The Ampersand.

As always, H&FJ have a nice type-related post showing off my favourite symbol, the ampersand.

Improved Helvetica?

In 1980, the Haas type foundry, birthplace of Helvetica, contracted André Gürtler and Team'77 to audit the Helvetica typeface and reissue an "improved" version. Their result is Haas Unica and it is quite an interesting challenge to the thought that Helvetica is the end-all of sans-serif typefaces.

Illustrator Hennie Haworth

Hennie Haworth illustrates book covers, type, people, food, drink, and many things in between. via INT.

Haiku by John Maeda

Written by John Maeda, via the Public Design Center.

Font Game

See if you can beat the typography teacher! I got a 32 out of 34, sadly - mainly because I don't know my old-school system fonts and phone book faces.

Emmanuel Polanco

Some very nice work by Emmanuel Polanco can be seen here. Some may say too close to Ewardo Recife, but I think he has his own thing going on.

"Get Lost" & "Live With Art!"

I am excited to announce a new print, "Get Lost" is now available for purchase at Keep Calm. It is printed over vintage maps from the United Kingdom and in a limited edition of 220. Each map is different and unique!

To accompany the print, I have made a short little film showing the process of making "Get Lost." If you are unfamiliar with the process of letterpress printing, this will help you understand how my prints are made.


Also, for a limited time, if you purchase any of my prints from Keep Calm, you will receive "Live With Art!" for free! It's my way of saying "thanks" for spending your hard-earned money on my prints and it's a good phrase to live by as well!

You can also see a lower-quality version of my film on my YouTube page. And as always, more images can be seen on my Flickr.

Elsa Chaves

It's Nice That has lead me to the very nice work of Elsa Chaves. Type, motion, colour, moustaches? What is there not to like?

Jeff Canham

Jeff Canham makes art, design, and paints signs the real way! Simply fantastic!

Words Are Pictures

Craig Ward creates some really nice work - most of it typographically inspired and created.



Also, some nice work by Andrew Holder. Both link via the ever-nice It's Nice That.

Pop-Up Type Book by Marion Bataille

Popup by Marion Bataille by Jacques Faciale

Awesome!!!

Haas Grotesk v. Helvetica

Sam Mallet is getting me in the mood for my Swiss Summer by creating a nice little letterpressed poster with pure Swiss lead type. Nice!

The Less Emphasized Side...

A really fantastic Flickr set of the "other" side of postcards. Less emphasized, but perhaps just as interesting? via Ace Jet 170.

The Pilcrow & Capitulum

Hoefler & Frere-Jones are at it again. This time, giving us some nice information about paragraph & chapter markers the Pilcrow & Capitulum.

Newzald by Kris Sowersby

iLT has posted a fantastically in-depth article by Kris Sowersby about the production process of his new typeface Newzald. Kiwi's make the best stuff and this is certainly no exception! Also check out National.

Hall of Best Knowledge

The fantastic Ray Fenwick is about to release "Hall of Best Knowledge" on the world! I can't wait!

See a few samples here.

Best Typefaces 2007

Everyone else is linking it up, so I guess I should too! Typographica's Best Typefaces of 2007.

Alan Kitching

How do I not know about Alan Kitching?! Seriously, how do I not know about Alan Kitching?!

The Sulzbacher Eszett

Tipped by Frank, I found a fantastic entry from the H&FJ boys about the eszett - a figure not normally found in English, but quite common in other languages. As always, worth checking out for any type nerd.

Type Umbrella

Veer is offering a very nice umbrella embellished with type on the inside. via the always-nice iLT.

Fresh Fonts

Using toothpaste and ketchup to trace Helvetica, these Fresh Fonts are fun, interesting, and free! - via former student Jeremy Wisecup

Ornamental Typography

BibliOdyssey has a great post about some very interesting ornamental typography and illustrations.

Vintage Sheet Music Collection

A typoholics dream come true - The Duke University collection of vintage sheet music from the 1850 to 1920.

File Under: Shameless Self-Promotion

Frank Chimero, a good friend and all-around creative artist, has interviewed me for his blog, By So and So. I share, in sometimes too many words, all about my schooling, curiosity, travels, and current work. Thanks Frank!

Also, as noted in an earlier post, I have three new prints that are now available for purchase today at Keep Calm! "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!" "All You Need Is Love" and "Less Is More" are all part of an ongoing series of phrases pressed to paper.

Typographical Furniture

Although my Swiss-German is very rough (read: I can't speak it), I don't need to be able to read the descriptions to know that this Typographical Furniture is fantastic! (via TheSerif)

Three New Letterpressed Prints!

I want to announce three new letterpressed prints that I just finished!

First: "All You Need Is Love" - Perfect for your sweetheart or anyone that needs a reminder of what is most important. Metallic Silver ink on red.

Second: "Less Is More." - My homage to the Swiss Modernists. Simple, clean, and probably one of the most difficult posters I have ever printed. Metallic Silver on dark-grey.

