“Parents’ A–Z of Education” in The Sunday Times Magazine
Cover of The Sunday Times Magazine from January 18, 1970, with the letters A and Z
The Sunday Times Magazine is a weekly supplement included with The Sunday Times. Starting with the issue from January 18, 1970, it featured a series titled “Parents’ A–Z of Education”. The first installment covered the letters A to C, with entries for Absent from school, Audio-viusal aids, Boarding schools, Bullying, Comics, Comprehensives. By February 22, 1970, it had reached part 6 with the letter S: Scholarships to public schools, School reports, Sex education, Smoking, Spelling, etc. The series was edited by Brian Jackson and included drawings by Mel Calman.
The three-dimensional block letters were commissioned from John Gorham specifically for this series. Soon after, Face Photosetting converted his initials into a font for phototypesetting, and issued it before 1972, under the name Block. Herbert Spencer and Colin Forbes included the full glyph set in their New Alphabets A to Z, a book first published by Lund Humphries in 1973. A Face catalog from around 1981 shows two styles, Block and Block Lined, the latter being outlined. Typeshop had a copy of the solid style under the alias Geometrie.
Strictly speaking, the depicted magazine doesn’t use Block, but rather features Gorham’s original lettering that was subsequently made into the Block font.
Spread from The Sunday Times Magazine, January 18, 1970, with the first part of the “Parents’ A–Z of Education” series, featuring the letters A and B. The main title is set in all-caps Franklin Gothic, the entry titles in Goudy Heavyface.
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The full Block alphabet as shown in a French edition of New Alphabets A to Z from 1974
