davidthedesigner

neither one thing nor the other

I've not really engaged with Wimbledon yet this year, but last night I watched the second half of the Murray/Wawrinka match. It should, for me, have been full of novelty: I'd never watched Andy Murray play before (nor Wawrinka); I'd never seen a Wimbledon match played under a roof, nor after dark. But somehow it didn't grab me. Andy Murray has been held up as a potential Wimbledon champion this year. Now, no disrespect, but he's not, is he? You can see it in the body language: he just doesn't have the killer instinct and mastery of the court that defines all great champions.

But it wasn't really Murray that was troubling me. So, was it the roof? It certainly changes the acoustic, so the match didn't really sound like Wimbledon. But I don't think so. Maybe it's because it takes away the drama of whether a match is going to be interrupted by rain or bad light. But there was certainly enough tension in this match, and the crowd were animated enough when points were won or lost.

But something was troubling me.

And then I realised it's the scoreboard. It's set in Optima. The font that's neither one thing nor the other. It's horrible.

this made me smile #77

three by six

Remember the six golden rules - the things that every aspiring designer ought to know before they start setting type? Well, our good friend Loïc has. He's been invited to contribute to the 20th International Poster and Graphic Arts Festival at Chaumont next month. And, as one of his exhibits, he's chosen to turn my six golden rules into a poster, or posters, à la El Lissitzky:

Looks interesting, don't you think? And Loïc tells me that he's also going to tackle Ben's I'm a designer, use me better talk.

See, that's the nice thing about blogging: you put something out there and you have no idea whether it's going to be completely ignored, or whether somebody else will pick it and run with it.

the smock was worn by mr. goudy only for this film; he usually appears in his shirt-sleeves

There's a grand collection of movies about typography over on TypeCulture. I haven't yet watched all of them, but the Erik Spiekermann piece is well worth seven minutes of your time (if you can handle the Tina Weymouth intro music, that is).

And the Monotype Keyboard & Caster film should be a real eye-opener to those of you who have only ever set type on a computer screen.

(A big thanks to Martin for the tip-off.)

we're all a product of our times

When I reflect back on the Helvetica Film, I'm surprised that I can't really remember very much about it. Can you? (OK, so I only ever got to see the shorter version that was shown on the BBC.) But the one thing that does stick in my mind is the trailer which shows an interview with Wim Crouwell.

He's not really talking about Helvetica, at all - is he? He's talking about Modernism. But he's also reflecting, I think, on how his love of modernism is a reflection of his education and training.

As Ko was saying just the other day, his visit to a Marcel Duchamp exhibition in Paris when he was a student made a very deep impression on him. For me, it was a major Bauhaus exhibition at the Royal Academy: and, as a consequence, 'form follows function' has been a guiding principle for me throughout my career (or "the meaning is in the content of the text", as Wim says in that clip). And once those deep impressions are made, it's very hard - if not impossible - to shake them off.

But just as important to us when we're learning to become designers is what we reject. And what we reject is usually what went immediately before. I've been reminded about this because I came across a charming little book on my bookshelf the other day.

It dates from 1976 and represents everything that I hated at the time (although I will admit to owning a brilliant pair of Newman elephant cords which were exactly that colour orange: to which my father's reaction was "you're not going out dressed like that, are you?").

I can look at that book now, though, and appreciate that there's a lot of skill and craftsmanship gone into creating it. But, for the life of me, I can't learn to love it.

oooh, nice

You've got to see this: it's amazing. Felix Wielder's collection of almost 600 modernist design books (and he's still adding more).

I've only had a quick peek at what's there, but so far here's my favourite:

It's a brochure (titled a bridge to the future) designed in 1955 by Josef Müller-Brockmann to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Swiss retailer Migros.

(Found via things)

this made me smile #68

But do you have to be a designer (and a certain age) to understand the joke?

From binky the doormat.

three by one

You might remember this from the cover of Design Week a couple of weeks ago. It's some lovely wallpaper (called Lagoon, but also known as Waves) designed by Edward Bawden in 1928. You might also have read the accompanying article telling you all about an exhibition of crafts assembled from three public collections and curated by Alison Britton. It's on now - and for the rest of the year - at the Crafts Study Centre in Farnham, Surrey. Do make an effort to go: as Design Week says, "this is something that will resonate with designers".

Well, I have the great good fortune to have designed the exhibition, so I've had the chance to spend a little bit of time with the objects on display. And my pick?

It's Edward Johnston's first drawing, dated 6 February 1916, for the London Underground alphabet (actually, to be totally accurate, it's a later lithographic copy, not the original drawing itself). But for anyone interested in type, this alone would make the trip worthwhile.

those 52 fonts

Well, I'll tell you why blogging is such a good idea - and why we have to keep it out of the hands of those who only have product to shift. I was pondering quite what I was going to do with my 52 fonts series once I'd got to the end. And what should happen? That nice chap Loïc comes galloping to the rescue, because he's felt inspired to do the job for me.

Loïc is anxious that I tell you that it's still in 'beta' mode, but he's put the construction together and is now working on how it should look. So, take a look yourself and let us know if you have any tips or suggestions to pass on.

Thank you Loïc - I really appreciate your doing this.

And that's why this blogging malarky is a good idea: see, you can just set something up and the whole thing can take on a life of its own.

As for me, I've been wondering about turning the 52 fonts series into a book. What do you think?

yanus & ying

I've got to get a move on. I've got to complete this series by the end of this week.

So here's Yanus. It was designed in 1997 by Tagir Safayev at ParaType. It was inspired by Neulin Sans of Ray Gun magazine from 1996. The first version of the typeface was created as part of a corporate identity program for the Russian airline Aeroflot.

And here's Ying. Designed in 2006 by Gert Wiescher.

Not bad, are they?