Bronislaw Zelek—The Story of a Polish Designer

Bronislaw Zelek (1935–2018) was a Polish poster designer, typeface designer, and painter. At the very beginning of his career, he worked as a poster designer. He is known, among other things, for the poster for Hitchcock’s film—Birds from 1965. In his poster design, however, already here the playful use of type plays an important role. He once said about himself: “The letter has been haunting me all my life, accidentally, actually I don’t know why.”

Later, this grew even more important as he became known as a type designer. He created a total of five typefaces. They were used worldwide, especially in the 1970s. His last and most famous typeface project was New Zelek, which was used in the 1980s by Mircosoft for their logo and by Wiener Satdtwerke for their visual identity. In 2017, Marian Misiak in collaboration with Bronislaw Zelek created a digital version of New Zelek typeface.

As a result of her great admiration for the designer and her discoveries of several experiments that strongly link his painting and his work as a designer, Małgorzata Bartosik has now prepared a book about Zelek. She explains that her great passion for typography and the artist’s professional achievements were her inspiration for the publication.

Bronislaw Zelek—The Story of a Polish Designer

Titel: Bronisław Zelek. In the enchanted land of letters
Publisher: Małgorzata Bartosik
Author: Małgorzata Bartosik, Hertha Grimm
Volume: 256 pages
Languages: Polish and English
Estimated release: June 2023
Price: € 22.–
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