Video: Abstract Typography
Mesmerizing short by type and motion design student Ummi Shaharun. (via abduzeedo)
Art: Typographic Posters
Check out these pop culture/type-inspired posters by Stefano Joker Lionetti.
Behind the scenes: Why did I start a type foundry?
Christian Schwartz gives us the inside scoop on his newest venture, Commercial Type. The new site is a visual treat packed with clever ideas like the storytelling unfolding through color and animation on the the homepage (shown above). (via @smashingmag)
Inspiration: Logo Inspiration With Clever Typography
Andrew Houle presents a nice roundup of typographic logos.
URL Envy: BanPapyrus.com
Noble idea for a site, unfortunately it’s just a holding page for now. I hope something develops soon. Until then, you can enjoy their Flickr group by the same name.
Have you come across something amazing and typography-related online? Let me know!
If I include it in an upcoming edition of TypoTh, I’ll give you credit.
High Quality Free Font O’ The Week: Kilogram font (shown above at 75pt).
Download it now. Kilogram is the work of Karl from Kalle Graphics and was based on a font called Anagram by Nick Curtis. You must check out the type samples he created. What a great showcase for this fun, distinctive font. (via ImJustCreative)
Video: Final Alphabet Collection – Using Google Earth
There are some interesting similarities between this video by Darren Dub and a photo project by Rhett Dashwood (from TypoTh 6.11.09). Both use Google (Earth and Maps respectively) to find type-shaped satellite image elements and create an alphabet. I have to say the zoom animation in the video just blows me away.
Light Reading: Papyrus – A Story of Hate and Misuse
It’s sad tale indeed. I’m not sure I’m going to change my mind about “the second most hated typeface” anytime soon, but Tuhin Kumar makes some good points in his defense of Papyrus and even offers some suggestions to make it look good. Well, better at least. “The case of fonts like Papyrus and Comic Sans is one where designers simply love to hate them. However, I would seriously like all of you to think over again, if it is the font or the usage that makes a typeface worthy of hatred. For if it is the usage, then it is us the designers to blame for.” What do you think?
Brain Teaser: Revealing The Secrets – Fonts Of Famous Logos
Can you identify the typefaces used in the famous logos of Google, Adidas, The New York Times and PayPal? Zoran Stosic does and has gathered them together in this post, complete with designer attributions. How fun would this be on family game night? (via Julie_K)
Have you come across something amazing and typography-related online? Let me know!
If I include it in an upcoming edition of TypoTh, I’ll give you credit.
Mitchell Library Alphabet – To celebrate their 100th anniversary the Mitchell Library (the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia) unveils this beautiful and education alphabet. Each letter is made up of bits and pieces from their eclectic collection. Some of the letters are accompanied by videos explaining the origins of their constituent parts all wrapped in a lovely interactive web interface. (via I love Typography)
Measuring Type – Delightfully unscientific exploration of how much ink common different typefaces use at the same point size. Designers Matt Robinson and Tom Wrigglesworth drew them on a wall using ball point pens and then used the pens themselves as a graph showing the results. (via The Ministry of Type)
Hearing Type (PDF) – In this essay, Frank Armstrong presents the structure of his analogy between music and typography, and then proposes it as the foundation of an instructional method for understanding static and kinetic typography. (via TypeCulture)
Designing For The Switch – Nice overview on web vs. print fonts by UK designer Mark Boulton.
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It’s alive! ALIIIIIIVE! Bacterial typography – Symbiosis, a project by Dutch designer Jelte Van Abbema, “involves printing with bacterial cultures on paper and billboards. The letterforms change shape, saturation, and hue as the micro-organisms grow and die.” (via Make: Online)
Quality Free Fonts: Sinister Fonts – This chilling collection from designer Chad Savage contains some really unique takes on scary fonts. Well worth checking out.
Font Worth Paying For: Spooky – Designer Ted Staunton recently unveiled this aptly named typeface for the Sherwood Collection. Buy it during the Month of October for a few bucks off the very reasonable price of $19.95.
Creepy Letterforms: Gorgeous, drawn lettering by Stephen Rapp.
Type Shirt of the Week: Fear of a Cooper Black Planet – 100% cotton awesomeness from subtraction.com (Thanks to Lisa Foote)
Top Ten Web Typography Sins – By the fine people at Smashing Magazine
Quality Free Font: Big Boned – An experimental, and quite puffy, typface by networkosaka.com.
The hazy future of Web typography – Very interesting, must-read post by Chris Foresman on Ars Technica
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Comic Sans Detention t-shirt by Bad Designer Threads.
Typetweets – “An up to the minute look at the typographic discussions happening across Twitter.” (via typesites)
Typography Book Club Selection:
Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works – “World-renowned type experts Erik Spiekermann and E.M. Ginger explain in everyday laymen’s terms what type is and how you can use it to enhance the legibility, meaning, and aesthetic level of your work. They elegantly touch on all aspects of typography, including the history and mechanics of type, how to train your eye to recognize and choose typefaces, and how to use space and layout to improve overall communication.” (Thanks to Doug Pollei for the recommendation)
Lovely Lovely Ligatures - Fantastic post covering everything you ever wanted to know about ligatures, the process of joining together two or more letters/characters. Great accompanying visuals too. (via The Design O’Blog)
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Which one would she be? That’s the question I posed earlier today.
I got a great response via Twitter and Facebook. Lots of votes for simple san serifs and a few dingbats. My favorites were the decorative fonts, chosen for their name (Chiller – wr3n) or appearance (the very circus-like Rosewood – johnny_bones). Some shared a little history in their picks (Arial, because it was just a hashed-together verison of the better Helvetica. It wasn’t ready but was released anyway – sparkyfirepants). Others revealed more than a little of their personal opinion (Arial Black because there’s almost never an appropriate time to use it – davehuston).
Bonus points go to altercloud for accuracy (Accidental Presidency) and ErinNoelG for originality (Moosekiller Bold).
]]>(Thanks for the heads up calipidder and ehrenc)
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