context publication research: books

Ok, this is going to be a large blog post, because books are such a pain to photograph/transfer from camera/resize images/upload images to blog, that I decided to do them all at the same time.

As my context publication is about typefaces, and using fonts in print, its unsurprising that the best source of research and contextulising has been from books that I could actually get my own hands on. I love books on type and type design and typography so making my own was a logical step. Here are the photos I took of the books that have been the most inspirational to me.



This first one is an old type specimen book I managed to get from an ebay seller in America, its undated but I think its from the 1940's or 1950's judging from the fonts in the book, this obviously was a major inspiration for my own context book, as mine too is ring-bound and a specimen book of sorts. The layout is really tight, and its a useful little book I tried to find out more about the business but google didnt have much at all. I really love this book, but I imagine not everybody will fine it as interesting, I knew my context book would need to be more accessible than just type specimens.

This next one is also a lovely vintage find: A book on typography from the 1930's, again I just love it, amazingly, almost everything in the book is still relevant to setting type that looks good on computer today. I didnt photograph the cover because the inside page is so much nicer:

This is another old one but a bit different, this book is about hand lettering and sign-writing so not exactly typography, but the lettering is fantastic.

All the lettering in the book is hand drawn, no-one today would draw an exact caslon like this when you can choose a caslon font and set it any size you like, but the skill in the book to be able to do this is amazing.

Next up is a newer book that was a massive help in researching the typefaces I wanted to go in my book, Its set out by type designer not by font, and is frustrating that there seems not enough info about each designer, but its a great resource to learn about something then find more on the net. Another bad cover design.

This next one is my type bible, yeah the cover is crap, again, but the contents of the book is first class. Its  also on lovely paper stock that the ink seem to just sit on rather than soak in, hard to explain but a great book.

This last one is the newest book. This is the most accessible book on type I have ever read, really interesting read and a great layout. The cover is nice as well which is rare for a book on typography!

finished printed and bound context book

After a lot of folding and trimming the book is now completed! I have to say i'm really pleased with the way this turned out, as apposed to a few of my other briefs, this actually turned out a lot better than I thought it might. This is defiantly a nice object that I will keep, and I guess I learnt a load more about typography and typefaces making it, which was the point.

The Cover, I decided to use some really minimal, but tight typography for this. I letter-spaced small caps with an EM dash in the middle, as with the contents page I used Eames as the typeface to give a modern but retro feel. I like the look of small caps like this and its something you don't see used much anymore, I think because its not as easy, you have to think about it, and you need some knowledge about how fonts work.

A page spread for example, you can see I tried to get the timeline to flow through the margins.

Folded out, again the line continues through. (each spread folds out like this)

context publication test spreads

99% finished page spreads as you would see the publication without the fold-out sections. These took a lot longer than I wanted them to due to me not liking the standard layout and deciding to do custom layouts for each font.

Open publication - Free publishing - More graphic design

context type specimens

odd bits and pieces of interesting type specimens,

Design context book, type specimen pages

I've had some more thoughts how to develop my context book a bit further. I decided there should be a fold-out spread for each typeface set out as a specimen sheet, as a sort of type assalt course: the layout is exactly the same so you can see how each typeface performs.

The thick black line through each spread is a continuation of my 'timeline' idea, examples of Gutenburg, Garamond and Gill sans

Draft context publication

This has changed somewhat from my origional ideas so I'm not even sure i'm on the right tracks but at least its becoming more interesting to me. It has become a sort of personal type specimen book, with the typefaces in date order in a timeline, with research for each font set in the same font.

I have managed to find some great quotes and interesting info for the fonts I chose so i'm pleased with that side of it but the layout need some refinement, this is just a draft.

Open publication - Free publishing - More paul mitchell

printing history timeline

Again sourced from the net, dates of advances of printing technology for a timeline, still need some more recent dates, (digital print?)



1452: In Europe, metal plates are first used in printing. Gutenberg begins printing the Bible which he finishes in 1456.
1457: First color printing by Fust and Schoeffer.
1465: Drypoint engravings invented by Germans.
1476: William Caxton begins using a Gutenberg printing press in England.
1477: Intaglio is first used for book illustration for a Flemish book called Il Monte Sancto di Dio.
1501: Italic type first used.
1550: Wallpaper introduced in Europe.
1605: First weekly newspaper published in Antwerp.
1660: Mezzotint invented in Germany.
1691: First papermill opened in the American colonies.
1702: Multi-colored engraving invented by German Jakob Le Blon. The first English language daily newspaper is published called the Daily Courant.
1725: In Scotland stereotyping invented by William Ged.
1800: Iron printing presses invented.
1819: Rotary printing press invented by Napier.
1829: Embossed printing invented by Louis Braille.
1841: Type-composing machine invented.
1844: Electrotyping invented.
1846: Cylinder press invented by Richard Hoe. Cylinder press can print 8,000 sheets an hour.
1863: Rotary web-fed letterpress invented by William Bullock.
1865: Web offset press can print on both sides of paper at once.
1886: Linotype composing machineinvented by Ottmar Mergenthaler.
1870: Paper is now mass-manufactured from wood pulp.
1878: Photogravure printing invented by Karl Klic.
1890: Mimeograph machine introduced.
1891: Printing presses can now print and fold 90,000 4-page papers an hour. Diazotype invented (print photographs on fabric).
1892: 4-color rotary press invented.
1904: Offset lithography becomes common. The first comic book is published.
1907: Commercial silk screening invented.
1947: Phototypesetting made practical

Design Context timeline typefaces

I havent blogged much of my design context ideas, but the book is going to be a timeline of design processes printing technology and typefaces, A lot of the info will be researched off the internet as its the technical details and the dates that will form the bulk of this. Hopefully I can make in engaging in some way as I am worried it will just be a copy paste layout job if i'm not careful.

