You need real guts to take on a job like this. Amsterdam studio Bolt Graphics designed this handsome set of posters for Adidas and translated them into 24 languages—not just translated words but word illustrations.
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
To me, this is a design painting. You have to step back from it to see what all the brush strokes add up to. You can argue that the technique is an impediment to reading, but it certainly made me take notice.
An English version (via Google Translate)...
Google Translate (in case you have not used it)...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide...
I have been a Tim Girvin fan for many years. He has long been one of the premiere calligraphers in the world. So I was excited to see his name on Will Sherwood's blog a couple of weeks ago—it was a real blast from the past. What I found is that there is nothing “past” about this innovator. His work is at the forefront of design and his knowledge of marketing and branding is second to none.
Why does a guy from the United Kingdom move to Japan to write about letters cut from German potatoes (01/13 post)? To explain it, John Boardley, the voice of ilovetypepography.com, invokes the words of type designer Eric Spiekerman, “I can’t explain it; I just like looking at type. I just get a total kick out of it. Other people look at bottles of wine or whatever...I just get kicks out of looking at type.”
Boardley offers a refreshing look at typography, both serious subjects and the simple joys of form and expression.
John Boardley's ilovetypepography.com...
There are understood “rules” in all disciplines of graphic design. In typography, there are widely accepted practices for the leading of lines, the kerning of individual characters, how and where lines of type should break, and so on. This example shows how you can base a design on defying those rules. Designer Miguel Ripoll demonstrates his keen understanding of type by transforming headlines and subheads into word illustrations.
Here is a handy little CSS generator for playing with typefaces, sizes, and colors. You adjust the settings until you find just the right combination then click “Generate CSS” to create and capture the code.
As publisher FontFont tells it, “It took three years and three designers to develop FF Meta Serif. ...Erik Spiekermann made several attempts at designing a counterpart for his groundbreaking FF Meta. He recommended Swift, Minion, FF Clifford, and others, until he realized that he should just buckle down and draw his own serif Meta. True to his principle of collaboration, Spiekermann enlisted the help of accomplished type designers Christian Schwartz and Kris Sowersby.” Gimme.
Meta Serif by Spiekermann, Schwartz, and Sowersby...
I LOVE type. With two sons in art school, I am reminded of the importance typography plays in the education of designers. I am always thrilled to find others who have a passion for the art and science of typography—in this case, the Argentinean type foundry collective, Sudtipos. I would guess these designers prefer not to be pegged as designing for a certain industry, but the lyrical typefaces they produce have the kind of warmth that lends itself so well to food and hospitality projects. Wonderful.
My big list of foundries at Jumpola.com...
NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector...
Twenty-five years ago I was not alone in thinking the type industry was doomed. PhotoTypositor technology was on its last leg as the advent of digital fonts dropped the cost of display type from $4 per word to virtually free. How many typeface designers could survive such a total industry meltdown we thought?
Armageddon? Not so much. In their Our Favorite Fonts of 2006 article the folks at typographica.org estimate over 1,800 new commercial typefaces were released last year. Huge numbers of new typefaces, some of which are simply stunning.
Typographica's Our Favorite Fonts of 2006...
What the heck is a PhotoTypositor?
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Desktop Publisher's Idea Book...
Watch how Jessica Hische designs a typographic still life. Click on her typography portfolio (click the “T”) and page through. What strikes me is the near perfect balance of each composition.
Click the “T” to see Jessica's type design portfolio...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Copywriter's Handbook...
An “ambigram” is an illustration that spells out a word and then respells it in another direction or orientation (if you are an expert, forgive me for the incomplete definition). It is easier for me to show you than tell you. Suffice it to say John Langdon is a master at creating them.
NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector...
If you love type, you'll love two wonderful hybrid films created by Brand New School (it seems to me that labeling them as advertisements doesn't afford them proper respect). While you're there, have a look around. Brand New School has a stunning portfolio of work.
Toyota Slippery Styling (click on “Images” below the screen to see stills)...
Gush, gush...A marvelous mural installation they created for Adobe...
The Brand New School montage...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
This typeface, designed by Eduardo Rodríguez Tunni, caught my eye for two reasons: First, because of the unusual mix of hard angles and slopes, and second, because it is so finely rendered. The examples show that the most dramatic effect is achieved through the use of the complete set of alternative characters.
