THIS WEEK FROM THE DESK

This week was Monotype's annual Font Marathon where two of their type designers try to design a new and complete font in a week.... a daunting task. The event is highly transparent as they're sharing the progress all the time on Facebook Live and Instagram. I've been enjoying it through Terrance Weinzierl's Instagram account and the #fontmarathon hashtag. There are some fun and challenging entries this year. 

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If you don't follow it already, @mintneverhinged's account filled with vintage and beautiful stamps is just amazing. 

James Edmondson had an interview with Goodhertz this week in an attempt to relate typefaces to musical plugins. It's a bright few minutes. 

I finally got around to listening to this, and I'm a little bummed I waited. Take a listen to this seminar turned podcast held in October with Erik Spiekermann, V&A Curator Johanna Agerman Ross and architecture critic Peter Murray on the topic of what makes good design. 

In trying to keep up with the latest advance in the type world—Variable Fonts—I check in on the #variablefonts hashtag on twitter every so often and its really amazing to see the convention evolve before you. There have been some fascinating things being posted by some very smart people. 

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THIS WEEK FROM THE DESK

The Casual Optimist has great monthly lists of interesting Book Covers. I can;t say they're all amazing, but some of them are. See the November list here. 

Currently desiring this new tote from Colophon Foundry. 

The biggest news this week was of Donald Trump winning the US Election. A lot of folks (turns out a majority of voters, actually) are pretty bummed. This chapbook excerpt set and printed by Dwiggins in 1944 published on twitter this week dulled the stinging edge a little. Its a great piece about optimism and togetherness, and proof that good design can rise from all climates. All things I think we Americans need reassurance of this week. 

A fantastic read for all designers from FastCompany addressing post-election emotions and picking up the pieces and moving on in a positive way. (This image from Debbie Millman sums things up well.)

In lieu of it being a rather long week, it has helped to just look at some beautiful things, and one of our studio's favorite things to stop and look at for a while is the work of Les Graphiquants.

Released through Type Together this week, Garalda is a Garamond inspired text and display face with special attention paid to its italic, which makes for some rather interesting characters. Published with its release is a mini site with in depth details on its development and good answers to questions like "Why tackle the Garamond theme now?". 

Also, It's Veterans Day here in the US

Just a little reminder, thank, hug, talk to, call, engage with, mention, or promote a Veteran today. 

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THIS WEEK FROM THE DESK

Adobe Typekit launched it's type licensing engine under the name Marketplace this week. It has brought together all kinds of independent foundries to make fonts available for sale to all. The most promising aspects of Typekit's Marketplace are it's unified EULA and access to Adobe Original fonts. Read more on their launch page here. 

Victoria Rushton released a rather emphatic text face in 6 weights with Italics called Embury this week. It's available through her foundry page on Type Network. 

Jaguar's recent content devotional to type design and American-British design conversations is really well done and full of video, images, and soundbites worth sharing. The headlining video featuring Colophon Foundry is a great highlight. 

The Royal Mint released a redesigned £1 Coin this week with more features than you'd believe could fit in 23 cm. It's "micro-lettering", and cool security traits make it rather fascinating. Check out the Apple-style video for all the details on this metallic wonder. 

I have fond memories of growing up in new Jersey, attending shows at the Papermill Playhouse in Millburn, and now that Perky Bros has beautifully branded new restaurant Common Lot just around the corner, I desperately want to go back. BP&O profiles the design on their blog. 

It broke last week that MoMA acquired the original set of emoji designed by Shigetaka Kurita. It s great to see where the modern day ones originally came from. 

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THIS WEEK FROM THE DESK

It's the type family we didn't know we needed. Grilli has launched their long awaited GT America family, a stylish net of 84 styles. The types are sharp, and incredibly versatile, but the most incredible thing about the project right now might just be the mini-site they created for it. 

Well, not exactly, but they are seeing new branding. The rebrand, done by Work-Order, is classic Kodak meets the ways of the now. It's appropriate, and rife for future adaptation. See the new look here. 

This article from Story Brand is a good quick read, and one to hand out to clients, on constructive ways to get and maintain healthy client-designer relationships. 

If you're a fan of Futura, this is the show for you. There will be a special exhibition at the Gutenberg Museum outside of Frankfurt, Germany from Nov. 3, 2016 until April 2017. I really hope I find myself out there before its up. Visit the exhibition site for more. 

Fontstand published this write up about František Štorm of Štorm Type and his devotion to modern revivals. A good read to see more about a talented designer's process. 

Dan Cassaro and Dan Christofferson have joined up under the Young Jerks moniker, creating a source of awesome power to be reckoned with now emanating from their position in the the Graphic Design Universe. New site, same Dans, what a dream team. 

It was a pleasure to read this article from TPTQ Arabic on the Education of Future type designers, something the non-latin world of type design desperately needs. They set up the first 6 week intensive Arabic type design program and have some interesting results from the projects completed on view. Read all about it here. 

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THIS WEEK FROM THE DESK

The announcement of Variable Fonts have probably raised more questions than answers about their application and possibilities, but TypeShift is really helping to bring things into view. Looks like a promising tool to visualize Variable Fonts. 

This week, TypeTogether released Fino—an extensive family packed with personality and perfect for editorial projects. I'm sure this will be a big hit with the likes of W Magazine and more adventurous runway periodicals, among many others. Check it out here. 

Interesting read on how fonts are "so hot right now" in the fashion world. The examples they give here are expected and lack real insight, but perhaps this is a topic the Badson Blog will conquer in more depth soon. Read it here. 

Designer CJ Dunn has been working on fonts in his practice for years, but finally put them together for sale through his new online foundry CJ Type, first of which is Dunbar. 

If Koln's site were food, it would be delicious. The new studio site is a treat for the eyes, and the brain. 

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THIS WEEK FROM THE DESK

Sharp Type released what might be one of the most expansive type families we've seen in a while. Clocking in at a hefty 249 fonts, Sharp Grotesk is still packed with style. Check out the whole family on the new Sharp Type Site. 

"Swipe to change typefaces" is the instruction, but this interactive type specimen from Typotheque is all print, and amazing, and only 5 Euros. Such a big fan of this. Bought! 

New work alert: The always impressive Triboro Design form Brooklyn's latest branding work for contemporary French restaurant Sauvage is adventurous design with an artistic twist. View the full project on their site here. 

The latest independent type foundry to join with TypeNetwork is Newlyn, the brand-focused foundry created and manned by Englishman Miles Newlyn. Read the announcement here. 

Read this interview with John D. Jameson and his passionate niche in the type world. Type Specimens on the web are the future, and we all know they could be much more than they are now. Keep up the quest, John. 

If you want to talk about environmental type, few people have more fun with it than Paula Scher. Her team at Pentagram have created type that stretches the length of the the new 'boardwalk' at Rockaway Beach. See more of the full project here. 

Montreal based designers Olivier Charland & Cécile Garièpy have joined up to form Par Hasard, a new graphic design firm with a promising future in art direction.

Marc Valli & Amandas Ong have published a new book through Lawrence King on the return to simple means in illustration and art direction. The book is sadly already sold out, but it remains on the studio Christmas list anyway. 

The famed design studio Huge launched a new content department this week called Magenta, based primarily on Medium. It's set to champion the way people use and contribute to Medium for the design industry-centric mind. One of their first major articles published was an interview with Tobias Frere-Jones, and it is a good one. It's a typical "Day in the Life", but with lots of genuine insights from the man himself. Definitely worth the read, perhaps more than once. 

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