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Ben Franklin ‘can do’


Click the image to read Maira Kalman’s ode to Franklin  . . . .

Benjamin Franklin was fun. So much fun, the International Printing Museum has on staff the incredible Phil Soinski.

Soinski portrays Franklin as part of their educational services; and does such a fantastic job, I learned more about Hot Type in one hour with ‘Ben’ than reading thru whatever pile of type books are currently stacked on my desk. Drop by the museum, set up a tour, take a class – their programs, their dedication to the craft of printing can be contagious.

And illustrator Maira Kalman gives us a bunch of really cool things to know about ultramegasuperinventor Ben Franklin in yesterday’s New York Times  . . . .

Organon: New font superset by Nick Cooke


Organon Sans Family


Organon Serif Family

Robust and playful, Organon is Nick Cook’s new superset type family – now available thru Fontworks UK. Click on the links above to order. Detailed release notes can be also be found in this post at Typophile.

As for the moniker, Nick says, ‘I got the name from the first line of ‘Cloudbusting’ by Kate Bush.’

Found via Twitter.com/typegirl

A look at Starbuck’s new stealth brand

PSFK takes a look at the new interiors for Starbuck’s great brand experiment, 15th Avenue E Coffee and Tea. Feels a smidgen like Peet’s, the other high end coffee house chain that used to own Starbucks.

The secret design history of 12 famous brands

Detailed slideshow by Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio at Fast Company.

How type families work

Here’s a great article at Typotheque on fonts who hang out in families. Where they come from, why they get along better than real families.

Hm. SacBee uses SacUnion’s fonts  . . . .

The Sacramento Bee redesign, as posted on Font Bureau’s Facebook page. Fonts used include Benton Sans, Miller, Miller Daily and Miller Headline

A few years back, I was the art director for a reincarnation of The Sacramento Bee’s long time rival, The Sacramento Union.

In this version, The Union was reimagined as a magazine. We did just a handful of issues, the design concept was: ‘newspaper in magazine’ format  . . . [Read more →]

Coming soon: Typophile Film Fest 5

Typophile Film Fest 5 Trailer from Typophile on Vimeo

Preview for Punchcut’s 5th Typophile Film Fest. Typographic films, shorts and more. Here’s a list of who’s showing.

The Fest is confirmed for Typ09, the 2009 ATypI conference in Mexico City, October 29th. And coming to other places too.

The collage work of Cristiana Couceiro

When one thinks of collage, it’s usually something  . . .  scrapbooky. Not always the case.

Here’s some clever modernist-influenced work by Lisbon-based artist Cristiana Couceiro. Love the hint of Univers and the careful subtle essences of Lester Beall, Bradbury Thompson, Tschichold  . . .

Found via the blog of Robert L. Peters

TETRO and typography

Watch this beautiful title sequence for Francis Ford Coppola’s TETRO. Designed by SFAUSTINA. Both avant garde and not at the same time.

And  . . .  I’ve always wondered why so many motion picture title sequences end with a shot of a bus.

Found via Twitter.com/Typegirl

Eric Gill: The wine

Wine label inspired by the work (and life) of font designer Eric Gill (1882-1940). Student-designed project.

The art of setting type

‘Graphic designers were never meant to set type  . . .  That’s what typesetters are for.’

I’m not even sure who said this, it was early on; probably college. Possibly a printer, maybe Roger. Roger would say stuff like that. He’d swear to the ‘ITC god’ and he had the old dusty Varitype machine sitting in the corner to prove it. [Read more →]


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