Gourmet Typography returns to SVA in NYC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once again, Ilene teaches her ever-popular Gourmet Typography class at School of Visual Arts in NYC. Take control of your type instead of letting it control you. Learn the typographic skills and secrets of type experts, including selecting the right typeface, mixing type, techniques for emphasis, fine-tuning your type, kerning and spacing, as well as typographic do’s and don’ts. This course will raise the level of your design and production skills and instill an excitement and passion for typography. Check it out...
Upcoming Typography Workshops & Events ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Every creative professional, including the most seasoned designer, can benefit from learning to communicate more effectively with type. This workshop will give you the expert-level typographic skills and aesthetics necessary to visibly improve your type. It will sharpen your eye and reignite your passion for typography.
Gourmet Typography AIGA Orlando Orlando, Florida September 17
Type Rules! 3rd edition book signing and talk: 10 Worst Type Crimes TDC New York, NY September 30
TypeTalk is a regular blog on typography. Post your questions and comments by clicking on the Comments icon above.
Q. Why is stretching or squeezing type in headlines considered a type crime? I occasionally get this request from art directors, clients, and marketing. I know it's considered wrong, but I don’t know how to reply to them.
A. Distorting type in any way, whether it be stretching, squeezing (AKA squishing), or slanting, is a type crime of the highest degree. It distorts the proportions in a way that destroys the integrity of the letter shapes. It can also reduce legibility by creating a fun-house effect.
You can see the effects of artificially condensing a typeface in the Futura example below. It has its own condensed version that maintains pleasing curves and the minimal stroke contrast of the regular version. The computer-scaled version to the far right fails miserably in comparison, with its ugly egg-shaped contours and exaggerated stroke contrast.
Check out the difference between Futura Oblique and the computer-generated slanted version below. The fake slanted version on the right has a more distorted shape, as well as uneven and exaggerated stroke contrast.
Finally, observe the unpleasant result of stretching Univers. The true-drawn extended version, second from the left, looks far better than the two examples of computer stretching on the right.
A way to avoid these requests for artificial distortions is to pick a typeface or type family that contains legitimate, true-drawn width variants. When created by a skillful type designer, a width variant maintains the weight contrast between thick and thins; the relationships of the horizontals and verticals; the axis of the character stress of italics (when applicable); the thickness and integrity of the serifs, if any; the overall width of character; and the spacing.
Don't give in to these requests to "set to fit" or fill in white space! Instead, work with the chosen typefaces and other elements to make a successful composition and overall design.
Love type? Want to know more? Ilene Strizver conducts her acclaimed Gourmet Typography workshops internationally. For more information on attending one or bringing it to your company, organization, or school, go to her site, call The Type Studio at 203-227-5929, or email Ilene at info@thetypestudio.com. Sign up for her e-newsletter at www.thetypestudio.com.
Arrange all your projects appropriately and post the final pieces on your blogs so that Genevieve could go through them quickly for grading.
Please, remember that she has four courses this summer and must do the grading in a five hour window right after Wednesday night class.
Please, DO DOUBLE CHECK THAT YOU HAVE TURNED OFF WORD VERIFICATION IN YOUR BLOG SETTINGS. (She will not grade if she must deal with word verification on each and every blog entry.) a.
This year Blue Note Records celebrate the 70th anniversary of the label’s founding by Alfred Lion (as well as the 25th anniversary of the label’s re-launch in 1984). It is hard to miss – it is the only record label that puts its inception date in the logo. Blue Note Records have exerted a profound influence not only on 20th century music but also on graphic design. As this perfectly fits in our My Type of Music series I’ve tried to find an angle to write something about the seminal covers that graced their records. Though I admire the designs, with a preference for the bold 50s and 60s releases, I must admit I know very little about the history and background, nor about legendary Blue Note art director Reid Miles who was with the label from 1956 to 1965. His sleeves are collected in Blue Note: Album Cover Art - The Ultimate Collection, the paperback compendium of both Chronicle’s classic Blue Note: The Album Cover Art and Blue Note II, and the history of the label is told in Blue Note Records: The Biography. There are also a number of galleries on the internet, like this one on Pixagogo which has the designs in random order, and the Japanese Vintage Vanguard gallery which lists all the releases from 1950 to 1969 in chronological order.
Doing more research yesterday – I know I wasn’t supposed to because May Day is a holiday here, but hey, sue me – I stumbled upon an interesting gallery on community site Rate Your Music. RYM user Monocle (alias for Michael Sean) seems to have a thing for album covers and lists. One of his album cover galleries is Almost Blue, an overview of sleeves that are based on specific releases by Blue Note Records, or that are designed to evoke the classic Blue Note cover art style. Many of Reid Miles’ designs still look ground-breaking today, so it is understandable that contemporary graphic designers sometimes refer to his work. To me it is not always clear whether these new album covers are homages or plain rip-offs, as it is indeed a fine line. Below is a selection of covers from the Monocle gallery – make sure to visit it for more examples. I have added the originals for comparison and some information about the typefaces. The first batch of covers are inspired by – and sometimes even straight-up copies of – specific Blue Note albums.
This one is cheating a bit, because Yule Struttin’ is also a Blue Note Records release. The jumpy Helvetica Inserat nicely visualises the album title(s).
Although the pose is identical (albeit different cropping) the Clarendon used in the original was replaced by a hand drawn serif face and a signature-like treatment of the artist’s name.
