The New City Reader is a temporary newspaper on architecture and the city, designed to be read collectively on buildings and in other public spaces. The paper is, in fact, quite illegible when read folded and collated like a traditional newspaper—it is meant to be spread out and tiled together on a large, flat surface, as a kind of corrective to reader-customized news consumed privately on portable electronic devices. The New City Reader began as a component of an exhibition called “The Last Newspaper” at the New Museum, New York in 2010. The paper was written, art directed, designed, and published from a gallery within the museum, among the rest of the work in the show and visitors there to see it. Every week over the course of the exhibition, a new publication corresponding to one of the sections of a conventional newspaper investigated the relationship among the theme and contemporary urbanity—news, politics, sports, and food, among others. Each section was edited by a different team invited by editors-in-chief Joseph Grima and Kazys Varnelis, requiring close and rapid collaboration with both the guests and the in-house team.”

“An extremely lean budget also meant that all issues could only be printed in black, providing a production constraint that helped to sharply focus the paper’s aesthetic—strong body typography (Neuzeit S and Souvenir Mono) that can be read easily in the street at a distance, set in a strict but flexible grid (for the sake of design and production expediency), augmented by a different display typeface for each section inspired by and expressive of each section’s theme. In the paper’s brief initial run of three months, more than 180 leading architects, historians, and theorists analyzed the relationship of architecture, the newspaper, and the city.”

“The New City Reader was reprised in 2014 as Varnelis and the Network Architecture Lab’s contribution to the Uneven Growth exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna. The paper contains explorations and critical views of Hong Kong present and future, and Symtactics: The Fast-Dealing Game of Inequality, a board game allowing players to act as tactical urbanists in a dystopian 2047 Hong Kong.” 

“The display type in this issue is Troover, which is heavily indebted to Trooper, a Vector Graphics Corporation typeface from the late 1960s. It also bears more than a passing resemblance to the title typeface of the South China Morning Post, one of Hong Kong’s leading English-language daily newspapers. It is stacked as a reference to Hong Kong’s density and verticality, and also because type in Hong Kong is still often set this way, as opposed to mainland China where it’s typically left-to-right. Generally, the display type of the New City Reader is meant to draw on historical (or in some cases outmoded) styles as a self-conscious, tongue-in-cheek comment on the status of news in print, though the goal is also to deploy old typefaces in a way that seems fresh, surprising, and relevant to the paper’s content.” 

A graduate of Yale’s MFA graphic design program, Neil Donnellybrings the innovation in his craftsmanship. The Brooklyn based graphic designer whose projects have been included in the Brno Biennial of Graphic Design and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, the Gwangju Design Biennale, the New Museum, the Museum of Arts and Design, and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Artwork works with clients in architecture and art, including the Guggenheim, Yale University, Columbia University, The New York Times, Princeton Architectural Press amongst many, numerous, others. Neil Donnelly has lectured, taught courses, and led workshops at the Yale School of Art, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Parsons, Maryland Institute College of Art, School of Visual Arts, Rutgers, the University of Illinois, and Typography Summer School and he is one of Typorn’s greatest references on what typography today should look and feel like.

“An extremely lean budget also meant that all issues could only be printed in black, providing a production constraint that helped to sharply focus the paper’s aesthetic”

“The display type of the New City Reader is meant to draw on historical styles, though the goal is also to deploy old typefaces in a way that seems fresh, surprising, and relevant to the paper’s content” 

Few contemporary display alphabets equal those of Louis John Pouchee for vivacity and invention” comments Eye magazine on these astonishingly intricate letter designs that were presumed lost in a fire in 1940 at Monotype’s London office. Regarded as the most ambitious and most beautiful types created in wood in any period and designed for eye-catching headlines these ornamented letterforms with their musical, masonic and agricultural motifs were designed in the early 1820s and their details will have you astonished, just like legendary graphic designer Peter Saville was when he used them for the cover art of Pulp’s“We Love Life” album back in 2001.

It was in the early years of the nineteenth century when the skilled engravers at the London type foundry of Louis John Pouchée produced a series of finely crafted decorative alphabets. Intended as eye-catching elements for printed posters, the beautiful large letters, up to 26 lines (over 100 mm) in cap height and made from single blocks of end-grain boxwood are mostly in the early nineteenth-century fat face style.

Virtually lost for over 150 years, they have been resurrected in a limited boxed edition as Ornamented Types: Twenty-three alphabets from the foundry of Louis John Pouchée through a collaboration between the St Bride Printing Library in the City of London, in whose collection they reside, and Ian Mortimer of I.M. Imprimit. And nothing can match their originality and vivacity, even today.

“The fat faces and slab serifs designed in the first decades of the nineteenth century were reviled by taste-setting printers and typographers in the 1920s” adds Mike Haines. “During the 1930s display types of this period underwent a re-appreciation and were promoted by typographic opinion-formers such as Robert Harling’s journal Typography (1936-39). Nicolete Gray’s Nineteenth Century Ornamented Types and Title Pages (1938) contains reproductions of the Pouchée types described erroneously as examples of the “early Victorian ‘exuberant’ style” and credited to the Wood & Sharwoods London foundry. The idea that the alphabets dated from the second half of the nineteenth century survived and the selection from three of the types published in John C. Tarr’s Lettering: A Sourcebook of Roman Alphabets (1951) is similarly described as “Victorian wood-cut letters”.

Regarded as the most ambitious types created in wood in any period these ornamented letterforms were designed in the early 1820s

The 1960s saw a revival of interest in decorative display types stimulated by the introduction of two new technologies for display setting: headline photosetting and dry-transfer lettering. Among the best-sellers for Letraset in the late 1960s were Lettres Ornées and Romantiques No. 5, two highly ornamented types in the French style described inaccurately as part of an “Art Nouveau” range. These were used widely in magazine headlines, posters and packaging, alongside the highly condensed sans serifs which were also fashionable. Five of the Pouchée designs were reproduced in the journal Motif in 1967 and sample letters published by James Mosley in the Journal of the Printing Historical Society (1966) stimulated academic interest.

The idea of publishing Ornamented Types began in 1983, when Mortimer and Mosley proofed the entire collection of blocks using one of the Albion hand-presses at St Bride to provide archive proofs for the library and repro proofs for a possible commercial edition (which has not been undertaken). The results affirmed the outstanding quality of the types and Mortimer made a proposal to the City of London Corporation (which has responsibility for the St Bride material) for their publication. The preparation and printing of the types was nearly three-quarters of the way through when new evidence about their origins came to light as a result of substantial research into the Pouchée foundry, particularly by Julia Horsfall, Mortimer’s partner at I.M. Imprint. A complete history of the blocks began to emerge.

Today the Pouchée collection is the largest known to have been made in England at this time and the only one known to have survived

The story of the ownership and whereabouts of Pouchée’s alphabets in the twentieth century begins in 1936 when the type foundry H.W. Caslon & Co was force to close and its stock was sold to its competitors. The Sheffield type foundry Stephenson, Blake & Co acquired a number of punches and matrices; the Monotype Corporation purchased much of the rest of the stock including three tons of punches and 23 alphabets engraved on boxwood. Monotype’s new collection attracted an enthusiastic if small group of admirers, but following a fire at the company’s London offices in 1940 it was believed that the ornamented alphabets had been destroyed. This remained the case until the 1960s, when Monotype’s collection of hand-punch-cutting materials was re-examined as rapid changes in typesetting technology led to a more urgent interest in preserving the past. The collection, including the ornamented alphabets, was transferred to the University Press in Oxford and subsequently to the St Bride Printing Library.”

Today the Pouchée collection is the largest known to have been made in England at this time and the only one known to have survived. Louis John Pouchée (1782-1845) set up his type foundry in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in 1818. identified by printing historians as the importer of Henri Didot’s mechanical type founding machine, Pouchée recruited skilled masters of typography, paid them loads of money but sold his type more cheaply than other foundries. This strategy of his led to the collapse of the trade association and made him an unpopular figure among his tribe. His type foundry closed in 1830.

Nearly eleven years in the making, “Ornamented Types” is regarded the most exacting printing project to have been undertaken by a contemporary private press

“Ornamented Types is perhaps the most exacting printing project to have been undertaken by a contemporary private press” continues Daines on the project that took nearly eight years to bring to fruition and three years to print. “The blocks were meticulously cleaned before printing began, revealing much additional detail. Because the blocks were not intended to be printed from directly, many are not accurately finished, are not square and their sides are not vertical. To achieve a constant impression, variations in level were corrected by a succession of finely graduated paper underlays prepared individually for each block. Each block also had to be packed to avoid rocking and each base supported uniformly to withstand the pressure of the pull during printing without moving. In order to be able to achieve lock-up on the bed of the press, without the pressure causing individual letters to rise, the gaps had to be packed with slivers of bevelled paper or card. Some letters required a slight rotation to ensure alignments and letter spacing had to be arranged to fit within Mortimer’s page design without creating poorly spaced combinations. Depending on the size of the letters, between one and five printing forms were required to print a complete alphabet. Once printing began, it could take as long as three days to arrive at the first good proof of a single page and at least three more days to print 200 good impressions of that page.”

