2020: Residency Art Centre USA – Letterpress Workshop – California, USA 2020: Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft – Visiting Lecturer – Ditchling, UK 2021: ESAD, Superior School of Arts and Design – Letterpress Workshop – Porto, Portugal 2022: Falmouth University – Visiting Lecturer – Falmouth, UK 2022: Hall for Cornwall – Talk/Q&A – Cornwall, UK 2023: Collins Agency – Online Talk/Q&A – Remote 2024: AGI Congress — Letterpress Workshop & Lecture at The Poster Archive – Basel, Switzerland