entries Tagged as [fonts]

Slab serif ‘Egyptian’ types: A history

Here’s a detailed history over at Hoefler & Frere-Jones on slab serif typefaces; showcasing their new Clarendon-based Sentinel fonts.

The Clarendon types: A history

The Know your type series at idsgn continues with an overview of Oxford-bred, 19th Century wonder Clarendon.

Parkinson’s Sutro fonts


ADAC 38th season promotional material

It’s not often one gets to meet one of their heroes.

When I was in high school, a bunch of kids thought it would be funny to sign me up for every magazine subscription they could find – by sending in a large pile of subscription cards. My parents were not amused; but it was Rolling Stone that I kept. I fell in love with the hand-inked masthead – and decided that that was what I wanted to do.

Hand-ink mastheads.

Not a big field. And who knew people actually did this? I wanted to do it, and early attempts (for my high school paper) netted not so wonderful results. Who knew that someday I’d actually be drawing fonts as a consequence.


Rolling Stone masthead by Jim Parkinson

Around five years ago, I finally met the guy behind the logotype – lettering artist Jim Parkinson. And the conversations have been great – as long as I don’t actually call him hero, he’s cool. And (who knew?) we both like fresh anchovies. Which I’ve found can gross out anyone who is eating near us.

using jim’s fonts
I used Jim Parkinson’s Sutro fonts on promotional materials for the 38th season of the Sacramento Art Directors and Artists Club. I was the newly appointed president, so I was determined to use fonts from the best of the best and (of course) Jim was on my list. [Read more →]

Futurism by the bay

‘Futurism was an international art movement founded in Italy in 1909. It was (and is) a refreshing contrast to the weepy sentimentalism of Romanticism. The Futurists loved speed, noise, machines, pollution, and cities; they embraced the exciting new world that was then upon them rather than hypocritically enjoying the modern world’s comforts while loudly denouncing the forces that made them possible. Fearing and attacking technology has become almost second nature to many people today; the Futurist manifestos show us an alternative philosophy. Too bad they were all Fascists.’ -Kim Scarborough’s Guide to Futurism


Parole in Libertà book cover (1932), found via laura@popdesign

This year is the 100th anniversary of F. T. Marinetti’s Manifesto of Futurism (1909) – and San Francisco has celebrations planned October 14th thru 18th. [Read more →]

A martini at Joe’s


Gin martini at Joe’s of Westlake, image found via zemistor on Flickr

Not to be confused with my fonts of the same name, this is the real thing. Including the iconic Joe’s of Westlake cocktail napkin.

A Joe’s primer

Once upon a time in Northern California, there were a bunch of restaurants that went under the moniker of Joe’s  . . .

Not Mel’s, but Joe’s.

The food: Italian, the atmosphere dark, the portions large. The waiters in suits and ties.

eat at joe’s
I used to eat at them with my father. They weren’t all owned by the same people, just adapted the Joe’s name and served variations of Italian food. Old school California Italian food. Joe’s history is legendary and Joe’s Special is still a staple on menus throughout the region: [Read more →]

Font is ‘bitchin’

Font is from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Font is electro. Listen here.

NYT: Turkish edition


Advertisement for the launch of the Turkish Edition of the New York Times, created by Istanbul-based studio Imago New Media

More typographic details via The Font Feed here.

Typembrya


Typembrya by Oded Ezer on Vimeo

Typembrya is a personal homage to Herb Lubalin’s famous Mother & Child logo (seen below). This is the third experimental project in the ‘Biotypography’ series by Israel-based designer Oded Ezer. For more info, please visit his site here.

Chill


Vintage Original Joe’s ashtray, photo by mehallo

Kick back, have a Martini at Joe’s.

get the playlist or watch video or create your own at mixpod.com
please support the musicians on my player by legally purchasing their music

Jeanne Moderno type samples

. . .  And when MyFonts did a write up of my Jeanne Moderno fonts for their Rising Stars newsletter – they spent some time digging thru so they could show some of my telescoping ascenders, alternates and ligatures (above). I like to hide things in my fonts, fill the blank slots as it were.

(Below) Psy/Ops new type sample for Jeanne Moderno. Psy/Ops also carries the Jeanne fonts, they did the final OpenType mastering before release (and without their support, Jeanne could possibly still be sitting in the 10 year limbo that was part of my process).


Creative Commons License

the work at the mehallo blog. beta. is licensed under a creative commons attribution - noncommercial - no derivative works 3.0 united states license.  if reposting, credit must be given to steve mehallo - and if possible, please provide a link back to the mehallo blog. beta.

i include images for the purpose of critique, review, promotion and inspiration - and always make my best effort give credit/link back to the original source.  if i’ve screwed up, please fire me a note.

page layout based on the wordpress 'darkwater theme' by antbag, adapted and redesigned by mehallo.  valuable php assistance from bill mead.