Read more on this testament of this intriguingly beautiful typography here and here

With their distinctive approach Diego and Martí are two forces combined in contemporary Spanish design scene. The duo met while working for Folch Studio between 2010 and 2012 where they had the chance to explore their vision on a variety of fields. During those two years they worked with clients such as Metal magazine, Marset, ICEX, Carolina Herrena, Massimo Dutti, Cortana, Tiger magazine, Archizines, Fucking Young magazine, Absolut, Hangar, Odiseo magazine, and DHUB in projects ranged from identity and image, publications, strategy and communications, typography, web design, exhibition design and editorial planning. We asked Diego and Martí to answer the Proust Questionnaire in a new series of insightful interviews for Typorn. This is what the men behind Córdova-Canillas studio really are about.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
D: To not worry for anything.
M: To do what I like at my own pace.

What is your greatest fear?
D: Becoming stagnant.
M: Getting sick.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
D: My impossibility to do red tapes(I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN)
M: Dissatisfaction

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
D: When you have an idea and somebody says that is impossible without understanding that it is just a rough draft of a thought.
M: Ego and individualism.

Which living person do you most admire?
D: At the moment JW Anderson, but it always changes.
M: Mike Meiré.

What is your greatest extravagance?
D: To take cold water showers everyday
M: I don’t have any.

What is your current state of mind?
D: Anxious.
M: Floating.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
D: Youth.
M: Fame.

On what occasion do you lie?
D: Always.
M: Never.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?
D: My hair, it grows very fast.
M: My stature.

Which living person do you most despise?
D: Barack Obama.
M: Too many.

What is the quality you most like in a man?
D: Roughness.
M: Been respectful.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
D: Determination.
M: Her face.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
D: “Really, really (yes, two times)” and “a kind of like”.
M: I do not overuse any word.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
D: My son, Teo.
M: Espe.

When and where were you happiest?
D: Always and anywhere.
M: Now.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
D: My bank account.
M: To get myself organized.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
D: Keeping quiet.
M: Been self employed.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
D: A hadron collider.
M: A professional football player.

Where would you most like to live?
D: Barcelona.
M: Bali.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
D: Not having enough time to spend with your friends.
M: Loneliness.

What is your most marked characteristic?
D: My mustache.
M: My ability to spend a lot of time around the same thing.

What do you most value in your friends?
D: Confidence.
M: Support.

Who is your hero of fiction?
D: Tin Tin.
M: Goku.

What are your favorite names?
D: Teo and Inez.
M: Spartacus.

What is it that you most dislike?
D: Neoliberal people.
M: Not having enough time for myself.

What is your greatest regret?
D: Wasting time studying graphic design
M: I really can’t answer to that...

What is your motto?
D: Everything is relevant.
M: More money, more time.

What a terrific movie Faythe and Sam have made! Sign Painter’s engaging telling of this important american story should have good legs” says legendary artist and former sign painter himself Ed Ruscha on the 80 minute documentary movie that Faythe Levine and Sam Macon brought to life. After four years in the making, the duo captured the dedicated practitioners, their time-honored methods, and their appreciation for quality and craftsmanship in this amazing film that is the first anecdotal history of the craft. Featuring the stories of more than two dozen sign painters working in cities throughout the United States the documentary (and book) profiles sign painters young and old, from the new vanguard working solo to collaborative shops such as San Francisco’s New Bohemia Signs and New York’s Colossal Media’s Sky High Murals.

“We see them almost every day without a second thought. Weathered by time, distinct characteristics shining through, hand-painted signs are a product of a fascinating 150 year-old American history. What was once a common job has now become a highly specialized trade, a unique craft struggling with technological advances”. Faythe Levine & Sam Macon, stylistically explore this unacknowledged art form through anecdotal accounts from artists across the country including Ira Coyne, Bob Dewhurst, Keith Knecht, Norma Jeane Maloney and Stephen Powers. These vanguards of unseen originality are leading a renaissance with a keen creative purpose and exemplify the working class American success story. Sign Painters celebrates those keeping the tradition intact with a bespoke approach and appreciation for a balance between art and commerce. When we asked Milwaukee born, Chicago based filmmaker, photographer, and writer Sam Macon to share with us everything that is to know on their stunning project he greeted us with a sign painting that says “Welcome”.

What motivated you to document the world of sign painting in the first place?
Faythe and I collaborated for years prior to making Sign Painters, and had known for some time that we wanted to work together on a larger scale project. We just didn’t know what form it would take. When Faythe suggested the idea of doing a doc on sign painting, my own ignorance of the trade and the lack of available information on it, proved to be a huge motivator. We’re both really interested in urban aesthetics, letters and signage, and people who are dedicated to specific processes - Not only did sign painting cover all of those bases, as documentarian it’s always exciting to tell a largely untold story.

What is your most favorite painted sign that you encountered?
Oh man, that is a hard question to answer. There are SO MANY great signs hidden in plain sight. What was really interesting is how our taste preferences were informed by our education of the trade. I think originally, both our taste gravitated towards the lose, less perfected signs - some would call folk signs, maybe? But as we spent more time on the project and learned more about the skills and tools associated to the trade, we began to really appreciate the expertly polished work. More specifically, I personally really like very simple work horse signs that were painted years ago - no parking, employees must wash their hands, for rent. Really basic signs, with perfect letter forms, that you just know must have been done years ago by a total pro who no doubt banged the sign out in minutes.

How long did you work on the project?
From conceptualization to the release of the film, the whole project was roughly a 4 year endeavor.

How did you discover the sign painters you interviewed?
We began with some younger people that Faythe knew personally and expanded from there. Though some sign writers have a digital presence, there is an understandable anti technology streak within the trade, so tracking down the right people online proved difficult. Much of the discovery was through word of mouth. We’d interview one painter and they’d say, “you can’t make this movie without talking to so and so.” We’d then call up so and so and convince them to let us into their home, their studio, their hospice, and do an interview. This process became a bit easier as the project gained momentum.

How has public art and sign painting changed through the years?
Well, first off, sign painting and public art are very different animals. By and large the type of sign painting that we focused on was of a more strictly commercial nature. Throughout much of sign painting’s history, it has been (for the most part) more of a trade than art. Often, sign writers were / are tradespeople first and artist second.  There are of course exceptions with guys like Steve Powers, but the sign painting that WE focused on, was of the more “client based” variety. One of the things so interesting about sign painting is that it’s at this very unique intersection of art and labor. If you wanted a sign you hired a sign painter, and if you got out of their way and let them do their job, you’d probably end up with a sign that communicated and looked great.

“Sign painting exists at this very fascinating intersection of art and labor. It takes incredible talent but it’s also a lot of goddamn WORK.”

I think, what’s changed the most is the public’s perception. Now that shitty, mass produced digital signage has taken over, people respond to an amazing old ghost sign in the same way they might respond to an artist mural. The original creator’s intentions may have been totally different - capitalist v.s. creative - but now, given the current state of things, they both illicit a similar response in people. They enhance and lend character to an urban environment.

Which location inspired you the most with its tradition on sign painting?
I can’t pick just one place. Consistently, the most exciting discoveries have been the one off signs that you just know have been there forever -a random sign at a gas station off the highway, the address on a building, an old ghost sign. It’s always exciting to just find these working signs that you know were done by some pro years ago. That said, it’s really inspiring to be in a city like  San Francisco, Austin, or Olympia where there has been a continuous presence of working sign painters throughout the years. You can see the positive impact that an individual or group of individuals can have on the way a place looks.

In what ways are you hoping to bring this underrated form of art into the spotlight?
Faythe and I have said from the beginning that our goal was to make a film (and book) that A - did right by the sign community, and B - brought awareness to a larger audience. The hope being that increased awareness on the part of the general public would generate work for sign painters and, that said, work would contribute to the visual landscape of this country.

“Now that shitty, mass produced digital signage has taken over, people respond to an amazing old ghost sign in the same way they might respond to an artist mural.”

