If Words Could Fly
This inspiring and beautiful 3D poster was created in support of the people of Fukushima, Japan. Called ‘Words can fly a thousand miles’, the sentiment seems quite apt again after the Oklahoma Tornado.
The team of designers based in Montreal were inspired by the Japanese custom of Senbazuru that promises luck or a wish to anyone folding a thousand origami cranes.
Once complete, the team sough donations and handwritten messages to console and encourage people after the devastation. You can see it in progress here.
Credits: Creative Director: Kyosuke Nishida, Art Director: Kyosuke Nishida, Brian Li Sui Fong, Designer: Dominic Liu, Photographer: Simon Duhamel. This project was realised with the help of Surface3 Design Office.
I Love Clerkenwell
Today is the start of Clerkenwell Design Week, the UK’s leading independent design festival, in the heart of London. Over 60 showrooms will host presentations, workshops and product launches across a broad variety of design disciplines.
Clerkenwell is also the historically home of London’s type foundries, there was even a street called Type Street, near Caslon’s foundry. At it’s height all of the world’s major typefounders had a presence here, there were even two on my street alone. Fontsmith have a popular typeface named after it and today, Clerkenwell is home to many of London’s design agencies, furniture stores and more architects per square mile than anywhere else on the planet.
Above is one of my favourite designs, a typographic map of the area. “Broadside 5” is a letterpress print by Alan Kitching, master letterpress typographer and printmaker. This map now serves as an historical reminder of the changes in the area, since being printed in 1992 . Neither “Oysters, Crabs and Lobsters” nor “Bric-a-brac”are available any more on Exmouth Market.
Book Review: The Geometry of Type
There are many things I like about Stephen Coles’ recent book; the bright, clean design and the accessible structure allowing you to dip in and out; but most of all, it’s the lack of fluff or filler. The content has been carefully honed to focus on the important details, which is in fact what the book is all about: the details of each typeface.
In highlighting and comparing the features that give each typeface its character, anyone exploring this subject can begin to make informed choices between similar typeface options.
The pithy descriptions describe each typeface’s origin and advise what makes each appropriate for certain scenarios and where it might fail. These are occasionally laced with a subtle humour that keeps the tone of the book warm.
The great balance of written and visual explanation means the book works well as a quick reference but has a seductive way of drawing you in to read more and examine further.
The 100 “essential” typefaces chosen covers a decent range and they have been categorised in the most straight-forward way. Historically it stretches from Gill Sans 1928-32) right up to Heron Serif (2012), but also acknowledges original creation dates for revivals such as Bembo (1495).
I’ve already found it useful in my work and I know I’ll enjoy repeatedly picking it up in the future to compare other typefaces in my collection and those I’ve spotted in the wild.
Well worth picking up a copy. Take a look the book’s online companion on tumblr: The Anatomy of Type
Upstanding Lettering
Yulia Brodskaya is well-known for her paper graphics or ‘quilling’ (rolled paper glued on it’s edge). The ‘O’above was created for Oprah’s magazine which also featured an article about Yulia and her work.
She revealled that since she’d designed the cover of a holiday supplement for The Guardian newspaper (UK) in 2008, she’s “never been out of work since”. She also said that she’d like to do more “live” pieces where people can see the work itself, not just photos of it. This seems to have happened this year when she created a huge installation in Shanghai.
See an earlier post about Yulia’s work
8 Designers x 8 Typefaces in 88 pages.
8 Faces – Out Wednesday.
I’ve seen the final version and it’s looking very fine.
Alphabets by Tim Fishlock
Top:
Shapeset alphabet. Overlapping colour compositions. Giclee print on 305g stock. Hand-embossed, numbered and signed. A limited edition.
Bottom Left:
Typeseat alphabet: Screen print. A limited edition of 300. (I beleive the text at the bottom names all of the chairs used).
Bottom right:
A to Z : A print commissioned by the London Transport Museum for their ‘Mind the Map’ exhibition. Based on the iconic London Underground map.
Kama-Sutra type by Malika Favre
I saw this screen printed alphabet today at the ‘Pick Me Up’ graphics and illustration exhibition currently on show in London.
Malika believes in distilling her work down and conveying the concept using the minimum of shapes and lines possible. “Less is definitely more” she says.
This alphabet leaves just the right of amount detail to the viewers imagination without being overly explicit.
Bike Like a New Yorker
Helping cyclists reclaim the streets two wheels at a time, creative agency, Mother, has designed these bird’s-eye perspective billboard and print ads to draw attention to city cyclists.
It’s beautifully executed with this sharply lit photographic style and grungy type, laid out over the streets.
8 Faces #6 is coming…
If you could only use eight typefaces for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
8 Faces Magazine poses this question (and many others) to eight leading designers from the fields of web design, print design, illustration, and of course type design itself.
If you’ve been waiting patiently for the next issue, you’ll be excited to know it goes to print next week and will be ready by the end of April.
Eighty-eight pages of in-depth interviews, critical essays, and inspiration from the very best in the business.
Printed on heavy stock with a foil-blocked cover, each issue is a true collector’s item and 8 Faces will be more at home on your bookshelf than in your magazine rack. Who said print is dead?
Double digits
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is currently home the an exhibition of graphic work by Pentagram’s Paula Scher and Push Pin’s Seymour Chwast.
‘Double Portrait’ features 300 pieces of the design couple’s work, making visual connections between them, such as their love for expressive typography.
The posters are packed in wall-to-wall and bookended by these gargantuan letters created by each designer.
This is precisely the way I think these expressive characters are best displayed. I love their scale and simplicity, juxtaposed by the crowded, visual feast on the adjacent walls.
Runs until the 14th April.
About: Jamie Clarke, Type Worship Editor
I’m a designer based in London. I’ve worked mostly on the Internet but I’m especially passionate about all forms of typography and lettering.
I co-founded the design agency, Thin Martian (annually rated a top 100 UK design company, Design Week), which was acquired in 2013 and I was previously Head of Design at Microsoft in the UK.
I’m currently developing my own lettering work under the ‘Type Worship’ label, consisting of typographic posters (coming soon) and custom lettering artworks, all printed by hand.
I have written for a number publications including the 8Faces Magazine which also sponsors the Type Worship blog.
You can find more about me here:
Selected Articles:
