24 April 2009

true to type

Watching the very talented Mr R working yesterday I couldn't resist snatching this piece of gorgeousness from him (please be sure to click on the picture for a proper, enlarged view). Don't worry I have his consent. There's something about a typeface, about a specific way a word is presented on print that is so beautiful, powerful and to the point. No fuss. No frills. No extras. No sound. Just a word - in most cases put very simply in black on white or vice versa. I suppose it all boils back down to design. And I guess it's graphic design really - but I like to think that it actually goes back further than that. Graphics don't really do it for me, but letters baby, yeah! Typesetting and, more importantly Typography. What genius to beautifully arrange letters to create your very own typeface, Herr Max Miedinger. I do love all those wonderful Harpers Bazaar articles with the iconic serif typeface, but have to admit that it's the sans serifs that I'll go for time and time again. They're just beautiful to me. My favourites from the mood board above are without a doubt the 'Acqua di Parma' logo and the 'Eleven Madison Park'. That's how simple I like it. Whilst doing his reasearch work yesterday, Mr R showed me this website which shows some great examples of a stunning typeface used so effectively on a collection of book covers (albeit rejected ones - I can't imagine why). Mmmm books.... don't get me started on those!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

yes, typeface, very important. i look for the right one when writing a letter, an article. i want to express myself even more using a certain lettertype, maybe even putting it bold or cursive. certain newspapers or magazines after changing typeface might become unreadable for me. laurien

Anonymous said...

that is pretty darn attractive! Cinster

dani said...

Recently I asked one of my clients if I could use Helvetica Neue Light instead of the Arial they usually favour. She said that yes, I could be patriotic and honour the work of Miedinger. I wish Blogger would offer Helvetica as an option to write the posts but sadly it's not contemplated (yet. And another one I really like is the Underground font, it really symbolises London for me.

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