How would you describe the people in the sign industry?
As with any industry, trade or discipline, all sorts of people become sign painters. There are the old stereotypes of the hard living heavy drinking sign painter, but we found that to largely be a myth at this point. Nowadays you’re more likely to meet a dedicated young entrepreneur or a middle aged person who worked to put kids through college. The more sign painters you meet, the more difficult it becomes to make sweeping generalizations. That said, there are some recurring themes that come up time and time again - A love / borderline obsession with letter formation, a gravitation towards self determination, being your own boss, a desire to work outside.

What is the main difference between sign painting and other type related art forms?
In my opinion sign painting exists at this very fascinating intersection of art and labor. It takes incredible talent (some would say artistic talent, myself being one of them) but it’s also a lot of goddamn WORK. At this point, you can’t go and get a job at a big shop. So most sign painters need to be savvy business owners as well as excellent sign writers. That means paperwork, permits, client relations, etc. Sign painters need to be able to work on a ladder for hours or rig a swing stage and paint through all sorts of weather. It’s client based work, so you need to take the client’s wants and needs into account. These are real world, labor based elements that many artist don’t need to deal with in the same capacity. Don’t get me wrong, I value and understand the life of a working artist, but with sign painting - the work and the art are more completely intertwined.

How has technology changed this community and its artistry?
What’s really amazing is that, the techniques of traditional sign painting is almost impervious to technological advancements. The basic process, tools, and methodology hasn’t changed much in a hundred plus years. The introduction of computer aided signage in the 80s damn near wiped out the whole industry. People (clients) have a tendency to gravitate towards the quick and the cheap. The irony is that now computers, once thought to be the great destroyer, have proven to be incredibly instrumental in the growing appreciation for the trade and unifying people within the industry.

In this digitized era of ours do you think businesses appreciate this hand lettered art form? What about the customers, the public eye?
I think some do, and those that do stand out. Businesses that “get it” are on the right side of history. A quality handmade sign suggest you really care about your business, and more and more the general public appreciates that and rewards that level of care by being selective when and where to spend their hard earned money.

“The irony is that now computers have proven to be incredibly instrumental in the growing appreciation for the trade and unifying people within the industry.”

What’s the place of “lettering skills” in today’s digital society?
I think that computers have made it really easy for anyone to call themselves a designer, a photographer, a filmmaker, and artist, etc. Anyone can make something look alright or look professional. But in my opinion, the cream always rises to the top and more often than not the most interesting creative work is done by people who have a solid foundation in analog fundamentals. Computers can do amazing things, but at this point in the evolution of visual culture computers are just a tool usually used to emulate aesthetics that were developed by hand. If a designer is limited by what they can do on a computer they run the risk of being literally unable to make something truly unique. A piece of hand lettering is a one of a kind creation by its very nature.  

Please name the most important person you met while filming.
Everyone we met was great, but Keith Kenecht is one of the most wonderful humans I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. His knowledge and ability was unparalleled, and his ability to communicate his love for sign painting was profound. Sadly he passed away. We dedicated the film and book to him.

Do you think logos have a significant influence in our everyday living?
I’ve been a highly visual person my whole life. Even as a kid I gravitated towards interesting signage and cool logos. I wouldn’t say they “influence” my life too directly at this point, but I do appreciate good design and it definitely has an effect on how and where I spend my money. I don’t have any tolerance for thoughtlessness. People should take pride and care about what they do, and to me, quality design is a representation of care and attention to detail.

“If a designer is limited by what they can do on a computer they run the risk of being literally unable to make something truly unique.”

What are your future plans for the movie, if any?
We don’t have any big plans for the project. The project and the people we met within the trade will continue to be an important part of my life for as long as I live. I think just enjoying the work done by the friends we made along the way will be the main way I stay involved with the project.

Which is the most memorable moment while filming “Sign Painters”?
Just too many to list. Meeting Keith is up there. The moment when Ed Ruscha called me on my phone to discuss him writing the foreword for the book and we talked for an hour was pretty fucking cool.

You are an artist yourself. How did documenting this community influenced your work and mentality?
It energized me as an artist. What is really cool about a physical medium like sign painting is that there are no short cuts. You can’t pick it up over night. You can only become a great sign painter through total commitment and dedication. You have to put the time in, and you have to work your ass off even when no one is paying attention or hiring you. You have to believe. It also taught me that details are everything. The details that make a sign a great sign will largely go unnoticed by 99% population. As an artist, I am looking to make work for everyone, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t trying to impress the 1%.

What piece of advice would you give to anyone interested in sign painting as a profession?
Find a mentor. Put in the time.

Do you recall the first ever letterform that captured your attention?
Yep. It was the titles for Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

“Working on this project, energized me as an artist. It also taught me that details are everything.”

If you were a font, which one would you be and why?
I guess I’d be a piece of hand lettering, which by definition isn’t a font. Probably sign painter’s casual or a heavy egyptian. If I had to pick a font, I’ll go with Garamond, but that’s not very representative of my loud mouth personality. I just like it.

What would your sign communicate to us? In other words, what would be your logo?
It would say, “FILMMAKER FOR HIRE.” I should have someone make that sign.

Which is the best way to say goodbye to this interview?
Probably a hand painted “SORRY WE’RE CLOSED” sign.

On Tuesday, April 28, Designers & Books introduced their first Kickstarter campaign in what will be an ongoing initiative to reissue iconic out-of-print design titles. Their first project is a “lost milestone” of modern graphic design by the father of information graphics, Ladislav Sutnar’s 1961 classic, Visual Design in Action. Upon supporting this amazing initiative for the graphic design and the typographic community alike, we asked Designers and Books’ Steve Kroeter about the rationale for using Kickstarter to do this and whether crowd-funding is becoming a defender for the letterform. This is what he had to say:

“From our perspective, it is becoming more and more obvious that one of the most dynamic and exciting platforms for launching design books today is crowd-funding in general—and Kickstarter, in particular. This, to us, is true for any design book that appeals to a niche audience reachable online—whether the book is about architecture, fashion, product design, or graphic design; and whether about graphic design broadly or, for example, typography more narrowly. Notable examples of this from the past few years include Frank Chimero’s The Shape of Design, which received $112,159 from 2,109 backers in 2011 and Dhiru Thadani raised $35,197 from 117 backers for Visions of Seaside, which went on to become a Designers & Books Notable Design Book of the Year for 2013.

Most recently—and most remarkably—over 30 days last fall, two Pentagram designers, Jesse Reed and Hamish Smyth, attracted 6,718 backers and $802,813 with their Kickstarter project to reissue The New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual as a full-size book. The idea that a book could attract over 6,000 backers in 30 days was a revelation.

As we see it, there are five key elements to crowd-funding that make it now the launch platform of choice—for books appealing to niche audiences that are reachable online.

#1 Community: Books sell and succeed when they are able to create—or better yet, tap into—a community. That can be done in dramatically fast fashion in crowd-funding. The NYCTA book attracted $196,000 in backing on day 1 of its campaign.

#2: Creativity: Crowd-funding means also crowd-sourcing, which can provide injections of creativity from sources outside the project team. With the NYCTA book, again, because the project was launched live and publically, the project sponsors ended up gaining access to a better copy of the book to scanning and production purposes. (The better copy ended up being provided by Massimo Vignelli’s son).

#3: Credit: Crowd-funding allows the project sponsors to acknowledge the community of backers that have come forward to make the book happen. In our case, backers will be acknowledged both in the  in the volume accompanying the facsimile edition of Visual Design in Action and also on the Designers & Bookswebsite.

#4: Timing: Backers also get acknowledged by getting their copies of the book first, in advance of any trade release.

#5: Price: There is also the opportunity to provide backers with special accommodation pricing.

Visual Design in Action was first published in 1961. It has been out of print for over 40 years. As Steve Heller tells it, Sutnar, while perhaps not among the best known mid-century designers, certainly is one of the great philosophers, makers, and critics of design from that era. And this book is an elegant summation of his design ideas and insights—both written and designed by him. Beyond the content, the book as a physical object has a number of special qualities. From a production perspective, it uses 11 Pantone colors and multiple papers. Sutnardevotes two pages in the back matter to explaining “the role of paper and printing in graphic design” and the criteria he used for “the selection of paper in this book.” And, notably, in the preface to the book, Mildred Constantine (then an associate curator at the Museum of Modern Art) specifically calls attention to “the unconventional use of the italic letter for the entire body of the book.”

In our view, crowd-funding has the potential to be the salvation of design book publishing in the 21st century. Designers & Books is very happy to be part of the team (along with Steve Heller, Reto Caduff, and Lars Müller) that is working to use this approach to make this facsimile edition (which is authorized by Radoslav and Elaine Sutnar) available to the creative community in the 21st century.”

Typorn supports this initiative and you should too by followingTHIS LINK and pledging as little as $9—or by backing at a level that provides a copy of the book. After all, good typography and design will save the world.  

