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.  

There comes a time in the life of a website, when the ‘under construction’ sign takes center stage. That’s when dirty fonts get special attention. But they are not exclusively the only fonts used in such situations. As always, designers like to play with colors and graphics, but there’s no hiding from the ubiquitous yellow, or fonts that create a connection with the normal style of the website they replace for a while. Distorted, casual, geometric, funny or downright boring, the ‘under construction’ fonts tell many stories, although they aim to convey one simple message. Let’s take a look: Hard Working Dirty Fonts The Countdown Funny Gang Polite Blue Road sign Builders Funky Cartoons The Penguin The Patch The Snail Old Sign Dirty Fonts 2        

This Friday we look at those 9 typography mistakes you should avoid, although we’re sure if there are more, you’ll let us know. But we’ll also keep you smiling with a nostalgic tribute to typography in films, an analysis of bad fonts (and why they are not that bad after all), a bit of typography for beginners, interviews, ‘string’ typography and… wallpapers. 9 Typography Mistakes to Avoid   For those who want to avoid typographic mistakes in the future, here are nine examples of what you did in one form or another, and solemnly vow never to do again. From ‘illegible typeface choice’, ‘poor readability’ and ‘bad font choice’ to ‘no typography contrast’, ‘bad typeface combinations’, it’s all in there. Let us know if they missed something. By the way, what mistakes will you never again do? Documentary Pays Visual Tribute To Typography In Film Opening Sequences Check out this documentary made by Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule. It explores the evolution of title design in film, the gatekeeping function of the opening sequence, tone-setting for the film, and the later use of advanced computer graphics and technology to produce opening sequences that were mini films in themselves. What’s in it for you? Great typography, of course. Simplicity of Typography in Windows Wallpapers What do you know about the new trend of decorating the desktop of electronic devices? Because in this round up you’ll find brand new wallpapers based on the theme of attractive fonts for the furnishing of your hand set and devices. The typescript used in these eye-catching typography wallpapers can be a slogan, a written quote or whatever you want. See for yourself and check out the details. A Brief Introduction to Typography - Infographic We came across another infographic intend to explain the basics of typography and disseminate the ones that always work. The ideas is that any computer contains hundreds of pre-installed fonts to choose from and there are dozens of websites with thousands of free fonts, so, some minimal knowledge and aesthetic taste are an asset. Take a look! Don’t worry, it’s a short walk. Use Photoshop and Illustrator to Create Guitar String Typography For those who want to do some work or learn something new this weekend, here’s a tutorial. It helps you create words out of intertwining guitar strings. A bit like ‘fun with typography’. Get started! Bad Fonts What if some of the most hated fonts aren’t bad at all, and they’re just used inappropriately? That’s what this article tries to explain. Of course, for the most part, "worst of" lists are good-humored, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, but some are quite angry, bordering on vitriolic as if their authors have been personally affronted by the ill-considered type choices of amateur designers. If you want to give fonts a second chance, this is for you. You’ll also find out who’s public enemy number one. Interview with Michael Bierut — Typography, Modern Applications, and Timeless Communication Challenges Michael Bierut was the president of the American Institute for Graphic Arts (AIGA), is a senior critic in graphic design at Yale, a partner at Pentagram Design in New York City, a founding writer for the Design Observer blog, and a driving force behind the film "Helvetica." In this interview the topics cover typographic design, how page design and venue interact with type choices, how type influences perceptions, whether we’ll ever "break the page," and why the Higgs Boson was announced via a PowerPoint that relied on Comic Sans. Sounds intriguing, right? Have a fab weekend!  

