typography

entries Tagged as [typography]

‘Fucked Up Shit’

Handlettered type for GAMA-GO by the great Ray Fenwick.

Ray is the author of one of my favorite typographic comic panels, Hall of Best Knowledge – now available in convenient book form.

Tags: art, design, illustration, typography by steve
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‘For a decade, Danny created art for musicians – album covers, event posters, and logos, among others. Now those artists are paying tribute to Danny with a free, downloadable 35-song album titled ‘DJG Was Here.”

Danny J. Gibson’s been a friend for years – and he’s one of the most prolific, experimental artist/designers I know. In a few days Quietly Contributing – Poster Art of DJG Design will open at the 1819 Event Space + Gallery in Kansas City.

More details here. Snag the free album here (please use the tip jar).

Article here. And visit Danny’s site here.

Tags: art, design, design history, illustration, music, typography by steve
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Project Runway 9, Forever Darling 4

‘One of them just walked off the show and the other just dropped dead.’ -said my wife, Thursday night

Something interesting happened this week on Project Runway. And it wasn’t Cecilia throwing in the towel or Oliver collapsing on a track at the Armory. Nor was it the general bitchiness from teams Joshua or Anthony Ryan.

Heidi Klum actually gave the designers MORE TIME to complete their work. And for the first time this season, I was able to see what I came for: Some good fashion design. Not great, but good.

(Okay, the first challenge was really good, but there was a drop off after that)

A dark cloud of schadenfreude seems to be the Project Runway modus operandi this time out – and frankly, I’m not enjoying it very much. Sadism on tee vee, not a big draw for me.

The Project Runway formula is the same as usual: Take some great talent, surprise them with challenges within a quick time frame, and see what they can do.

Only so far, all we’ve been able to really see are some harebrained stunts for the designers to work with (models on stilts, really??), insane time limits, near nervous breakdowns, panic attacks, Nina saying ‘no’ a whole lot. This show that has become legendary for showcasing incredible designers and pushing careers forward had devolved into Project Sweatshop. Workflow of getting things done over getting things done well. [Read more →]

Tags: design, design history, events, fashion, illustration, typography by steve
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Eastern Block

‘A typeface designed to reflect the aesthetic qualities of Soviet Union product design and manufacture. The typeface uses a unilateral x-height, cap height and faux Cyrillic to create a blocky, angular and awkward response. To allude to the dated methods of production, I produced the entire face as printing blocks.’

Andy Barnes’ Eastern Block typeface. Website here.

Found via Arts Thread

Tags: design, design history, education, typography by steve
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Niedermann Grotesk: My new, old font

Niedermann Grotesk is my newest font and it’s been sitting in the hopper for awhile.

It became a side project that appeared while I’d been working on my update to Jeanne Moderno (which is Jeanne Texte, which has been in a little limbo due to other projects) (I plan on getting back to it next month).

Along the way I fell in love with types that were part of the German Sachplakat (object poster) style pioneered by the great Lucian Bernhard – a lot of which can be seen (as backgrounds) in their original zeitgeist settings in the 1927 Ruttmann film I posted on Sunday.

Plakat lettering was drawn as needed, typically painted. For my adaptation, I went back to brush – and included a handful of alternative characters, ligatures, plus a few dingbats.

Grab your copy here.

And . . . Save 31%! Niedermann Grotesk is on sale right now at MyFonts. Sale ends September 22, 2011.

Tags: design, design history, fonts, mehallo merchandise, typography by steve
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Cabaret-Berlin: Die wilde Bühne 1919-33

‘In her 2010 documentary about the Berlin cabaret scene of the interwar period, Fabienne Rousso-Lenoir includes archival material, excerpts from German cinema classics, rediscovered promotional and institutional films, rare modern art experiments as well as documentaries of the time – all restored in high-definition.’

Above, the first five minutes of Fabienne Rousso-Lenoir’s Cabaret-Berlin: Die wilde Bühne (The Wild Stage) 1919-33. This 2010 documentary is loaded with incredible images from an era that went away in the 1930s.

Watch the entire untranslated film here. (Note: Veoh player download required)

Tags: cool finds, design, design history, music, typography by steve
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‘Life was a cabaret’

Berlin of the 1920s was considered by many to be the cultural center of Europe; home to innovative art, music and a bawdy nightlife – all squashed when the Nazis came to power in 1933.

Above, Walther Ruttmann’s silent (add your own music) Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927), which ‘portrays the life of a city mainly through visual effects and music, not narrative content. The impression it conveys of daily life in Berlin is dynamic, anxiety-ridden, cacophonous – and a helluva lot of fun!’ -Jessica Glaser, MoMA

Below, visual highlights from MoMA’s recent exhibition, German Expressionism: The Graphic Impulse. Additional commentary here.

Tags: art, design, design history, typography by steve
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Salad dressing

The concept of salad dressing – oil and water – is the basis for the magic we call printing. I learned this a long time ago, in a class. Or something.

Also, years ago, learned that this stuff is pretty much one of the few things that will remove printing ink from skin.

Pictured, the typographic work of UK-based Craig Ward.

Tags: design, education, typography by steve
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Off Book: Type

‘Type is universal’

Typography is everywhere – and as an art form is often overlooked.

There are very few actual documentaries about type – and PBS decided to take on the task of making one. Or in this case, remaking one. Off Book: Type premiered this week as sort of a seven minute version of Gary Hustwit’s Helvetica. Sort of. It IS a new doc, tho it does cover some ground already treaded.

Off Book is PBS’ new online series focusing on ‘experimental and nontraditional art forms.’ For more information, read here. Website here.

Tags: design, fonts, thoughts, typography by steve
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More lost type: PLINC is back!

Back in the day, Photo-Lettering Inc. was THE resource for custom set hedline typography, odd letter distortions and other custom font creations that were made possible by the new technology of the time, phototypesetting.

Since, PLINC’s original stock has been sitting in a warehouse. Just sitting. With the elements of time eating up the original negatives.

Several years ago, House bought rights to the collection and set about building an online version of PLINC’s original services – where type is sold one custom set headline at a time. PLINC fonts – which included a lot of ligatures and alternate characters – needed a professional typesetter at the helm.

Today, after years in development, low cost custom hedline type is now available digitally at the new PLINC website. One hed at a time . . . . [Read more →]

Tags: design, design history, fonts, typography by steve
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