We just love to talk about types, as you’ve probably figured out by now. Today we want to talk about other people who love types, namely those who actively create them. This post should help those readers looking for designers to join their project, but also those designers who want to start promoting their own work. So, this is typography designers database and portfolio inspiration. Nobody goes into typography design for celebrity status, but some have what it takes to draw standing ovations. Besides types and design skills, we were also impressed with the quality of some of the websites below. Healthy advice, tips and inspiration are bonus. Let’s shake some hands: Craig Ward British Designer and Art Director currently based in New York, Craig is known primarily for his pioneering and experimental typographic works. He’s the man behind the best selling book, ‘Popular Lies About Graphic Design’, a contributor to several industry journals, former ADC Young Gun and recipient of the TDC’s Certificate of Typographic Excellence. He has been lucky enough to work with high profile clients across the fashion, music and advertising. There’s more praise to be read on his website. You can also browse through his work, commercial and personal archives. Luke Lucas Freelance creative, art director, illustrator, designer and typographer from Melbourne, Australia. You can find more about him by reading his answers to a few basic questions like: What’s with all the type stuff? Are you just a type guy? and What have you been up to? He was Co-Founder / Co-Creator of Fourinarow Magazine and Co Founder/Creative Director of Lifelounge. Currently he enjoys being a successful freelancer. Among other things, he loves "that the same word, passage or even letter can be treated in bunch of different ways and embody entirely different meanings". And it looks like being an "awesome dad" helps creativity. Alberto Seveso Born in Milan in 1976, Seveso’s passion for graphic arts started at the beginning of 1990s when he was really fascinated with the graphic of skate decks and the metal album covers. From this passion he started to think about how to reproduce this kind of artwork. That’s when he discovered he can use the computer to make art and not just to play. He now works as a freelance for small, medium and big agencies. Browse through his fluid colorful creations here.  Polina Sapershteyn She is a multidisciplinary designer working and living in NYC. She completed a Master’s degree from Pratt Institute in Package Design and is devoted to creating surprising, fun, and practical package and communication designs. Most notable aspects of her works include incorporating humor, environmentalism, and handcraft. We really liked her poster series illustrating the struggles of the obsessive-compulsive tendencies of typophiles. Rafa Goicoechea Graphic designer born in Madrid, but currently based in Barcelona, focuses on vector graphics, typography and editorial design. Check out his interview for Computer Arts Collection featuring his work as part of a typographic trend report. Enjoy the smart Peek-a-boo display too! By the way, who’s your favorite designer? Your mentor? We can add them to our future lists of inspiring designers.

There is more than mere sugary inspiration in this post. Hopefully, it will open your eyes to the lasting ties between everything sweet and typography. Today we took a stroll through the virtual sweet shops and came back with boxes of baked types, crunchy fonts, melting capital letters and mouth-watering italics. After sampling the following treats you might experience the unstoppable wish to write on cakes, carve in jelly, or eat typography on toast. We have thrown in the hamper typography on sweets and… sweets as typography. Don’t forget to keep your blood sugar levels under control. Now let’s dig in. Jelly Mix Typography Cake Typography Cup Cakes and Types Bring on the Sweet Treats Candy Typography Chocolate Chip Typography Chocolate Typography Typography Cupcakes Playstation-network-typography Cupcakes HelvetiCake Icing… Typography Fondant Cupcake Topper Edible Monogram Letters Cake. Phew! Wedding Monogram Cookies Happy Birthday Cupcakes Message in a Cookie