We all have our favorite fonts, types and books. Because the list of favourite books continually grows, today we’ll share the third part of our series of posts on books about typography. Type takes centre stage this time, as it becomes the star and the main focus. And we’re not talking only about titles. If thinking with type is just your type, this new list of books will come in handy. Let’s browse: Thinking with Type, Second Revised and Expanded Edition: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, and Students This revised edition of Thinking with Type includes forty-eight pages of new content, including the latest information on style sheets for print and the web, the use of ornaments and captions, lining and non-lining numerals, the use of small caps and enlarged capitals, as well as information on captions, font licensing, mixing typefaces, and hand lettering. The visual examples show how to be inventive within systems of typographic form. No worry, they’ll tell you what the rules are, but also how to break them. All in all, this is a great guide to using typography in visual communication, from print to screen. A book for everyone. A Type Primer Are you looking for a book to analyse the basic principles and applications of type? Because this practical introduction to typography and top fonts could be the answer. From measuring type and classifying typefaces to organising text on a page and understanding grid systems, this book covers everything that the beginning student of graphic design needs to know. But there’s more. Like that brief history of typography, numerous examples to illustrate the points raised and a series of useful exercises to help readers put basic principles into practice. Type Matters This is a book of tips for everyday use, for all users of typography, from students and professionals to anyone who does any layout design on a computer. All that confusing terminology about letter spacing and visual centring, but also the rules for good typography, are discussed. There are three chapters, and within each chapter there are sections devoted to particular principles or problems, such as selecting the right typeface, leading, and the treatment of numbers. Full of examples, authoritatively written and designed by a practitioner and teacher of typography. By the way, the beautifully clear layout reinforces the principles discussed throughout. Just My Type: A Book About Fonts Just My Type is not just about fonts, this is a proper book of stories. A Sunday Times review mentioned that it is ‘a kind of Eats, Shoots and Leaves for letters, revealing the extent to which fonts are not only shaped by but also define the world in which we live.’ You’l find out how Helvetica and Comic Sans took over the world, why Barack Obama opted for Gotham, while Amy Winehouse found her soul in 30s Art Deco. It tells stories about the great originators of type, from Baskerville to Zapf, or people like Neville Brody who threw out the rulebook, or Margaret Calvert, who invented the motorway signs that are used from Watford Gap to Abu Dhabi. But enough with the spoilers, these are stories any typography lover will enjoy. Exciting and inspiring.

Newspapers. They can be free, paid, old, new, boring, interesting, trustworthy, irresponsible, or, well, you name it. And they are still our daily addiction when it comes to news. Sometimes they are so embedded in our consciousness that we might not even need to see the title to know what publication we’re talking about. Only the fonts will do. Take The New York Times, for instance. The fonts are just as famous as the publication itself. They are part of the history of the newspaper and most likely will be a big part of its future too. Below you have 15 famous American and British newspapers. Surely, some are on your favorite fonts list already. Here they are, in no particular order, but with very different histories: The New York Times The Guardian The Telegraph The Washington Post The Independent The Times LA Times USA Today Daily Mail San Francisco Chronicle The Sunday Telegraph The Herald The Evening Standard The Boston Globe Metro

Typography fascinates artists. That’s a fact. This week we came across many examples of art that uses typography as their main tool. It must be spring. But it’s not all butterflies, spring, LEGO fonts and inspiring kinetic typography, as we get serious about typography abominations and website readability too. Unique Butterfly Species Created with Typography These are not animals dingbats, these are very rare species of typography butterflies. The project is a series in which each winged bug is formed out of select typefaces including Bodoni, Times New Roman, and Univers. Using real species as the inspiration for the basic forms, designer Guusan mimics the bodies of many Japanese butterflies. Beautiful. Enjoy! Typography for all: Demystifying Text for High-impact Messages This article covers the basics of everyday typography, font pairings that are pleasing to the eye, practical formatting tips that work with a variety of software, and common mistakes to avoid. It’s a good start for beginners. Unforgivable Typography Abominations If you agree that there is bad typography out there, on the internet, then this text is for you. It starts from the premise that people actually cared about typography back when newspapers had to set each letter manually and run their printing press overnight, just to get a single publication out the door. Now, any halfwit can go on dafont.com and download a quarter million fonts. So, here you have some common typography abominations that are sure to raise any designer’s blood pressure. Ira Glass on the Secret of Success in Creative Work, Animated in Kinetic Typography It has been done before, we know, but there’s something charming and true about the message in this wonderful short motion graphics piece capturing Ira Glass’s now-legendary interview on the art of storytelling. Beautifully minimalist and elegant kinetic typography plus a text any creative person can relate to. Take a look! Improve Website Readability By Using Better Typography Yes, content is by far the most important aspect of a blog, as it is this that will attract the traffic to your site. But, on the other hand, if people can’t read your content properly due to poor site typography, then they won’t stick around for long. Agree? If yes, here are some design tips that you can use to help improve your website readability. LEGO Letterpress Creates Dotted Typography This proves that playing with LEGO is not just for kids. After experimenting with letterpress and wood block printing, Scottish designer Levi decided to start branching out until he came up with the LEGO letterpress. The result: a playful dotted font. Now you have an excuse to break out your old bricks and create… a new typeface. Adobe Busts Myths with Stylised Typography And last, but not least, check out Adobe’s latest social campaign that seeks to bury common myths about marketing. These stylish designs by typographer and illustrator Jordan Metcalf help get the message across. How do you like them? And don’t forget to have a great weekend!        

