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Y R T S U D N I THE WHO ARE LEADERSIN DES CONSUMABLES?...
IGN
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FIND OUT
INSIDE!
Cher Davis
Summer 2008 History Of Graphic Design
As design professionals,
we fight daily against the evil forces of clutter in the marketplace, sloppy wordspacing, and the constant nefarious activities of dumb quotes. In an ever-changing and chaotic world, it helps to have powerful allies by your side.
The following pages are chock full of useful info on the leading companies in design consumables. The websites for these ten contenders are listed from the bottom up to the best of the best. Everything suitable for your needs typefaces, images, and ideas - can all be found right here. So dive into the fray and let us begin...
y a m f And o s e c r o f e ! th l i a v e r p d goo
http://chank.com
Highlights: This web site has a pretty lively format, exhibiting the quirky personality of Chank Co. prez and CEO Charles R. Anderson (a.k.a. Chank Diesel). The company is run by Chank and his wife Heidi out of Minneapolis, MN. With a funky twist, the online “mom-and-pop” shop presents an offering comprised mostly of display fonts with the occasional full-member family appropriate for more diverse applications. Free font downloads abound, and a big plus is the 20% student/educator discount if you purchase certain fonts through MyFonts.com. There is also a subscription available for the Chank Font of the Month Club. Membership comes with any $99 purchase on the site and includes access to download a new font hot off the presses every month for a year. Members also get discounts on art, t-shirts and other assorted fonts, as well as what the web site mysteriously refers to as “random surprises”. You can even follow Chank’s high-spirited YouTube adventures and font workshops across America by clicking the “Chank Videos” link. Fave featured font (FFF): Millesime Despite some spacing issues, the dual-level lowercase g, the steep angles of the capital M and the raw texture overall give this font an edgy yet useful quality.
Special features: Go Font Yourself - Even with readily accessible handwritten fonts, why settle for other people’s writing when you can use your own? Chank’s Go Font Yourself service turns samples of personal handwriting into a self-sustaining, installable font. Beware though; similar services elsewhere are offered for way less than the $199 price tag set by Chank Co. The downside: The free font blanket license, which allows for personal and small biz use of Chank’s free font archive, is the same price as the full commercial license. Also, there are no references to help educate the novice designer in the hallowed ways of traditional typography. Unfortunately, the navigation setup on the site does not provide any clues to choose fonts by style, although several thematic font packages have been pieced together. Overall, Chank Co. presents a fun approach to creative type, but does not quite shine as a standard source of versatility. As is reflected in its web site, fonts from this resource are best saved for times in which specific pastiche is needed.
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http://fontbureau.com
Highlights: The Font Bureau, Inc. prides itself on meeting the needs of newspapers and magazine publications since 1989. By providing a unique look, a front page or cover can become a publication’s calling card and retail sales booster. Under the leadership of co-founders David Berlow and Roger Black, the closely-knit staff headquartered in Boston has catered to the likes of Microsoft, the New York Times and Newsweek magazine. The company offers its custom typefaces from their commercial projects to the public so that you, too, can produce professional-quality type. The website openly encourages freelance type design submissions in both print and digital format of course in return for royalties. So, type junkies, get cracking! Special features: Download a PDF format copy of Font Bureau’s One-Line Type Specimen Book and sign up for the FB News List for updates and new font releases. For additional numeral showings, samples of applications, and entire character sets and mappings, you can order the Third Edition Specimen Book for an affordable 20 bones.
The downside: Those curious to know more about the fundamentals of typography will unfortunately turn up empty-handed. A better understanding of why certain typefaces work well does not come from a spoon-fed recommendation. Although the Type 101 Blog section of the site provides insight from the FB designers, seekers of knowledge are still found wanting for lack of historical context. Not to mention the absence of freebies.
