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The Font 006 Online Companion

Stephen Coles — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:46:53 +0000

The latest issue of Font magazine is hot off the press, and it’s free. Check your FontShop subscription settings to make sure you are subscribed.

In Font 006, we visit design from South Africa, Sarajevo, São Paulo, Iran, and Havana. You can take the journey to the web, too. Here is a detailed table of contents, sprinkled with links and font info, so you can follow along digitally while you read the magazine.

Cover

Designed by Conor Mangat with the following images: International flight density (diagrammed in 1968), ƒstop 048.015 by Yujiro Tada, and ƒstop 414.016 by Patrick Strattner

Pg 3: Table of Contents

Titles set in FF Clan™ (used for titles and stats throughout)
Editor’s note set in FF Celeste®
Table of contents set in FF Oxide™

Pg 16: Foundry Spotlight

ARS Type of Amsterdam

Pg 18: Foundry Spotlight

PSY/OPS of San Francisco

Pg 20: São Paulo, Brazil

Photographs of Tony de Marco
Set in FF Oxide™ and FF Sari™
More coverage: New York Times, On the Media (audio)

Pg 24: Iran

Reza Abedini
Set in FF Cellini™

Pg 29: The New FontFonts

FontFont Releases 39 and 40

Pg 33: Cuba

Set in FF Cellini™
More: Icograda Design Week in Havana, The Seattle Havana Poster Show

Pg 36: Foundry Spotlight

Présence Typo of the French Alps

Pg 38: Foundry Spotlight

Red Rooster Collection of Pennsylvania

Tony de Marco Reveals An Ad-less São Paulo

Stephen Coles — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:44:11 +0000

In Font 006, Tony de Marco clears away the clutter to reveal São Paulo’s ban on advertising. His photographs tell the story of what remained earlier this year when Brazil’s economic capital enacted new “clean city” legislation that outlawed all forms of outdoor advertising.

Here are some of de Marco’s remarkable shots that couldn’t make it into the print version of Font 006. See more in his personal gallery.

Graff Artists Mix Styles in The Exchange

Stephen Coles — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 01:33:23 +0000

Over three decades in development, aerosol art has grown into a complex and systematic hand lettering artform. Worldwide, practitioners have developed regional commonalities leading to distinct geographical styles. While “style writers” introduce new ideas, their discoveries echo throughout the international graffiti community.

Thanks to the internet, the fusion of style has become common practice among the new generation. American aerosol artist RIME began a project he calls The Exchange, a system of trading sketches and ideas with style writers worldwide. With twelve of the world’s best aerosol artists participating in The Exchange, they are certain to develop unique hybrid styles to be mimicked by generations to come.

FontShop’s Wes Wong spoke with RIME about the impact and future of The Exchange.

The styles of YES2 and EWOK mix to create this “YES2″ piece.
Click on images for larger size.

Wes: What is The Exchange all about?

RIME: I came up with the idea late one night in January 2005, and have been coordinating everything. I’ve always wanted to try different methods of painting and to work with other writers. Lately, I’ve come to the point where I was tired of doing my name and the same brand of graffiti. I wanted to try something different. One of the reasons I started The Exchange was that I wanted to get myself to sketch again and to try out different sets of letters. A lot of my friends felt the same way.

It started when I talked to SEVER about trading outlines. Originally, I emailed 5 writers; REVOK, SEVER, YES2, EWOK and GESO; making one mass email with a proposal of what I wanted to do.

It all started off as a mass email that was going around. We were writing to each other saying what we think a bout certain pieces and styles, giving each other critiques.

Unfortunately GESO couldn’t continue and was replaced by BATES. Each of us was given a choice of which writer we wanted to team up with. The next additions were PERSUE, ESTEME, SNOW, KACAO77, TOTEM and SERCH.

The Exchange continued and eventually I put it on my website.

“Bates” by BATES (DK). Sketches by RIME (US).

Where did you see it going?

When I started it, I didn’t know where it was going. I didn’t know if the writers were going to keep doing it and I wasn’t planning on putting it on the website. Maybe sometime down the road the project may expand with more international artists participating.

Do you see your styles changing as a result of the collaboration?

The original 6 people that I picked, were people that I am directly influenced by. Working closely with them, I am even more influenced by their work. I’ve learned different ways of painting by trying to recreate and expand on the sketch that was given to me.

BATES said that, before he did REVOK’s exchange, he never outlined the bubbles behind his pieces. It was something new to him and he might incorporate it to his style.

“Revok” by Revok (left). “Bates” design by REVOK, executed by BATES (right).

I just did a piece this weekend and when I stepped back to look at it, I was able to see a little bit of SEVER, little bit of REVOK, and a little bit of EWOK. I see that influence happening. With The Exchange, you can go on the website, even see an action shot, then read a response from the writer. You get some inside information about their process, and you get more of an idea of what it took to create that piece.

