Typography: The Neglected Child of the Design Family

I really love this poster for two reasons.  First, it looks awesome.  Second, it is so very true.  Typography is the nearly forgotten element in mainstream design appreciation.  Everyone notices graphics and colors, but not typography.  I mean let's face it.  If everyone appreciated good typography, Comic Sans would not be in use anymore.  However, the fact that type is unnoticed is not necessarily a bad thing.  I've said it before, and I will continue to say it, because I think it is true.  Good typography is unnoticeable.  It's blends in perfectly with a design.  Type that calls undue attention to itself is type that is working against the design.  It's our job, as designers, to make the type invisible...but let's appreciate it anyway.  Type has feelings, too, you know.

"United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru..."

First of all, those who can identify the reference made in the blog title win 1000 internet points.  Just wanted to lay that out there.  As for this piece, I absolutely love it.  Again, it is a wonderful example of how our brain fill in missing bits of type and how clever typography can convey a message with very minimal effort.  I would personally love this on a wall.  Not as framed art, mind, but the full wall.  To me, it's just that good.

E Pluribus Unum

Created by Louise Fili Ltd, this poster is an extremely detailed blend of graphics and typography.  Over 8400 tiles were digitally manipulated to create this mosaic subway poster for the School of Visual Arts.  It's a marvelous example of little details that make the design what it is.  If you have the time, it never hurts to sweat the details. 

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So, my mom actually pointed this business' logo out to me, and I have to say...it is not very well designed.  She said she had trouble reading it as she was driving by, and I figured out why she did.  You see, normally when you read, your brain is not actually translating the individual letters in a word into sounds.  Your brain is actually recognizing the word and linking it to the sound and meaning you remember.  This is why when we come to word we don't recognize, we slow down and sound it out.  Our brain is learning the new word.  The typography on this logo looks very nice, but it is not very readable.  The lower-case letters make it a single entity, and since it doesn't register as a word we know, it is difficult to read.  Especially driving by on the highway.  A lesson to learn.  Just because it looks nice, doesn't mean it works.

"I'm the font that Gotham deserves..."

These superhero typographic posters were created by Matthew Olin, a Minnesota-based designer, for his MFA Thesis exhibition.  I'm a comic nerd, so this appeals to me on a number of levels, but it's also very fascinating in a typographical sense.  Each poster is of a style of font (serif, sans-serif, etc.), and each style has been given a set of "personality traits."  These traits were then matched to a comic book hero, which is created using that style of font.  It's an amazingly in-depth body of work, as he had to study each style and discover these traits that make them what they are.  Bravo, good sir.  Bravo.

*clever and witty title*

As our current assignment is designing a wordmark, I thought I would post on that.  In Here is a traveling art gallery working within themes and space, and raising money for important causes.  Their goal is to gain exposure to visual artists, curators, and collaborators, while temporarily revitalizing vacant locations and recycling functional space in a non-destructive way.  As you can see, the logo is applicable in a variety of uses and forms.  It is a simple design, yet works well at communicating to the viewer.

Robin Hood: Man in Tux

So!  Since our current assignment is mainly centered around a logo, I figured that I would post an award winning logo this week and talk about it in a very professional way.  This is not going to happen.  I'm going to droll all over this logo and basically geek out on it.  I LOVE THIS LOGO!  It was made for a Nottingham, England-based jazz band.  The logo references Nottingham's legendary bowman, Robin Hood, while also referencing the jazz aspect.  I love how simple and brilliant this is!  Robin Hood has been a favorite legend of mine ever since I was very very little, and this is just so amazing!  Ok...I think I'm done.

*squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!*

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November...

This 2011 Greater Lehigh Valley Ad Club Gold ADDY Award winning video demonstrates an advanced technique in the realm of typography.  Namely, kinetic typography, also called type in motion.  The audio is from the amazing movie "V for Vendetta."  While the above film is cool to watch, it also does something to the dialogue that perhaps gets lost in the spectacle of the motion picture it is taken from.  While you watch the type unfold, you see the words connecting and weaving in and out of one another.  You see the brilliance of the alliteration and you see one word seamlessly flow into the next.  That RIGHT THERE, ladies and gentlemen, is what typography should do.  It should take words and make them images.  Typography exposes the truth and brilliance of a message and gives it to the reader in a way that flows seamlessly and fluidly.  Great typography enhances words.

