A Type House Divided
Ed Benguiat, A man of letters
b
40 Biggest Influential Designers
l a c k
s
y p y gl h d w x r pvmyt h z f g q o yn Steven Heller talks with David Senior about THE ELECTRO-LIBRARY
ALEX TROCHUT Typography Spotlight: Alex Trochut
A
lex Trochut (born in Barcelona, 1981) is a Spanish artist, graphic designer, illustrator, and typographer currently based in Brooklyn, NY. For Alex, typography functions on two hierarchical levels. First, there is the image of the word we see; reading comes secondary. As a designer, Alex focuses on the potential of language as a visual medium, pushing language to its limits so that seeing and reading become the same action and text and image become one unified expression. After completing his studies at Escola Superior de Disseny, Alex established his own design studio in Barcelona. In Barcelona, Trochut worked for two years at the design studios Toormix and Vasava before relocating to New York City where he currently works for a diverse range of clients on design, illustration and typography. Alex is the grandson of Spanish graphic artist Joan Trochut. Alex has created design, illustration and typography for a diverse range of clients: Nike, Adidas, Puma, The Rolling Stones, Katy Perry, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, Esquire UK, BBC, Coca-Cola, British Airways, Pepsi, The New York Times, Time Magazine and many others. Alex has been honored for his work in design and typography by The Type Directors Club, Communication Arts and Graphis. In 2008, he was recognized for his inventive lettering style and was named an Art Directors Club Young Gun, honoring designers under 30. In 2014, Binary Prints was celebrated by the Creative Review with the coveted Best In Book Award in recognition of the inventive printing
ASTER EP LOGO AND DESIGN
technique used to create day and night prints on a single page and recognized by Lost At E Minor, Cool Hunting, It’s Nice That, The New York Times, Gizmodo, Vice magazine’s The Creators Project and Fast Company. Alex’s makes work that is concept-driven and exploratory. Without the constraints present in his solution-based design practice, his exhibitions are a space to address questions without the necessity of conclusive answers. Working in this way, Alex creates a dialogue with the work that allows for responsiveness and uncertainty in the making process so that the emotional may transcend the logical and meaning is left to interpretation. Alex’s process considers each project anew, creating an expression for each conceptual concern. By this working method, Alex eschews a trademark style or subject matter to create instead a distinctive and singular voice all his own. Mixing styles and genres and drawing equally from pop culture, street culture, fashion and music, Alex has created design, illustration and typography for a diverse range of clients: Nike, Adidas, The Rolling Stones, Katy Perry, BBC, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, The Guardian, The New York Times, Time Magazine and many others. Alex’s work has been internationally recognized, appearing in in exhibitions and publications worldwide. He has given talks and been honored by the Art Directors Club––including being named a 2008 Young Gun––the Type Directors Club, and the Creative Review, among others. His monograph, More Is More, explores his working methodologies and influences and was published in 2011.
01 glyphy BARCELONA LABEL DESIGN
“
I like the mutable qualities of typography: abstract shapes that contain meaning, their forms are like non verbal communication, almost as important as the meaning of their message.
“ 02 glyphy
NEO DECO TYPOGRAPHY
How would you best describe your style? How did you foster that style? Do you tend to lean towards one type of lettering? I try to have more than one style and always force myself to try new things, in the end there is of course a way of doing things that unifies everything, so even if you try to do everything different there will be a “hand” behind all your works, but the more techniques and styles you can collect the more able you’ll be to adapt. Please could you tell us about your background? I studied graphic design in elisava, barcelona. my first jobs were in berlin, at moniteurs and xplicit. then I went back to barcelona where I worked at toormix and vasava. since 2007 I’ve been freelancing and mostly focusing on illustration and lettering. a year ago I switched barcelona for new york. Besides your work what are you passionate about? I love listening to and mixing music, eating in good restaurants, and doing cross-fit. Do you have any superstitious beliefs? I never walk under ladders.