In 1962 a group of designers and art directors came together to celebrate creative communication and raise standards within their industry. Amongst the group were names like David Bailey, Terence Donovan and Alan Fletcher. Calling themselves British Design & Art Direction they organised their very first Awards event the following year. Of course, they were picky as from 2,500 entries they selected just 16 pieces of work to receive the soon-to-be coveted Yellow Pencil.

Since then British Design & Art Direction has grown mightily, but slimmed down its name. Now D&AD, is an inspiration to a community of creative thinkers by celebrating and stimulating the finest in design and advertising. A D&AD Award is recognised globally as the ultimate creative accolade, entered and attended by the best from around the world. “D&AD pencil is recognition for the late nights, toughness in the face of client feedback, and dedication to craft” says the official site. Almost two weeks ago the winners of D&AD Pencils were announced but the recipients will have to wait for May 21 (the awards evening) to see whether any of those Pencils is the most prestigious and sought-after of them all, the Black one, which is reserved for work that is truly groundbreaking and only a handful of them are awarded each year. These are our most favorites of this year’s Winners in no particular order.  

“D&AD pencil is recognition for the late nights, toughness in the face of client feedback, and dedication to craft”

WIRED December 2014/ Magazine & Newspaper Design / Entire Magazines & Magazine + Newspaper Front Covers/ Agency: WIRED/ Client: WIRED

The Guardian Print with Digital/ Magazine & Newspaper Design / Print with Digital/ Agency: The Guardian/ Client: The Guardian

The Happy Reader/ Magazine & Newspaper Design / Entire Magazines/ Agency: Penguin Random House/ Client: Penguin Random House

Kings and Queens of the Court/ Graphic Design / Wayfinding & Environmental Graphics / Agency: Leo Burnett Canada Toronto/ Client: TSN/Bell Media

TAMABI BOOK/ Book Design / Entire Books / Client: Tama Art University

The 2014 It’s Nice That Annual/ Book Design / Book Front Covers / Agency: StudioMakgill/ Client: It’s Nice That

Headless Chicken Books/ Graphic Design / Logos / Agency: Paul Belford Ltd/ Client: Headless Chicken Books

The Stone Twins ‘Business Cards’/ Graphic Design / Stationery / Agency: The Stone Twins/ Client: The Stone Twins

From Home to Home/ Graphic Design / Wayfinding & Environmental Graphics / Agency: Dark Angels Collective/ Client: Solidspace

Japanese KIMONO brand - YUKI SAWAYA/ Graphic Design / Logos / Agency: 6D/ Client: Okujun co., ltd

Chamber Collection I/ Graphic Design / Catalogues & Brochures / Agency: Studio Lin/ Client: Chamber, Juan Garcia Mosqueda

Music Desk Calander/ Graphic Design / Direct Mail (Graphic Design) / Agency: Music/ Client: Music

85 Years | 85 Ideas/ Magazine & Newspaper Design / Entire Magazines / Agency: Bloomberg Businessweek/ Client: Bloomberg Businessweek

The New York Times Magazine - August 31, 2014 - Abortion by Mail/ Magazine & Newspaper Design / Magazine & Newspaper Front Covers / Agency: The New York Times Magazine/ Client: The New York Times

Tourists/ Graphic Design/ Posters (Graphic Design)/ Agency: F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi/ Client: Pinacoteca do Estado de S. Paulo

Barcelona Design Museum/ Graphic Design / Posters (Graphic Design) / Agency: Atlas/ Client: Barcelona Design Museum

Bruce Nauman: The True Artist/ Book Design / Entire Books / Agency: Phaidon Press/ Client: Phaidon Press

In Loving Memory of Work/ Book Design / Book Front Covers / Agency: The Office Of Craig Oldham/ Client: Unified Theory of Everything

BOUTIQUE!/ Graphic Design / Integrated Graphics / Agency: KIGI/ Client: SPIRAL

True North Flipchart/ Graphic Design / Direct Mail (Graphic Design) / Agency: True North/ Client: True North

This is Craig Oldham’s labour of love. Curated and designed by the designer himself, In Loving Memory Of Work marks the 30th anniversary of the miners’ return to work and is a vital re-appraisal of the collective aesthetic of one of most important social and political events in recent history. Bringing together myriad political graphics and cultural ephemera alongside first-hand testimonies, In Loving Memory of Work celebrates the creativity of the working class and is one amazing thorough visual record of Britain’s longest ever industrial dispute: the 1984-85 UK miners’ strike. Printed in the UK and published by Oldham’s own imprint (Unified Theory of Everything), the book’s high-production values are evident throughout.

Oldham also collaborated with designer Aaron Skipper, to create a pair of unique, commemorative fonts for a publication that has a social cause (proceeds from the book will go towards the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign). “Born in the mining town of Barnsley, just weeks after the formal end of the miners’ strike, it’s hard for me not to have been influenced by those events. After all, three generations of my family had worked in Barnsley pits. As I grew up, and as my parents and their community adjusted to the closures, it was impossible to avoid a certain amount of cultural fallout. Everyone, it seemed, had a story to tell. Funny, tragic, or just plain interesting, these stories (recounted by relatives, neighbours or friends) described the broader narrative of the miners’ strike—a narrative that, over time, created a curious backstory to my own life” explains Oldham in the book. We asked him more on this labour of love of his, on “this story that he is enormously proud to tell”. A story that needs to be told.

What is the idea behind this project?

The book was started in late 2013 through a discussion with a friend of mine about the (then) upcoming 30th anniversary of the UK miners’ strike. As the project developed, I wanted to incorporate an honest and rooted design element in the fabric of the book rather than just showcasing the material. I’d come across the Liaison placards during my research and been struck with their distinct design and visual cut-through, and decided to use that as inspiration and create a font for use in the book.

How involved were you in the process?

In making the font, apart from starting the process, I art directed and drew the initial raw materials to act as a base for the full design. Then working with designer Aaron Skipper, we collaborated using Aaron’s experience in font creation to get the design to the final stage. There were some tricky decisions to make as obviously we didn’t have the full character and glyph set at our disposal to digitise so we had to employ a bit of creative license in essentially creating from scratch the numerals, glyphs, and certain characters. We also decided that hairline glyphs (which I’d used in a previous project, The Democratic Lecture, with the typeface Jean-Luc by Atelier Carvalho Bernau) would give the font a more contemporary edge and they also added to the unique personality of the font too. We named the font Liaison after the organisation who created the placards and it will be available soon.

What was the most challenging and difficult part in bringing the In Loving Memory of Work to life?

Creating the coal dust jacket for the book was extremely challenging. Asking a printed to feed a combustable material through a hot machine was met with scepticism and trepidation—and of course that’s right to do so. But once we’d found the right people who would give it a go, it was simply a case of refining on press… which sounds a lot easier than it actually was.

Do you believe graphic designers and typographers alike must be political in their vision?

I don’t think that it’s necessary for designers to create or do political work, but I think everyone should have a political viewpoint personally. And if that manifests itself through work, then that’s the choice and prerogative of the individual. But design will never change politics, the politics will be the leading factor first and foremost, design can only help communicate the politics really. This area of design—call it graphic political dissent, for argument’s sake—creates some of the most intelligent, witty, creative and powerful work through the widest variety of means much more than commercial or cultural work. 

How important is typography in getting the message through?

It’s rooted in the subject matter. It comes from the time and the place and is a visual testament to a part of the struggle it was born in. The other typefaces used throughout the book were both employed during the time (AGBuch was used in NCB material and the typewriter font was used by those who didn’t have much more than that to create their pamphlets and productions). So the typography is part of the story telling, it’s part of the being. I’m not saying that all typography is arbitrary—of course there are major and definitive decisions made concerning the type in a design—but in the case of In Loving Memory of Work, I really wanted every aspect to have a reason for being, one that was another layer to the content and subject matter, and not simply there to dress up the information.

When did you first acknowledged the power of political graphics?

I was exposed to the power of political graphics during my education. I always remember the political work of Milton Glaser, David Gentleman, Ken Garland, Emory Douglas and many more. Artists too like Jenny Holzer, Keith Harring etc. As aforementioned, I loved their power, their clarity, and of course they have an opinion.

Which is the single most powerful protest poster you ever encountered?

That’s a pretty complicated question with no real answer, as each of the causes is relative and so cannot be judged beside one another really. I think the single most powerful body of work, is maybe that of Emory Douglas for the Black Panther Party and other causes. His distinct artistic style and use of imagery and illustration ties the most complicated and simple messages over a great period of time and over numerous causes to create a distinct and unified body of dissent. He was also on the ground and active in his views and politics, and not simply an artist sharing the belief and cause, but actively pursuing it through other means alongside his communications. So that’s a difficult question, but there’s a bit of an answer.

