In most cases we would consider automated font adjustment (using the bold button in MS word rather than using a bolder font weight) a crime against the printed word. LAIKA however, seems to have taken the automated rendering of typography in a new direction with shockingly good results. LAIKA is the BA thesis work of Nicolas Kunz and Michael Flückiger and is one of the first examples we’ve come across of real time dynamic type rendering.
“Type has always been something static.
In considering type we speak, for example, in terms of bold, thin, grotesque, classical, roman, italic: terms that all describe a defined variant of the font family. Thus we only ever see individual fixed points in what is actually an infinitely wide space of possibilities.
With digitalisation, however, typeface has left its manifest image – cast in lead – behind, and with it all the associated limitations. Computer-based applications, the Internet and new, fluid advertising media allow us to go beyond the existing, static view of typography.” -from LAIKA website.
Job Waouters, aka The Letman has an uncanny ability to create beautiful expressive typography. As illustrated in the video, he puts type on paper with a deceiving ease. With more and more design and correspondence done digitally, it’s increasingly special to see such beautiful hand lettering.
Any decent designer knows, if you do good type your work stands out. Brand spankin new foundry Hype for Type is bringing you some new faces to spruce up your arsenal from the likes of Neu Black favorites including Si Scott, Hello Hikimori, and Luke Lucas. Get a jump on these while all your co-workers are still guzzling haterade. When they finally come around you can be like “Oh yeah, I used that on a poster last year”.
What do you get when you combine the graphic design geekdom of kerning letter pairs with the pacing of Tetris? Answer: The KERN iPhone App by FORMation. Letters must be inserted with pinpoint precision into place within words. A hair too far to the left or right and you’ll loose a life (measured in ligatures). Available from the iTunes Store for 99 cents. The words themselves are graphic design themed. Props for giving tribute to Rudy Vanderlans (of Emigre fame) among others. Video demo after the jump.
If only we could express in words how long and hard the struggle was to learn how to do good typography. We really could have used this wonderful new reference just released by Massimo Vignelli when we were first trying to figure this stuff out.
We may have to change the name of this site to the Neu Green because when we were in school less than a decade ago, you had to buy these kind books (and they were not cheap) assuming you could even find them. You kids these days get everything off the internet for free, like this book, which is beyond awesome.
Rome based designer Alberto Seveso is quickly becoming famous for his photo / graphic style. His work has most recently graced the cover of Trendsetter Magazine’s October issue and the most recent interview with Pro Surfer Kelly Slater. We were delighted to see a return to a more traditional graphic approach, further demonstrating the talent of this designer. While Seveso gives us little insight into the man behind these pieces,he does not hesitate to say “[It] does not really matter who I am or where I come from … my illustrations speak for me.”
Alberto “Sting” Russo A.K.A. AreaDesign Creative Communications is both a Graphic Designer and Graffiti artist working out of Lausanne, Switzerland. Russo founded his studio back in 2000 and has quite a portfolio to show for it. The main drive is graphic design mixed with illustration, type treatments, and photography. Russo works with a wide range of industries and medias, from street art to corporations, and does it in a way that sets him way apart from the rest.
British/Illustrator Si Scott dazzles us with swirls and curls that we swear are moving even though we know they are standing still. With work for BBC, Nike, and Paul Smith apparently we aren’t the only ones that are impressed. If you love what you see, as much as we do, you can pick up one of his prints at Soma Gallery.
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