David Pidgeon "Geometry of Type" talk

I was fortunate to attend David's presentation "The Geometry of Type" on Monday (December 7, 2009) at the Australian Museum. Looking at David's work, I got many ideas for future projects about how to take an idea and simplify it to its essence. How to use simple shapes, lines and colour to communicate deep and complex concepts.

Event Summary
Keen to see the alphabet from a different angle? David Pidgeon, from Design By Pidgeon in Melbourne, looks at restricting the roman alphabet to strict geometries in an attempt to explore form, legibility, visual perception, dimension, points of view, perspective, colour, animation and modularity.

His passion for design excellence can be witnessed in the evolution of his work in the last decade. The son of a mathematician and of Italian/Anglo Saxon descent, David has embarked on a journey in design that is influenced by the way he sees the world. He pursues diversity in clients and output, which in turn employs a curious mix of playful yet intelligent; precise yet intuitive output.

His experiments in typographic form are a process that he has pursued since being a student and one of the creative threads that draws his work together.

David is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) and has recently returned from speaking at the ICOGRADA World Design Congress in Beijing.
(source: AGDA's event listing)

David Pidgeon's typography work





http://pidgeon.com.au/

COFA Colour Colloquium 2009

The official title is actually
"1st COFA Colour Colloquium: New Perspectives to Teaching Colour - An Interdisciplinary Approach"

It's an event I attended today, which was most stimulating and in a way mentally exhausting. But it made my head swirl with ideas and my belly fill with emotions. So I had this idea, while taking down notes, to capture the essence of the speeches by using just phrases. I mean, really, who takes detailed notes these days, and more importantly, who actually re-reads them? I noticed that many ideas can be captured with just a few words, so here is my version.

Word clouds generated by brilliant Jonathan Feinberg from Wordle




Text aggregation of phrases
colour is completely subjective
colour classification is complex
lightness and darkness seem to be more important than hue
Ginger Riley
Ewald Namatjira
colour teleports us to a particular space in our consciousness
colour takes us to dreaming space
anthropology of colour
language of colour
detox from overstimulation
stop and observe
nature is the best teacher
colour detox
icons are windows to other dimensions
expand the way we deliver knowledge in the future through holograms
reduce information input and seek focus
David Bachelor
colour understanding is in observation, especially observation of nature
seeing reproduction is a very different experience from seeing the original work
go to a museum!
artwork aura
experimenting and altering perception
effect is dependent on your level of awareness
ability to perceive
walking in silence awakens heightened perception
relationship between intuition and knowledge
student needs to find a way to serve her/his individual needs
pink is the colour of the future
all the knowledge you need is out there
buy paints with single pigment
mix your own!
desire to seek
colours don't exist in vacuum
year-long cruise is best for learning

Barbara Glauber speaks at Billy Blue

As the principal of graphic design studio Heavy Meta, Barbara designs publications, exhibition and information graphics, identities, and other projects for a client list which includes Atlantic Records, the Museum of Modern Art, The New York Times, the Whitney Museum, Yahoo! and the Contemporary Jewish Museum.

Aside from designing for her arts and entertainment industry clients, she has edited, curated and designed exhibitions; judged competitions; taught classes and workshops; and directed creatively.

She has served as chair for the American Center for Design 100 Show and occasionally works as creative director on large scale projects with the Brand Integration Group of Ogilvy & Mather.

She is a founding partner of the Smoking Gun website and is on the faculty at Yale University as critic in graphic design, alongside luminaries such as Tobias Frere-Jones, Irma Boom, Karin Fong, Matthew Carter and Michael Bierut.

Her work is in the collection of the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and has won numerous awards.

Barbara Glauber loves typography and chocolate; during her talk, titled 'Heavy Meta: Design and the Informational Baroque', passions will be exposed, methods unveiled and stories shared - a presentation that will provoke, inspire and delight.

Source: AGDA Events page


Barbara's Brilliant Infographics

Are you well hung?

The Brief
Pick a typography rule out of a hat and design A3 poster communicating the rule. The copy limitation is 300 words, and the post must have a hand-rendered element to it.