This is the last part of our series on books about typography. In today’s medley selection we put together books published in different decades, and some that are not directly related to typography. However, rest assured that we’ll keep an eye on new books too. You’ll be the first to know about them. Typographie: A Manual of Design Here it is, the timeless textbook from which generations of typographers and graphic designers have learned their fundamentals. For those new to the trade, Emil Ruder, one of the great twentieth-century typographers, was a pioneer who abandoned the conventional rules of his discipline and replaced them with new rules that satisfied the requirements of his new typography. Ruder explains his philosophy in 19 chapters, showing a multitude of ways to evolve in typography. This is the sixth edition. You’ll find over 500 examples. You can even choose the language to read it: English, German or French. Enjoy! Typography Essentials: 100 Design Principles for Working with Type This is a book for designers of every medium in which type plays a major role. It’s a practical, hands-on resource to distill, organize, and compartmentalize the many complex issues surrounding the effective use of typography. The book is divided into four easy-to-use sections: The Letter, The Word, The Paragraph, and The Page. Each of the 100 principles has an explanation and examples representing the principle in action. Organized and designed to make the design process enjoyable and entertaining, this is also highly instructional. Graphic Design Manual: Principles and Practice This revised book was first published in… 1965, and it’s a classic guide for motion media students/teachers and graphic designers alike.  Elements of image and form are analyzed and examined with regard to their inherent laws. The lessons of methodical design are used today in computer monitor design as well. The desktop publishing technique requires very clear conceptual and methodical working processes. This book, which is divided into computer-system-friendly sections, will thus serve this new circle of users as a valuable introduction, but not necessarily for beginners. It’s also not for those who are 100% focused on fonts only. Detail In Typography  In less than 100 pages, Detail in Typography manages to cover the basics of in-paragraph formatting by answering a couple of important questions such as: How is it that text can be set perfectly and yet look insufferably dull? How do you achieve perfect congruence between the type itself and its meaning? In this book, Jost Hochuli, master book designer and author of the seminal Designing Books, addresses the finer points of setting text. He begins with a consideration of how human beings read, moving on incrementally to considerations of letter, word, and line as well as word-space and line-space. He examines whole paragraphs and how they carry meaning, thus creating a book that embodies critical thinking and articulate design in its own physical form. Great material!  

Magazines can take that special place on your bookshelf, next to the dictionaries, the art albums and the classics. But to become a… collection, a magazine needs to publish those stories that win Pulitzers and turn readers into fans. Esquire magazine is such an example. National Geographic is another. However, when it comes to typography, which types make you browse through before seeing the cover and reading the contents? Below you’ll find 12 magazines. For a couple of magazines we added several versions to show how color plays an essential role in keeping every cover fresh, topical and exciting. The story goes that famous fonts open doors and find their way to a comfy place in readers’ collections. Which one do you think will end up in yours? Esquire Esquire Esquire GQ GQ GQ The Atlantic National Geographic Time Out Rolling Stone Rolling Stone Time Mojo Vanity Fair Empire Q The New Yorker

