Herbert Spencer, 77; Editor of Typographica

Herbert Spencer, 77, a graphic designer and editor of the influential graphic design journal Typographica, died March 11 in Falmouth, England, of pneumonia.

Born in London, Spencer became interested in printing as a young boy and served as a cartographer for the Royal Air Force during World War II.

After the war, he worked for a firm that designed trademarks and developed an interest in incorporating progressive design theories into books, catalogs and publications.

In 1949, he founded Typographica and was the publication’s writer and designer. It was the first publication of its kind to treat typography as contributing to the popular culture and was marked by its critical analysis of type design.

Typographica helped expose a new generation of typography enthusiasts to the history of modernist design.

Spencer also taught in the United States and Europe and wrote several influential books on typography, including “Design in Business Printing,” a 1952 book that espoused asymmetrical layout.