A is for Aldusblatt

One of the contemporary greats of book design, Jost Hochuli, published this booklet, Typografisches Allerlei (meaning Typographic Variations) in Switzerland in 1997, for the Swiss imprint, Typotron. As part of a series of booklets on typography and design published between 1983 and 1998, Hochuli's ABC book on typography still looks fresh nearly 14 years later.

BTW, the German word Aldusblatt is a printer's ornament or fleuron. It comes from the great Italian printer Aldus Manutius who frequently used the heart-shaped leaf as decoration in his books.

If Trees Could Talk

Visual artist Gordon Young has created an installation of typographic oak columns inside the Crawley Library in West Sussex, England. Gordon collaborated with the design team, Why Not Associates on the typography for each of the 14 columns and the content was adapted from patron's favorite books, places and memories. Topics on each pillar vary from the gothic to the romantic and the columns are each placed in relevant locations throughout the library. Oh, I can just imagine a timber frame house built of wooden type posts such as these. The stories these trees could tell!

Typographic Erosion

Can text on paper be subject to geophysical forces of nature such as erosion or earthquake? See for yourself. Designer Jason Permenter demonstrates scientific proof that it most certainly can.

Lettergami

British designer, Tim Fishlock created his wonderful Alphabet Relief poster as a three-dimensional alphabet of folded paper and then litho printed it onto premium paper. Posters are hand embossed, signed and numbered in an edition of 300. Order a copy here.

Thumb's up for Fishlock's screenprint poster Typeseat, but it's sold out.

A is For Author

From the work of Mary Louise Killen as part of her MFA Exhibition, while studying at the School of Art of Chicago (SAIC). Via Typography Served.

Flip Over This Rainbow

Forget the animation–this is no ordinary flipbook. Japanese designer, Mashashi Kawamura's flipbook creates a rainbow in the air from the afterimage of the colored squares as you flip it. Order it from Utrecht. Kawamura's book is a recent winner of the NY Art Director's Silver Cube Award. Well deserved I might add. Via Sweet Station.

Battle of the Bands

Can you name that band?
Click on image for closer view.

Cheat sheet posted here:

Via The High Definite.

America Needs Typography 101

Aside from all of the tedium and negativity during this long election season, there is one thing that has become crystal clear to me: America needs to learn how to make their own signage. It's like learning how to make a good thought bubble, except without Comic Sans. The comic relief on the other hand, displayed at the Sanity/Fear Rally in DC a couple days ago, was a welcomed pleasure to see. America still does have a great sense of humor. Well, most of us do. Those that have learned how to use their indoor voice instead of shouting that is. And this is what gives me great hope – and graphic designers job security – so long as people can still read I guess. Here are just a few out takes of Stewart and Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in DC on Saturday to bear witness. See many more great signs here and here and here.

Students Making Books

Do a quick read about my student, Joe Brokken and the production of his book project for this quarter's class assignment. The book he has chosen to reformat and design is Letters on an Elk Hunt, a 1917 memoir of the woman homesteader, Elinore Pruitt Stewart. Joe recently made a trip to Special Collections at the Seattle Public Library to do some research on books of that era with the intention of styling his own book project with a similar pastiche. You go Joe!

The Inland Printer

The Inland Printer, an influential magazine devoted to the printing arts of the era, began publication in 1883, primarily as a journal to the trade. Incidently, the IP is noted as the first American magazine to change its' cover with every new issue. American designer, illustrator and typographer, Will Bradley who found inspiration in the works of British artists, Aubrey Beardsley and William Morris, convinced the editors to produce new cover artwork for each monthly issue. Some of Will Bradley's early covers for The Inland Printer marked the beginnings of the art nouveau movement in graphic design. The magazine's interior was produced with an equal amount of care. See a large collection of The Inland Printer covers here.

Limited e{dition}Books

I am so heartened this morning after stumbling upon the work of Bespoke Editions, a one-off edition press. The bookbinders behind Bespoke Editions, Mike and Kate Hyde, produce beautiful custom-made classic books hand made to order. They just launched their business this Fall and are taking orders for Christmas by invitation only at this point. Their work has received tremendous validation already when designer Richard Weston, of AceJet170, signed on to provide his design services for them. He claims we are at a tipping point now and the physical book is clearly, no longer the most appropriate medium for the delivery of everyday texts. But for important, classic and treasured texts, it is highly likely that the physical book will grow in popularity as a prized and precious artefact. The evidence is all around us. He went on to say this about the work of Bespoke Editions:

Personally, I think it's a great and timely idea. It's spot on; imagine being able to buy someone their favourite, classic novel, made to your unique specification. The idea totally works for me. Which is why I'm working for them.

