Temple's Own!

I came across these really fun illustrative, typographic designs on the internet and later discovered that they were the works of Temple's own, Mary Kate McDevitt. What I really love about her work is that everything is hand drawn in this playful and quirky way. I really enjoy the works with a western or southern inspiration. They have soooo much personality and I'm really drawn to the patterns, forms and colors used. They're designed so beautifully!

She also hand drew each individual letter in the alphabet and mailed one to a participant to promote more handwritten type. I love this because as you can see, you can be so much more inventive with your designs. You can transform your letters into anything!

Just Google It

I don't know about you guys, but I always get excited to see what the latest Google doodle is. Whenever there is a holiday, a historical figure's birthday, or the Olympics, Google puts out a typographic play on their logo, and often I am impressed with the creativity of some of these "doodles".  Awwards.com compiled a list of the 25 best google doodles of all time, and some of them are awesome enough to make you forget what you were looking up.

This one celebrating Les Paul's 96th birthday looks pretty cool, I love the suggestion of the guitar without having to render the entire instrument. The best part though is that you can actually play the typography, which I have never done before (Try it! http://www.google.com/logos/2011/lespaul.html)

This one caught my eye because I love this retro 1950s look, which works perfectly for the 50th anniversary of the first man in space. I love the muted color palette and the geometric letterforms.

Pac Man's 30th anniversary was definitely another successful Google doodle. The use of the letters as elements of the game is clever, and once again this one is interactive! If you "insert coin" you can play the game which is a cool way to interact with typography. https://www.google.com/doodles/30th-anniversary-of-pac-man


If you want to see the other 22 of Google's best doodles, check out http://www.awwwards.com/25-best-google-doodles.html

Also, who knew, but you can just scroll through all of the Google doodles, at www.google.com/doodles

Hand Crafted Made in America

For Independence day Jack Daniels had commissioned four artists from Berkeley, Calif.; Austin, Texas; and Brooklyn, N.Y., to commission 5 poster that celebrate the notion of type. Each one is executed, beautifully, in a different medium. Being a fan of handcrafted typography I knew I had to write about these posters for my first blog entry.  

Jon Contino’s use of detailed inked calligraphy is beautiful drawn over the screen-printed anvil and sharpie paint markers to decorate the fine details around the anvil. 

 

Golden West Signs’ posters shown above were achieved by painting the type on to a sheet of plywood and a vintage car door.

Helms Workshop pieces shown above are probably my favorite posters of the five. The image of the flag is photographed with a lighting that compliments the material and lights up the white of the type. The stitching on the type creates a compelling decorative outline that adds an illustrative detail to the letters. Their wood cut lettering is another beautiful solution. Again the media is takes full advantage using the wood letters to pop of the wood barrel and using shadows, from the lighting in the photo, give the colors a nice contrast.

Every one of these posters sells the message of craft, because each one gives you a strong feeling for how much work, and dedication is put into handmade type. I think that it was a wise decision to pick designers and artist who focus on still working with traditional typographic methods rather than just making it with illustrator and photoshop, and collaging an image together. 

Visit the following links to see more from these designers.

Joncontino.com

Helmsworkshop.com

Goldenwestsignarts.tumblr.com

Jack Daniels Independence Poster

Independence Poster Videos 

Lions & Tigers & Type?! Oh my!

Roberto deVicq de Cumptich has taken "bembo", a humanist serif typeface, to a whole new level. He uses the typeface to make 26 different animals, one for each letter of the alphabet. This book was created for de Cumptich's daughter as a Christmas gift, so that he could simply teach her the alphabet. Each animal is constructed with the letters of its own name, and only a single weight of the typeface. It's exciting to see a designer embrace such a basic concept and create animals that are so enticing.

Check it out on his website! Here you can see his creations animated.

Also, below are some snapshots from the book that he created.

This is the book he created. It's even available on Amazon!

"A publishing house's creative director frolics in the fields of type and graphic design, assembling a menagerie from upper and lower case alphabets of the graceful roman `Bembo` font. Using only the unmodified letters of each animal's name, de Vicq de Cumptich creates stylized but easily recognizable figures; a row of N's becomes the spines along a dragon's back, C's become a crab's claws, the peacock's tail is a whirl of e's and o's. Sharply contrasting colors and large, strongly drawn letter forms give every spread eye_widening visual impact, and like Suse MacDonald'sAlphabatics (1986) or Leonard Everett Fisher's ABC Exhibit (1991), this will inspire appreciation both for its ingenuity and for its revelation of the subtle qualities that make letters beautiful. " (Picture book. 7_9, adult)

"You do not have to be a type maven to enjoy the conceit of ''Bembo's Zoo.'' But it would not be surprising if, after you spend some time with the book, Bembo becomes your favorite typeface." Steven Heller of the New York Times

Well are you impressed? Talk about smart. While we mainly using typography to supplement imagery, de Cumptich is using it to create the imagery! I was blown away by his creations and his originality, while it's a simple thought, it isn't so simple to do. He makes these animals sophisticated and even gives them a personality in his animations. Bembo's zoo gives anyone from child to professional artist a chance to be a kid again.

Don't stop here, de Cumptich has other beautiful typographic work that is definitely worth your time, check out his website