An Exclusive Interview with Trochut: Where did your interest in typography begin? It’s generally not something kids in kindergarten aspire to be. When did you discover that you could actually make a living out of it? I started getting into illustrated typography in design school. I’m not a great figurative illustrator but i found a comfortable space mixing the typography and illustration. Do you think a graphic designer should be able to draw well? It’s not necessary, but it definitely does no harm. in the end, a hand is the most reliable tool you can have, it keeps evolving if you train it, it doesn’t need software updates, works without electricity and it can really define the way you express yourself.
03 glyphy
Some Awards Won: 58th Grammy Awards Nomination Best Recording Packaging Communication Arts 2016 Award of Excellence Typography Packaging Communication Arts 2016 Award of Excellence Unpublished CLIO Silver 2015 Print Technique Illustration CLIO Bronze 2015 Print Technique Art Direction Kinsale Silver 2015 Print Campaign
01
02
03
04
05
06
01 Moir Illustration background for Brand New School.
02 Coca Cola Print Campaign for CocaCola.
03 Monograms Foil Stamping Limited edition posters alextrochut.com behance.net/trochut www.designboom.com/design/alex-trochut-interview-12-23-2013
04 Go For It Poster Poster for the If you Could series by Its Nice That.
05 Acid Flora Poster for Basoa Festival
06 Varoom Cover for Varoom Magazine 04 glyphy
Type Tips
13 Typographic Faux Pas
d x w t r p mh z v qo f g Aa n w ei 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Avoid bad punctuation and type crimes at your new job, who needs all that attention?
9.
Failing to eliminate widows.
10. 11.
Rivers in justified type.
Using process colors for body text. Indenting a paragraph too far.
b
Stacking lowercase letters.
Failing to k e r n display type.
l a c k
s
Two Spaces between sentences.
Large amounts of reversed type.
Dumb quotes instead of smart quotes.
12.
13.
Underlining titles instead of italicizing them
05 glyphy
Too many consecutive hyphens.
Using a hyphen instead of a dash.
Failing to eliminate orphans.
06 glyphy
Heroes
ED BENGUIAT
A Man of Letters
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Edward Benguiat got acquainted with design and showcard lettering when he was nine years old. His father was display director at Bloomingdale’s and he had all the drawing tools a little boy could want. Edward would play with his father’s pens, brushes, and drafting sets, and learned about sign painting, showcard and speedball lettering.
America’s most prolific typographer and lettering arist. Benguiat has crafted over 600 typeface designs, here are just a few of his gems...
06 glyphy
01
02
03
04
05
06
01 Playboy Logo
04 The New York Times Logo
02 Esquire Logo
05 Sports Illustrated Logo
03 A&E Logo
06 Estee Lauder Companies Logo
07 glyphy
Heroes Ed received the usual education. During World War II, he wasn’t old enough to enter the armed service, so with a forged photostat of his birth certificate, he enlisted in the Army. After his stint in the Air Corps he traded his airplane control stick for drumsticks and continued the burgeoning percussionist career he had started before the war. Ed became established as a talented progressive Jazz musician under the name Eddie Benart, and played with numerous big bands such as Stan Kenton, Claude Thornhill and Woody Herman, but preferred the New York gigs on 52nd Street, particularly at The Three Deuces. “It kept me in town; going on the road with big bands was a drag, and tough.” During that time a Metronome magazine poll picked Ed as the number three sideman/drummer in America. At the School of Visual Arts—where about thirty years ago Silas Rhodes gave him a job—Ed compares graphic design and typography to the rhythm and balance of a musical composition. While playing on 52nd Street, Ed made use of the G.I. Bill and enrolled at the Workshop School of Advertising Art. He wanted to draw nudes like some of the well-known illustrators. His drawing teacher advised him to quit. Benguiat persisted. His first job as an illustrator was as a cleavage retoucher for a movie magazine. “You might think I was adding to the bust. No way! I was taking the cleavage away,” he said, indicating the reaction of the motion picture industry to the crackdown on obscenity in movies. It was obvious that Ed couldn’t draw too well, so he went in the direction of layout, design, typography, and calligraphy. He became Paul Standard’s prodigy. Once out of school, Ed established an impressive career as a designer and art director at a number of large and small publishing houses, studios, and ad agencies. Opening his own firm did not take too long. Enter Photo-Lettering Inc. and Ed Ronthaler. They saved Ed’s life financially by making him art director.
