Frank Newfeld, 'type-cast' (as it were) as a book designer-cum-illustrator, as well as a designer of printed matter for art galleries, gives us a fascinating memoir both from the standpoint of human interest and from the standpoint of his involvement in the book trade -- in publishing, editing, illustration, and design. Drawing on Type is historically valuable in providing a portrait of publishing in Canada in its formative decades.

Mr Newfeld was, for many years, Vice-President (Publishing) at McClelland & Stewart.

Frank Newfeld received his art education in England, at the Brighton College of Art, and the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. Educated in England, Frank Newfeld immigrated to Canada in 1954. Once here, he founded his own design company in a studio on Spadina Avenue in Toronto.

In 1956 Newfeld, Frank Davies, Leslie (Sam) Smart and John Gibson founded the Society of Typographic Designers of Canada (TDC). Frank's Spadina Avenue studio which was often the meeting place for the Society in its formative years. He was elected President of the Society in 1959, the year that it received its Ontario charter. In 1963 Frank joined the firm of McClelland & Stewart as an art director, and within six years he was to become Vice-President, Publishing and a member of the board of directors.

Over his career Frank Newfeld has designed well over 650 books for publishers in Canada, the United Kingdom, Israel and the United States. Canadian publishers include Douglas and McIntyre, Groundwood, Longmans, MacMillan, Nelson, Oxford and UofT. Authors he has worked with include Berton, Cohen, Davies, Gottlieb, Laurence, Layton, Mowat, Newman. He has won over 167 awards, including three medals from the prestigious Leipzig Book Show, two Hans Christian Anderson awards, and two from Typomundus 20. Other awards include the Canada Centennial Medal, the Elizabeth II Jubilee Medal, and awards from the AIGA, Art Directors and Type Directors clubs of New York, Chicago, Montreal and Toronto. Frank represented Canada at the 1976 Illustration Bienale in Czechoslovakia, and his work was exhibited in Bologna in 1990. He has created two children's books, both published by Oxford University Press. He is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy.

For many years Frank Newfeld was associated with Sheridan College where he served as an educator, illustrator and publication designer.

Frank Newfeld's profile page

• Runner-up, ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year

Newfeld is [... at his very best when he is describing a project or a process rather than a person or an event. This, I imagine, is the result of his being (by his account -- and I have no reason to doubt him) an excellent teacher who ultimately wound up as head of the illustration program at Sheridan College. The art of design, typography and illustration comes brilliantly to life under his instruction, and his commentary on each discipline is insightful, measured and utterly authoritative. I was especially impressed with his very rational assessment of the use of modern technology in the book trade. [... He is a genuine connoisseur of material book culture, one with more experience and laurels than many other people alive today. [... Drawing on Type is a valuable text -- and looks absolutely wonderful on my bookshelf.

Inklings