Steen Ejlers is an associate professor in the Institute of Design and Communication at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture.

In numerous projects, books and articles Steen Ejlers has written about graphic design and typeface design as well as Danish graphic designers, including books on Claus Achton Friis, Gunnar Biilmann Petersen and Ib Andersen.

After graduating from the School of Architecture’s Department of Graphic Design, Steen Ejlers studied with the famous Danish graphic artist Palle Nielsen for a number of years. These studies have probably contributed to the artistic perspective that characterises both his research and his work as a graphic designer. Steen Ejlers believes that good graphic design is created in the intersection between art and design.

Steen Ejlers’ current research project Dansk Skriftformgivning i det 20. Århundrede (Danish Letters in the 20th century) marks the culmination of many years of professional and historical work with typeface design.

With this project, Steen Ejlers aims to highlight typeface design as part of the Danish design tradition and to explore the characteristic of Danish typeface design. With Thorvald Bindesbøll as the first, the important typeface designers of the 20th century had architecture degrees, and to a great extent they were each other’s teachers, students and staff. This made it possible to preserve and develop a tradition.

New technologies and new media have led to a growing demand for new typeface designs. At the same time, the digital tools have simplified the process of typeface design and made it far more accessible. With a computer and the right software it is possible to design a digital alphabet, so today new typefaces are coming out at unprecedented rates. This growing interest in unique typefaces adds relevance to Steen Ejlers’ project Dansk Skriftformgivning i det 20. Århundrede. There are still important lessons and insights to be learned from the old masters, who did their designs by hand. The project is to result in an illustrated monograph, which will also include some of the material that is currently virtually forgotten in various archives, making it available to a larger audience.

Steen Ejlers graduated as an architect and a graphic designer from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in 1975.