The poster is clearly just one of the many creative tools to shape public opinion and exert pressure on policy-makers. Do you believe that in an age of social media, posters have become redundant?

No. Not one bit. The poster is immediate and has been with us for centuries. It will always serve a communicative purpose. Social media just gives it further influence, as usually, it’s a picture of a poster that’s shared.

Which is the necessary role of the graphic design? To attract attention or to inform?

I wouldn’t say attract attention, but I would say engage. And it’s role is both.

You come from a mining family yourself. How personal is this project?

Obviously as a result of my personal connection it’s very personal. The strike affected my family every-day, and has continued to ever since. I was a strike baby and this is my way of continuing that discussion and doing my bit to bring it towards the forefront again.

What would you like to achieve through this publication?

A re-appraisal and long-time-coming acknowledgement of the creativity of the untrained designer and the working class. And an underlying message that creativity comes from having something to say and saying it in a relative means and content. In the miners’ strike, creativity was a means not an end, and that is something I think today we can learn from.

You are an advocate of political rights. Please tell us more about the organizations you support.

I have political beliefs and opinions, but compared to many political people out there I would be wary of referring to myself as a true advocate. I have been on demonstrations and such, but I know of many, many people who do more than I. I support the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign through the book, and I also support other causes and organisations also. But as I say there are people who are more worthy of the title of advocate for political rights than I.

To support his cause and get hold of a copy before they sell out, head over here

For many the weird teenage years are better left forgotten but that is not the case for French magazine L’Incroyable. This new publication is dedicated to adolescence and it will examine the teenage years of someone famous by visiting memories of that period when you are not an adult, nor a child. Edited by artist and designer, Clotilde Viannay, L’Incroyable hosts Juliette Gréco’s remembrances. For its debut issue the magazine traces young Gréco’s life between the ages of 15 to 20, when the actress and singer was imprisoned by the Gestapo at 16, when she met Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Boris Vian and when she spent time hanging out with Miles Davis at the Saint Germaine cafés. The magazine is bursting with stories and its typography is breathing a life of its own. Designed and art directed by Raphaël Garnier, an artist whose mind is ever expanding through shapes and forms, L’Incroyable letterforms are celebrating the excitement of adolescence in their own unique way.

So, what is the idea behind the typographic approach of L’Incr?
There are two different typefaces involved in the project. L’Incroyable, the title typeface and Bruggen for use in the texts. For the first one, my idea was to make a representation of the word and it’s meaning. L’Incroyable is the Amazing so I went for something that makes some noise. Like hearing the trumpets playing, like a glass that breaks into pieces. That’s why there is this element of broken curves in the in the design of the letters. I also wanted it to have a form of elegance. I love the vernacular typography and as an artist, not a typographer myself, I do not know how to draw letters so I simply observed. In my line of work I draw lots of shapes therefore I told myself that in this case, for this project, people have to read the forms. I’m not an expert, so I do not know all the rules and I have the privilege to not limit myself with any. I like everything that is naive, that holds a form of emotion that we do not find elsewhere, something poetic. I want to stay naive, I want to still be marveled.

As for the Bruggen, well that was a completely different project. I started working on the letters A, t, R, G as I was working on a logo for my graphic design studio At. R.G. (Atelier Raphaël Garnier). The outcome was really ugly but... I work directly on the computer, I do not do drawings, so I literally sculpt with vectors. Then I started to do all the glyphs. It was not at all a typography for the magazine. I wanted to make a typeface with a geometric base, which could be in accordance with the images I make. I wanted a typeface that could be an image itself. I wanted letterforms that were graphically strong enough. So to give this font an identity I chose to cut all the ends of letters to 90° as a rectangle. I do not know if this is understandable, but it is obvious on the R and A. This typeface is named after the inventor of Kapla: Tom van der Bruggen. The Bruggen has a childish element to it, it’s like a teenager, this is why the director of L’Incroyable, Clotilde Viannay, pushed me to develop this kind of typeface for the magazine. Because the magazine speaks about adolescence of a guest.

How long have you been working on it?
For the Bruggen almost one year, and it is not finished yet. For L’Incroyable a couple of weeks.

If you were a typographic symbol which one would you be and why?
A dot, for ……………………….

Which is your most favorite magazine at the moment?
Right now, I really like the high quality work done on the PIN-UP magazine. It is daring and unexpected, it’s fun and all made with great formal mastery.

My work is based on discussion, insight and intuition. My wish is for my clients, my partners and myself to be within the target group of what we are creating, so that we can build our work on what we ask for as an audience. My belief is that you have to love in order to become loved, and that you will have to give in order to receive. That is, by acting generously and by expressing passion for what you do, chances are that others will like it too.” Daniel Carlsten is a visual philosopher of our times. Being art director, graphic designer and illustrator at the creative collective ACNE (which owns the Swedish fashion Powerhouse Acne Studios) from 2004 to 2009 is just a small part of his extensive and, frankly, impressive portfolio of work. Today, this 34 years old Stockholmian is a force on his own as he designs visual identities, books, catalogues, stationery, posters, invitations, packaging and imagery for a wide and international range of clients the likes of Herman Miller, Oscar Properties, Steidl, Bozarthfornell Architects and Nowness. Daniel Carlsten was awarded the scholarship for promising talent (Kycklingstipendiet) by The Swedish Association of Communication Agencies in 2006, one year later he served on the design jury of Guldägget, he has been nominated and awarded in Guldägget, Kolla and OneShow, and he has received diplomas from the Danish and Swedish business press for work within graphic design and illustration. Daniel Carlsten, who obviously has a thing for Century Gothic, has lectured at Beckmans College of Design, Forsbergs School of Advertising and Design, Berghs School of Communication, HDK School of Design & Crafts and Hyper Island, yet, somehow, he found some time to bare his soul for us.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being fully present in whatever I do.

What is your greatest fear?
Losing everything. 

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Fear. 

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Whenever someone tries to increase their status by ridiculing others.     

Which living person do you most admire?
It changes all the time. At the moment, Marina Abramović. 

What is your greatest extravagance?
The independence that comes from being self-employed. Being able to come and go as I please, and saying yes and no to assignments based on my own ethics and interests.

What is your current state of mind?
Confused, as a result of dwelling on all these questions regarding who I am.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Being photogenic.

On what occasion do you lie?
Whenever the truth is part of a good surprise.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My morning appearance.

Which living person do you most despise?
I don’t despise people.

What is the quality you most like in a man?
The ability to make others feel good and comfortable about themselves.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
The ability to make others feel good and comfortable about themselves.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
I try as much as I can to overuse the phrase “I love you”.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My wife and son. 

When and where were you happiest?
At the place and time my son was born.

Which talent would you most like to have?
Public speaking skills.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Worry less.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Staying self-employed.  

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
An improved me. 

Where would you most like to live?
Close to friends.

What is your most treasured possession?
Photographs.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Not being able to care for my kid.

What is your favorite occupation?
Designing. 

What is your most marked characteristic?
My ability to see things from different angles. At best, it makes me creative, diplomatic and understanding. At worst, it makes me indecisive, anxious and confused.

What do you most value in your friends?
The ability to make me feel good and comfortable about myself.

Who are your favorite writers?
Yoko Ono. Jenny Holzer.

Who is your hero of fiction?
It changes all the time. At the moment, the Frog in Frog & Friends. 

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
I am too bad at history to know.

Who are your heroes in real life?
Anyone who dares to oppose his or her fears to achieve something they want.

What are your favorite names?
Apart from our son’s name, Louie, I also have a list of other great names for possible future siblings of his. I will keep them secret until they come to use. I think it is only fair that a kid gets to know his or her name before anyone else.

What is it that you most dislike?
Fear and anxiety. Nothing good can come from those.

What is your greatest regret?
Probably something I didn’t do.

What is your motto?
I try to convince myself that good enough ain’t bad. It’s not a motto per se, but it certainly helps me deal with things every now and then.
 

Having been in the creative field for over 14 years, Giuseppe Salerno is an adventurer. Living globally literally (Salerno knows what if feels like waking up in Berlin, Madrid, Valencia, and Seattle, among others), he always stayed true to his craft. Through mixing his calligraphic skills with his type knowledge he has worked for numerous clients across the globe who value his signature art form. Since 2008 Giuseppe Salerno is in charge of Resistenza, the design studio he co-founded with Paco González. Their most distinguished style characteristics are brushy types, calligraphic strokes and originality in typefaces. Giuseppe uses calligraphy as a hand-drawn method for script typefaces. The creation of these one-of-a-kind typefaces add style and passion to their graphic design projects so we decided to ask him anything about him and his joyful typographic adventure.

