Minimalist web design
Nothing quite like being featured in a minimalist web design post in the midst of a half-assed live redesign. In any case, you might find some better inspiration there.
Skolar
David Březina has officially released Skolar, a typeface designed for multilingual, scholarly publications.
Stereotypes
Paul Shaw looks at the use of “ethnic typography” for Print Magazine, and finds that it serves its own purpose.
They are shortcuts, visual mnemonic devices. There is no room for cultural nuance or academic accuracy in a shop’s fascia. Restaurant owners want passersby (often in cars rather than on foot) to know immediately that they serve Chinese (or Greek, or Jewish) food.
His article also examines the background behind a few of the more popular typefaces. I understand that these typefaces serve a purpose, but I still balk at the use of Papyrus as an “Irish” font.
Lucas on film making
Michael Heilemann dug up an interview with George Lucas from 1971, shortly after Warner Brothers had finished butchering THX 1138. At this point, you can see that he’s pretty disillusioned with Hollywood, and how that pushed him towards the creation of Lucasfilm.
Growth through failure
From an interview with Paula Scher on failure and how it helps you to grow.
When you’re fulfilling a function—when you’re being obedient, in other words, you’re doing as expected—you can’t learn anything. Because you already know the answer. It’s through mistakes that you actually can grow.
You have to get bad in order to get good. You have to try a lot of things and fail in order to make the next discovery.
Rock the block
Tetris celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary this week. I remember long family roadtrips and playing Tetris against my brothers using two original gameboys that were tethered together. During my student days, there were also many evenings devoted to heads-up Tetris 2 with friends on a crusty old SNES.
A special type specimen
Amassblog tells the unique story behind a beat-up and battered type specimen. Saying anything more would probably ruin the surprise.
Homebrew CPU
Steve Chamberlin created his own custom 8-bit CPU, which he dubbed Big Mess of Wires. It brings me back to my assembly language class and the late night bug hunts, there’s something very visceral about talking directly to the machine.
Designing Klang
Work Associates recently created a typographically inspired cover for Klang, the third album from The Rakes. Given that the album was recorded in Berlin, Work turned to the Bauhaus movment and the work of Ludwig Hirshfeld Mack for inspiration. Hirschfeld-Mack developed a light and colour modulator apparatus, to provide a visual translation of music.
Typographic opinion
A recent NYT opinion piece, The Economy is Still at the Brink, received a full page typographic treatment in the print edition with big Victorian style pull quotes that are only hinted at online. The treatment lends a voice and sense of urgency to the story, that is lost in the digital translation.