We’ve got games, inspiration, installations, apps, tutorials, new fonts and some cool typography quotes. Pretty much everything you need for another well-deserved long weekend, right? Let the stroll through some of last week’s goodies begin! Awesome Typography Projects of Marcelo Schultz Transforming the designs on paper into digitally rendered vector artworks brings us to the next level of creative awesomeness. Agree? If you’re into hand drawn lettering, this post should be to your liking. It features works created by Brazilian illustrator Marcelo Schultz, showcasing his typography projects in both sketched and digitally rendered forms. Enjoy! Stunning 48 kilometre Thread Installation Arrives at South London Gallery This is not just another exhibition, this one has strong ties with typography. Literally. The installation made up of a 48 kilometer network of threads is the work of Californian artist Pae White. The threaded installation forms a dark cloud of criss-crossed black and purple across the gallery roof with individual threads trailing back to the wall where they spell out motivational super graphics, reading TIGER TIME and UNMATTERING, inspired by bouts of insomnia. It’s beautiful. And free. Too Much Night, Again runs until May 12 at Peckham’s South London Gallery. Create Unique Typography with this new Instagram App Here’s another online experience. It’s called Ampergram, an app that enables you to create endless typographic compositions using cool photos of fonts. You can capture and tag your own letters, or use the app’s already stellar offerings generated by the community. Download and have fun! What do you think? Google’s New Font Revealed Have you heard that the new slab-serif font Roboto Slab is already being used by Google and is available to download? It’s used in parts of the mobile version of its new notetaking app, Keep - and has made it available for anyone to download and use in their own projects. Interested? 18 Creative Typography Games That Will Max Out Your Font Skills Weekend is just around the corner, so get your hands on this collection of creative typography games that will max out your font skills. Or at the very least, keep you from getting bored on the bus. Go now and harness the creative power of typography gaming! It’s time to play…  40 Cool Typography Based Quotes Quotes and typography on posters are a great and quite popular way to decorate an office or workspace. This handpicked selection is inspired and equally inspiring. Which one do you like the most? And which one are you gonna stick above your desk? Photoshop Tutorials - Improve Typography Skills with Text Effect Tutorials For those who really want to improve their typography skills, take a look at these Photoshop tutorials. They should help you create stunning and realistic text effects. As you probably already know, Photoshop is a pretty good tool for creating amazing Photo Effect and Text Effect  from simple to advanced makeovers. So, dig in! You’ve got 20 fresh ones to choose from. Good luck!  

Last week we introduced you to some cool typography designers, remember? Since talent is a precious thing that needs to be promoted as often as possible, today we’ll share more names with you. The designers in this post come from all over the world. What do they have in common? Talent, passion and quite impressive portfolios. Are you gonna give them a call? Let’s shake more hands: Cameron Humphries Cameron Humphries graduated from Design College Australia with an Advanced Diploma. He has a younger brother who originally got him into art. Ever since he was a little boy he loved art and design, and making people feel happy about his work. He is more of a hands on person though he loves digital and vector artwork. Take a look at his portfolio and you’ll see why. Chromatic typefaces, vintage and modern themes, minimal designs, great details, elegant stationery and much more. Martin Schmetzer Martin Schmetzer is an artist mainly focused on hand drawn lettering and digital graphics. His website is coming soon. Until then, you should definitely check his Behance page. Hand lettering, illustrations, calligraphy… From beer labels to Men’s Health Magazine and states of mind. You’ll see. Seth Mach Seth Mach is a Master of Fine Arts student in Graphic Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, GA. On his website you can find more than just typography, as he’s into digital, illustration, motion, photography and physical/D. The portfolio stands proof. We really hope he’s got enough spare time to cycle through thunderstorms.  Jackson Alves Jackson Alves is a type designer, illustrator and teacher based in Curitiba, south of Brazil. He’s expert in calligraphy, lettering & typography. It’s the traditional calligraphy that inspires him to create letterings and typographic work. Logos, custom types, daily calligraphy, free fonts, a typography map of Brazil and more exciting projects. Click on them! Ben Topliss Ben Topliss is a multidisciplinary creative designer with a background in Product Design and 3D. He’s passionate about good design, whatever it may be. Equally comfortable designing for screen, print or interactive experiences. You probably remember him from Digital Arts Magazine where he was featured as one of the "Best of New British Design". He’s currently living in Manchester, working as a designer for TBWA\Manchester. If you have a project that you would like to discuss, or just fancy a chat, feel free to get in touch. Well-organized, informative and inspiring website. Browse around! And don’t forget, we still want to know more about your favorite designers. We can add them to our future lists of inspiring designers. So, who shall we meet next?  

