From a strictly utilitarian standpoint, the purpose of the bulk of printed material is either informative or persuasive. The broad categorisation I first encountered in the 1960s when Alastair...

Drupa 1967 was arguably the most memorable for me. It seemed to mark the threshold between the old and the new worlds of printing technology.

Counterfeiting cells, busily forging currency notes, arouse much interest when unearthed. Another popular target for fakery is statutory documents. One of the most notorious acts of forgery involved...

One pastime that I enjoy is the solving of crossword puzzles. It is a pursuit that helps to improve vocabulary, to extend general knowledge, and to provide gentle daily mental exercise. Sceptical and...

Scientists at Newcastle University recently published, in an issue of Current Biology, the results of research examining the colour preferences of the sexes. Any colour predilections were deem-ed to...

Normally I receive the first daily news via the wireless, usually favouring the Today programme on Radio 4. Exceptions to this habit do occur when staying in a hotel and resorting to early morning...

Nothing equals a new logotype for fomenting public outrage. Arguably, the disquiet that greeted the introduction of the logo for the London Olympic Games was unprecedented in its venom and immediacy....

The fellow in the column upstairs recently wrote that words are set to be the saviours of the printed media.

With sadness I report the death on 5 May of Theodore Maiman, the inventor of the laser. He was born on 11 July 1927 in Denver, Colorado. After a spell in the Navy, Maiman studied engineering physics...

My fondness for the English language is limitless. It is a precision instrument in competent hands and has a remarkable elasticity for expressing fresh ideas.