The Madness The Heavy Heavy Hits compilation mimics the cut-up typography of Horace Parlan’s Us Three but sticks to Compacta instead of the eclectic mix in the original.
The You Am I cover was originally listed in the section Covers That Mimic the General Blue Note Look, but I’m pretty sure it references Miles Davis (All Stars) Vol. 1 & 2.Futura is completely miscast: I don’t remember ever seen it used like this on a Reid Miles cover. They’d better have stuck with the wide grotesque which I believe is Annonce Grotesque (very similar to an extended Venus, now available as Vonness from The Font Bureau, Inc.).
This one is almost literally lifted except for changing the condensedBasic Commercial into ITC Frankin Condensed. The photographic treatment is so much stronger in the original, and it nicely illustrates why the originals of these covers are unequalled.
Although it enhances the “Blue Note style”, the black bar at the top of the James Taylor Quartet album cover renders it a little claustrophobic. The – perfectly positioned – Aurora Condensed in the original was replaced by a condensed grotesque paired with a Clarendon.
I think we can safely classify this one as satire – a denture!? Helvetica is wrong; it should have been Basic Commercial. The use of News Gothic is consistent.
This design shows how a little change in attitude can alter the atmosphere in a design. I was intrigued by the “Wrecker” on the right – it looks a bit like a customised Antique Olive Nord but it is in fact quite different, most notable the “C”. FontFeed reader William Hastings revealed it is Information Bold Extended, a font that has sadly become unavailable in digital format.
FontFeed reader Tracy Graham pointed out the obvious similarities in the above covers. This is one of the designs where the Blue Note Records logo also is remixed. It’s a shame the digitally condensed Helvetica looks awful – Helvetica Ultra Compressed is much closer to the original.
Some album covers reference Blue note covers more subtly, and one might even wonder if the tribute was intentional.
The second section in Monocle’s list showcases album covers that mimic the classic Blue Note look but are not derived from any specific sleeve. The Raphael Saadiq and Joe Jackson covers are not in the list; they are from two My Type of Music reviews.
And Reid Miles’ influence even crosses over to moving images. In 2004 Burning Vision Entertainment produced a music video for Helicopter Girl’s Angel City. The surprising video interprets the art from various Blue Note LP sleeves. It all looks fabulous, except for the totally inappropriate use of Arial in a couple of screens and some dubious wavy transitions in the text. I know I sound like a broken record – a fitting metaphor in this context – but they could have gone the extra length and chosen their typefaces a bit more carefully. I have added eight of the album sleeves the video is based on for comparison.
FontFeed reader Aleksander Nikolić notified me of another video referencing Blue Note Records album covers. In Gabin’s Into My Soul featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater from 2005 the frame occasionally freezes and type is added to it to make it look like an album sleeve, without mimicking any specific one. This video is by Italian director Daniele Persica.
Our last assignment is Personal Identity/Self Branding.
1. Finish up all your work. Business card, leave behind booklet printed and bound also in PDF form, Web/blog.
2. Put up all your finished work on your blogs.
NOTE: Keep in mind that usually a portfolio has 10-12 pieces. However for the time being you could make a mini portfolio if you don't have that much projects. You could use your previous work that makes sense. Give each project it's own spread. If the project is extensive it may take more than one spread. Do not place two different projects on one spread. You could photograph your pieces and use those or you could use flat files. (Whatever makes sense.) Be creative with the format, bounding and presentation.
FontShop.com is more than a site that sells fonts — we want to help you do great work too. That’s why we created our new Education page. Enhance your design skills, whether you’re a student in Type 101 or a seasoned professional.
The Education page premieres with four docs filled with typography tips and tutorials from our team of experts. The PDFs are formatted for easy downloading and printing, perfect for the classroom or studio.
Meet Your Type A Field Guide to Typography
Why settle for casual flirtation when looking for a long-lasting relationship? Finding the perfect match is easy if you know the rules. “Meet Your Type” will help you overcome common obstacles, and keep your heart thumping for your one true love: typography.
Created in collaboration with students at Brigham Young University, this fully illustrated booklet is written in a casual, light-hearted tone that’s easy to read, and hard to put down. Packed with useful textbook info — without the boring textbook text.
Brands of logo designers, brand identity consultants and graphic studios.
Left to right from top to bottom: Siegel+Gale Wolff Olins Entermotion Publicis Groupe S.A. TYPO Interactive Design Inc. Fantique Simon & Goetz Design Pentagram Fitch Vanderbyl Gemma LLdesign Muamer 160over90 Tom Cannon Design Kane+Associates BrandBerry Brandcore Duffy & Partners Lance Wyman Ltd. Neogrey Creative Mono Design:Success Denis Olenik Double Brand Dache De Masi Jones Nomadesign
Once again, Ilene teaches her ever-popular Gourmet Typography class at School of Visual Arts in NYC. Take control of your type instead of letting it control you. Learn the typographic skills and secrets of type experts, including selecting the right typeface, mixing type, techniques for emphasis, fine-tuning your type, kerning and spacing, as well as typographic do’s and don’ts. This course will raise the level of your design and production skills and instill an excitement and passion for typography. Check it out...
Every creative professional, including the most seasoned designer, can benefit from learning to communicate more effectively with type. This workshop will give you the expert-level typographic skills and aesthetics necessary to visibly improve your type. It will sharpen your eye and reignite your passion for typography.
