Background
He was born in Hampshire, England and is the son of calligrapher Sheila Waters and book binder/conservator Peter Waters.
He was born in Hampshire, England and is the son of calligrapher Sheila Waters and book binder/conservator Peter Waters.
Starting in 1979 Waters studied with legendary German type designer Hermann Zapf, who in 1984 asked the 27-year-old Julian to substitute and teach his two-week masterclass at Rochester Institute of Technology. Since 1978 he has taught specialized seminars on lettering and design attended by calligraphers and graphic designer all over United States.A, Canada, Asia and Europe and has taught and lectured at institutions including Cooper Union, New York, Sunderland University and Imperial College, London.
In 1981-1982 Waters worked with Gerard Valerio at Bookmark Studio in Washington District of Columbia, specializing in logos, books and publication design. In 1984 he opened his own studio in Capitol Hill. He now lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Waters succeeded Zapf in 1989.
In the 1990s Waters combined the hand and computer, teaching “Letterform Design” for second year Graphic Design students at the Corcoran School of Art, Washington District of Columbia. In 2006 Waters was the keynote speaker at *Letterforum*, part of the 26th International Calligraphy Conference, at James Madison University. Waters has an extensive portfolio including logos, posters, Civil Defense packaging, titling for books and publications.
He has designed titling lettering for National Geographic Magazine for over 20 years. He is the only lettering designer to have been featured in a "Behind the Scenes" full page photo profile in the Magazine (late 1999).
He has been featured on television in the United States. and Europe, including the Emmy Award-winning segment entitled "Manitoba of Letters", on the Sunday morning magazine show, Capital Edition, 1989.
In 1997 Adobe Systems released his new Multiple Master typeface, "Waters Titling" for Adobe. He has also designed custom corporate alphabets for Host Marriott Services, Shared Vision and Thomas Jefferson"s Monticello. Waters" logo designs include "National Railroad Passenger Corporation Vacations".
"Pfizer150", "Visaphone" and "Microwave Communications Incorporated WorldPhone".
Other diverse projects include custom lettering design for Barry Moser"s Pennyroyal Caxton Bible, including raised gold leaf work on 50 deluxe edition copies.
