Beth (Mary-Elizabeth) Tondreau’s Profile
Typography, History of Graphic Design, Art History, (History in General), Literature
Beth Tondreau is the owner of a small design company named Beth Tondreau Design, Inc. (aka BTDnyc).
Prior to founding BTD in 1985, Beth Tondreau was Design Director at then-named Viking/Penguin (which is now PenguinRandomHouse), where she managed staff and projects for the Adult Trade and Penguin paperback divisions. Beth has also held positions as a designer and art director at additional publishing houses in New York, London, and Boston.
Beth earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, completed Radcliffe’s Publishing Procedures Program, and pursued studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. While working in London, she learned from colleagues at William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. (now HarperCollins). Beth has served as a lecturer at FIT and NYU and has appeared as a guest speaker at Pace and City College. She is honored to teach at New York City College of Technology.
In 2019, Rockport Publishers (Quarto) reissued her 2009 textbook Layout Essentials in a revised and updated edition. Ms. Tondreau has to write approximately 200 more books to catch up to design icon Steven Heller.
As a member of AIGA, the professional association for design, Beth was involved as a mentor in the now-completed AIGA/NY Mentoring Program. She also served on the Board of Directors of AIGA/NY.
In non design-related endeavors, Beth speaks fractured French and equally-fractured Italian and does an enthusiastic Lindy Hop.
My Courses
Foundation course in typography with emphasis on using type for a multiple of industry related applications ranging from print to interactive. Students are introduced to principles of type design and terminology including: variations of type structure, anatomy, font usage, grid, leading, kerning, tracking and alignment. (The avatar is reminiscent of the work of the conceptual artist Barbara Kruger.)
COMD1127 Type and Media Spring 23
Foundation course in typography with emphasis on using type for a multiple of industry related applications ranging from print to interactive. Students are introduced to principles of type design and terminology including: variations of type structure, anatomy, font usage, grid, leading, kerning, tracking and alignment.
COMD1127 D035 Type and Media FALL 2023
Foundation course in typography with emphasis on using type for a multiple of industry related applications ranging from print to interactive. Students are introduced to principles of type design and terminology including: variations of type structure, anatomy, font usage, grid, leading, kerning, tracking and alignment.
COMD4611 Publication Design, OL276, Fall2020
Principles and practice of publication design. Analysis, research and design of the contemporary multi-page publication. Assignments leading to the design and production of a newspaper and magazine (and discussion of alternatives in the evolving industry). Integration of design and production during class and at home, using software such as Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.
COMD1127 Type & Media, Spring 2022
Foundation course in typography with emphasis on using type for a multiple of industry related applications ranging from print to interactive. Students are introduced to principles of type design and terminology including: variations of type structure, anatomy, font usage, grid, leading, kerning, tracking and alignment.
My Projects
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