R. Hunter Middleton facts for kids

A sample of Stencil (typeface).

Robert Hunter Middleton (born May 6, 1898 – died August 3, 1985) was an American artist who designed letters for a living! He was a talented book designer, a painter, and most famously, a typeface designer. Think of a typeface as a special style of letters, like the different fonts you see on computers.

Robert was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but his family moved to Chicago in 1908 when he was ten. There, he studied art at the famous School of the Art Institute.

In 1923, he joined a company called the Ludlow Typograph Company. This company made the actual metal letters used for printing before computers came along. Robert became the director of their typeface design department in 1933 and worked there until 1971. He also started his own small printing business, The Cherryburn Press, in 1944. Robert Hunter Middleton passed away in Chicago.

What Are Typefaces?

A typeface is a complete set of letters, numbers, and symbols that all share a unique design. You might know them as "fonts" on your computer. Each typeface has its own personality, like the bold letters in a newspaper headline or the fancy letters on a wedding invitation.

Robert Hunter Middleton was a master at creating these letter styles. He designed many different typefaces, each with its own look and feel. These were often used in books, magazines, and advertisements.

Designing Letters for the World

Most of the typefaces Robert designed were "foundry types." This means they were made from metal and used in old-fashioned printing presses. Imagine tiny metal blocks, each with a letter carved on it!

Robert designed many popular typefaces. Two of his most famous ones are Tempo and Radiant. These typefaces were used by many printers and businesses. He also helped create many variations of existing typefaces, making them bolder, thinner, or more condensed.

Here are a few examples of the typefaces he designed:

• Ludlow Black (1924)
• Delphian Open Title (1928)
• Tempo series (starting 1930)
• Karnak series (starting 1931)
• Umbra (1932)
• Coronet series (starting 1937)
• Radiant series (starting 1938)
• Stencil (1938)

Even though he designed so many typefaces, many of them have not been turned into digital fonts for computers. This might be because many of his designs were very bold or decorative, which were popular in his time but less common today. Robert Hunter Middleton is considered one of America's most productive typeface designers from the era of metal printing.