“The art of writing entered my life very early, I was always fascinated by old manuscripts and the image of a beautiful antique desk, on it, feather and ink. It was just very attractive to me. I had the chance to study Cancelleresca when I was 15 very close to my hometown of Turin, Italy. We were 3 students, learning how to hold a Speedball broad nib pen, understanding how to make the ink flow and struggling with paper and letterforms. It was impressive watching our teacher writing with Italic, I always remember her smooth pen movements.”

“Calligraphy is not an art form until you spend more than 3 to 4 years on it, before that, it’s just experimenting with strokes using different tools. The knowledge of letterforms is fundamental if you want to achieve an advanced skill level.”

“Calligraphy is the mixture of all kinds of art. There is a lot going in on in this art form. There is math, geometry, spacing, expressionism, feelings, rules, composition, paper, dirtiness, mess and order.”

“Nowadays we are living a great Revival of Calligraphy. Social networks are spreading this art, workshops are always overbooked and so many new talented artists are coming up.”

“Calligraphy brings you this feeling of peace and calmness to your everyday life and it works very well for me when I want to escape from my digital routine.”

“It’s fun to experiment with calligraphy tools, building your own pen, trying to do it with wooden sticks, cans, leaves, anything you may think really and you can also play around with a variety of inks.”

Calligraphic Envelops

Logo for Tala and Vinyl cover in collaboration with Studio Moross

Copperplate, “I like to share my sketches on Instagram”, Ampersand

“My teacher was mastering Copperplate script extremely well, and I was impressed. I was completely fascinated! During that I was going to second hand markets in Turin often (there is one called Balôn which is pretty famous) and I liked to buy old postcards written by normal everyday people. Also, I was very attracted to old stamps, I actually collected them for a while. There was no email back then, so sending postcards and letters to some of my friends in the south of Italy was the best way to practice my calligraphy.”

“I don’t have any special piece of work that I consider my favorite, but I can say that lately my passion is focused on old maps from the 16-17th century which show the development of Europe, the Middle East, Persia, Africa and the Mediterranean growth. Reading all these lands name in Latin fascinates me even more. Cartography contains everything: calligraphy, science & aesthetics. This is what I’m studying right now, after all I do consider myself a traveler. Discovering new places and getting to know new cultures is where I get inspired most. Maps where the use of Cancelleresca is dominant are of maximum splendor. Capital letters are connected by swashes that join the whole word in one beautiful nature-inspired piece.”

“Do you know who Abraham Ortelius is? He’s a kick-ass Flemish cartographer who dedicates his work to designing beautiful and rich calligraphic maps. Sometimes I wonder, if calligraphy and broad nibs are so trendy right now, why isn’t the same happening with sixteenth century ruffs? Should we all wear one and put a selfie on our instagram to make it popular?”

“This map is my favorite piece of art at the moment. Art full of details with a baroque aesthetic drives me wild, it’s beautiful and inspiring.”

Turcici Imperii descriptio by Ortelius Abraham

“Hand made calligraphy and digitized work have a lot in common lately as more graphic designers, tattoo and graffiti artists are getting closer to the roots of the art of writing and this connection happened not ’cause of books, old maps or rich manuscripts; this is happening from the pleasure we get of sharing our knowledge on social networks. We are living a real revival of hand-made calligraphy & lettering art - I’ve been discussing this with other designers as well - and I don’t think it’s just a trend. Hand made things make us feel more in touch with ourselves and that’s a good thing. Lately, many typefaces are focused on transmitting this human touch.”

“Resistenza is focused on creating a catalogue of typefaces based on our calligraphic experiments, adding to our culture of typography including opentype features that help increase the customisation of typographic sets. Doing calligraphy is a surprising process, then other aspects come along like creating balance with the compositions, adjusting and embellishing some letterforms.”

“We have several typefaces based on real calligraphy, for example, one of our bestsellers, Berliner Fraktur was designed in Berlin, during our project Lettering vs Calligraphy with the amazing Martina Flor. And Superb, a new typeface based on real brush pen script, is influenced by lettering shapes from the sixties and seventies, this typeface has a lot more to show when you access its OpenType features, includes negative figures and a full alphabet set with cut out shapes. The possibilities with OpenType features are endless, so we try to make them as original as possible to always be adding something new and different to the mix.”

Super duper Extra K, Martina Flor and Giuseppe Salerno

Berliner Fraktur and Mina

Superb - a new brushy typeface

“After a lot of pointed nib calligraphy practice I was able to digitize all the pieces and to develop Nautica which is the most advanced script that I developed. Lately we’ve been working on the development of two new typefaces, one is Turquoise and the other one is Epica, both a re-broad nib based and the second one born during the Tipobrda Winter Workshop. Also, I’m very focused on Italic hand right now.”

Nautica

Epica & Turquoise, work in progress. Poster realised at the 27th Tipobrda Workshop

“We will open our shop soon, with some print, letterpress posters and some other type-related products. We just met Archivio Tipografico from Turin and we’re going to collaborate with him on some new posters”.

“Designing typefaces or feeling the need to dedicate yourself into calligraphy, is like running a marathon. You better be very well prepared for anything that comes along.”

Nautica Specimen

Letterpress poster “Venti del Mediterraneo” soon available at resistenza

Founded back in 1997, Base, this one of a kind international network of studios led by creatives claims to be “where design bumps into pop culture“.  With studios in Brussels, New York, and Geneva, this overproductive team of individuals create brand solutions using strategy, creativity, and innovation. “We specialize in not specializing” is their motto as they share their vision in any industry, discipline, or media. Base is an expanding international network that partners with best-in-class collaborators to make the complex simple and the informative entertaining. This is the case in the custom typeface Sander Vermeulen and his team designed for OMA. “Base understands the context, defines the concept, brings in the design in an effort to seek clarity and build a commitment to each project” they say. To be frank, Base does anything. Branding. Research. Concept. Art Direction. Design. Environmental. Digital. Social. You name it and they are there in full force because for them “branding is about people, simplicity and common sense”. TYPORN asked them what this new stunning typographic project is all about and they guided us thoroughly to one of their adventures in contemporary design that bares a soul. 

What is the context? 

OMA, the architectural practice of Rem Koolhaas won the competition for the new library of Caen de Mer, France. They needed a partner to develop the signage system and organised a small competition, which Base won. 

What did you do?

We designed a typeface that would not only be used in the signage system but that is the identity of the future library. 

Will you define the project for us? 

By the design of a library as a space of exchange and discovery, by blurring the boundaries between different spheres of knowledge and by the fusion of virtual and physical spaces in one information hub, the project BMVR Caen la Mer is in total resonance with the current creation of information. 

What were the issues you had to deal with?

The signage needed to be conceptually thought consistent with the building. It needed to be pervasive and could not distort the overall spirit of the architecture. We had to develop a transversal concept in line with the reality of the BMVR Caen la Mer, an inspiring idea that meets the challenges of the future library. 

How did you approach the overall concept?

It needed to respond to our two cases, determined by two types of visitors: 

1. JE CHERCHE, DONC JE TROUVE. 

The signage must allow the visitor with a specific goal to quickly find his goal. It needs to be extremely functional. 

2. JE ME PERDS, DONC JE TROUVE. 

Secondly, the signage should be inspiring and allow the visitor with no precise objective intuitively to find a purpose. It needs to be serendipitous. 

Therefore, our starting points for the typeface were three. Books, digital and building.

We used the grid of the building as base for the type weight and leading. 

CREDITS 

Base Design 

Sander Vermeulen / Design Direction and typeface design

Thomas Leon / signage and typeface design

Matthieu Cortat / typeface design and development 

Some days are better than others. Some do have a special Japanese vibe to them. This is exactly what happened when on a Sunday morning we stumbled upon Gurafiku. Created by Ryan Hageman, graphic designer at the Art Institute of Chicago, it is literally a typographic treasure. A highly curated collection of Japanese graphic design, one stunning source for inspiration and a very personal research project of his, dedicated to collecting examples of Japanese graphic design history including posters, prints, book covers, advertisements and flyers spanning the 1800s to today. Through Gurafiku (Japanese for “graphic”), Hageman’s communicative investigation “at the intersections of language and culture”, he aims to remove the linguistic barriers that keep international audiences from a rich vein of visual culture.