A specimen brochure (228KB PDF) ...
Another beautifully cut face from the same foundry, Malena...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After Page Design...
Among the word marks created by lettering designer Holly Dickens, you will find more than a few familiar names: Intel, Kraft, Procter & Gamble. As with most work: if the end product looks simple, you can be certain an enourmous amount of work went into the research and execution. Love the cover page of her Web—striking!
At the 2007 Macworld Conference and Expo, Extensis hosted a discussion on font design. They cover topics such as trends, licensing, the scope of the process and so on.
The Extensis Font University...
Roger Black continues to reinvent his signature palette to great effect: Giza and Interstate typefaces and black, red, and white space.
This is an excellent demonstration of the importance of letter spacing. I tried a few and agreed with most of the solutions. (Except for the ones I got wrong—they, of course, were mistakes on the author's part.)
The Typography Workshop (Univ of Delaware)...
Did well? Treat yourself to this...
Watch how this designer uses what might be termed a whimsical typeface for a very serious subject.
Not all typefaces need to look as though they are highly engineered.
A new set of distressed typefaces by Device.
The Device set at www.veer.com
Another in the recent wave of handwriting fonts at www.p22.com
Tobias Frere-Jones, now a principal of and Director of Typography for Hoefler & Frere-Jones, is the architect of two of my top ten typeface families: Interstate and Griffith Gothic.
Here, the choice of typefaces and the gentle swale of the headlines demonstrates how profoundly even a small element can influence overall design.
On this page—the designer makes the reverse type pop by subduing everything else on the page:
If you do not yet know Comicraft, you have not seen the definitive site for comic book fonts. Like great comic book art, the fonts are tightly rendered and beautifully proportioned.
Ray Fenwick's “Hall of Best Knowledge” is a collection of wonderful typographic riffs—fascinating.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rayfenwick/sets/787564/
I can think of lots of business marketing applications for this product—Wall Words are pre-pasted and pre-spaced transfer letters for painted walls, wallpaper, windows, mirrors, furniture and metal.
http://www.wallwords.com/index.htm
The Typetester is an online application for comparison of the fonts for the screen.
As defined The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA) is “an international not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, study, and support of type, its history and development, its use in the world of print and digital imagery, its designers, and its admirers.” This exhibit is worth a look.
The 2003 exhibit...
http://www.typegallery.com/TG2003/circa.html
The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA)...
I love the lyrical sense of these fonts and this site. It is the work of Just van Rossum and Erik van Blokland in The Hague and Haarlem, The Netherlands.
LettError Type & Typography...
Speaking of type tools, one of the most impressive type preview tools I've seen is the Type Tester at Letterhead Fonts.
Choose "Type Tester" from the top menu bar...
Lots of sites claim to be creating “community” but Typophile.com looks like the real deal. I count hundreds of type aficionados trading intelligent comments, questions, and answers—and found an excellent collection of type-related articles and interviews. The cover is here:
And now for something completely different. Take a tour with Phil Baines (curator of the Central Lettering Record) through central London to see an eclectic collection of public lettering examples.
http://www.publiclettering.org.uk/
Years ago Chuck Davis happened across a font software program and decided to use it to translate some of the letters used to hand paint signs into font form. Thank goodness for happenstance. To see the result—Letterhead Fonts.
http://www.letterheadfonts.com/
To see examples of how to use them.
http://www.letterheadfonts.com/gallery/index.php
For free fonts and software.
http://www.letterheadfonts.com/downloads/index.shtml
I'd be surprised if there is a total of 800 words on the whole of designer Gerard Huerta's Web. His logos, magazine covers, illustrations say everything that needs to be said. Recognize any of these publication nameplates?
http://www.gerardhuerta.com/mastheads/display.htm
His lettering illustrations are second to none.
http://www.gerardhuerta.com/lettering/display.htm
Want more? Take the entire tour.
The Hoefler & Frere-Jones Type Foundry, to my way of thinking, ranks among the top type foundries on the planet. Jonathan Hoefler, the founder, has created original typeface designs for no less than Rolling Stone, Harper's Bazaar, The New York Times Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and Esquire. If you've not yet discovered Knockout, the redevelopment of Hoefler's first typeface, Champion Gothic, run don't walk.
