20three » Typography

Tankboys: Manifesto project 2010

Owen — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:26:08 +0000

Tankboys are an independent design studio based in Venice. I recently got hold of their book: Manifesto. Information about this project from their site:

To say that the end result is what counts is just not true. Especially in design. Rather, a good designer is more concerned with the process; that winding, potholed road he embarks upon every time he gets a new job.

“Manifesto.” is an ongoing project that leaves the final result to one side so as to focus on the creative process. It brings together under one roof the personal manifestos of some of today’s smartest and most renowned international designers.

Whilst some of these statements are very well known, others have been prepared exclusively for the project: some are programmatic pieces of writing, some are detailed work manuals, all are passionate tributes to graphic design, creativity and the design culture.

Reading these manifestos without the authors work shown alongside is an interesting set up as the reality of the finished product does not interfere with the readers interpretation of the words and ideas. Although I am aware of many of the designers work it was still novel to read the words and not see the work – the ideas on process and ‘design philosophy’ can then be taken at their face value and I can imagine more easily applying those ideas to my own work and design processes.

Going back about seven years, when 20three was a working studio, I toyed with the idea of writing a manifesto, or a statement of intent. It never materialized and looking back I think I was lacking the clarity of purpose that is needed to put such concise thoughts to paper. Reading these collected manifestos is inspiring and has given me the motivation to look again at seeing if I can sum up my own design philosophy in a short manifesto.

I wanted to re-produce a couple of the manifestos so readers of this blog get a taste of the book – there are a few I could have chosen but The cult of Done by Bre Pettis and Kio Stark is definitely one of my favorites, possibly as it made me smile the most.

The cult of Done Manifesto

01 There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.

02 Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get done.

03 There is no editing stage.

04 Pretending you know what you’re doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you’re doing even if you don’t and do it.

05 Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.

06 The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.

07 Once you’re done you can throw it away.

08 Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done.

09 People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.

10 Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.

11 Destruction is a variant of done.

12 If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.

13 Done is the engine of more.

Although the book is now sold out, you can read the manifesto’s here: http://www.manifestoproject.it

Sketchbook: 20three type

Owen — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:57:04 +0000

I did do some post production work on this scan from my sketchbook – I made the image grayscale then reversed the colours, making the image white on black. The letters were also generated on the computer then printed out, cut up and glued into my sketchbook.

The font I have thoroughly abused is Futura Book. Paul Renner is probably spinning in his grave, considering that legibility was a fundamental concern when he designed Futura, widly known as the first mass produced geometric sans-serif typeface.

Ah well, destroy your heroes and all that.

Science Fiction book covers: a small selection

Owen — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 16:33:53 +0000

Following on from Grahams post about sci-fi and in particular his appreciation of pulp sci-fi cover art, I have scanned and uploaded a small selection of sci-fi books I have picked up over the years.

I have got round to reading most of them but I choose them for the cover art and a few remain unread. Many of these books were bought from Rainbow books on Trafalgar street, Brighton. A few by Azimov I picked up in Solway books in Kircudbright.

I have added the designer or illustrator if one is credited.

06 Cover illustration: Chris Foss

07 Cover illustration: Chris Foss

08 Cover illustration: Chris Foss

09 Cover illustration: Chris Foss

13 Cover photograph: Dennis Rolf

14 Cover photograph: Dennis Rolf

15 Cover illustration: David Pelham

17 Cover illustration: Tony Roberts

18 Cover illustration: Paul Stinson

23 Cover illustration: Paul Monteagle

FlashBrighton lecture: Typography and the modern

Owen — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:12:53 +0000

I was asked if I would like to talk to the Flash Brighton developer group, Flash Brighton about typography. The talk will be on the 19th January, the first Flash Brighton talk of 2010.

To keep my talk manageable I have decided to talk about the development of typographic design in relation to the birth and growth of Modernism, starting from the early 1900’s and up to the present day.

Details about were and when my talk is happening can be found here.

Find out about Flash Brighton here

Photographer’s stamp

Owen — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:08:17 +0000

Just before Christmas I designed a graphic for photographer Nhung Dang. She had a clear idea what she wanted, a homage to the Carte De Visit, popular in the 1800’s. In particular Nhung wanted me to produce a graphic that mimicked the photographers stamp usually placed on the back of the Carte De Visit. These stamps are a wonderful example of typographic execution in the decades before Modernism finally took hold of popular culture and revolutionized typographic design.

Here is the graphic I produced:

Here are some of the original designs I ripped off used as reference.

