Typography

Typography Comes of Age

By Delphine Hirasuna | September 2, 2011September 4, 2014

“Enough with the typography already!” My complaint to Kit is that every other story he wants to post in @Issue has to do with type. So, I’m writing this somewhat under duress.

“Humor me,” Kit says.

But the truth is that perhaps more than any time in history, the average person on the street is acutely aware of the differences in typefaces. Thanks to the computer, we can pick the digital font that suits our mood and voice. As a culture, we have become type snobs, sneering at Comic Sans, forming snap opinions about people who make Arial their default font, arguing over whether Helvetica is deserving of its popularity, and ridiculing some faces as “so last century.”

Announcements

Doyald Young tribute

By Kit Hinrichs | August 2, 2011September 4, 2014

Doyald Young, a lettering teacher of mine and mentor to generations of designers died recently at 85. Lynda.com prepared a tribute to him in a most fitting way. Letters and Logos.

Brand Logos

Peru Brands Itself

By Delphine Hirasuna | March 11, 2011September 4, 2014

On Friday, Peru officially launched a brand for the country, by stringing its new logo across the front entrance of the New York Stock Exchange. Gone are the old logo and slogan, “Land of the Incas.” In its place is a new identity developed by the British firm, FutureBrand, which also created Australia’s country brand in 2003.

The adoption of the spiral letter “P” wordmark represents the country’s bold move toward raising its identity internationally, not just as a tourist destination, but as the source of a broad line of export goods.

Typography

Mahatma Gandhi’s Words in His Own Type

By Delphine Hirasuna | February 8, 2011September 4, 2014

Leo Burnett India ad agency commemorated the 141st anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth (October 2, 2010) by creating an alphabetical font in the Devanagari script in the style of Gandhi’s trademark wireframe eyeglasses. The special typeface was the brainchild of Burnett’s national creative director KV “Pops” Sridhar, who wanted to inspire younger generations with the teachings of Gandhi. The glasses symbolize Gandhi’s vision and his visionary thoughts on truth and nonviolence. Sridhar explains, “The way he saw the world is completely different than the way we do – and hence the glasses, to subtly nudge people into thinking like him again.” Gandhi had originally given the glasses in the 1930s to an Indian army colonel who had asked the great leader for inspiration. Gandhi reportedly gave him his glasses and said, “These gave me the vision to free India.”

Advertising

Sagmeister’s “Here for Good”

By Delphine Hirasuna | April 27, 2010September 4, 2014

From the ever-inventive designer Stefan Sagmeister comes this TV commercial for Standard Chartered Bank. Sagmeister’s approach to typography continues to shock and delight. Who can forget his 1999 poster for an AIGA lecture that displayed the words actually carved into his skin? Sagmeister has also turned typography into an environmental art form by constructing words in — and out of — nature. You can’t help but read and reflect on the message.

The advertising commercial for Standard Chartered Bank aptly represents the multinational scope of the company’s business, which was formed in 1969 through a merger of the Standard Bank of British South Africa, founded in 1863, and the Chartered Bank of Australia, India and China, founded in 1853. International and exotic, steeped in cultural traditions and totally modern, the TV spot makes the bank’s philosophy feel sustainably organic and mindful of the global markets it serves.