User:Durova/Vojtěch Preissig

Vojtěch Preissig (1873 – 1944) was a graphic designer and painter who designed wallpapers, typefaces, and posters. He studied at the Prague School of Arts and Crafts from 1893 to 1896, then at the School of Decorative Architecture from 1897 to 1898. Preissig worked with Alfons Mucha in Paris during the first decade of the twentieth century. He returned to Prague in 1903 and opened his own graphic studio in 1905, but it was not a financial success so he moved to the United States in 1910 and worked as an art instructor. Preissig remained in the United States until 1930. He taught at Columbia University, then moved to Boston by 1916 and taught a course in graphic arts for the Wentworth Institute. During his time with the Wentworth Institute he designed recruitment posters for the United States armed forces of World War I, which were principally aimed at Czech immigrants.

Preissig's work with book design and font design originated from a need for better printing type in the Czech language. Czech printers had traditionally used German typefaces and added additional diacritical marks as needed. Preissig's work with typefaces began by creating Preissig Antiqua typeface.

Preissig supported the Czech resistance during both World Wars and was arrested in 1940 for doing graphic design work for a magazine that had been outlawed by German authorities. He died in Dachau in 1944.

In 2008 the United States embassy in Prague held an exhibit of Preissig's work.