ED 08 glyphy
Benguiat’s impact on the type community involves more than just design. He played a critical role in establishing The International Typeface Corporation, the first independent licensing company for type designers. Ed and ITC jump-started the type industry in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Founded in 1971 by designers Herb Lubalin, Aaron Burns, and Ed Ronthaler, ITC was formed to market type to the industry. Lubalin and Burns contacted Benguiat, whose first ITC project was working on Souvenir. Originally a singleweight face designed by Morris Fuller Benton in the 1920s, Benguiat redrew it with additional weights and italics. Benguiat has a beef. It’s that too many young designers substitute technology for talent. “Too many people think that they’ve got a Mac and they can draw a logo or a typeface. You have to learn to draw first. The computer won’t do it for you”. Although he laments that student designers show more interest in learning the computer than mastering the art of designing letterforms, Benguiat is growing optimistic about the technology behind computer-assisted type design. Professor Benguiat is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and a past president of the Type Directors Club. In 1990, he received the gold medal for excellence from the New York Type Directors Club, and won the prestigious Fredric W. Goudy Award. Benguiat continues a busy lecture and exhibit circuit that takes him to Paris, Berlin, Brazil, Slovenia, London, Chicago, Washington, and New York, where he is an instructor at The School of Visual Arts. In 1995, SVA honored him with Teacher of the Year. -Elisa Halperin
30 Under 30
CHRISTINA OKULA Christina Okula is a student at Farmingdale State College studying Visual Communications, also known as Graphic Design. She is a first semester junior and plans on graduating from Farmingdale in the Fall of 2018 with a Bachelor’s Degree. After graduating, she is unsure as to what career path she will take, but photography or interior design are a couple of main choices. Christina is passionate about photography and does her own work away from school. Her favorite subject matter are portraits and newborn photography. Christina lives in Bethpage, New York and has grown up there. She is also a member of the sorority Phi Sigma Sigma at Farmingdale and she spends most of her time with her sisters and helping out the community. Another one of her passions is makeup. She loves waking up early and creating new unique looks everyday. Christina is applying to some beauty classes to take over the summer break to become certified in Make-Up Artistry.
10 glyphy
01
02
03
WHATEVER . . . E R A U YO A E B G
Not everyone will understand your journey but that’s okay, it’s not for them.
OOD
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 0123456789 ,.\/~! @#$%^&*() Gabriola by John Hudson 2008
04
05
ONE
Old Style
Old Style
Old Style
Sans Serif
Transitional
Sans Serif
Slab Serif
Old Style
Transitional
Slab Serif
Modern
A
Slab Serif (Century)minimal variation between thick and thin; heavy serifs without bracketing
Modern
Sans Serif
Slab Serif
Modern
Slab Serif
Old Style
Old Style
Sans Serif
Slab Serif
Modern
Transitional
Sans Serif
Modern
Sans Serif
Sans Serif
Sans Serif
Sans Serif
Slab Serif
Modern
Modern
Slab Serif
Sans Serif
A
Old Style (Garamond)- small x-height; humanist; minimal variation between thick and thin
Sans Serif
A
Transitional (Baskerville)- small x-height; vertical stress; wider serifs
Transitional
A
Modern (Bodoni)small x-height; vertical stress; hairline serifs; extreme contrast
Sans Serif
A
Sans Serif (Helvetica)no serifs; great legibility; little to no varation between thick and thin
06 A TRAGEDY OF A LIFETIME BASED ON THE SHORT STORY “MADAME BUTTERFLY” (1898) BY JOHN LUTHER LONG
MADAMA BUTTERFLY
GIACOMO PUCCINI BROADWAY THEATER MANHATTAN, NEW YORK SHOWTIMES: MARCH 20-JUNE 19TH
01 Koi Koi fish made up of letters.
02 Swiss Poster “Whatever You Are... Be A Good One”.
03 Font Poster Collage of found typography.
04 Glyphy Cover Cover page of Glyphy Type Magazine
05 Longest Nails Poster Poster for the Guiness World Record holder
06 Madama Butterfly Poster Poster for the Broadway Play, Madama Butterfly. 11 glyphy