As an educator, I’ve broken graphic design into three components: Message, Typography, Layout.

I’m not the first educator to do this – just happened to constantly notice these three elements staring back at me in all the student pieces I evaluate. In my opinion, careful appreciation, understanding and implementation of the three can lead to beautiful work.

message
Graphic design is a communication field, so Message should always drive the project. Today we are bombarded by thousands of Messages on a daily basis, so being on Message is critical. And yes, this usually involves language and writing – which is why I love when students take their written studies seriously.

typography
I’ve seen an (often not cited/supported) statistic that graphic design is 95% typography. Scientific or not, I agree with this. Type is important. I like comparing the exploration of lettering to that of music – there’s enough complexity for it to become a lifetime endeavor. And most of what I teach is type, from multiple angles.

form
Graphic designers are taught to use grids for layout – though relying on ‘grid’ as a catch all way of handling form can be misleading. Grids provide support, a fallback position for dealing with massive amounts of information. Though important, grids have their limitations. Building structure using symmetry, asymmetry, balance, color – some elements obvious, some not – involves continuous practice, a trained eye, instinct.

These three are not formulas, can’t be added together. They need to work in tandem, like cooking a great stew where the ingredients are based on what feels just right.

Click to view/jump

On a related note, the above film – Edward Tufte’s Ingre Druckrey: Teaching to See – found its way into my Twitter feed. It’s about graphic design and beauty. And much more.

In January I’m going to be teaching my first non-type course on Form and Space. I’m starting prep now because I consider form so important – so powerful, so delicate.

And beautiful when done right.

Video found via ayana baltrip

The post Graphic design: Training one’s eye first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

I Love Typography takes a look at the holdings of the library of the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz. More than just Bibles.

Article here.

The post Blackletter in Mainz first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

‘Joos is a revival of an upright italic created in 1536 in Gent. This work is not a formal revival but it faithfully fits into the scheme of Joos Lambrecht (punchcutter), which was to idealize roman types by bringing together the characteristic graceful shapes of italics and the angularity of romans.’

Not all Italics are slanted – they have their origins in calligraphy.

More about Laurent Bourcellier’s beautiful Joos fonts here.

Found via Colin M. Ford

The post Joos Italic first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Right now my history students are freaked out by the study guide they received this week.

Among the many graphic design historical items listed is the Irish Book of Kells, c. 800 A.D.

The Book of Kells is the most elaborate illuminated manuscript ever created – that we know of. A brief overview can be seen in the NBC video above; its origins are the stuff of legend.

book of kells resources
Many different resources exist for study. A detailed history can be found on the Wiki site here. There are also introductory books, official sites, fan sites and more. The most accessible would be The Book of Kells on DVD, which details every page of every folio. Preview video below:

Or
If you simply want a Kells-based journal, you can snag one here.

Today Show video found via MSNBC

The post The Book of Kells first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

SOTA’s Font Aid IV jumped into action a few weeks ago – to benefit the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti.

The result was released today. A collaborative font.

purchase
Snag your copy of the Coming Together font thru any of these sources:

[1] Ascender Fonts

[2] Veer

[3] MyFonts

[4] FontShop

The font sells for 20 bucks (US) and all proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders to help the people of Haiti recover from the devastating earthquake.

all ampersands
The font consists of just under 400 ampersands from type designers from around the world – including myself (see below).

For more about ampersands, history and use, read Steve Matteson’s article here. For more about Font Aid IV, go here.

That be mine

The post Coming Together: Ampersands for Haiti first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

 
Interview with calligrapher Julien Breton (in French, above); Virtual calligraphy v.0.1. performed in real time with the Digital Slaves (below).

The post Julien Breton: More first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Light calligraphy by Julien Breton. Photography by G.J. Plisson. Created without the use of Photoshop. Go here.

Poésie 2007 (photo by Julien Breton)

Kata 2008

Le savoir 2007

The post Julien Breton: Light calligraphy first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

As one student put it, “in this class I learned not to be gangsta  . . . . ”

There’s a time and a place.

So I actually consider urban lettering to be an advanced form of type; an evolution from forms we’ve been using for hundreds of years into something personal, different.

Which is nothing new: our lowercase alphabet evolved thru what was basically personal expression in lettering. And it makes sense that our letterforms will continue to evolve.

In that, I ran across this post today in the Upscale Typography blog. It’s about the work of Niels Shoe Meulman, who practices Calligraffiti: traditional lettering mixed with urban style.

Click on the image for a video and more info:

Then go look at Daid Daragones’ work. It’s also just as cool (also click image):

The post The art of Calligraffiti first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..