Avenir Avenir 1
2
Avenir
1
Avenir 2
Avenir
This Monkey’s Gone to Heaven —If Text by Elliott Earls
Designer/Editor
Avenir
Avenir
the Devil is Six then God is Seven. Text by Elliott Earls
67
Daisy Lanier
3
Table of Contents 5.
compares Avenir to similar typefaces
6.
showcases oblique variations
7.
exhibits small titles
8/9.
demonstrates line weight variations
10/11.
displays paragraph settings
12.
experiments with alignment
13.
mimicks a book display
14.
illustrates glyphs
15.
features extended paragraph settings
16.
colophon
4
Avenir Vs. Other Fonts Avenir 35 Light
Frutiger 45 Light
Futura Light
Helvetica Light
Aa
Aa
Aa
Aa
Bb
Bb
Bb
Bb
Cc
Cc
Cc
Cc
Dd
Dd
Dd
Dd
Ee
Ee
Ee
Ee
Ff
Ff
Ff
Ff
Gg
Gg
Gg
Gg 5
35 Light Oblique
How do you design letterforms?
45 Book Oblique
How do you design letterforms?
55 Roman Oblique
How do you design letterforms?
65 Medium Oblique
How do you design letterforms?
85 Heavy Oblique
How do you design letterforms?
95 Black Oblique
How do you design letterforms?
6
It is in traditional figure drawing 85 Heavy 24 pt.
studio classes that one learns how to 45 Book 18 pt.
lock the movement of the retina to 85 Heavy Oblique 26 pt.
35 light 10 pt. 65 Medium Oblique 12 pt. To be successful in this process, one learns that the mind must be quieted.
the movement of the hand. 55 Roman 15 pt.
The hand and the retina must move in symbiotic lock step as they both trace the physical line. It’s through this process that one can learn to trust not the mind, but the RETINA. 55 Roman 12 pt.
7
35 Light
How do you design letterforms?
alabKickditnoldaskool sestyle. itiroir uoudDraw ra them ehbig, t nwithoapruling u tpe ,yllacFocus igaonm t o n l e e f the serifs or the termi oitacDon’t ilpp a s u o r o g i so much understand how artxeexperience lamrhow ofa yletter levis idra 45 Book
55 Roman
65 Medium
85 Heavy
8
95 Black
?
fo noitseuq a ylla o s t e s l a u d i v i d n i n en and Plaka, and some Pro White. a s p o l e v e d e n o t a ination of the character. h g u o r h t t u b , s l o o w a letter is drawn: u l c x e “ m r e t e h t , y r awn. 9
I should point out that these women wore heavy blue eyeshadow, regardless of their complexion or eye color. Because at that historical moment it was an established scientific fact that if one wore enough blue eyeshadow, the eye would look blue! 45 Book 14/17 The clash of color. The slavish adherence to dress code at the obvious expense of personal dignity. The spurious and questioning folklore or “weird science� underpinning 95 Black Oblique 30/35 it all.
Something was horribly wrong here!
35 Light Oblique 14/20
I often found my gaze transfixed, nay locked, upon the upper eyelid of a typical brunette with brown eyes. 10
95 Black 18/22
»It was the 80’s. 95 Black 36 pt.
If we look at Blue Eyeshadow, for instance, it’s important to first point out the origin of the name. For to name it is to claim it. Needless to say, in 1984, in ohio, we wore mullets withouta hint of irony. We thought we were tough and “new wave,” and we thought the chicks would dig it. Yeah, the chicks. It was all about the girlies. And let me assure you, they had an equally distorted and perverse interpersonal aesthetic. It was the 80’s. The guys had mullets or “boy hair,” and the girls wore tons of foundation, white lipstick, and blue eyeshadow. 35 Light 12/16
«
11
The gap between language and experience becomes a gaping hole as one begins to discuss issues of craft. 65 Medium 18/24
12
The great artist or designer is s/he who is
no longer constricted by the rules. 85 Heavy 33/40
95 Black 48/50
I’m not suggesting that one develops a feel magically, or through attendance at the finest schools, but through rigorous application, and through working damn hard at aquiring a set of very concrete skills, then 45 Book Oblique 18/18 forgetting them. 45 Book 14/18
13
ß ◊ ≥ ℓ › ‰ Ω ∏ μ † Ł œ
½ 9 @ < ~ ¶ ¼ Ä Ç ð ÷ î Œ ƒ € •
∂ ™ ℮ ℓ • ∕ ‡ ∞ ≈ ≤ ≠ ∫ © Ø Ü Þ ½
¿ Æ » ç € % $ + 6 ; ^ £ ¦ ¤ ± Ñ ê ð ÿ
ô ƒ ‡ ≥ ≈ ∑ ∆ ∕ μ ( * 4 ! = fl ¡ « ® ° × 35 Light Glyphs
14
+ ¾ « ¢ £ § ¥ # ! * ) ? > =
æ ^ ð } ñ ¢ ÷ ~ ö ¥ þ © Ž ¬ Ω » • ± ) ¼ 5 & @
§ ® µ » Æ ð ÷ ø Œ
π ∆ ž ‡ € √ • ∞ … ≠ v ◊ › ∫ ∂
℮ ⁄ ™ ∆ ∏ ≤ ý ƒ
ü à œ ½ Ł ¶ ‰ µ ≥ ¬ ç ® ß ¿ Ð ± × » æ
Ñ « ± § å Ω … $ % # + *
I’m an advocate of practice informed by theory and life. It’s really a question of priorities and balance. And I’d like to be clear When an individual set out upon here. I am not suggesting the arduous journey of designing that the type design a typeface, I suggest that the process necessarily generative formal impluse can be located in one of three areas: adheres to a strict historical revival, vernacular taxonomic progression. interpretation, or exclusively formal extrapolation. While historical revival and vernacular interpretation are self explanatory, the term “exclusively formal extrapolation” may need some elaboration.
85 Heavy 17/24
55 Roman 12/18
15
Q Avenir typeface Designed by Adrian Frutiger Printed on 60 lb. paper 92 brightness Bound using staples
16
Z K
17
18