Bo Berndal

Bo Yngve Berndal (1924 in Stockholm, Sweden – 2013 in Stockholm, Sweden) was a Swedish compositor, type designer, book designer, and educator. In 1991, he was the first to receive the Berling prize in design, instituted by Karl-Erik Forsberg. Berndal was also co-owner of BIGG (a Swedish advertising agency) and Hålet (a gallery dedicated to the typographic arts).

Career

Berndal began working as a typesetter in 1939. Starting in 1949, he was employed at Nordisk Rotogravyr, a Swedish press primarily devoted to printing high-quality illustrations using rotogravure. As a compositor there, he designed books including Naturen som formgivare, Byn med det blå huset and Kust. He illustrated Familje med de fem barnen for the Swedish publisher Norstedts. For a time Berndal was also a linotype operator.

In the early 1950s, Berndal began drawing original typefaces at TYMA, a matrix factory. Type design would afterward become central to his career.

He taught at Skolan för bokhantverk (Stockholm school for book design and printing), Grafiska Institutet (Swedish national college for marketing and advertising), and Konstfackskolan. The agency BIGG resulted from a collaboration with three of his former students. The initials in BIGG stand for Berndal, Ingemarsson, Günther, and Günther.

After his retirement Berndal went on designing type as a hobby. In all he produced over 300 typefaces.

He made logotypes for numerous businesses over the years, including Riksarkivet (Sweden's National Archives) and the National Museum of Fine Arts in Stockholm.

Berndal was also a notable book designer, author, and calligrapher. He co-wrote Typiskt typografiskt (1991) together with author/journalist Paul Frigyes.