Design Outcome
I originally pulled out "headers and sub-headers," but the caveat was that we could trade the rules amongst ourselves, and I finally ended up with "hanging punctuation." Yes! I've explored a few ideas, such as "hanging here does not mean death by suspension, but failure to use it could be fatal to your design reputation." But I keep hearing that sex sells, so I went with "are you well hung?"

I actually cut out the woman shape, the letters and boxes with a scalpel, and the top part is a pattern made of felt (I bought it, hehe). There is also a string of jewels at the very top to add dimension. Much of the inspiration for my Semester 2 work came from paper crafts and scrapbooking, including this one.


Semester 2: Typography with Jodie Richards

Typography with Flash

This is my research for the Typography assignment to animate text with Flash. From what we've heard, it's a complete pain setting type in Flash because of its way of interpreting vectors. It also doesn't handle kerning well. The discussion in class recommends the following to combat Flash's font problems:

1. Use monospaced fonts, if you can.
   
2. Use pixel fonts ( and make sure to turn off anti-aliasing); this font cannot be scaled.
3. If using anti-aliasing setting, use either "for animation" or "readability", just choose one and use it for the whole document to avoid Flash embedding the font twice.
   

So I've identified these properties as "safe" to manipulate in Flash:

• size
• transparency
• color
• speed of motion
• placing letters and words inside each other
• using color blocks
• diagonals
• and simple motion on a path

The theme for my animation is Victorian Era love. A Count is finally free to be with his eternal love, and he sings to her soul about his all-consuming feelings.

Some Inspirations
Although some of these were done with AfterEffects, there are still transitions and motions that can be observed and learned. Look past the 3D and watch the motion and interactions of shapes.

Type and music

Soft and personal, just the way I talk to Earth.

Typography rules in motion

Take a journey into the world of all the little details of typographic rules. What's an ascender and x-height? What is the difference between leading and kerning?

The Vancouver Film School brings you this dynamic animated poster to explain just that.

Playing with type

Better way to learn your ABCs, cute and fun too!








And this one is an interesting play on negative space.

Expressive typography

This scene from Pulp Fiction using only Rockwell typeface, 3 colors and no music. The power of this typographic sketch is the alignment and spacing. Beautiful and incredibly effective piece of typography.

Russian folk tale illustration

Tale of Swan Geese
also known as "Gusi Lebedi", Гуси Лебеди

Getting is touch with my roots... this is what this assignment was about. As designers, we have to tap into our unique backgrounds and characters to produce something new, personal and satisfying for clients and ourselves.

To create this tale illustration, we had to look into the history of our ancestors and select a folk tale to be re-told using 6 illustrations. Each illustration used a different medium, which I list under the each illustration. The first is a symbol from Russian Art style called "Hohloma" and I rendered it using gouache paints. This symbol (or its parts) will subsequently appear in all illustrations, see if you can spot it ;)

Gouache on watercolor paper

The Story
"Zhili bili..." that's the classic beginning of a Russian tale, which literally translates to "There lived, there existed". So let's stay true to the traditions and start with that.

There lived, there existed a grandma and grandpa with two small grandchildren. The young boy was named Ivanushka, and his older sister was called Alenushka. One day they were playing outside of the house, when mean birds called "swangeese" came and stole the little Ivanushka!

Watercolor on watercolor paper

Desperately Alenushka tried to catch the birds, but they were long gone. Worried, she set out on a journey to find her brother. As she walked, she met a River of Milk.
"Alenushka, have some of my delicious milk," said the River.
"No way, my Daddy has yummier milk." And she went on.

Later she came across an Apple Tree and a Baking Oven. Each offered her their gifts, but Alenushka just turned her nose away and said that her Daddy has better.

Acrylic on watercolor paper

And so she went on... Towards the end of the day, Alenushka came across a House on Chicken Legs, where Baba Yaga lives. She was terribly scared, but she loved her brother very much, and she she went in. Ivanushka was sitting in a pot ready to be cooked (!!!), while Baba Yaga was organizing her spices.