Great experimental fonts, light and shadows as tools for creating typography, nostalgic hand drawn typography, smart quotes, a short animated history of typography and more. Yes, just another week in the wonderful world of types. Now make some coffee and let’s browse together: Typecast: How New Technology Is Reinventing Typography This is an interesting text about the rare craft of designing typefaces. For hundreds of years, designers had to master wood carving and metal casting to practice their art. However, with the rise of computers they learned to conquer bitmaps and vectors using tools like Glyphs, FontLab, or RoboFont. New technology and standards continue to put a new face on type, and the use cases are extending off our computer screens and into the physical realm too. As programming becomes a common part of the designer’s skill set, innovation is continuing along these lines and this article will guide you through. Read on! Light and Shadows Create Striking Typography Perfect (happy!) collision of art and typography. This shadow font experiment from Fred Eerdekens is an absolute delight. Sculpted from copper wire, cotton and various other materials, he plays on the art of light and shadow to create words on the walls. A beautiful art installation that proves typography is still one of the most creative outlets around. And that distorted fonts have many…. faces. Nostalgic Hand-Drawn Typography Of Quotes, Posted On Instagram By combining an image with hand-drawn type, Florida-based designer Zachary Smith has created some beautiful pieces of work based on quotes of sage advice. With beautiful graphics and famous quotes, his lovely nostalgia-themed work is highly popular on social networks such as Instagram, where he already has up to 7,500 followers. Are you gonna follow too? The History of Typography - Animated Short This video published on YouTube at the end of April this year is a paper-letter animation about the history of fonts and typography. It took 291 Paper Letters, 2,454 Photographs, and 140 hours of work. If this video sparks any ideas, don’t forget to let the creators know. Until then, enjoy! Pencil to Pixel typography exhibition, New York Here you have a comprehensive exhibition offering typography fanatics a chance to get up close to rare implements, artworks and artifacts relating to type history, charting the development of typography up to its present technology-infused state. The exhibition will run from 3-9 May. Tickets are required, but admission is free. Don’t miss it if you’re in the hood! 47 Top Typography Tools and Resources To help you improve and learn more about typography, Mashable have compiled 25 useful tools and resources, from fundamentals to modular scales. Have they left out your favorite typography tool or resource? No worry, share your recommendations! By the way, do you know why typography works? "It creeps into you and before you know it, you’ve received the message" Erik Spiekermann Have a fab weekend!  

Typography is quite often part of design exhibitions, but typography (almost) only exhibitions are less common. That’s why today we talk about 3 special exhibitions that you can visit these days in Europe and USA. Chris Bracey - I’ve Looked Up To Heaven and Been Down to Hell This is London-based light artist Chris Bracey’s first major UK solo exhibition celebrating his lightning designs. We’re talking neon lights, so you’ll discover plenty of intriguing typography. Bracey has worked with neon and lights for over thirty years and the title of this exhibition alludes to his remarkable journey and career. His personal life story is just as interesting as his career. His father was a neon sign-maker and Chris learnt to manufacture and design the neon signs at an early age. When it comes to his career, his fan base resembles a wing of Madame Tussauds, with names like David LaChapelle, Stella McCartney, Martin Creed, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood. He also created installations for films like Stanley Kubrick’s "Eyes Wide Shut", Tim Burton’s "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and the Batman films. You’ll discover iconic imagery from tattoo culture, Las Vegas and the streets of Soho too. But there’s so much more in this dense exhibition filled with wonder, nostalgia and glamour, while raising questions about morality, spirituality and the role neons play in society. The London exhibition runs until 1 June. And remember, "Neon is only happy when it’s on, when it’s alive". Pencil to Pixel typography exhibition, New York From London we move to New York for the ultimate showcase for the font fiends in all of us. Guilty for this treat is the British typography firm Monotype. Their exhibition offers typography fanatics a chance to get up close to rare implements, artwork and artifacts relating to type history charting the development of typography up to its present technology-infused state. The exhibition opened last week and is actually a reprise of a first installment that was staged in London last November. The American leg will feature examples with special relevance to the United States, such as a copy of the 1931 Linotype magazine ‘Typographic Sanity,’ published in Brooklyn, as well as original Monotype Centaur typeface drawings by American typographer and type designer Bruce Rogers. Six Things: Sagmeister & Walsh Stefan Sagmeister (b. Bregenz, Austria, 1962) and Jessica Walsh (b. New York, 1986) are two designers known for their experimental typography and striking visual imagery. Six Things marks the first exhibition of their newly founded design firm. Sagmeister is the recipient of numerous design awards, including two Grammy awards for his packaging designs, while Walsh is a multidisciplinary designer, previously worked at Pentagram Design and Print magazine. The New York Times, AIGA, and EDP are among her clients. Their work is by turns playful and unsettling, humanist and existential, and often expands the definition of design, embracing film, sculpture, poetry, and performance. Six Things is a continuation of a project on happiness. In five compelling short videos and a sound-activated sculpture, they examine six things culled from Sagmeister’s diary that he believes have increased his personal happiness: If I Don’t Ask I Won’t Get Keeping a Diary Supports Personal Development Be More Flexible It Is Pretty Much Impossible to Please Everybody Now Is Better Feel Others Feel Enjoy the exhibitions and their famous or less famous fonts. And don’t forget to let us know if you’ve seen any of these exhibitions or any new ones.  