It all started during his days at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD). Initially interested in modernist graphic design and the Bauhaus theorists, Hageman eventually came across the works of Yusaku Kamakura and Ikko Tanaka. These Japanese designers (prominent in the 50s and 60s) inspired and impressed him. In an interview with Jessica Barrett Sattell for F Newsmagazine, he states “I found what they were doing to be warm, colorful, and playful. I wanted to learn more about those two, and then I started to find other Japanese designers”. “I was impressed with their dynamic compositions, as well as the look of the Japanese letterform and the way it was used”.

Gurafiku is his way to collect and share the work he admires. Spending a semester at Sozosha College of Design in Osaka back in 2010 helped him to delve even more into what has become a passion of his. A blogger by nature (“Whenever I’m interested in something, I’ll make a blog about it” he explains), this Chicago native created a way to study Japanese language and culture through a design perspective. “(Gurafiku) is an excuse for me to learn more Japanese. The more language I learn, the more design I can find and it becomes easier to identify designers and all of the characteristics of these works” he comments.

“When thinking about the aesthetic characteristics of Japanese graphic design, it’s difficult to select a specific set of attributes that define it as a whole” he told to The Doq’s Tomoko Miyake. “If anything, Japanese design is defined by its sheer diversity and the variety of styles and approaches it encompasses. Although, what makes it unique in comparison to the design of Europe, the United States, and elsewhere, is its use of non-roman characters. The Japanese written language has its own unique rhythm and designers work with the characters to stunning effect”.

Born and raised where she still resides, in the suburbs of Lisbon, Rita Matos is a graphic designer that fell in love with the letterform gradually. “I always had a strong instinct to write and draw like an idiot” she told us. “But I didn’t realize what typography was as a discipline until I was in design school” she adds. “To be fair, I just started exploring it in more than one ways. I guess we all get involved with typography at some level even if we don’t know what it really stands for”. Her portfolio is mindblowing, playful and skillful, feminine and masculine, bold and sleek so one has to wonder what this Lisboan will provide to our senses once she is fully bloomed. 

Having graduated from Lisbon’s Faculty of Fine Arts only a year ago, she is a freshman -literally- so we had to know which typeface was her first love at first sight. “My relationship with typefaces is a passionate one. I guess I’m a curious person, I get bored pretty easily. So, this element in me keeps me searching for new things to use each and every time. I’m more interested in the idea that needs to be expressed, than in the typeface itself. However, whilst I was studying Communication Design where I had my first contact with what fonts really are all about, I remember over-using mostly Union, F Grotesque, Aperçu and similar ones”.

Matos is a Millenial that will not idolize people. “I do like different things about different people I got to study or discover. That goes from admiring both the precision and elegance of Tschichold and, at the same time, the playfulness of Weingart. I’m very interested in the use of typography in an art context, like in the case of Lawrence Weiner’s work or Ed Ruscha’s. I’m also fond of contemporary foundries like Radim Pesko, Colophon and Klim” she comments. When asked which she considers her first big break in graphic design and typography she answers earnestly. “I’m only 23 and I graduated no more than a year and an half ago. Even if I’ve been working as a graphic designer since, I think I couldn’t really say I have a “career” yet. I’m more at the beginning of one, which is both stressful and interesting. I’m driven by it”.

A woman that explores her limits is a woman with a bright future. “I always tend to hate most of the things I’ve done, it became a habit after some time, to be honest. There’s a lot of things in my portfolio I’m not that proud of but I’m trying to appreciate this process and to be more patient about it. Trial/Error… Trial/ Error…” But there is a project she likes most of all. “If I really have to choose a highlight of what I’ve done so far I would choose an exhibition called “Acto.3 – Márcio Nazareth” which was a tribute to the work and life of a deceased friend and classmate who was a great graphic designer. It had a particular interest for my personal relationship with it, but was also an enriching experience at a professional level. I worked with very little resources collaborating with all kinds of people to make it happen. It ended to be the most gratifying thing I’ve done so far, because I felt I could contribute with what I know about this weird thing called design. I helped creating something that was meaningful and interesting for those involved and those who got to see it. I think that’s the kind of thing that makes it worth. And it sure ended up being a challenge making an exhibition in an old out of commission gunpowder factory”.

“If I was a typographic symbol I would definitely be an interrogation point, or anything as confused as that” 

Rita Matos is a weird youngster. “If I was a typographic symbol I would definitely be an interrogation point, or anything as confused as that” she told us. At 23, she is grounded and ready to explore the limits of her talented nature. “My short-term plan for the future is trying not to short circuit myself with the anxiety of trying to make too much plans and instead I try to focus on the now, as cliché as it may sound. When I eventually grow up I’m striving to be a person who would always have interesting things to do in life and to talk about” she adds. “I think the best way to end this conversation is definitely by making a very bad joke” she says. Well, the joke is definitely not on her.

Beginning in the mid-1960s, Nauman exploited the ubiquity of neon signage to produce “art that would kind of disappear, an art that was supposed to not quite look like art.” He created luminous wordplays that alluded to tensions both individual and social, but which challenged viewers to find their own resonance. In Malice(1980), the foreboding noun is illuminated in red neon tubes, obscured behind its inverted spelling in green. The jumbled letters may suggest malice that has gone unnoticed, or imperviousness to violent acts”. With these words, Gagosian Paris introduces us one of the most prominent artists of the 20th century in the event of his exhibition of key works. Complementing the “Bruce Nauman” exhibition at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art Contemporain, the artist’s first major solo exhibition in France in more than 15 years, Gagosian’s Paris exhibition showcases the singularity of Nauman’s compelling visual language.

Born on the 6th of December, 1941, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Nauman’s art spans a broad range of media. Having studied mathematics and physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and art with William T. Wiley and Robert Arneson at the University of California, Nauman worked as an assistant to Wayne Thiebaud before signing with dealer Leo Castelli back in 1968. His work manifests a costant interest in language and it’s playful, mischievous mannerisms. This is an artist who is interested in the nature of communication “and the inherent problems of language, as well as the role of the artist as supposed communicator and manipulator of visual language”.

Nauman received in 1993 the Wolf Prize in Arts (Israel) for his distinguished work as a sculptor and his extraordinary contribution to twentieth-century art. In 1999 he received the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale. In 2004 he created his work Raw Materials at Tate Modern. Artfacts.net ranked Nauman as the number one among living artist in 2006, followed by Gerhard Richter and Robert Rauschenberg. Citing Samuel Beckett, Ludwig Wittgenstein, John Cage, Philip Glass, La Monte Young and Meredith Monk as major influences on his work he is regarded a part of the Process Art Movement. Bruce Nauman was and still is an enigma and his text art is just a small piece of the neon mystery he is.

“Bruce Nauman: Selected Works from 1967 to 1990” is at Gagosian Paris until August 1, 2015. 

“My Name as Though It Were Written on the Surface of the Moon”, 1968, Stefan Altenburger Photography, Zurich / 2009, ProLitteris, Zürich

“Malice”, 1980. © Bruce Nauman/ADAGP, Paris 2015. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery. Photography by Zarko Vijatovic

“Violins Violence Silence” (Exterior Version), 1981-1982. The Baltimore Museum of Art: Gift of Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, and Sperone Westwater Fischer Gallery, New York, BMA

“The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths”, 1967, neon and clear glass tubing suspension supports, Philadelphia Museum of Art

“Eat Death”  Ca’ Pesaro, Venice, Photography by Luca Zuccala © ArtsLife

“Raw War”, 1970, The Baltimore Museum of Art: Gift of Leo Castelli

“Run From Fear Fun From Rear”, 1972, Photo courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts/Charles Wallbridge.

“Violins Violence Silence”, Tate Modern, Photography by pjpink

“One Hundred Live and Die”, 1984, Mindfuck exhibition at Hauser & Wirth, 2013-2014

“None Sing Neon Sign”, 1970, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Panza Collection, 1991

Phaidon’s Bruce Nauman: The True Artist

© ARS, NY and DACS, London 2015

Bruce Nauman, 2009. Photograph: Jason Schmidt, Courtesy of Fondation Cartier Press Office

What Michelangelo was to sculpture and Beethoven was to music, that’s what Hermann Zapf is to type design and calligraphy. We’re all followers of his now” said American typographer, calligrapher and type designer Jerry Kelly to New York Times. “The passion for him was to create beautiful letters. But at the same time, he was like the Beatles. His typefaces are so popular — go anywhere in the world, pick up a magazine in any airport, you’ll see Hermann Zapf typefaces — but they’re also so good that the connoisseurs all know it. And that happens maybe every 100 years” he added on the news he confirmed. Hermann Zapf passed away on June 4 at age 96.