Alenushka felt a small tickle on her leg, and she saw a little mouse speaking to her.
"Alenushka, give me some of your bread, and I'll distract Baba Yaga so you can escape!"
This sounded like a fine deal, and Alenushka shared her bread with the little mouse. In this moment, Alenush learned a very important lesson of sharing and gratitude. Without waisting a moment, she grabbed Ivanushka by the hand, and ran out of the house.

Collage and acrylic on watercolor paper

Again the brother and sister came across the River, the Apple Tree and the Baking Oven. However, this time they accepted their gifts and said "Thank You." In appreciation of their kindness, the River, the Apple Tree and the Baking Over hid the kids from the chasing birds.

Collage and typography on watercolor paper

When the kids arrived home safely, their parents were very happy to see them. They huged and kissed the children, who learned a very important lesson that day.

Typography print on scanned watercolor texture

Semester 1: Design Culture and Theory taught by Annette Lodge

Gutenberg pictorial essay

The Brief
Write and design a 700 word pictorial essay on two to three A3 pages on any historical character, typographical innovation or significant technological development during the period starting with the Cave drawings to the period of Art Nouveau.

Design Outcome
I have chosen Johann Gutenberg. The pictorial essay pages were created in the style of Gutenberg's beloved and infinitely magnificent achievement of "Gutenberg Bible."

The old paper texture was created using a piece of A4 cartridge paper and a cotton ball soaked in coffee :) After the paper dried, I ironed it to get the waves out and scanned it in. I then used Photoshop to blow up the image to A3 size.

The floral illustrations were rendered using gouache and color pencils. The font used for the body text is Goudy Text.



View body copy of the essay in a separate post

Semester 1: Peter McGill, Language and Systems of Communication

Type index - learning to identify typefaces

One of the most painful, but beneficial assignments we've done in Semester 1 :)

The brief asked us to collect one example each of the various Type Families ~ Old Style serif, Transitional serif, Modern serif, Sans serif, Slab serif, Script, Decorative and Blackletter and identify them. We needed to include the name the font, when it was designed, who designed it (a small bio) and what we thought of the font and its usage.

The second part was to find as many examples as possible that used letters as their main message; be it calligraphy, stone carving, signwriting, graffitti, neon signs, tatts, embroidery, skywriting, urban alphabet, domestic alphabet, etc.

Here is my interpretation of the brief:


Semester 1: Peter McGill, "Language and Systems of Communication"

January: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

photo by dgermony

This is the first edition of my "monthly reflections" commitment, made as part of my 2009 New Year's resolutions.

I'll start with the "bad and the ugly", and finish off with what inspired me this month to leave a nice aftertaste. After all, why focus on the negative? Just learn from it and move on.

Not so cool

1. Sites that are slow to load. Yes yes, everyone hates slow connections. I get it. But what I am referring to are sites that make me sit through a huge flash (or otherwise) download without offering anything to chew on.
   
2. Unnecessary repetitive tasks. For example, copying & pasting my contacts into the Hallmark address book. Most e-mail and social applications provide APIs to import the contacts data.
3. When a new version of a site or product completely changes the location of navigation items. The upgrade of Microsoft Office to 2007 version always makes me feel stupid... looking for the basic buttons.
   
4. Being lost on a site. I like to always know which section of a website I am in, and if there is anything that requires my attention.
5. Colgate packaging. I hear it costs more to make the shiny package than the content inside. What?!! What am I paying for?
   

Now that the yackie stuff is out of the way, let's move on to...

Inspiring Stuff

1. Re-design of MyFonts.com website. I love this site, but I've always wondered when they would catch up with the times. The new version is great because it let's me interact with the fonts via sliders and dynamically updating controls, while still feeling familiar and friendly. One feature I really like is the loading of more search results as you scroll, so you don't have to use the pagination. Go ahead, give it a try by searching for script fonts.
   
   
   
   
   
2. It must be my recent trip to Switzerland, but I am fascinated with the clean and minimalistic Swiss and Scandinavian design. Here is a screenshot of Georg Jensen's website. Beautiful!
   