You’re into radio, but you still need some fonts to make people aware of your existence on the air waves. What do you choose? Would you go for more graphics or more typography? How do you combine them? Who’s listening to your radio station? Are you going for the funky fonts or the retro ones? There are lots of questions, but maybe this collection of underground and mainstream radio stations typography will provide some answers too. So, which radio would you listen to according to their taste in typography? Kut   Hype HD Late Night   Graffiti Mixlor Hard Radio Kiss Two Valleys Absolute Z 100 Z 103.5 BBC 20 on 20 A List

There’s a symposium coming at the beginning of June and one of the most important typography exhibition ever (some say) is still waiting for you. We found mid-century inspiration, 3D typography and kinetic… advices. We even have something for those who have money to spare. TypeToy: A Beautiful Archive Of Mid-Century Design & Typography You’ve probably come across Aaron Eiland before. He keeps a blog stuffed with design and typographic goodness from the mid-20th century. TypeToy is a delight to browse for anyone who appreciates that era. From attractive packaging to gorgeous book covers, the blog documents a diverse range of beautiful graphic finds, creating fascinating snapshots that show what design was like in "the good old days". This made us nostalgic, so we ended up browsing for more retro fonts. To bookmark for vintage inspiration! Six Beautiful Artifacts From the Dawn of Digital Typography Pencil to Pixel is one of the most comprehensive typography exhibitions ever staged, so it’s little wonder that we are still talking about it. This week we found a post where you can see pictures taken in the exhibition. You’ll notice that it preserves some of the most fascinating relics from the 1970s and 80s, allowing you to see the early technologies that predated digital type. The explanations and images in this post will open up your appetite even more. Typography World Map For those interested in spending some money, here’s a One World Map in Typography measuring roughly 22″ x 45″. Vinyl lettering, custom hand painted look, and other fancy touches. Just an idea. The Stunning 3D Typography of David McLeod David McLeod is an Australian artist and this article takes a look at some of his works. It is quite enjoyable as you get to see typography caught up in designs in a way that keeps imagination very much alive. You’ll also get to take a closer look (literally) at the images. Quite inspiring material. Enjoy! Make Good Art Kinetic Typography This Kinetic typography YouTube video "shows" an excerpt from Neil Gaiman‘s University of the Arts commencement speech. Yes, there are many out there, but this one carries a few messages that should do you good. It starts with "When things get tough, this is what you should do: make good art. I’m serious." So are we. Keep reading, listening and learning. But most of all, enjoy! After the Jump: Technology’s Effect on Design and Typography After the Jump is a symposium that will bring together some of today’s most inspiring industry leaders to discuss how technology affects human behaviour and how those effects impact design and typography. The event will take a holistic look at typography’s role in the modern, tech-driven world. So, Cooper Union, NYC, June 7, 2013. Enough time to make a decision. Interested?

