Motel signs are one of my favourite examples of vernacular typography. They form that familiar symbol of shelter on the American roadtrip.
More on Typography
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Helvetica: Homage to a Typeface
Helvetica: Homeage to a Typeface By Lars MullerRead More →
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William Dwiggins (1880 -1956) – Typographer and Design all-rounder
Dwiggins was known for his “Metro” series of typefaces, the first designed specifically for newspaper headlines. He produced that in 1929 when he won the gold medal of the American Institute of Graphic Arts.Read More →
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Designing with Type, 5th Edition: The Essential Guide to Typography
Designing with Type, 5th Edition: The Essential Guide to Typography by James CraigRead More →
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Paris: May 1968 Posters of the Student Revolt
In the turbulent days of May 1968 in Paris, a group of artists calling themselves the Atelier Populaire created posters that were vital in spreading the call to unite student and workers. The propaganda of the French revolt was fed by immediate pressures. The day by day events – the disruption of classes at Nanterre…
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What is a Monogram?
A monogram is a single symbol made up of one or more letters. Every aspect of an individual’s taste and fancy can be accommodated with a monogram. Monograms differ significantly, and there are of a great variety of design. There are so many different types and combinations of the same letters that no two persons…
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AIGA – American Institute of Graphic Arts – What is it?
The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a group of professional designers who aim to show how important design is to industry, society, and our future as a whole. It was started in 1914 by a small group of graphic designers, printers, publishers, and illustrators. Since then, it has developed into a national network…
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Paul Rand (1914 -1996) – Designer who led the way
Paul Rand, was a seminal figure in graphic design who made innovative visual identities for some of America’s major corporations and book and magazine publishers We all have seen the designs of Paul Rand at some stage of our lives. He had a career spanning nearly seven decades. There is the seminal logo for IBM…
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Punk Fanzine: Sniffin’ Glue
The DIY style was one of the novelties that British punk introduced in the 1970s. There were hundreds of these fanzines, the most well-known of which being Sniff in ‘Glue. i-D, published by the art director Terry Jones, evolved from a fanzine into a publishing success.Read More →
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Glyphs – Road to International Understanding
Glyphs are graphical symbols that are more or less universally used. The Ancient Greeks had a word for most of today’s needs, the glyph is a Greek word meaning carving. Glyphs should carve a road to international communication by breaking down language barriers.Read More →
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Penguin Book Covers (1946 – 1949) Designer: Jan Tschichold
Tschichold created new standards of text arrangement and style that inspired all of the British postwar graphic design, although only working for the publication for three years. Then, with the formulation of the “Penguin Composition Rules,” he was able to apply Modernist theory to the requirements of book manufacturing.Read More →
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Peter Behrens (1868 – 1940) – German architect/designer
Peter Brehens (1868 – 1940) was a German graphic artist, architect and designer. He studied at the Karlsruhe and in Düsseldorf and Munich.Read More →
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Capitalisation rules – the basics
If you have ever read an old newspaper (early nineteenth century) and you look carefully at the old broadsheets. You will notice that words are capitalised here and there and that the rules of capitalisation, some of which you will learn shortly, seem nonexistent.Read More →
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Adrian Frutiger (1928 – 2015) Typographer – creator of widely used fonts.
Adrian Frutiger was a Swiss graphic designer and typographer. Frutiger created some of the most widely used fonts of the 20th century, and they can be seen daily in airports on street signs and in subway stations. He was the creator of many internationally known and loved fonts such as Avenir, Frutiger, Univers and Vectora.Read…
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Wolfgang Weingart – Swiss Typographer and Designer
He was dubbed “the father” of New Wave or Swiss Punk typography . LEARN MORERead More →
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Ikko Tanaka (1930 -2002) 🇯🇵 Graphic Design blend of East and West
Ikko Tanaka was a Leading Graphic Designer in Japan. He had an enormous impact on the post-war visual culture in Japan.Read More →
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Claude Garamond (1510 – 1561) made the letter a living thing
Little is known about the early life of France’s most distinguished type designer Claude Garamond, though he is mentioned as being “at work” in the printing business early in the sixteenth century, Garamond was commissioned by the French monarch, Francis I, to cut a font of Greek letter which later became known as the “Royal…
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Jan Tschichold (1902 – 1974) – Swiss Typographer
German-born, Tschichold is one of the most outstanding and influential typographers of the 20th century, He cleared away the old typography of pre-1925 and made room for a modern, structured and regulated new typography. His work is characterised by rigorous structure, asymmetrical placement of contrasting elements, and layouts based on horizontal and vertical underlying grids.Read…
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Million Mark Note – Design Classic
The Bauhaus was the most well-known design school of the 20th century. Herbert Bayer created notes in denominations of one million, two million, and two billion. The designs exemplify the ideology of hardline Modern Movement graphics.Read More →
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Herbert Bayer (1900 – 1985) – Universal Typeface – Bauhaus Master
The universal typeface, 1925, was a geometric alphabet based on bar and circle and was designed by Herbert Bayer. READ MORERead More →
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Typography Glossary – Design Terms
It helps to have an appropriate language to talk about typography. The following is a glossary of some of the words and their definitions that are used to described typography.Read More →