           Hermann Zapf Remembered © Linotype

“Typography is two-dimensional architecture, based on experience and imagination”

This is not a biographical tribute to the man who invented his very special alphabet at age 12 in order to exchange secret messages with his brother -“they were some kind of cross between Germanic runes and Cyrillic, and could only be deciphered if you knew the code. My despairing mother could not make head nor tail of them” he wrote in his autobiography. Nor another piece on the life story of the man who designed numerous iconic typefaces (Palatino and Optima to name a few), the calligrapher at heart who is regarded a King in

the Typographic Realm and mastered his craft from metal typesetting through phototypesetting to digital typesetting with a sole purpose in his mind. To help get the message through. This is a single reminder of his prolific wisdom as he expressed it in his own words.

“The designer of new typefaces is limited by the traditional forms of the alphabet. There are few possibilities for new ideas, for a good design should not have eccentric and unusual details”

This is what Hermann Zapf, a versatile, ultra-productive typographer and calligrapher, a pioneer of computerized typography has to say on the art of the letterform: “Type design is one of the most visible and widespread forms of graphic expression in daily life. It is still not noticed by all readers of newspapers, magazines or books. Nevertheless letter forms reflect the style of a period and its cultural background. We are surrounded by them everywhere.

The designer of new typefaces works in extremely small dimensions in shaping a letter and he is also limited by the traditional forms of the alphabet. There are few possibilities for new ideas, for a good design should not have eccentric and unusual details. But the compromises required in designing for metal type can be ignored today because the new digital technology allows freedom in making new designs.

“Letter forms reflect the style of a period and its cultural background”

Typography is two-dimensional architecture, based on experience and imagination, and guided by rules and readability. And this is the purpose of typography: The arrangement of design elements within a given structure should allow the reader to easily focus on the message, without slowing down the speed of his reading.”

An acclaimed typeface designer with a focus on exclusive corporate fonts, Jean-Baptiste Levée is making headlines once again - literally. The co-founder of the Bureau des Affaires Typographiques (the first French typeface design & distribution company on the Internet), known for his way of working methodically in a process where history and technology are approached altogether within the nuances of artistry, has designed over a hundred typefaces for industry, moving pictures, fashion and publishing and his designs are featured in the permanent collections of the printing Museum in Lyon (France) and the Klingspor Museum in Offenbach (Germany). France’s delegate at AtypI, Levée curates exhibitions on typeface design, organizes research symposiums and teaches typeface design at the Amiens school of Arts & Design, at the Caen-Cherbourg school of Arts & Media and at the University of Corte yet, he continues to manufacture functional, yet versatile digital platforms for designers to build upon. His latest accomplish? Creating under the creative direction of Yorgo Tloupas and Javier Errea, Libération’s new typefaces, Libé Sans and Libé Typewriter. This is what you need to know about this iconic reinvention.

“For the redesign of Libération, art directors Yorgo Tloupas and Javier Errea requested ultra-condensed, tall and flat-sided sans serifs in the vein of Compacta and the American Gothics (e.g. Trade, Franklin, News). However, none of these typefaces were a match for the complex specifications of the new Libération: a wide palette of expressions across a set of weights and widths, a very dense texture and space efficiency, a stacking system, and an automatic underline system — all of them referencing the typography of the newspaper when it launched in 1973. Beyond that, a tribute to Libération’s design history would not be complete without the influence of 1970s French faces.”

“Overall, Libé Sans is a compact design, with a colossal lowercase. Where large x-heights are usually incorporated for small text readability, in Libé Sans it is conceived as a display feature. The family proves most functional at large sizes where horizontal space is scarce, thus forcing the letters to occupy any space allowed. That is why the collection encompasses three different condensed styles, but only one normal width and one extended width. The vertical proportions remain identical throughout all styles so they can be mixed within a line. The very short ascenders and descenders are specifically meant for tight line-fitting in lowercase, creating a dense texture in the newspaper’s page rhythm. What’s more, the “Stacked” accent system offers an alternative design for all-caps setting.”

“A tribute to Libération’s design history would not be complete without the influence of 1970s French faces”

“Libé Sans is strongly inspired by Antique Presse, a typeface designed in 1964–65 for newspaper and daily press work. Usually attributed to Ladislas Mandel at Deberny & Peignot in the ’60s, it was later established that Adrian Frutiger, then art director of the foundry, was more likely the mind behind Antique Presse. As further proof, Antique Presse quite blatantly follows Frutiger’s Univers pattern at many levels. Many other influences were taken into account when designing Libé Sans, including features of Libération’s contemporary European typefaces of the ’60s-70s, such as the tight letterspacing of Brasilia, the squarish caps of Eurostile, and the odd contrast of Antique Olive.”

“If Libération was a piece in the history of architecture, no doubt that it would be the Centre Georges-Pompidou”

“Libé Typewriter takes its cue from a offhand remark by Yorgo Tloupas during the preparatory phases of the redesign, where a need for a typewriter face was foreseen. After American Typewriter was the obvious, worn-out and soon discarded option; Tloupas’ declared that, “If Libération was a piece in the history of architecture, no doubt that it would be the Centre Georges-Pompidou”. Indeed, there was a typewriter face used for the Centre Georges-Pompidou: CGP, the proprietary alphabet for the Centre, commissioned by Jean Widmer and designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1974. CGP hereby served as the main reference for Libé Typewriter. CGP itself was based on “Fine Line”, a fixed-width face bundled with IBM typewriters. Libé Typewriter merges both references into a single design. Unlike a true monospaced font, Libé Typewriter does not preserve a constraint that has no relevant foundation in the context of a newspaper. Libé Typewriter is proportionally designed and spaced, and has an optional built-in underlining system that automatically avoids the overlapping of descenders.”

With their bold and strictly black typography emerging through the day-glow palette, Colby Poster Printing Company became an integral part of L.A.’s street aesthetic for more than a century. Sadly the all-manual print shop didn’t survive the digital age. Luckily many people keep on remembering the iconic heritage it left behind. Having its doors closed back in December of 2012, the Colby Poster Company made posters that were designed to catch the eye of passersby for more than half of a century. Delivering the message as directly as possible was the only task of each employee of the company that began in 1948 as a neighborhood operation to promote local happenings like street fairs, concerts, art exhibitions and political campaigns with their eye-catching flyers. No one had any formal training in graphic design. They were members of the letterpress union, the screen printers union, and the typesetters union.

“They were kind of naïve, breaking what most typographers would think is every rule”, says Brian Roettinger, the L.A.-based artist and graphic designer who co-authored the book—In the Good Name of the Company: Artworks and Ephemera Produced by or in Tandem with the Colby Printing Company. Along with Christopher Michlig and Jan Tumlir, the three men preserve Colby’s fluorescent legacy, featuring more than 300 full-color photographs of the company’s prints in the publication that followed an extensive exhibition at ForYourArt in L.A. four years ago.

“Since they were a merchant print shop, the company didn’t see what they did as art, and never created an archive of their own work” he told to Co.DESIGN. By creating this archive of the family-owned Colby’s signature fluorescent inks and bold, all-caps typography Roettinger, who grew up in L.A., helped save the company from obscurity. These people didn’t know they were making art. They didn’t sell any poster. They just made them. “If you wanted one of Colby’s posters, you had to steal it”, he commented.

The heavy typeface on the announcement of Ed Ruscha’s show is characteristic of the company’s minimal, all caps typographic approach

Colby’s minimal, lowbrow all caps typographic approach, which was typically employed to promote small-scale neighborhood events, became an artist’s favorite in 1962 when Ed Ruscha commissioned the company to create the announcement for his exhibition New Painting of Common Objects at the Pasadena Art Museum. The heavy, sans-serif typeface on the straight-faced announcement of a show that includes artists like Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol, is characteristic of the company’s creations, “but it also seems to embody the Pop aspirations and strategies of the time, appropriating a vernacular form and recontextualizing it”.

Since then, the Colby Poster Printing Company has gone on to serve as an important resource to a broad range of LA-based artists providing them with an alternative escape of the studio or a gallery. Through Colby’s poster medium, artists could engage the life of the street and their posters became a form of public art perfectly suited to the LA context with its inherent transience and disposability.

From Allen Ruppersberg (who transcribed Allen Ginsberg’s epic poem “Howl” into phonetics in 2003) to Eve Fowler (who transcribed Gertrude Stein’s “Tender Buttons” onto Colby posters in 2012), Colby Poster Printing Company’s iconic bold typography helped artists reach the streets of L.A. Their fluorescent posters and their collection of over 150 wood and metal (mostly sans serif) typefaces promoted throughout the years everything. From 1980s punk and heavy metal concerts to street fairs, swap meets, gun and bridal shows, local political campaigns and countless artist projects everything had its place on Colby’s Heidelberg letterset press.