Published on Monday, January 11th, 2010 by Stuart Thursby

Canada lost another one of its greats last week, as typographer and graphic designer Jim Rimmer passed away at the age of 76. Born and raised in Vancouver, Rimmer had a long and distinguished career marked by prolific original type creations alongside extensive freelance design commissions and several teaching positions. He founded Pie Tree Press, using his own letterpress to design original fonts and market them later in both digital and metal forms. His attention to detail and continued devotion to designing metal type marked him as an icon to many who appreciate the traditional processes of type design.

Some other tributes can be found around the internet so far. The FontFeed, the blog of famed type house FontShop, ran a wonderful memorial from P22 Founding Partner Richard Kegler, which also ran on the P22 Blog and MyFonts. Back in March of 2008, the Type Club of Toronto posted an in-depth look behind the scenes at Rimmer’s Pie Tree Press and it’s well worth a read.

Below is an excerpt from Kegler’s tribute to Jim Rimmer.

“…Jim was a multi-talented type designer, graphic artist, bookbinder, printer, letterer, technician and a most generous teacher. He was never glory-seeking and turned down most speaking engagements offered to him, not out of vanity or indifference, but rather thinking that he was not worthy of being given a spotlight. Jim offered free typecasting instruction to anyone who asked and came to visit him in his studio in New Westminster BC. He took as much time as needed and was generous to a fault. Anyone who took him up on this open invitation can attest to the intense and elegant chaos of his studio and work habits…”

Some links about Jim Rimmer:

Richard Kegler’s tribute: FontFeed, P22

A short piece from Design Edge

About the Rimmer Type Foundry (P22)

Type Club of Toronto: Jim Rimmer and the Pie Tree

His fonts are available through P22 and MyFonts

§

Jim Rimmer: 1934-2010, 8.5 out of 10 based on 2 ratings

No Comments »