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FFF: Shimano Round This font has a modern look well-suited for industrial applications. Throughout its eight-style family there are cool shapes reminiscent of wrench heads, rules, screws and pliers. Check out the lowercase c and r in the Round Black and Light weights, and the capital T in the Round Light Narrow - definitely industrial chic. The punctuation is funky though, so display type and logos only for this one, please.
http://www.fountain.nu
Highlights: Originating in southwestern Sweden, Fountain is independently owned and operated by designer Peter Bruhn. The basic dealings of the company involve mostly custom typography and corporate identity needs. In addition to typefaces he and his wife Lotta have created, Bruhn markets typefaces submitted by other independent designers from all over the world. Every typeface offered is presented along with the story of its inspiration, and designer bio. Sign up for the Fountaineer mailing list, and be sure to stop by the support page for helpful links to third party font management software. FFF: Delicato What a delightfully robust type family! Designer Stefan Hattenbach has successfully completed a truly versatile typeface complete with both normal and alternate characters in five weights. Included is a full arsenal
of punctuation, ligatures, lining figures, oldstyle figures, currency symbols and even ornaments. You name it, this typeface has absolutely whatever you need to polish your projects to perfection. Gravy.
Special features: Cover story on Peter Bruhn’s purchase of a 1914 Village Press type specimen book manufactured and signed by type legend Fred Goudy. Every page has been digitally photographed and posted on the website. This provides a great reference for those who have never seen a type specimen book. The downside: Here, the website assumes a lot on the part of the viewer as there is plenty of typographical jargon with absolutely no reference material links or downloads. If you’re just getting started in type design though, don’t panic; it is well worth it to do some supplementary research: try internet searches on the history of tyography, famous type and graphic designers, and also perform look-ups on type and design terminology. Before you know it, you’ll be that much more knowledgeable in your craft.
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Highlights: Meet the Angel Baby! Self-taught artist Eduardo Recife brings you into his world with a fascinating piece of internet real estate. Hailing from Brazil, the 28-year-old self-admittedly cherishes vintage imagery, a trait which is revealed throughout this site. Collage work, illustration and hand crafting create an intricate dance of imagery and type set within a space textured with grunge and grit. The eeriness and distortion that runs rampant is absolutely transfixing, and is an abrupt yet welcome lesson in nonconformity for any designer. http://www.misprintedtype.com/v3
FFF: Porcelain A graceful script with fountain pen flourish. The seamlessness of its ligatures reveal a thoughtfulness during the creation process for this font. It is arguably similar to Recife’s other creation, Selfish, but its looser linear form around the edges is Porcelain’s most endearing quality.
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Some of his headline commercial projects have included promotional illustrations for HBO’s 2006 hit series Assume the Position and t-shirt designs for rock band Panic! At the Disco during their 2006 world tour. Besides the obvious links, if you look carefully enough you find hidden links to more of his illustrations and poetry. There are even links to the first two iterations of the website, versions 1.0 and 2.0, which exhibit Recife’s prior portfolio and collaborative works.
Special features: If your brain needs even more stimulation, hit up the Links page to visit all sorts of design resource websites that are just waiting to wow you with eye-popping graphics. Meanwhile, the Goodies section contains free links to download custom brush add-ons for Adobe Photoshop and desktop wallpapers. Also check out the illustrated poem Invisible under the Projects section - a collaboration between Recife and poet Adrianna de Barros. Incorporating Recife’s thought-provoking signature collages, the poem play out scene by scene and verse to verse with a click of the mouse as an interactive film piece. Dude, that’s deep!
The downside: While most of his work achieves an unbridled level of visual communication and creativity, it is largely for the sake of illustration. Because of this, Recife’s work seems limited to display type.
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Highlights: Whooose Houuuse? Featured in numerous articles and publications, House Industries reveals its distinction as a source of innovative type and design. Generally, their work is usually on a commercial scale, with most projects spanning a period of 18 to 24 months. For what the site lacks in info regarding the company’s background, it makes up for in its own case studies - (when you can’t find much about a company of this caliber even on Wikipedia, now that’s really saying something!) You’ve gotta hand it to these guys, though; they really have the whole brand and identity thing down cold. Want to know why they chose the name “House Industries”? Buy their ten-year book. Want to see some of their recent work in application? Check out their Portfolio link. Or better yet, click on the Merchandise section to snap up textiles, tees, and even a Neutra-inspired chair. Demonstrating proficiency not only in typography but also architecture, fashion, and illustrations, trust in their work ethic comes easily. http://www.houseind.com
FFF: Neutraface & Neutraface No. 2 Named in honor of architect Richard Neutra. His aesthetic, which strove to unite man with his natural environment, is captured in this fully-loaded type family. The display and condensed styles in particular are well-suited for bold yet sophisticated titling, while the text styles provide great legibility. Overall, a truly exemplary standard amongst HI’s hierarchical typefaces.