It's been a while since I did any book work but over the last few weeks I've been helping Kate and Mike develop the layout and style sheets for the internal pages. Drawing on Hochuli's seminal book on book design and Tschichold's timeless book work, I've really enjoyed the understated discipline of book design again.

The editions will be in a Demy format and the page layouts will be based on the Van de Graaf Canon. After a set of tests, we've settled on the beautiful Hoefler Text for the typesetting and each title page will feature a carefully chosen typographic ornament that has some relevance to the particular book.

I have nothing personal against eBooks, as I honestly believe there are a lot of printed books which are a waste of resources. It does however make me smile to hold a beautifully-made fine e{dition}Book. Love the selection of the Hoefler Text too.

Type Americana Conference

Some of the nation's best type designers, historians and educators of typography will be assembled at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle for the two day type conference, Type Americana on November 12th/13th. The conference focuses on American Type Design and celebrates the work of Morris Fuller Benton, W.C. Dwiggins, Frederic Goudy and Beatrice Warde. In addition, Thomas Phinney will discuss The Rise & Fall of American Type Founders, which for decades was the largest and greatest supplier of type in the US. Saturday provides the opportunity to get ink on your hands and print with some wood blocks from the Hamilton Wood Type collection in SVCs wonderful print studio. Or hand draw and digitize some letters under the guidance of one of the greats of type design, Sumner Stone. Bookend the conference at a showing of the documentary film about the making of the first simultaneous production of a metal and digital font – Stern Pro. Learn, have fun, and immerse yourself in all things type at Type Americana. More information and registration can be found here. To learn more about the film, Making Faces, and to watch a preview, see my previous post here.

Worth A Trip

Just a few more weeks left to head off to Minnesota to catch what may be the last retrospective show of Aaron Horkey's work. This guy woke up in the wrong century, but glad he did. Worth the trip just to pick up this flyer. Simply stunning! Via OMG Posters.

Bookmark This

Green Marker. No need for watering, mowing or weeding.

Wonderment

Marian Bantjes is a modern day illustrator of the illuminated manuscript and she has just published her new book, I Wonder which features some dazzling and ecclectic new work. I've been a big fan of Marian's for quite a while, but her pasta illuminations have raised the bar to a whole new level. Read more about Marian's work and the making of her cover design over at Design Observer.

How Do You Raed?

Winner of the 2004 D&AD Writing For Design Award, this poster from Lippa Pearce Design (now part of Pentagram partners) explains how our barin sees wrods rehatr tahn ivinidaul leertts when we raed. Maybe this explains why I am such a slow raedre.

Does Letter Gothic Make My Book Look Fat?

Design student, Julian Hansen from the Danish school of Media and Journalism in Copenhagen, arrived at this beautiful typeface flowchart, So You Need a Typeface as a graduation project. What began as a school assignment evolved into a light-hearted, but systematic approach in choosing fonts. His list of typefaces is based loosely on the 100 top fonts from FontShop. Copies of his poster are still available over at Scribble for $22.

The Two Brilliant Stephens

Attendees at last Friday nights' National Design Awards ceremony were treated to a delightful taped video appearance of Stephen Colbert presenting designer Stephen Doyle with the prestigious Communication Design Award. Doyle took this top honor for his exemplary design of Colbert's book, I Am America and So Can You. Doyle invited Colbert to present the award in-person, but the presentation conflicted with the taping of his show, The Colbert Report. Despite this, Colbert's wacky introduction was a highlight of the evening and "a welcome surprise" according to Doyle. "You could feel the crowd's pleasure-o-meters zip from zero to one hundred." Doyle–who is credited as Colbert's father–later added to the fun by delivering his acceptance speech all in verse. See some of Doyle's nimble handwork in this short video and Colbert's delightful tribute to his dad, Stephen, the brilliant designer. Next time you see this book cover, take a very close look at Stephens' eyes to see more of Doyle's clever sleight of hand.

Machiavelli: The Discourses construction, 2007, Stephen Doyle

Little Black Books

Moleskine planners continue to evolve in all directions. Here you can customize it as a travel journal on your next world adventure. And submit your own journal artwork for Moleskine's permanent collection. This is not a paid advertisement for Moleskine planners. It's just that they're a brilliantly designed product.

Moleskine papercut art by Toord Boontje via Little Black Books article in Print Magazine.