While you're not looking » Graphics

THE FLOATING WORLD: UKIYO-E

Wendy Cooper — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:30:29 +0000

John Warwicker of Tomato, a god of 90s graphic design, is launching his book at The Narrows this Thursday 26 November, 6-8pm. Floating World: Ukiyo-e (ISBN: 3–86521–030–9) is already a winner of the TDC judge’s special prize at the 2010 Tokyo Type Directors Club. Surprisingly, the typography is not as refine as the photography in my eyes. Check it out and judge it for yourself.

Lubalin Now

Wendy Cooper — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:05:40 +0000

Lubalin Now is a beautifully curated exhibition to honour the illustrative typographic works of Lubalin.

On view at The Cooper Union from tonight’s opening reception (18:00–20:00, 5th November) until 9th December. A must see if you’re in New York!

Combo

Wendy Cooper — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:22:01 +0000

Combo by Blu and David Ellis

If you like this, also check out Blu’s site, Blu Blu.

No Win Sitch

Wendy Cooper — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:54:09 +0000

Anthony Lister, a Sydney based artist, has taken his works out of the galleries and into the vibrant, red light district of Sydney with No Win Sitch. It features his finesse style that is reminiscent of early Bill Sienkiewicz’s flair such as my much loved Stray Toasters. Indeed, the venue is fitting to his subject matter and style — dirty, controversial and revealing.

Liza

Wendy Cooper — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:18:59 +0000

Bewitched, an American comedy series that broadcasted for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972

It is an ebullient moment when a new typeface from Underware emerges and Liza is no exception. With its loose and playful look, it is clearly inspired by the ID of Bewitched TV series and its time. This varied width Open Type has an abundance of tweaks that are handy for designers who have strong preferences over not only the style of ligatures and fractions but also particular lowercase and uppercase letter combination. This excessiveness does borderline over to indecisiveness of the designer where simplicity as a finesse is devoured into a mush of over unnecessary complexities. My motto when it comes to design stems from Terre des Hommes by Antoine de Saint Exupéry: Perfection is attained not when no more can be added, but when no more can be removed.

La perfection soit atteinte non quand il n’y a plus rien à ajouter, mais quand il n’y a plus rien à retrancher.

The many faces of Liza

The various language support is good to see. The distinctiveness are defined by its accentuated strokes and the faux irregularity in the Underware signature style of Ligature and Contextual Alternates. There are small jarring details, as per preference, of the disconnection in strokes (such as the lowercase R) and the awkward overlapping of the dot of the it and the crossing of the t in the Alternates. In the instance of the R it is clear that it follows the open K but it interferes with its legibility, and the crossing ligatures can easily be avoid by leaving out the dot to give it a cleaner appearance.

The disconnected Rs

Dotting the Is and crossing the Ts

Another detail I was disappointed with is the extended stroke option as per Bello. It was flawless in Bello but here, demonstrated in the image below, it clearly shows the joints of where the E ends and where the extension starts. If this is deliberate, it is a very unattractive feature. Overall, Liza will definitely take a prominent places in the design world but as compared with its predecessors, it is a font that has une gueule de bois grave.

The refinements of Liza: An error or a design feature—that is for you to decide

Paul Rand in motion

Wendy Cooper — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:37:27 +0000

Two legendary greats have join forces to create something simply remarkable. Combining original animation with a videotaped interview, Imaginary Forces created a short film of Paul Rand for his posthumous induction into The One Club’s Hall of Fame.

The art of mating

Wendy Cooper — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:04:09 +0000

The footage of nematode mating is strangely mesmerising and surprisingly elegant.

The male presses the front side of his tail against the hermaphrodite, while he backs along and searches for the vulva. The tail, controlled by the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, embraces the hermaphrodite, curling round in its quest for the vulva.

On finding it, the male inserts copulatory structures called spicules and mating commences. There are six steps involved in worm mating behaviour.

Source: BMC Biology, New Scientist

The monolith and the minotaur

Wendy Cooper — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:51:54 +0000

As time passes and careers fade into history, musos will capitalise by having a reunion tour and/or release a definitive collection to commemorate their glory years. My dear and ol’ time favourite The Pixies have hopped onto that bandwagon to collect their retirement fund again in releasing an undeniably in your face box set titled Minotaur. The limited edition contains a monolithic two feet tall hard cover that is reminiscent of Kubrick’s 2001 and it’s designed by A+R; curated by Vaughan Oliver; shot by Simon Larbalestier. Needless to say that no-one else can ever take on this task but the original team of Oliver and Larbalestier. A+R is a justifiable choice especially with their recent folio of NIN’s Ghosts, Beck’s The Information and Sigur Rós’ In A Frozen Sea. To bow at this feat is to willingly forgo your wallet and drown in the pool of commercialism with your feet in the air and head on the ground. Then again, who wouldn’t try this trick when put into their shoes.

SXSW 2010: 12–21 March

Wendy Cooper — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:59:46 +0000

Today I’m excited about SXSW 2010. Largely it is to do with the simple fact that I have remembered this annual event and have marked it in my diary to prevent missing it for the gazillion time. Hooray!

SXSWeek 2010 12–21 March
Interactive 12–16 March
Film 12–20 March
Music 17–21 March

2009 AGDA Poster Annual

Wendy Cooper — Wed, 27 May 2009 01:22:13 +0000

The AGDA Poster Annual is now open.