Although this history of typography in 5 minutes is charming, most professionals would vote for a ‘longer’ version, while beginners would be anxious to move to the next step and get a place in the favorite fonts top. That’s why today we’ll share some tips for those looking for typeface design courses or typography classes, workshops or even proper design schools. This is for both advanced and beginners, so stick with us. Short Courses For those in a hurry who prefer short workshops with famous designers, this one is perfect. World-renowned typographer, designer and letterpress practitioner Alan Kitching will teach a hands-on two day course exploring the fundamentals and details of typography using letterpress equipment. This should give participants an exceptional understanding of typesetting and the art of letterpress printing. Next workshops? 31 May - 1 June, 7 - 8 June and 28 - 29 June 2013. This particular summer course is a… computer free zone. Designed to help everyone, from the newcomer to the professional to find confidence in their own typographic voice, this course organized by Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design begins by exploring basic elements and the principles for their effective and creative use. Key areas covered include; choosing typefaces and how to get the best from all those on offer; identifying the assorted typographic voices which surround us everyday; strategies for working with different kinds of texts, from looking at content analysis to finding inspiration in the richness of language itself, and much more. There will also be a session using letterpress facilities. Ideas presented are explored visually through projects embracing both type as information and type as art. You can also check their slightly longer (8 weeks) but convenient online course: Introduction to Typography. Postgraduate Study This MA in Contemporary Typographic Media is about "visible words" and it explores the relationships between visual communication and language. This nationally and internationally unique programme is built upon London College of Communication’s respected heritage in the field of typographic design. The course prides itself on the fact that encourages participants to focus on their own interests, developing practical and critical skills to provide a robust foundation for a career as a creative visual communicator. The MA has its own blog where you can find out more details. It can be a good start for a designer with a special interest in typography. In UK, Reading University has a much talked about MA in Typeface Design. Although an MA requires time and most likely money, you can still try their Adobe FDK Workshop that is kept regularly at Reading Uni. The goal of the Adobe Font Development Kit for OpenType is to offer tools created and developed by the team in charge of typography at Adobe. For details check the page of this year’s workshop held a few weeks ago in France. The purpose? To provide a professional high-level training. We’ll come back next week with more tips. If you want to share your favorite course, let us know!      

Remember those film posters where the main character claims more than 90% of the space? We’ve just collected 15 such posters to see how those dilemmas regarding the typography have been solved. Do you end up looking into their eyes? Are you charmed by the smiles, the colors and… the cracks? Do you read between the lines? Is the type friend or foe? Whatever your conclusion, you have to admit this is a pretty interesting use of headline fonts. Now let’s see those eyes and those types: Silver Linings Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Thor Mirror Mirror Dorian Gray Black Swan Lincoln Crazy Heart   The New Frontier My Week with Marilyn Zero Dark Thirty Spider Man The Rum Diary The Hobbit True Grit

Something’s in the oven, but we’ll open it at the end of our round-up. If you smell cake, you’re not mistaken. But before we dig in some typography sweets, we check design events coming our way this year. We stop to examine some rather serious looking tutorials and some less serious looking (but highly effective!) typography apps. There’s also a typography challenge for fearless competitors. And we totally agree with this new ‘big’ trend in typography. How about you? Make a Kinetic Typography Video with CSS Check out this tutorial, where they use kinetic typography to create a simple conceptual art piece, timed to a song provided by power pop band, Be Like Pablo. Rather than using After Effects, they take advantage of CSS3 animations and transitions to create the piece with standard web tools: HTML5 and CSS3 for the animation and audio and a smattering of JavaScript to add classes to various elements at appropriate times. Don’t be put off by the language, this is for developers with a secret passion for typography. Read on to find out how the magic is done. 8 Best Typography Apps Take a look at this collection of  free and premium typography apps available online. Why? Because in this modern age of graphics and high definition videos, typography is still a strong pillar for words. If the words are right, and they appear in the right format, no image or video can surpass them. Correct? OK, then pick the apps that serve your immediate needs. Wonder if they serve stencil fonts too… Submit Your Art to This Month’s Typography Challenge You still have time to submit your typography for this month’s Psdtuts+ Design Challenge. Join the community on Google+ and upload your art for the chance to get featured in their monthly reviews. This time they ask you to Create a Typographic Illustration. You can submit your artwork for this challenge using Photoshop accompanied with any additional program or technique of your choice. The deadline? Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 12:00 PM EST. Good luck! Trends: Going Bigger with Typography This guy likes big type and he does his best to convince us that big typography is trending in a major way. Well, we didn’t need much convincing. You should remember that the point of text in your design is to be read. From navigation, to blog entries to item descriptions for e-commerce, type is meant to be seen and understood. Going big is a great way to do that. Read on, it gets… bigger. Essential Design Events for 2013: Typography This is a small part of a bigger list covering essential design events. Those in Germany, Cyprus, Turkey, UK and USA are favored by the gods of typography. There’s also traveling, so don’t despair. You can always attach a lecture or an workshop to your holiday. Enjoy! ‘Typography Cake’ Lets You Send A Message In Batter Here’s something to remind you that the weekend is here: cake! This ‘Typography Cake’ lets you send your message within the sweet treat, by placing edible dough letters at the bottom of the pan (in one straight row) before pouring in all your batter. Bon appetit!