Special features: LetterSetter - This is House Industries’ version of a type previewer. Its usage is literally as easy as 1-2-3: select a kit, (a.k.a., typeface family) choose a member of that family, type in your sample text..then set it! The downside: Let the buyer beware: don’t visit this site expecting to focus on one perfect typeface then vamoose with it. Most fonts come as part of a whole package, so if you see something you really like, be prepared to like its tag-along buddies, too. Also, don’t count on any discounts, save for their free merchandise catalog - you won’t find any.
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Highlights: Co-founded in 1984 by husband and wife team Rudy Vanderlans and Zuzana Licko, Emigre, Inc. was the source of Emigre Magazine. Distributed internationally, this graphic design journal has been a powerhouse of digital type engineering and distribution during its 21-year run from 1984 to 2005. Always seeking out fresh and avant garde talent, Emigre has showcased the work of legendary designers such as Steven Heller, David Carson and Jeffrey Keedy, among many others. It is well worth the read if you check out the links to interviews and essays written about type, design and even Emigre itself. What a shame that such an accessible publication with its intrepid typography is now out of production. Fear not, young voyagers; reprints of back-issues are still available (and of course, there’s always eBay). http://www.emigre.com
FFF: Priori Created by type designer Jonathan Barnbrook. Other fonts of his that you may have seen before: Mason and Exocet. Inspired by first-half-century British typography, this typeface conjures up medieval connotations. Goth enthusiasts and religious scholars alike can appreciate its calligraphic strokes that end in sharp terminals. Priori comes in 32 flavors in varying weights, both serif and sans, complete with alternate characters, small caps and ligatures for all your body text and caption needs. Yum!
Special features: Check out the Art and Design link to feast your eyes on delectable merch from Emigre. Features wrapping paper designs composed from Zuzana Licko’s illustrative fonts, photos shot by Rudy Vanderlans, t-shirts, pottery and more! Also check out the Typetease feature under the Fonts portion for a sideby-side test comparison of all typefaces currently offered on the website.
The downside: The Emigre Off-Site link - (scroll down to the bottom of the page) - features not-so-up-to-date news and exhibitions of Emigre work showcased at past events. However, if you missed out on the complete set of Emigre Magazine on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York back in 2006, you can now visit the MOMA library and read through every issue to your heart’s content. Basically, the real downside: no new printings of Emigre!
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http://www.adobe.com/type/main.html
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http://www.typography.com
Special features: The Test Drive is a most comprehensive tool. Not only does it allow you to view fonts in the text that you choose, you can also compare countless fonts at the same time in their varying weights. Yowza.
FFF: Gotham You know it! The clean, crisp edges make for some sweet legibility. With 20 styles spread across 8 different weights, you could pretty much leap across the many different hierarchies of type in a single project - display titles, subheads, body copy, the works.
Highlights: Co-founded in 1989 by type juggernauts Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, the company boasts a monumental client list of domestic and international corporations. Brand leaders across numerous commercial areas have reaped the benefits of custom typography created by H&FJ. The New York-based company publishes its library of fonts for public use as well. Under the Information for Students link, the site encourages students
to send in questions on typography. Due to the overwhelming amount of email sent in, the recommendation is to check out the Ask H&FJ column first, which contains articles on a decent range of type issues. The heroes of Gotham (the typeface of course) offer a free copy of their Ninth Edition specimen book, but it is currently sold out! If you sign up for free as a member on the website, you can still pre-order it in anticipation of its next printing.
H&FJ also suggests some very helpful readings to hone your skills on type. Navigation through the fonts is nice and easy; this site pulls out all the stops to make you feel comfortable about your purchase. Each and every typeface is accompanied by the background story on its creation, a rundown on its characteristics, and even recommended pairings with other fonts in the collection. Special offer packages give you substantial savings, and licensing is made simple too - just choose how many computers that will be using your chosen font, Mac or PC, it doesn’t matter. Brilliant!
