Recently in Graphic Design Category
There's something intriguing about a daily, self-imposed task that imposes formal constraints but which is flexible enough that creative exploration is possible. More than possible—the work is actually stimulated by the rigors of the premise. Luc Grateau's paintings of commuters rendered on Paris subway tickets are a perfect example. And closer to home is Stefan G. Bucher's playful series of Daily Monsters, which recently concluded with number 200.
Blazing Sushi? That seems like a contradition in terms, given that one of the main ingredients of this popular dish is, in fact, raw. But in the world of design, clients with strange names are not unknown. Nor are design briefs that insist on including long strings of relatively dull text that must be somehow elegantly worked into a small area. These, and other perils, await the brave designer hardy enough to take on AbleStock.com Design Brief 8, currently running on Graphics.com.
I last covered the work of the Berlin-based Neubau team in 2006, when Die Gestalten Verlag published its Neubau Welt collection of 1,000 vector outlines of people and objects. The book/CD remains a great design aid and has since been made available as a less-expensive download. I've recently been exploring Neubau Modul, an equally-rich resource also published by DGV. And "exploring" is an appropriate word, given the vast realm of possibilities this new tome opens up for designers.
Those involved in the practice of design have a long and rich history of engagement in social and environmental issues. This is as it should be, given the unique abilities of this profession to reach and sway large numbers of people. In fact, we're at the point where it's hard to find a designer who doesn't in some way express this increasingly global desire to "do the right thing," whether through the use of environmentally-friendly paper and printing processes or pro bono work for non-profits.
hese roundups covering font releases and typographic books, events and software were meant to be a monthly affair, but the flow of worthy items continues unabated. So with no further ado I'll start off with a sighting of a rare bird indeed—a significant update to a font creation and editing application.
arch was a great month, typographically speaking, providing some fresh faces, several books, a new version of a classic font creation application and even, as Mike Lenhart pointed out in his recent blog, a documentary film devoted to Helvetica. In this installment I'll cover some recent releases that caught my eye and then follow up with a look at books and software.
ell, it's been a good run but the fifth installment of Free Fonts That Don't Suck will be the final one—I've decided to cast a wider typographic net. To a certain extent this has been thrust upon me, since there are simply fewer good free fonts being released. We can thank the mega-font sites, such as MyFonts.com and Fonts.com, for this, having grown to the point where they're now the main sales platforms for many independent font creators. If those sites can find customers for just about anything, as seems to be the case, then the incentive for releasing free fonts disappears.
Bowing to the recent deluge of cards and letters wondering when the next installment of this saga would appear, I have again been trolling for fonts that even Aldus Manutius might enjoy using. My first stop was with FontShop, which provides a rotating sampling of free fonts that makes a monthly visit worthwhile.
It's been a while since I've updated my never-ending quest to seek out free fonts that won't make Giambattista Bodoni spin in his grave. This time I'll lead off with Die Gestalten, which I've mentioned in earlier installments. This Berlin-based design agency sells a range of products to the design community, including fonts. Not only that, but it provides a selection of free ones that changes regularly. Currently on offer is Doener Kebap Medium, Hard Case Striped, Rapido and the curious DrEye, shown above. Not for everyday use, admittedly, but employed sparingly in the right context I'd say it could make quite an impact. All four are available only in Mac PostScript format, so Windows users will need to convert them.
It's that time once again, my latest collection of free fonts that actually aren't foul enough to make you run screaming out of the room. In fact, some of them aren't bad at all. Well, at least they don't suck. With that faint praise out of the way, let's get typographic.