A Pirate's Life for Me!

 As any long time blog followers might know, one of the first blogs I did was on the 826 Valencia Pirate Supply Store.  Well, since today is Talk Like a Pirate Day, I figured it was well worth a revisit.  The award winning packaging design for this, and other pirate products, was designed by Office, a San Francisco based design firm.   All of the designs done for the Pirate Supply Store have a wonderful sense of humor to them and I love the concept of all of the products.  The best part?  Online shopping is available and all proceeds go to fund 826 Valencia's writing programs.  So, me hearties, FILL YOUR HOLDS WITH BOOTY! It's for a good cause, after all.

Blending In vs. Standing Out

This poster was created by English graphic designer Craig Ward and raises a particularly good point.  The good typography is the typography you don't notice.  In any design that incorporates type, it is the responsibility of the type to work alongside the design to better convey the message.  Type that falls out of step with it's design partner is not only noticeable, but it detracts from the message that you are trying to deliver.  This poster conveys this message wonderfully.  It's a lesson for us all to learn.

How Dry I Am

This book cover for a memoir of Augusten Burroughs was designed by Chip Kidd, and was actually explained a little during a recent talk of his given at the international TED conference.  Kidd explained that, in the book, Burroughs recounts his time as a raging alcoholic, yet one in denial, and his journey out of that.  Kidd went on to say how, to him, "this was always going to be a typographic solution, what [he called] the opposite of Type 101."  He said that, unlike standard typographic practices, where the type matches the meaning or intent of the word, he wanted to do the complete opposite.  As he put it, "I want this book to look like it's lying to you, desperately and hopelessly, the way an alcoholic would."  His solution?  Set up the type, print it off on an Epson printer with water-soluble ink, and throw a bucket of water at it.  The resulting effect is very powerful and extremely effective.  I say bravo, Mr. Kidd.  Bravo.

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark..."

"Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,

And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,

I will be brief." -Hamlet Act 2, scene 2,

I am a huge Shakespeare fan, having acted in many of his plays, including Hamlet.  In fact, I delivered the above line (the irony of which is that, after saying this, the character goes on for a few more pages).  This poster for a production put on by the Saratoga Shakespeare Company was designed by Palio, a design firm out of Saratoga Springs, NY.  It is utterly brilliant.  For those who aren't familiar with the play, the main character, Hamlet, slowly descends into madness as the play progresses.  This poster conveys that quite well.  The man is covering his face, yet one eye stares out.  Hiding, yet seeking.  Looking at this, you know nothing happy is going to come of this.  I love it.

The poster comes courtesy of the Graphis website.

"There can be only one..."

ITC Highlander

ITC Highlander was designed by David Farey and released in 1993. Highlander is a tribute to the Cooper typeface, designed by early 20^th century American typeface designer and lettering artist Oswald Cooper. Farey, a long time fan of Cooper, modeled this sans-serif typeface in the handlettering style of the Cooper typeface. While Oswald Cooper never released a sans-serif typeface, there were sans-serif letterforms used in a number of lettering exercises that he produced, which Farey also drew upon in his designing of ITC Highlander.   

Oh, Canada...

I seriously love this logo because it has almost no right to be as brilliant as it is.  The logo was made by the MacLaren McCann firm, which is based out of Calgary, a providence of Alberta, Canada.  The logo was created for Murray Piano Services.  It has no right to be this brilliant because it is so simple.  It's not flashy or innovative or groundbreaking.  It is, quite simply, five piano keys from a point of view that you rarely see them, and they resemble an M.  I love this logo because it has no right to be this brilliant.  Gotta love Canadian ingenuity. 

The photo is courtesy of the Graphis website.