Bradbury Thompson Biography

Bradbury Thompson was a designer on the forefront of the industry. Throughout his career, he influenced and advanced the field of design. From his usage of typography to his implementation of photographic imagery, he combined type and picture in a way none had done before. Descending from the printing industry, he took his knowledge of type and moved it in a new direction in design. He not only used type to portray written words but also to create dynamic images in his pieces. He also created the infamous "Alphabet 26," which is known as a simplified typeface combining both lower and uppercase forms to create one unified form of type. In many of his designs, he'd combine his use of image based type along with photographs that were commonly printed in the process colors. This was a trademark look for his pieces many of which appeared in his designs for the "Westvaco Inspirations" publication. He also spent ten years of his career creating the Washburn College Bible. In 1986, the Type Directors Club of New York gave him an award noting that it was one the best reproductions of the Bible since the Gutenberg Bible. Throughout his career he also received many awards and honors notably The National Society of Art Directors of the Year award in 1950, the AIGA Gold Medal award in 1975, and was also an inductee in the Art Directors Hall of Fame in 1977.