The downside: What a bummer - the no-nonsense dynamic duo does not carry handwriting fonts, nor do they offer the service for you to make your own. Holy letdown, Batman!
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http://fontshop.com
Highlights: FontFont is Fab Fab! Based in San Francisco, FontShop International markets thousands of typefaces from over 60 type foundries, including Emigre, ITC and P22. Not only is FontShop a purveyor of other type companies, the independent font retailer’s own library contains over 4,000 proprietary typefaces created by some of the world’s foremost typographers, including Neville
Brody, Erik Spiekermann and many more. Feel free to sign up for some wholesome gratis goodies free specimen catalogs, newsletter emails, free fonts and free copies of Font magazine. To top it all off, FontShop’s blog, The FontFeed as well as the Typeface Anatomy and Glossary under the website’s support page help to get fledglings in the know. Any additional help is just a call or click away.
FFF: FF Meta Serif
A great print publication typeface. Easily readable at different sizes, this little beauty can be used for article subheads, body copy, or even captions, take your pick.
Special features: TypeNavigator is the awesome FontShop typeface search engine. Saw a cool logo and you don’t know the name of the typefce used? Not to worry - TypeNavigator to the rescue. Using the “Search by Sight” option, pick the attributes similar to what you’re looking for; with FontShop’s extensive collections, you won’t go wrong. Sure, you can also search by the font name or designer if you know that too, but that would just be...easy.
The downside: This website would be truly one-stop shopping if all the background info on each typeface was included consistently on fontshop.com. As it is, many Font Fonts to have free specimen sheets available for download, but even then, not all do. The best bet: surf over to sister site fontfont.com for complete info on all the fonts proprietary to FontShop and their creators.
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http://veer.com/products/type
Highlights: A most righteous resource for any project! For a large company with offices in the U.S., Canada, London and Germany. Veer manages to cater to the design individual in a big way. As a provider of stock photography, illustrations and exclusive typefaces, Veer’s search engine is its biggest asset. Zero in on what you’re looking for using keywords, category filters, or just browse through the site’s massive collections. If the keyword for what you’re looking for eludes you, there is a handy online research request form and toll free call center number to connect you to support people who can help. The site’s Flont™ type preview tool is the coolest yet. Not only can you set sample text in the font of your choice, but you can also set the tracking looser or tighter than normal just to see the effects.
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Special features: A truly innovative tool, the Lightbox feature allows you to set aside favorite search items with no obligation to buy. The Shuttleboard™ mode provides even more functionality; you can resize, crop and layer images within an online workspace area. Combine images with type samples sized and positioned as you please. Create multiple lightboxes witih individual labels, send links to your lightbox via email, or print you Shuttleboard™ view for further reference.
FFF: P22’s Woodtype Extras One With so many faves (too many!) to choose from, it was time to give props to an ornamental font for a change. This series will help you accent your special occasion invitations with pictoral perfection. Any number of the characters presented can add a gentle terminal at the end of articles, details on the inside of a book cover, and other similar narrative styles. With its Victorian touches, business card decals as well as other era-specific applications will shine. Imagine the decorative borders you can create too - how nice!
Students can reap huge rewards through the Veer Student Program. Deep discounts are available - 50% off images, 30% off type - with proof of student status. Even if you’re not a student, you can rack up great discounts when you buy CD collections instead of single items. In partnership with the Art Directors Club (ADC) and the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) Veer offers scholarships for talented students in the U.S. and Canada. Internships are also possible at Veer’s Canadian headquarters with airfare and accommodations paid.
The downside: Still searching for one!
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Colophon
Alien League Regular
Swis721 BT Bold
Swis721 BT Bold Italic Swis721 Blk BT Black Italic
Swis721 BlkCn BT Black Swis721 BlkCn BT Black Italic Swis721 BlkEx BT Black
Swis721 Cn BT Italic Swis721 Lt BT Light
Swis721 Lt BT Light Italic