For those of a certain age, the following list of names might sound like the ideal party soundtrack, for others it might sound like a bunch of funny names that overdid it in the graphic art department. Everybody’s got a story about at least one of these names, and some might even smile nostalgically, but let’s not drift too far away. The truth is that we just cleaned our top drawers, and discovered some faded high school T-shirts. The first thing we noticed? The strong lettering. Those types made it through years of extreme washing and… wearing. So, in memory of some good old days, we’ve put together this list of heavy metal bands. Bang your head, put on the old T-shirt, but don’t forget to take a look at the typography: Pantera Anthrax Black Sabbath Metallica Megadeth Kiss Motorhead Manowar Judas Priest Iron Maiden Aerosmith AC/DC Def Leppard Alice Cooper Slayer  

Well, well, if it isn’t Friday again, sneaking up on us with its expectant look, like a preview to the weekend. But what happened this week? Let’s see! Typographically speaking, it happened that we came across plenty of inspiring new projects. Airports started appreciating embroidered typography, while experiments in texture and typography left us in awe. Typography-based designs are no breaking news, but we’re still excited when we come across smart examples. Let’s not forget fossilized typography, dishonest typography and other alphabets. Well, you’ll see what we’re talking about. Read on! Embroidered Typography Let’s kick off with a refreshing typography project: embroidered food for Hong Kong Airport. The embroidery, design and illustration company behind this project embroidered the word DELICIOUS in six different languages. Each version was spelled out with food from various regions. No more photos and plastic signs! Hungry already? Daily Dishonesty Typography Project For the sake of your inspiration, don’t miss Lauren Hom’s Daily Dishonesty. This is the project where the designer gives lovely little lies a nice typographic treatment. Hope it will brighten up your day. At least a bit. The Art and Science of Typography This is a simple guide that should help marketers become a typeface mastermind, because marketers know by now that content marketing needs more than just great writing to take off. Right? The infographic answers quite a few questions and works as a great teaching tool. It is quite basic, but you’ll get the bigger picture. See for yourself. 7 Amazing Experiments in Typography and Texture In these custom-made lettering experiments, designer Brian Jaramillo combines type and texture to stunning effect. The typefaces are mainly created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator, before adding the all-important textures. Take a look and see how the smallest touches can make the biggest of differences. Great source of inspiration! 10 Inspiring Typography-​​Based Designs We’ve talked about this before, but it’s always interesting to reopen the conversation, because quite often typography presents the opportunity to convey more than the words themselves can express. In other… words, if your typography is large enough, carries an interesting design, and is manipulated in some engaging manner, you can actually forgo using any complementary visuals. For those not yet convinced, check out this showcase of great typographical use. Evolution of Type: Fossilized Typography Fantastic series of typography by Austrian designer Andreas Scheiger. Evolution of Type was inspired by the 1918 book, The Alphabet and Elements of Lettering by Frederic W. Goudy, which explains how language went from sounds to recognizable symbols and letters. As you can see, Scheiger combines lettering with anatomy and paleontology to show an imaginary biological evolution, with "preserved" letters in amber, muscles and bones. Dig in! New Arabic Typography We should definitely talk more about other alphabets. They’re all amazing works of art. Check out these new Arabic types by Ibrahim Hamdi and you’ll see why. Enjoy! And have a fabulous weekend!  

