Sunday, September 12, 2010

Tim Girvin

In the late 1970s, I discovered “Oregon Rainbow,” a beautiful, short-run magazine published by Heidi Rickabaugh, Robin Rickabaugh and Everett Thorne, which featured artisans of various disciplines across the Pacific Northwest. With extraordinary photography and illustrations, Oregon Rainbow offered a visual adventure of the arts, and a tactile experience—thanks to the use of different paper types, which were chosen to highlight the various artistic disciplines.

Later, I picked up a copy of Rainbow Number Seven, and I noticed that compared to the previous issues, the title design had changed. A freely written bold script, written by then 25-year-old calligrapher Tim Girvin, had replaced the simple sans serif typeface. This particular edition featured a back cover pocket, which held a 2’x 3’ poster, also created by Tim. It was called “A Rainbow Garden of Herbs.” The title was written in a large flourished script and was surrounded by names of various herbs that were all handwritten in different lettering styles. I thought it was one of the most beautiful pieces of work I had ever laid my eyes on! I had never seen anything like it before. I was mesmerized by the design of the lettering and from that moment on, I was certain that some how, some way, I was going to learn how to make letters look like that! The rest is history.
Fast forward to the summer of 2010. I had planned to spend a few days getting reacquainted with the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. As I was making my plans to visit Oregon and Washington, I happened to glance at my old copy of Oregon Rainbow Number Seven that was tucked away in my studio bookcase, and so I decided to email Tim, who has a studio in Seattle, to see if he would be willing to meet. It took a lot of courage for me to hit that “send” button, but when a warm welcome came back from his office, I packed my bags and headed north, delighted that I would finally meet the man behind the calligraphy. My goal was simple…I just wanted to let him know how his work inspired me early on in my career. Nothing more complicated than that.
Tim Girvin is an amazing lettering artist. His knowledge of lettering arts began with an unconventional educational experience that was built around type, book arts, print, architecture and letterform. He wrote his own academic program of study when he attended Evergreen State College in the state of Washington. As an extensive traveler, he expanded on his formal education by specifically searching out people, whose culture had not only integrated, but also highly valued the written form as an aspect of personal, public, and spiritual communication.
Over the past 30 years, Tim has evolved from a calligrapher that produces a singular hand-written title to a well-known reputable designer that looks at the entire aspect of brand strategy for the multi-faceted projects that pass over his desk. He has risen to the forefront of design when it comes to integrating the art of traditional western calligraphy with the field of visual communication. His background with the written word, which allows him to add additional layers of knowledge, richness, and texture to a project, ensures a brand will move gracefully and memorably into the future. Where other design studios can only copy and paste pseudo script du jour, Tim Girvin can dive into his own personal repertoire and pull out just the right quill that will lead to a mark that artfully engages the human experience and connects a product to the buying public. I met Tim at his studio in downtown Seattle, where he spent some time showing me some of the art he’s collected over the years, like an amazing Japanese ikebana hana kago (basket) collection that was suspended from the ceiling in the foyer along with several talismans in small frames, displayed on the opposite side. As the hallway opened into the main studio space, my eye fell upon a large flowing swatch of fabric with a whirling brush stroke that evoked a particular “mastery” of the lettering arts.
The studio has a warm and calm atmosphere. His extensive library of books and manuscripts are readily available to all of his designers. Some of the books—rare and collectible—are from Girvin’s excursions abroad, while he was researching different cultures and their writing styles. In a room meant for large gatherings, sheets of calligraphy were hung from the walls as examples for his designers to refer to when they practice the art of fine writing.

As we sat and talked, Tim showed me some of the work his studio has produced. He has done a considerable amount of movie titles, and was involved with the typefaces first chosen for the Apple computer system, working directly with Steve Jobs. There were also product identities that I recognized from my local grocery store shelves.
I’m glad I took this opportunity to finally meet Tim to let him know how his calligraphy in Rainbow Number Seven had inspired my career. I came away with a profound understanding and appreciation for how he has been able to cultivate and integrate the practice of calligraphy into mainstream American product branding. Those of us who have embraced this field have been enriched by his ability to blaze the trail so eloquently. So thank you Tim Girvin, for allowing me to express my gratitude.
To see examples of Tim Girvin’s work visit him at www.girvin.com. I’m told he has a few copies of the posters “A Rainbow Garden of Herbs” and “A Rainbow Garden of Flowers” that are for sale if you are interested. Both of these posters would be a nice addition to any calligraphic collection.

1 comment:

Tim Girvin said...

Thanks for your kindness -- it was great meeting you, exploring this fluid world of the calligraphic, and what stories can be told. To examining more of what I've been studying, there are some notations here: http://www.girvin.com/blog/?s=calligraphy

Enjoy. All the best, tim | seattle + nyc
http://www.tim.girvin.com/
http://www.girvin.com/