Twenty-Six Types of Animals
Typography: channeling the essence of the beast
by Jeremy Pettis.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Helvetica™ typeface, Linotype invited designers worldwide to take part in the Helvetica NOW poster contest (second round of voting is underway).
** Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives.

Sam Winston’s work is about mixing language with form.
He attributes much of his inspiration to his dyslexia, which he says makes him think about words in a different way.

‘With the “Dictionary Story” I was exploring the notion of reading environments - the spaces that are created when people become “lost” inside a book.’ He asked himself what would happen if words could take on their own meaning without the help of the reader. ‘How would “anger” respond if he met “apathy”; what would happen if “lawless” bumped into “lawn”? he wondered.
Winston’s aim was to make the text take on its own personality and character before it has been read.
(Anne Odling-Smee, The new handmade graphics. Autumn 2002)

In a quick-moving society, there’s a desire to hold onto things that are nostalgic, one that isn’t mass produced often involving traditional craftsmanship. Everytime I see images of letterpress and typography, I fall in love. There is indescribable beauty in the type blocks, printing mechanisms and quality designs. I love the images on this site, let the pictures speak for themselves.
* Adventures in letterpress
* A lesson in letterpress
* Landscape Products
* Papier Labo

Elle Decor UK (June) featured the apartment of Kenneth Kvarnström, a choreographer and artistic director for the House of Dance in Stockholm. He wanted to create a functional-looking space, so he opted to furnish the place with old factory lights, street signs and office filing cabinets. Its monochrome colour scheme and injections of bold typography is the essence of graphic chic.

Wouldn’t it be cool to live in an old converted warehouse / factory building with exposed brickwork and, industrial reclaim / salvaged furniture? I’ve always loved reclaimed furniture and wood floors. I know the whole look can be a little harsh, masculine and somewhat ‘Manhattan’, but the graphic element i.e. displaying printing blocks can be very striking (love Bugheart’s house). How about using an old hotel lobby key box, or pigeon-holes / medicine drawers to hold your stationery?

Following on from the previous post, I fell in love as soon as I saw these on Designers’ Block. It’s a marriage of beautiful typography and quotations (two of my favourite things) from Wonderful Graffiti, vinyl you can stick onto your walls!