Typographic Brighton

Owen — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:39:21 +0000

I often take pictures of interesting type, signage & numerals. As most other designers I know, I have an unhealthy obsession with all things typographical. I started saving my images of type on flickr so they could be used as a public resource but wanted do do something more interesting with them. While playing around with google maps I thought creating a google map with my images of Brighton type would be an interesting proposition. Although there is no real use to my typographical map – I doubt anyone would really need to know the exact location of were I took a particular image – the typographical map does do one important job – it illustrates the varied and vast use of type that exists in our urban spaces.

Logo on disused petrol pump, Seven Dials. Brighton.

If any Brighton residents want to provide images or suggest type & numerals I should document please get in touch: owen [ at ] hermetech.net

View Typographic Brighton here

Fish & Chip shop menu

Owen — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:39:08 +0000

Well. I just have to share these. I used to visit this Fish & Chip Shop close to Brighton train station quite often, I can’t say the fish & chips were amazing but they did the job. What is far more interesting is the proprietors insistence in making all his own menus & signs. He has the no -smoking sign down to an art, there being several hand drawn versions dotted round his chip shop, but it is his menus that make me smile the most, especially the photos of lonely pots of mushy peas pinned to the sides of his menu board.

Please excuse the quality of image, these were taken with a 3G iphone whose camera is a bit weak.

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Jost Hochuli: Detail in Typography

Owen — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:02:21 +0000

Or, to give it it’s full title: Detail In Typography, Letters, Letter spacing, words, word spacing, lines, line spacing, columns. (Amazon UK)

Detail in Typography… is one of the more recent publications by Hyphen Press, the imprint set up by Robin Kinross; typographer, author & critic. Published for the first time in English last year (2008), Detail in Typography… was first published in ~~Germany~~ Switzerland in 2005 and it’s translation to English has given this slim book a much deserved wider audience.

Detail in Typography… is not just a guide to making clear & legible text. Hochuli also discusses what makes an aesthetically pleasing layout, and why layouts can still appear dull even after all the ‘rules’ have been strictly adhered to.

Covering all the elements which make up a column of text the book is split into the following chapters: The reading process, The letter, The word, The line, Line spacing & the column and The qualities of type. This segregation gives Detail in Typography… a clear and defined structure, reflecting the principles of the subject matter perfectly. Jost Hochuli also stresses that Detail in Typography… should not be regarded as infallible. Hochuli counts on “intelligent designers finding appropriate solutions”.

In the words of the author in his introduction:

“While macrotypography - the typographic layout – is concerned with the format of the printed matter, with the size and position of the columns of type and illustrations, with the organization of the hierarchy of headings, subheadings and captions, detail typography is concerned with the individual components – letters, letterspacing, words, wordspacing, lines and linespacing, columns of text. These are the components that graphic or typographic designers like to neglect, as they fall outside the area that is normally regarded as ‘creative’…

…There are many matters of detail typography which one can, in good conscience, resolve differently. The author would certainly not want this book to be regarded as an infallible catechism: rather, he counts on intelligent designers, who, in the spirit of this book, finds appropriate solutions to the problems that arise in a given context, even though not all potential problems are dealt with in this text”

Typography is happily no longer an esoteric art to the average designer and over the last few years there have been a plethora of typography books arriving on the market as the art of typography becomes increasingly accessible: we all now have the possibility of access to thousands of fonts, the expensive cumbersome metal type having made its way onto the desktop computer. With typography being such a huge subject Hochuli’s classification and definition of ‘micro typography’ (a term Hochuli first coined in 1987) makes Detail in Typography… another welcome addition to the range of useful and informative books on the subject of type.

For the established designer Detail in Typography… is a great refresher, a reminder of how concise composition can reside in the detail. For the student or the designer just starting out and wanting reference for typography I would say Detail in Typography… is essential – understand and appreciate ‘micro typography’ and students of design will have a solid foundation for dealing with all things type and type related.

As with all Hyphen books Detail in Typography… is beautifully designed. The red and black colour scheme is striking and effective, the inside covers of solid red a nice touch. Hochuli always backs up his observations and comments with detailed illustrations and examples. Not only a useful text on type, a beautiful book too.

For anyone interested in further reading on typography I would recommend the following two books:

For a contextual look at the history of type I would recommend Modern Typography: an essay in critical history by Robin Kinross. Although currently out of print a re-print is expected soon . From the books back cover, a quote from Matthew Carter, Eye magazine;

“As a brief history of typography it is difficult to think how it could be better.”

I could not put it any better myself. The cover has also got an uncoated finish in bright yellow, although impractical and soon was covered by my newsprint fingerprints, looks amazing.

Before this post becomes a Hyphen press love-in I would also recommend The Elements of Typographic Style by Richard Bringhurst for a wider look on the practical application of type. Often quoted as the ‘bible of typography’. But not by me.

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