Hebrew Letterform research

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Here is some research that has given me inspiration within my journey. I wanted to find old graphic design representations of Hebrew letterforms that would give me a different outlook within my current research practice and help contextualise my journey further. 

I am a big believer in gaining inspiration from the past and a collector of all things ephemera, however, sometimes it is hard to find the right materials for your research so you just have to look further in a field at times. So, I decided to search via Instagram and lo and behold I came across the work of David Goldstein, a calligrapher and hand lettering artist who specialises in Hebrew writing and letterform creation. 


https://www.instagram.com/david__goldstein/



I was inspired by his work and letterform creation but, what I found most interesting was his separate Instagram page that is dedicated to old Hebrew books. This became an insightful discovery of mine as I got to see so many inspiring letterforms from the different designers who had created different book covers.


https://www.instagram.com/old_hebrew_bookcovers/


This got me thinking, if I am inspired by the past and have found it hard to collect old Hebrew letterform ephemera, maybe I should consider looking into book publishing design as my way to search for typography and see how letterforms have evolved in the Hebrew language. 

https://www.instagram.com/old_hebrew_bookcovers/

The image above shows a rare book cover, Fifty Years of the Yom Kippur War. The designer of the type is unknown but I feel that the overall design style is very much linked to Russian constructivism typography. There is a strong sense of geometric-driven letterforms, making this display type stand boldly within the page. 

https://www.instagram.com/old_hebrew_bookcovers/

The above image shows a rare book cover for International Women's Day, Issue of Aked, 1968, which was designed by Gad Osman. The different letterforms used within this design, Is a clear visual representation of what we can see today in contemporary design communication, from display type for posters to editorial work. 


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