Third: "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!" - A phrase we should all follow! Brown ink on green.

All three prints will soon be available at Keep Calm. You can see more pictures on my Flickr page.

Make Your Own Path - Part Deux

Due to the overwhelming response to the first limited-edition prints of "Make Your Own Path," I have issued a reprint!

Each poster is printed on an antique map and although part of an unlimited edition, each print is totally unique and different. If you would like to purchase a print, please visit Keep Calm and they will be more than happy to help you!

3-D Foam Type!

Some really interesting work using a hot-wire foam cutter to create 3-D type out of foam.

Typographical Top Hat!

I seriously cannot explain how much I want this Typographical Top Hat! If only I had a spare $10,000 to $15,000! (from H&FJ)

Counters! Save Yourself!

Speak Up has brought to my attention a very interesting trend in type - filled-in and barely-readable type. But hey, who cares about legibility right? As long as it is cool...

Feltron.

Nicholas Felton makes some incredibly nice work.

CD Cover in Less Than 10 Minutes!

This is great! Super-fast typographical challenge! Above is my entry!

The CD Album Cover Game

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4. Tag it on flickr "CD Cover Meme"

Fresh Type.

It seems that Letman loves type as much as I do - which is both exciting and a bit disturbing! (via The Serif)


Merci Bernard creates some very interesting typographic experiments using three-dimensional space. Nice! (via Monoscope)

Obsessive Consumption = Kate Bingaman-Burt

Over the holiday break I got the pleasure to meet the wonderful Kate Bingaman-Burt and her husband, Clifton, in the great state of Mississippi.

Kate is the creator of Obsessive Consumption which is a collection of daily drawings of her daily purchases. She helps with a non-profit design firm that her husband started, has had multiple big-city gallery shows, teaches at Mississippi State University, has been featured in many books, and still has time to sleep (I think)!

If you want the full list of her awesomeness, visit her website!

Visit Ampersandland!

Oh how I love the ampersand!

To All My Advanced Type Students:

I love you all. It has been a wonderful semester. Just don't go back to your old habits of using Futura for everything - I will hunt you down if you do!

Student Field Notes Fall 2007

I teach Advanced Typography at Missouri State University and at the beginning of the semester, I gave each of my students a Field Notes to fill with whatever their little hearts desired.

It was not an assignment because I wanted to see how creative they could be without the pressure of grading. Some of them filled them just to fill, but others really put a great deal of work and love into their Field Notes. Enjoy!

Tiny Type!

Oh man, I love tiny type! Especially Minuscule by Thomas Huot-Marchand which is designed for 7 point all the way down to 2 point - talk about tiny!

Ceramic Typography

My grandparents owned a ceramic store when I was young and so Stephanie DeArmond mixes two things that make me very happy.

Hand-Lettered E-mail Spam One-Liners

This is a great Flickr set of hand-lettered e-mail one-liners - such a great idea!

Typography Films on the Internet

Here is a post for my Advanced Type class and anyone else that is a lover of type! As new films come out, I will update this post.

Typography Films
+ Really gorgeous organic motion graphics involving type.
+ A person's life in type: The title sequence for Typophile Film Fest 4 done by students and faculty of BYU.
+ The great Abbott and Costello skit "Who's On First?" - just ignore the incorrect apostrophes...
+ And another nice abstract typography film.
+ Here is a very well done Typographics film with quotes from Jeff Keedy & Ellen Lupton.
+ Hoefler & Frere-Jones talk to CBS about typefaces.
+ Paula Scher shows off her Moleskine Journal filled with great hand-drawn type.

Letterpress Films
+ Here is a really well done video about Firefly Press. This explains why letterpress is in my blood.
+ Another letterpress video featuring a good friend of mine, Philip Cheaney.
+ Here is a nice video from the London College of Printing.
+ Amos Kennedy prints with great style and flair.

I love type. I don't love beef.

Meat + Letters = Value Pack.

Vintage Signage Polaroids

Here is a great Flickr set of 1960's Polaroids of signs in Washington state.

My New Business Cards

My last business cards had the wrong address, wrong email address, wrong website address, wrong phone number - really the only thing that was accurate was my name. So I finally have completed my new business cards and they have accurate information on them! You can find them as a set on my Flickr account.

Organic Typography

For my Advanced Typography Assignment #5 - Organic Typography: Here are links to different examples of interesting experimental/organic typography.

Some iconic work is done by Stephan Sagmeister - one & two.
Marian Bantjes makes some great work.
Never forget to Think Beauty.
Christian Robert-Tissot makes some interesting work here.
Bryan Collins is a great Art Director & Designer that makes nice things.
Post-Typography has some interesting experimental work as well.

Just a Little Font Chit-Chat...

My friends and yours, Pat Sajak & Vanna White, chit-chat about their favourite fonts. At least she mentions Helvetica at the end...