Designer, typographer, writer, photographer and teacher, born in London’s East End, son of a Water Board official. As a child he was fascinated by printed ephemera, visited printing works and by 12 had saved to buy a tiny press. Spencer worked at a small advertising agency; served in the Royal Air Force as a cartographer; and in 1946 joined a group of former Ministry of Information compositors who had formed London Typographic Designers, where he discovered a gift for designing symbols, such as the one Marconi used for over 40 years. In 1947 Spencer went freelance, supplementing his earnings by teaching at the Anglo-French Art Centre and at a private school in St John’s Wood. He would later teach at the Central School of Arts and Crafts.
Read more
At 24, Spencer won the prestigious contract to design printed material for the newly formed ICA, in which Lund Humphries’ chairman Eric Gregory was involved, which led to Spencer doing much work for the art publishing firm. Spencer encouraged Gregory to launch the magazine Typographica, for 18 years a leading exponent of Modernist typography. From 1950, Spencer was consultant art director to Lund Humphries; from 1970 on the board of the publishing division; he edited the Penrose Annual, 1963–74; built up a list of clients for his practice, including British Railways, Tate Gallery, RIBA and the Imperial War Museum; and acted as design consultant to W H Smith, Faber & Faber and the Royal Mail stamp advisory committee. He was a prolific writer, books including The Visible Word, 1968, stemming from a fellowship at Royal College of Art where he was professor of graphic arts, 1978–85, and Pioneers of Modern Typography, 1969. Spencer was a Royal Designer for Industry, from 1979 master of the faculty. His photographs are in the Victoria & Albert Museum collection.
Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)