   
   
   
3. Designing for the flow is not a new concept, but it has recently been re-enforced for me after reading an article on AListApart (which I read daily) talking about exactly that. So I started to pay attention to which product designs put me "in the flow", and Wii Fit game is one of them. It makes me feel engaged, capable and gives me a sense of constant improvement. Facebook is another. I know we all love and rave about Facebook, but here I am referring specifically to its flow aspect of interaction and design.
   
   
   
   
4. Agile for design. Again, my faithful friend AListApart has provided food for inspiration and learning. Wikipedia has a thorough write up on agile methodology, but ALA has demonstrated the way it can be applied to design as well. Thank you ALA :)
5. Last, but not least, I am hugely moved by Hunter Valley wineries. Right now at the top of my wish list is a 3 day get-away in a cozy cottage, and grape picking!
   
   

Congratulations, my brave reader, you have gotten to the end of this month's sharing session :) I welcome you to participate in the conversation. After all, this is the era of social web.

Gutenberg pictorial essay body copy

View the visual part of this Pictorial essay in a separate post

The Essay
Johann Gutenberg was one of the greatest contributors to the development of typographic form of all time. He brought to life the invention of the printing press, and catapulted the spread of the written word around the world. Some say that the idea of the press came from China, but the important part is that Gutenberg actually implemented it. He did most of his work in Germany during the first half of fifteenth century. His path was long and difficult, and it took Gutenberg almost 20 years to produce first printed page. There is very little historical evidence about Gutenberg’s life and creative process, which makes it an intriguing subject to understand his motivations and his inventive journey.

Johann (or Johannes, the spelling varied) Gutenberg was born in Mainz, Germany. His exact birth date is unknown, and is agreed to be the year 1400. Even the well-known name Gutenberg was originally Gensfleisch (Gooseflesh). The family names of the time were taken after the place of residence, which makes “genealogical research in medieval Germany a nightmare”. Perhaps the name Gutenberg was not immediately adapted due to the mood of anti- Semitism in Mainz, since Gutenberg might have also been Judenberg or “Jewish Hill”.

Gutenberg was born into a wealthy family, one of about a hundred patrician families in Mainz. As a result, the importance of education was instilled into Johann from the early age. Gutenberg attended various schools, possibly including St. Christopher and St. Victor. His later studies were at Erfurt, where he obtained solid knowledge of Latin. While at Erfurt, Gutenberg earned his keep as a scribe, which meant that he gained full command of the scribe profession. This knowledge set the stage for his later work with the printing press.

Gutenberg’s developmental years were spent under the influence of the Church. He showed talents for singing; he had a steady hand of a scribe, and was pushed to become a priest. However his personal passions were for works of science and handcraft. Gutenberg could not join the Mainz guilds due to his family’s patrician status. Instead, in 1428 he left Mainz to travel around Europe and to learn the skills of metalworkers and goldsmiths. After six years of travels in 1434 Gutenberg settled in the city of Strassburg, where he established numerous enterprises, including manufacturing mirrors for Aachen pilgrimage planned for 1440. These mirrors were made of lead-tin alloy, which signifies that at this time Gutenberg already possessed the knowledge of metal casting, and he experimented with different alloy formulas. Gutenberg contemplated the idea of the printing press for many years, watching craftsmen during his travels. It is likely that one of the most influential inspirations came from observing the workings of a wine press.

Johann Gutenberg was a deeply religious man, however, to him the Bible did not have the conventional meaning taught by the Church. He observed inefficiencies in the lives of ordinary people, and he aspired to ease their labor by means of science. He also thought that the teachings of God and literacy should be accessible to every one, hence his fist printing effort of Donatus, Latin grammar book. Gutenberg’s later ambition to reproduce the Bible was to print “The Book” without the usual errors that scribes let in. He “sought to correct such error – in metal, books should read as God intended”.

Around 1448 Gutenberg returned to Mainz, where he spent the next seven years refining the printing process. It is likely that Gutenberg began his experiments with printing while at Strassburg, but he kept his work under a strict secret for fear of someone stealing it. Gutenberg realized the enormous profit potential of the printing press, and he did not want anyone beating him to it. In 1448 he borrowed 800 gulden from Johann Fust without interest, with printing equipment as security for the loan. This money Gutenberg used to finally set up his print shop and commence dedicated work on the printing press. By 1450s Gutenberg was advanced enough in his process to print indulgences and calendars for the Church. However, the work was laborious and slow to progress, and in 1452 he had to borrow another 800 gulden from Fust.