It’s time to move the conversation about typography into the library for a couple of posts. We’ll browse for good old books that can guide, train and inspire. Today we kick off with a few books that focus on vintage typography and design. Let’s see if retro is indeed the new modern: Vintage Commercial Art and Design It might not sound like typography focused, but this versatile volume contains the essential typographic elements for creating ads with an authentic 1890s-1920s period flair. As you’ve probably guessed already, the designs are inspired by Art Nouveau. The book  comprises highlights from sign-painting manuals which include borders, frames, typography, and a host of other images. Plates from the sourcebooks depict the material in its original usage. The great bonus for those who need all this in electronic form too is that the book comes with a CD-ROM that includes JPEGs of all images. Custom Lettering of the 40s & 50s Remember the times before computer dominance, when hand-drawn fonts were the highlight of television, comic book and promotional design? Probably not, but this book will help you fill that gap with… 4,500 examples. Edited by Rian Hughes, an award-winning graphic designer, illustrator, comic artist, logo designer and typographer who has designed record album sleeves and worked in advertising and for i-D magazine, has combed the archives of custom lettering to bring together literally thousands examples of inspiring and enlightening hand-lettered fonts from the 40s and 50s. You’ll see that these letters display a distinct air of retro cool, but are old enough to be rarely seen in print today. However, they should inspire anybody who works with letters or is interested in the way they look. New Vintage Type: Classic Fonts for the Digital Age The book promotes itself as the authoritative guide that will help you choose, use, and understand great vintage type. And, to a certain extent, it is about the power of vintage type in the modern times. Nowadays typography uses vintage type in ads, book and magazine design, movies, and everywhere words convey meaning. ‘New Vintage Type’ is a rethinking and rediscovery of old and classic typefaces for today’s modern needs. Hundreds of lively and one-of-a-kind examples from around the world are gathered here, organized into five historically and stylistically grouped sections: the Victorian Age, the Woodtype Era, Art Deco Style, Modern Movement, and the Eccentric Movement. This book can work as a graphic designer’s guide to choosing and using vintage type for maximum impact. Elegantissima: The Design and Typography of Louise Fili Do you know Louise Fili? If not, you’d better start reading. The American graphic designer has been an inspiration for designers around the world since the 1980s, when she raised the bar on book cover design, creating close to two thousand jackets as art director for Pantheon Books. She’s known for her lavish and elegant typography, often hand drawn, which helped advertise and market such well-known brands as Sarabeth’s, Bella Cucina, Jean-Georges, and Good Housekeeping, among many others. Elegantissima is the first monograph on her work. It covers the breadth of her nearly forty-year design career. A must-have for graphic designers. Those interested in advertising, food, restaurants, Italy, and books are welcome to join the club.

Who needs T-shirts loaded down with graphics, when you can have a closet full of classy typography T-shirts? It’s not just about the message you’re proudly displaying around, it’s also about the types. When you have them both matching perfectly, the sky’s the limit. Since people put a lot of thought into the clothes and types they wear, we think it’s about time for you to browse through this collection for some inspiration. You’ll see that some people love typography so much that they make sure it’s not just a tool to convey a message, it is the message. Take a look: Heads Will Roll   Spanish T-shirts Smile because…   Hug Typo La Moustache Human Being I’m Still In Beta Helvetica Shirt Typophile Type 2 Big Deal Hello! Swedish T-shirt Seen something you like?

Types told us quite a few great stories this past week. We’ve been guided by typography through the streets of Paris, witty type pictures spelled out the meaning of words, and public typography made it into a brand new exciting book. The week also featured apps,  plugins, seminars and tutorials. Grab a coffee, it’s time to read: Personality of Parisian Neighborhoods Explored Through Typography Ever been to Paris? We’re asking because this project it’s a pretty good introduction for those who want to visit it, but also a nostalgic rendition for those who already enjoyed the city. Typography style! Long story short, each of the 20 Arrondissements, or neighborhoods, that make up Paris have their own distinct voice. The creative agency Havas Worldwide Paris in collaboration with Flying V explored the varied iconography and characteristics of each area through this clever animation; depicting each hood through a typography based animation. Enjoy! 4 jQuery Plugins for Superior Typography Try some of the following jQuery plugins if you’re looking for better control over the typography in your designs. We hope you’ll see something you like. ‘LetterScapes’ By Anna Saccani Puts Typography In The Spotlight Those into typography AND context will be thrilled by LetterScapes, a fresh new book written by Anna Saccani. What began as her doctoral thesis turned into an ode to the art of large-scale public typography projects. Looking at both the sculptures themselves and how they function in a public context, Saccani shows us that "LOVE" can mean something different in New York City or in Tokyo, depending on the context. Take a look at the slideshow! What’s your favorite? Virtual Seminar on Typography in Responsive Web Design If you have the time, the desire and the money, next week, on Thursday, 18 April 2013, Fontdeck’s Richard Rutter will be presenting a 90 minute virtual seminar on Typography in Responsive Design. The great thing is that you’ll be able to attend from the comfort of your own desk, sofa, or wherever suits you. Richard will describe how to make web typography work across any number of different devices, and how it can and should be the basis of any responsive web design. Interested? Over, An iOS App to Add Beautiful Typography to Your Photos Yet another app to keep you hooked on typography. Over is an iOS app meant to easily add beautiful typography to your photos. In a matter of seconds you can add captions, quotes, jokes, memes, poems or anything else you can think of to a photo. The app is available to download at the iTunes store. Only for those who love types on the move. Understanding Typographic Hierarchy What is typographic hierarchy? It is a system for organizing type that establishes an order of importance within the data, allowing the reader to easily find what they are looking for and navigate the content. In other words, it helps guide the reader’s eye to where a section begins and ends, whilst enabling the user to isolate certain information based on the consistent use of style throughout a body of text. Simple, right? Now, read the whole article if you need even more details. Semantic Typography is Playful with Words You already know that a picture is worth a thousand words, but Korean designer Ji Lee made a picture out of a word itself. Smart! Lee started the project more than 20 years ago back in art school. In 2011, he published a book entitled ‘Word as Image‘ containing almost 100 words. Quite impressive project. Highly enjoyable too. Have a warm weekend!