As one timeline I want to use the dates that fonts commonly used today (by myself) were first designed. I find it fascinating that a font designed 200 or more years ago can still look great, and not outdated today. These are the fonts I found dates for and will probably include in date order:



c1450: Gutenberg Blackletter
1494: Bembo
1530: Garamond
1725: Caslon
1754: Baskerville
1790: Bodoni
1799: Didot
1845: Clarendon
1896: Cheltenham
1900: Century
1902: Franklin Gothic
1912: Cochin
1926: Din
1927: Futura
1930: Gill Sans
1931: Times
1934: Rockwell
1938: Bell Gothic
1948: Trade Gothic
1950: Palantino
1954: Univers
1957: Helvetica
1955: Courier
1962: Eurostile
1965: OCR A
1968: Avant Garde
1968: Serifa
1969: Aachen
1977: Frutiger
1987: Stone
1991: Meta
1992: Myriad
1993: Interstate
1996: Mrs Eaves
2000: Hoefler Text
2002: Neutraface
2008: Museo
2010: Eames

Hopefully the interesting bit will be to cross reference these dates with advances of computer and print technology on adjacent timelines.

Other creative calendars I have found

Unfortunately I cant find much about these as they were all from a long blog post that hasn't credited and of the sources of these.

This is a great idea, as far as I can tell you move the sleeve to set the correct days for each month

Nice layout.

cleaver idea, obviously mixing in the aesthetics of an eye chart.

This one is lovely, I found it on Behance: link

This one as well, great but far more 'illustratory' than my style, too many twiddly bits! link

August again

I decided this month look to like the design I did for October so I have reworked it, I also wanted more months to have circular elements so I used this. The twist for this now is that the days that are Mondays are hidden in this month.

Hunt Studio

Some really nice work from this Melbourne based studio. The use of type and layout is minimal but extremely effective. Great attention to detail is what makes these feel so special. I love these.

 http://www.huntstudio.com.au/






Identity for a studio

Self promo

Magazine

Nokia Pure

I just came across this, Nokia have commissioned a new corporate typeface:

As type design and its use is an interest of mine I am intrigued by the choices made in the design of this font.

There is a lot of waffle here: http://brandbook.nokia.com/blog/view/item62250/ but in essence it explains they were looking for a universal, friendly font that wouldn't draw too much attention to itself. I think it achieves these aims quite well. The kerning is uneven between some letters, but that will be fixed I guess, its interesting that the design seems to encourage very tight letter spacing, almost merging of letters as is explained:

This merging of letters looks nice here, but i'm not as sure it will be very readable in small text on mobile screens.

Overall, its nice. My own Nokia uses Gill Sans as default and that actually works really well in a quirky sort of way, will this be any better? well it comes in more useful weights I guess, and will include Arabic, Japanese and Greek letters, so yes from a corporate view it makes more sense to have there own font to create a universal style across all markets.

halftone process

As part of my Design Context publication is most likely going to be an exploration about how graphic processes have evolved, I wanted to look at halftone. This has always been a puzzle to me and I have been fascinated by them since I was young. I remember newspapers were far cruder in the way they were printed and the halftones used to replicate photographs were very noticeable, but I never understood why, and how they were used.

Its actually a fairly old process: this, as far as I can tell, is the first printed halftone photo, from 1873!

To really explain the process, I found this link very useful:
http://www.ted.photographer.org.uk/photoscience_halftones.htm

No Mr Bond...

Just incase the referance isnt obvious, but I guess if you havent seen the film it isnt, here is the insperation for the film poster idea. Its the moment from the bond film Goldfinger, where James Bond is tied to a table which is being sliced with a laser beam, with the famous exchange:


Bond: "Do you expect me to talk?"
Goldfinger: "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die."

Calendar brief research

A rundown on some interesting calendar designs I have seen

Automatically shreds days as they pass, great concept and some nice typography. From www.susannahertrich.com

Bubble pack calendar, pop the bubbles as days pass, another great concept and a lot of fun but not at all useful, but I would still have one.

This one is a little different, and probably more like what I want to produce, found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/o-mer/3343393373/in/photostream/

Its a nice idea for a conventional calendar with a twist, or twists..

Stiletto NYC

http://www.stilettonyc.com

I have been interested in the print work this agency has been making, quite minimal but classy and effective  use of typography. Its really nice how this branding for a PR company has translated from print to the website so effectively.

Jazz 09 Journal

This is a really lovely typographical piece. It has a vintage crossed with modern look that has a lot of energy despite the strict use of typography. This must have taken a long time to layout because the attention to detail is amazing. Really, really well photographed as well.

found on behance