Gutenberg tried various combinations of lead, tin and antimony to produce type that did not break or bend (the formula he developed is still used today almost unaltered). He also experimented with ink, so it didn’t roll off the metal type, yet didn’t cling to it in clumps. In addition, Gutenberg accepted nothing short of perfection when it came to typesetting the pages. His 42-line Bible was printed in two columns with impeccable alignment of the edges, and he pioneered the process of double-sided printing. It is no surprise that in 1455 the Bible was not finished, and Fust took Gutenberg to court demanding return of the funds. After loosing the legal battle, Gutenberg was forced out of his print shop. His accomplishments, however, were acknowledged by the bishop of Mainz. He was made a courtier, and he spent his last years in financial security, receiving food, wine and clothing from the city.

Johann Gutenberg died on February 3rd 1468 in Mainz, but his name and invention live on to this day. By the end of fifteenth century more than 110 towns in Europe were operating printing presses and about 15 million copies of books were printed. One example of the impact of printing is the story of Martin Luther. His “95 Theses”, which sparked the Protestant Reformation, spread so rapidly due to the existence of printing. It is unlikely that the Protestant Reformation would have happened, had the “95 Theses” been written by hand. This abundance of printed material and the power of written word started a new era in the development of humanity, and shifted people from the Middle Ages to modern times.

Johann Gutenberg's Story

Let's talk typography. After spending two hours today walking around the streets and collecting typogaphy samples, my eyes are now starting to invent letters where there are none. Here is a sample of Blackletter type found up the street. Mmm, beautiful!


Now, who is Johann Gutenberg, and what does he have to do with my quest? Some would call Gutenberg the father of printing press, and I must agree. Gutenberg took typography to a whole new level. While there are speculations on whether he was in fact the first man to get the idea of printing press, aside from the Chinese, I say that it doesn't really matter if he invented printing press or got the idea elsewhere. The important thing is that he actually EXECUTED the idea, and brought printing to live.


Johann Gutenberg's early years are somewhat of a mystery. Born in Mainz around 1400, he was the youngest of 3 children. His father was a Companion of the Mint (coin makers), while his mother was a daughter of a storekeeper. Hence, from the young years Gutenberg's life had an element of duality in it. He was not fit to mingle among the Mint, and yet he was not able to inherit the store either, since he was the youngest child. Instead, he was sent away to study to become a Priest.

While Johann Gutenberg was a deeply religious man, he always had an interest in improving the space around him, and in making things by hand. It didn't make sense to him, when he was told that "God" is the only one who can introduce innovation, and that men should not fill their minds with such heretical thoughts. Gutenberg's ambition was to set the "word of God" into precise order and alignment. He observed numerous errors made by the scribes, and sought to correct these errors by setting the type in metal, and delivering the books "as God intended."


How did he do it? What was Johann's Gutenberg's path to becoming one of the greatest inventors of all time? What motivated him?

Some may prefer to hold an image a man completely dedicated to improving humanity, where as I am more keen on accepting the motivations of gold. Gutenberg wanted to automate the printing process so he could print (and SELL) hundreds of copies of The Book. The invention did not happen overnight either. It took him 20 years of trial-and-error to refine the process and the lead formula.

In the end, Gutenberg succeeded, an "Gutenberg Bible" is the hard evidence. And no, he did not get to enjoy the riches, since the printing business was taken away from him by his late sponsor Fust. If it's any consolation, Johann Gutenberg is now considered one of the greatest inventors and most significant men in the development of Human Kind.


References:
Man, J. 2002. The Gutenberg Revolution, Headline Book Publishing, London

Meltzer, M. 2004. Great Inventions: The Printing Press, Benchmark Books, Torrytown, NY

Morrison, B. 2000. The Justification Of Johann Gutenburg, Chatto & Windus, London