Last week we talked about books dealing with vintage typography, this week we take a look at books that explain how typography works, dissecting, analyzing, arranging, and measuring thousands of typefaces from the old fashioned to the futuristic. The Geometry of Type: The Anatomy of 100 Essential Typefaces This book explores 100 traditional and modern typefaces with a full spread devoted to each entry. Now, that’s quite a treat. Characters are enlarged and annotated to reveal key features, anatomical details, and the finer, often-overlooked elements of type design, which shows how these attributes affect mood and readability. But there’s even more for those who need all the details. Sidebar information lists the designer and foundry, the year of release and the different weights and styles available. There are also feature boxes explaining the origins and best uses for each typeface. It is a highly practical work of reference, but also a celebration of typefaces and great type design. Letter Fountain: The Anatomy of Type This book prides itself on being everything you could ever want to know about printing letters and numbers. Letter Fountain is a typeface handbook looking back as far as man’s first efforts to communicate with visual signs and drawings. In addition to examining the form and anatomy of every letter in the alphabet, the book also cross-references type designs with important works of art and art movements from Gutenberg’s times until today. Over 150 typefaces, their origins, and font characteristics are discussed in detail. To see that they mean business, it might be good to know that the appendix contains a general index, one on typefaces (more than 300 are depicted in the book), an index on over 250 type designers, an exhaustive index on type founders, a graphical dictionary, and a bibliography for further reading. Hand to Type: Scripts, Hand Lettering and Calligraphy Hand to Type is a collection of inspiring visuals and insightful texts, comprising some of the best work by today’s lettering artists in the fields of hand-made and digital script forms. You’ll discover texts about outstanding designers and a series of expert chapters outlining the principles of script forms from the German Sütterlin to Arabic and Asian scripts.This is the special addition to our collection, because it’s based on a paradox. The less we write by hand, the more fascinated with handwritten letter forms we become. However, the love of the hand-written look is nothing new. Story goes that even the oldest printed books pretended to be something unique and not a machine-made mass product. No wonder that script fonts digital type families based on handwriting are among the most sought on the typography market today. Encyclopaedia of Typefaces: The Standard Typography Reference Guide It is an Encyclopaedia, which means that, by definition, this is a definitive reference guide for anyone concerned with type faces. It is an invaluable, accessible and easy-to-use collection comprising over 2,000 type faces arranged alphabetically and into three sections - Romans, Lineales and Scripts. Established and classic typefaces, unique qualities and applications - it’s all here. The guide is ‘the standard work of reference’ ("The British Printer") and has continued to assert itself as the ‘best international catalogue of typefaces which we have ever seen’ ("International Bulletin"). Happy reading! And don’t forget to share your own favorite typography books.