Specimens of Printing Types – brochure, Wil Hudson, 1968

Wil Hudson’s first specimen of printing types was produced for his short-lived shop on Denman Street in Vancouver’s West End. This second specimen showcased the typefaces available at his new location on 323 Cambie Street. By this time, he had expanded his collection, adding several new faces and listing all the sizes he had for each. As his reputation grew, he began to attract a steady stream of small jobs. It was at the Cambie Street shop that he started producing books for the newly formed Alcuin Society. However, within a few years, Hudson and the Alcuin Society had a falling out.

During this time, a teenager named Gerald Giampa began frequenting the Cambie Street shop. After his parents bought him a small press, he eagerly immersed himself in the craft of printing. Giampa was deeply influenced by Hudson’s skillful use of typographic ornamentation, something he would later incorporate extensively into his own work. However, both men had what could be described as ‘difficult’ personalities, and their relationship functioned best with a degree of distance.

In 1972, Hudson left Vancouver to take up the post of typographer at the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. Giampa took over the Cambie Street premises, marking the beginning of his own typographic journey. – Rod McDonald

Artifact Text

(row of Fleurons)
Specimens of
Printing Types
currently in the office of
Wil Hudson, Printer,
available for
Reproduction Proofs.
682–6902
323 Cambie Street
Vancouver, B. C.
April 1st, 1968
(row of Fleurons)