Typeaffair

The blog of Cyprus–based graphic designer Sevak Barkhudaryan

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Adrian Frutiger: A Tribute by Matthew Carter

Do you browse the internet looking for inspirational stories about the greatest minds of our times? Then I think you will like this video talk by Matthew Carter in honor of his friend; Swiss typographer and designer Adrian Frutiger (May 24, 1928 – September 10, 2015).

If you are a type nerd then you are already familiar with Frutiger’s work, and if you never heard of him before — I think Matthew Carter does a great job talking about Frutiger as a world-class typeface designer, and the charming little stories that he shares reveal the humanistic side of Adrian Frutigers and how he related to others, as well as to his surroundings.

(Note: Matthew Carter starts talking at about 11:00)

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I Want To Know (Blue, Green, Orange, Red)

Recently I uploaded these (above) covers of “I Want To Know” books to Flickr. Published in 1967, they look fresh even today — simply fabulous. Less is more.

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Tobias Frere-Jones About Alphabet

“I keep getting drawn back to this lowercase “a”, which lacks the subtlety of the other forms, like it missed a week of letterform school.” — wrote Mr. Frere-Jones.

He then continues; “Strokes that completely enclose a small white space (like the “a” and “e”) need to be thinned out a bit so they don’t appear to be heavier. But it doesn’t look like that allowance was made, so the bottom curve of the “a” looks too heavy, and becomes another distraction.”

“The simple calmness turns fussy and fidgety right in the middle of the word. The three curves fight one another, and the stroke aperture at the top is sure to collapse (literally or seemingly) at smaller sizes.”

Source: WIRED

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An idea is something you have; an ideology is something that has you.

Morris Berman

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Hermann Zapf (8 November 1918 – 4 June 2015)

I just learned that the great German calligrapher, typeface designer and educator; Hermann Zapf has passed away at the age of 96.

Hermann Zapf’s typeface designs include Palatino (1950), Optima (1958), ITC Zapf Dingbats (1978) and Zapfino (1998). Here is an old and beautiful film on YouTube about him, almost like a mini documentary.

You should also check the The Hermann Zapf Sketchbook Project. I think his talent was truly extraordinary!

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It Took 40 Years To Make This Font

I love Neue Haas Unica; it marries the phenomenon of Helvetica with the wisdom of Univers. Many thanks to Dan Rhatigan who discovered it and Toshi Omagari for breathing a new life into it. Find more about Neue Haas Unica on WIRED and GIZMODO. Available on MyFonts!

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Watch 12 Free Courses from Lynda.com

I'm a bit late to post about this, but what a treat it is! Lynda.com has unlocked 12 courses which you can watch for free until 2 February. The courses were chosen by voters and while I'm typing this at the same time I have the The Neuroscience of Learning playing in the background — it's very interesting, so I'll go back to watching it now.

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I say to young designers … don’t look outside. Learn to look inside … Your style comes by refining your way of looking inside, not by importing it.

Massimo Vignelli

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Free Helsinki!

Germany–based type designer Ludwig Übele is offering the thin and super black weights of his Helsinki typeface for free through this mini site. Get them now and tell your friends on facebook and twitter also. Happy designing!

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Saturday's Inspirational Piece from Taiwan

Deep cultivation lies in joy, great beauty lies in innocence. From ancient times to the present day, good artworks have always been a perfect combination of learning and personality. A painter’s life is a boundless conversation among humanity, nature and history, producing the kind of learning that is tempered in the crucible, and entailing the process of life. The process is the result. Learning is creating. Existence is reality. Truth lifts up beauty. Only seeking the erudition of growing together with life can be called true erudition. Only seeking the limitless “absolute existence” can be called the true joy of “happiness in the midst of hardship.”

Source: Wang Zhi-Hong Studio/Read Lee

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Best Beard the Rolling Stone Saw at Coachella 2014

One day, when my Armenian relatives stop being curious about the way I dress and my current hairstyle, I will grow a proper beard. Until then I'll just “keep calm” and read about people with best beards on music blogs. Like the piece below.

“Sebu Simonian of Capital Cities not only had the best beard at Coachella — luxuriant, Rasputin-like — he may currently have the second-best facial hair in the Western Hemisphere (behind James Harden of the Houston Rockets, of course). The rest of the band ably backed up the beard, not oust with matching white dinner jackets, but an super-fun set of trumpet-heavy dance.”

Source: Rolling Stone

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Oh Frida, You are so Bizarre and I've Fallen for You

There is something magical about women with moustaches and thick eyebrows. Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907–54) understood this very well. “She is often called a Surrealist but she never felt comfortable with the label, referring to Andre Breton and his gang as ‘coo-coo lunatic sons of bitches’. ‘I never painted dreams.’ she wrote, ‘I painted my own reality.’ From the age six, when she first contracted polio, this reality was more or less defined by pain”

“On 17 November 1925, when she was only eighteen, Frida was travelling home from school on a bus when a tram hit it broadside on. She broke her back, pelvis, collarbone, ribs and right leg (in eleven places) and dislocated a foot and a shoulder. A piece of metal handrail also pierced her vagina. Although she was expected to die, after more than a year prostrate in bed, she recovered.”

“Her father, a photographer (and an artist himself) rigged up a mirror and various contraptions over her bed so that she could see and draw objects in the room. It was this that led Frida to become an artist. In the remainder of her life, she underwent thirty-five surgical operations (as well as several abortions and miscarriages) and her art almost always revolved about her body, her pain and her suffering, sometimes in shockingly realistic detail.”

Source: the Guardian, The Book of the Dead

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Drawings for Garamond by Frederic W. Goudy

The American type designer Frederic Goudy drew this letters(above) in 1921 as the basis for Garamond, which was released later as "No. 248," by Lanston Monotype Co. The drawings were the first step in the production of the typeface. 

Source: Rochester Institute of Technology

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Don't be so sweet that people swallow you up, nor so bitter that they spit you out.

Luqman

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A New Home for Cyrillic Typography

Cyrillicsly — initiated by Maria Doreuli and Krista Radoeva — is a blog dedicated to sharing knowledge about the Cyrillic script amongst the curious and the professionals alike. One of the aims of the blog is “to clarify subjects that have not been thoroughly investigated until now,” regarding the Cyrillic; which is the national script of countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, etc.

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Lats Sunday I saw the second episode of BBC's adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' the Three Musketeers on BBC One. Apart from the mediocre script and the uninspiring acting, something else that made an impression on me was the tittle design which appears at the beginning. The rough, inky, adventurous and imperfect graphics(above) set the mood of what the viewers are expecting to see — only, they promise too much.

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A Wedding in Nagorno-Karabakh

“It was July 2011 and the celebrations began at Armine's house, where she was getting ready with her friends. It is traditional to have two wedding parties, beginning at the bride's village and ending at the groom's. The day is long, there are lots of formalities – and even more drinking, eating and dancing. It was a challenge for me to keep moving and not to drink too much vodka, or eat too much of the delicious homemade cheeses and meats.” Writes photojournalist Anastasia Taylor-Lind.

“This photo(above) was taken at the second celebration, in Artak's village. Artak and Armine are sitting in between their ‘best couple’ – a pair who have been married for a few years and whose job it is to be their guardians, a bit like god parents. They will guide them through marriage, giving advice and support.”

Source: the Guardian.