Mmm...Slab Serifs

Via Graphic Exchange

Why aren't all study guides this beautiful?

Ligature, Loop & Stem Poster

Scott Boms, Grant Hutchinson and Luke Dorny

Lunar Caustic Press: Neil Wismayer

I came across this poster on FPO immediately after I barely survived that absolutely brutal type test. FPO is yet another brain child of Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio. "FPO is a blog dedicated to both the visual stimulus and the detailing of the development and production of printed matter..."

I'm finding FPO helpful in seeing the technical details behind producing printed matter. The cost, timing and many finishing choices are sometimes a mystery. It's nice to read about designer's thought processes, technical steps and various setbacks throughout a project.

And I just like looking at pretty stuff.

Gastrotypographicalassemblage

I happen to come across vimeo.com through someones tumblr and found some really cool videos that people are welcome to upload at a high quality. While browsing through the different staff recommended videos I found a video on a wall built by an artist named Lou Dorfsman, who passed away in 2008.

The title of the piece is Gastrotypographicalassemblage, and it was commissioned by CBS to be placed in their cafeteria in 1965. The wall is 33 feet long and 8 feet high, and consists of about 1,450 letters.

It really struck me as a beautiful piece and I was disappointed to find out that it was torn down without much thought. However, an artist had salvaged the piece and stored it poorly for about 20 years before they began to restore it. Many of the letters were worn down beyond repair, and although it took a while, it has recently been opened at London's Kemistry Gallery

Just doing some perusing.

So I did not really have a theme or anything for this post other than things I thought were interesting and this is what I found...

Ron Thompson-

I really like his portfolio. Ron Thompson

works in a lot of different styles and flipping through his portfolio is quite interesting, I liked the Royal Elastics campaign the most because of all the different hand done type treatments he explores within it. I also really like the fact he takes the hand done approach and applies it in many different ways throughout the brand's posters and magazine spreads.

+ his "Stop

Breathing" label at the top is also a lot of fun, and I think it's cool that he can stay true to himself with his design, and he includes personal illustrations at the top of his list of works. He also worked for Kanye West, what could be cooler than that.

http://www.stopbreathing.com/#365156/Royal-Elastics

His Exopolis work is what initially caught my attention....

I also came across the work of BVD after their Smicker-Dubblera letterheads/business cards

caught my attention. Simple, clean, and bright. I liked it.

http://www.bvd.se/en/projects-clients-smicker-3.htm

BVD also worked on the Swedish Design Award identity.

http://www.bvd.se/en/projects-identity_programs-svid-1.htm

I also found Think Studio, and really liked their id

entity for Porcupine Group. I liked the way they mimicked the shape and color of porcupine quills within their typographic solution.

http://thinkstudionyc.com/

Weave Me a Web, Charlotte

Hand skills are a HUGE part of graphic design. However, between all the cutting and gluing and measuring and paper cuts and hunching over our projects moving as slow as earthworms I have often found myself longing for the days of 3D. Horrible, I know. This is, however, the reason for my post of....a typeface made from weaving! I found this little gem on behance (of course) made by the French design firm Zim and Zou.

The shapes that the string creates within creating the letter form itself is what makes the typeface all the more interesting. Yes some letter forms are a little more graceful than others and it would really only work on a larger scale but the thing that makes the type so amazing is that it has depth (in the photographic images at least).

Of course I might be completely bias because I am obsessed with all things handmade. However, if your not as cool as me I believe that the beauty of the type is still undeniable.

Disfunctional Type

While walking around this past week, I noticed several examples of type that were originally intended to be clear and informational. For a variety of reasons the type is being ignored. Here are a few examples of what I saw:

Although the type on the sign is designed to be legible, it is shrouded in a thick growth of weeds.

This image shows the effectiveness of the sign above. It is funny to see that the majority of the litter is clustered directly underneath the sign.

Perhaps this driver believes that if they park their car directly over the type that it will lose its meaning. If they had parked directly over top of the word “NO”, their chances of fooling law enforcement would improve.

This “Exit” sign, although legible from certain angles, no longer clearly depicts the quickest and safest route to an exit. The arrows alongside the type are not even pointing in the right direction.

Most of the examples I found were due to neglect over a period of time. The type was no longer able to perform its intended function.

Looking Back

So, I've noticed how interested I am in with looking back at old typography. I think its super interesting when I see new and innovative typographic solutions. But, I think what I'm more recently really into is looking back to create something new. The letter press is becoming really popular, as you can see from out blog, which is what made typography in the past possible. The nineteenth century is an era that has really caught my attention. This is one image that I really enjoy:

While browsing the internet I discovered "19th Century Clipper Cards." I read into them and they were small cards used to advertise Clipper Ships that would take people from one port to another. They're really great little pieces of typography and the images are awesome too.

This is one that I really like("Wealthy Pendleton"). I think that the hierarchy works really well. We're learning a lot about hierarchy in Type class and I think that these are good sources of examples.

Here is another pretty one that uses a lot of ornaments ("Pearl"):

There are also some funny ones that incorporate the imagery well.

Here is a link to the Flickr account where I found the rest of the Clipper Cards:

Click Here!

Here is a link for the history of Clipper Cards:

Click Here!