gordonated

Interesting: Helvetica is Victorian?

“In the movie Helvetica, Massimo Vignelli said that Helvetica was a Modernist typeface – No! No! Helvetica is anything but Modernist, Clearly it has its roots in Akzidenz Grotesk and that was designed in 1899, which is Victorian as far as I am concerned. Akzidenz is a fantastic font but it’s not Modernist, it’s got a really antique feel about it.”

—Bruno Maag on Helvetica.

Take from Creative Review blog, titled The Helvetica Killer (absolutely brutal title I think). It also shows  interesting views on Helvetica vs Univers and their new nemesis, Aktiv Grotesk. This is how I look like on-screen in Aktiv Grotesk:

I don’t use Helvetica anymore but the thing is how should I categorize this now? At least in my profession (as a graphic designer) Modernism is Helvetica. Blogs preach about it, designers argue about it and even lecturers teach about it. Also taking into consideration that Victorian stuff is usually decorative and ornamental (and also that floral thingie…), which is the exact opposite of the general understanding of Modernist Principles that Helvetica impresses us with.

Helvetica is Victorian; honestly, I have never seen it that way before. Respect.

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Work: Kancil Awards 2009

Nothing much to say about this years Kancils. Been an interesting year as many changes have been introduced especially in terms of judging. The typeface is AG Buch.

Kancil Call for Entries Poster above. Introducing the all new format of 10 Golden Kancils to be won this year.

Kancil Student Call for Entries Poster. The copy is a dummy. (Notice the huge margin on the left?)

Of course there are other permutations of the way the Kancils leap over one another. (Dummy copy again for the above) And finally, the website. Don’t forget to log in this Friday at midnight to view all the winning works! And good luck to all of you who hope to win something.

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Work: Spaghetti!

Big Fat Bird now serves spaghetti. Yummy.

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Fav: Gill Sans

I love Gill Sans.

Probably an extension of my favor for British Design. Have combined it with Times New Roman, Sabon, Galliard and other old style typefaces. Possibly sometime ago, I stunningly tried to combine it with ITC Avant Grade; yes, I failed of course. You will need to be a pro typographer to do it.

And like many others, I do think its overused. Easily available on any computer running on either Windows or Mac platform, accessibility to the typeface further results in even more usage and some bad public examples. Some inappropriate usage as text, boring usage on ad’s and sometimes an eyesore on billboards.

I like it on book covers. I like it in large sizes on a small confined grid on a canvas. I like it as headlines, subtitles and quotes. I like it in capitals. I think if evenly spaced, it can be elegant and beautiful. And I love the black sheep of the family; the italic ‘p.’ I love the lowercase ‘g’ and think that ‘a’ is annoyingly addictive to look at. But all said in this paragraph, only if set in the hands of someone who appreciates it and has a good eye for it.

Other humanist sans typefaces like Agenda or FF Milo might have better consistency and beauty and more weights but I guess I’m sticking with the fact that Gill Sans has more authenticity. It would have been so much more exclusive if it hadn’t been overused widely.

My thoughts on Gill Sans extends beyond the sophistication of the typeface alone. I have an admiration for the complicated life of its creator, Eric Gill. Having to have read An essay on Typography and halfway through reading his biography, my admiration for the man simply developed a little further. Though I might not take his spiritual theologies as good advise sometimes. And of course the sexuality stuff he keeps mentioning about and repeatably shown in some of his work. Probably after completely reading his biography, I might change my mind on this.

Fontshop.com has some alternatives to Gill Sans, of which it will be a crazy idea to use with. Eric Gill is also featured in this months Creative Characters newsletter from Myfonts.

Someday, I will challenge myself to the ultimate task of using Gill Sans next to Stone Sans. Might never succeed.

I know, sometimes I overly mention about Gill Sans.

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Seen: Letterpress Poster Printing

Letterpress Poster Printing from Joshua Gerken on Vimeo.

Quite an interesting scene. I wish Figtree owns one of these things… (Just finished trimming some 100 posters and 200 cards so am kind of in an ‘envy this’ mode)

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Thought: Mix Typefaces

Seems to me sometimes you don’t really need an absolute knowledge in type to mix typefaces together. No superb type design here but simply amateurish mixtures of typefaces that simply becomes authentic overtime.

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Bump: Awesome Zapfino ffi ligature

Check out the awesome Zapfino ffi ligature while browsing the G20 article from Guardian.

Interesting is the it also appears on the website’s source selection!

Anybody have any idea how to fix this? Or perhaps create even more surprises in the future.

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