Now open at the AIGA National Design Center in New York City: Century: 100 Years of Type in Design. This is a major exhibition put together by Monototype; its somewhat broad goal is to celebrate the past century’s worth of “type as a constant influence in the world around us.”

Gathering rare and unique works from premier archives in the United States and London, ‘Century’ will serve as the hub of a series of presentations, workshops and events held at the AIGA gallery as well as the Type Directors Club and the Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography at Cooper Union in New York City. The ‘Century’ exhibition features a range of artifacts representing the evolution from typeface conception to fonts in use. Typeface production drawings by the preeminent designers of the last 100 years, proofs, type posters and announcement broadsides are supplemented by publications, advertising, ephemera and packaging.

The show was designed by Abbott Miller of Pentagram. I haven’t seen it yet, but the photos are handsome:

Miller and his team created a clever logo that allows fragments of fonts of many different eras and styles to form a letter C. In an animation they produced, the logo framework cycles through 250 fonts while still retaining the distinctive identity of the show.

A post at Pentagram’s site discusses the design of the exhibition in greater detail. The show is open through 18 June at 164 Fifth Avenue in New York City, and you can find more information here. Note that this will likely be one of the last few exhibitions that you’ll be able to visit at AIGA’s venerable national headquarters; the organization recently sold the building against the loud protestations of many of the leaders and members of its own community.