There are 12 of us in total, and a lot of us have never even met each other before. We only know each other by our graffiti, but we are in touch on a regular basis through emails. When I pair up with a writer like KACAO77, who speaks very little English, it creates a temporary partnership. I’m working with him, sending him emails back and forth talking about an outline. We work together up to the point of painting it, after we talk about the results. I think it’s going to be real interesting when we all meet up. It’s kind of like pen pals.

“Kacao” sketch by RIME (above). Executed painting by KACAO (below).

What do you think is going to happen with The Exchange?

I’ve met a lot of newer writers that came out within the past 2 years. A lot of them have no sense of style. What I’m hoping is that it will lure in the younger generation and influence them to think more consciously about lettering style. Put letters first before anything else. Before the color scheme or the background. Just to work towards making really good base forms.

I’m trying to get everyone in The Exchange to approach graffiti lettering as an art form. I’m trying to make it so that we can talk about our graffiti as if we are critiquing a piece of fine art. I think a lot of graffiti writers sell themselves short when they try to separate graffiti from art in general.

One of the ideas I would like to get across to those outside of the graffiti scene is, people should understand that creating good graffiti lettering is very hard to do. There is a method to the madness; the act of painting a name can require intense skill and years of dedication.

This Web Extra is published in conjunction with Font magazine, FontShop’s free publication on typography and design. Issue 005: Legibility explores the topics of graffiti and the alphabet. If you received Font 004, you’re subscribed — 005 should arrive in your mailbox within a few weeks. If not, subscribe now!

Tip: Using FF Headz

Stephen Coles — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 17:43:46 +0000

FF Headz is the first typeface by designer and illustrator Florian Zietz. The concept for FF Headz is similar to the effect found in some children’s books, where pages are split into sections that can be grouped in unusual and humorous combinations. For example, a crocodile head from one page might be paired with an elephant body from another page to form a new creature, the “crocophant.”

During a rainy afternoon in Denmark, Zietz began to design rough drafts of heads with his eleven-year-old niece, Sophie, and his nephew Jakob (age nine). The creative team used a Euro coin as a template. With just a circle as the basic shape, they created hundreds of heads in a couple of days. These heads were later used as a basis for digitizing the font.

Every “complete” head in FF Headz is made up of four individual characters (upper part of the head, eyes and nose, mouth, and chin). The number of combinations that can be created is “ten to the fourth power (ten thousand),” says Zietz. A few of these variations can be seen below.

All variants of each of the four components can be found on the four keyboard rows: the upper parts of a head are placed on the number keys: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 0; eyes and noses can be found on e, r, t, u, i, E, R, T, U, I; mouths are on s, d, f, g, h, S, D, F, G and H; and chins lay on x, c, v, b, n, X, C, V, B and N. Have fun!

Fred Smeijers on Legibility

Stephen Coles — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 20:38:18 +0000

Fred Smeijers, the award-winning designer of FF Quadraat and fonts for OurType, and author of “Counterpunch,” describes the trouble with “legibility” — not just in achieving it as a goal, but describing it as a concept.

It is possible, for anyone and certainly for a typedesigner, to experience aha! moments when it concerns legibility. It has happened to me many times and it still goes on. My legibility instinct became very strong and, I am afraid, it will never go away. This is a real professional deformation which, in real life, means that I can hardly look at any text without first shaping an opinion about the typeface/letters in use, the general layout, quality of print, etc. It usually takes at least a few seconds to scan all these before I can start to read. It is quite a relief to realize this acquired reflex can be suppressed in critical situations, like looking for the right check-in gate in a hurry.

A type designer often has to confront himself with the legibility problem on various levels. Onscreen representation of typefaces, for example, is a field were you will often face it in rather unforgiving circumstances. In the mid-’80s I had to experiment with the then so-called “soft-fonts” — screen fonts with greyscaling. The grayscaling effect, when applied well, delivered such a striking legibility improvement that it simply made me feel very, very happy and content. I was whistling while riding back home from work.

Another example, maybe less obvious than the one just given, but also very important to me, was during the development of the Arnhem typeface. Originally Arnhem was a custom-made type design for Staatscourant — a newspaper of the Dutch Government. During the design process, I was in the lucky circumstance to have the opportunity to test in print as many trial fonts as I thought were necessary. We are talking about real conventional legibility here, meaning newspaper print, economy, small sizes while maintaining character and beauty. During testing, one of the things I discovered was that the simple traditional triangular-shaped top serifs functioned better than all the other subtle variations I could come up with. This is, of course, no golden rule. If it is, it only counts for a certain class of conventional typefaces and even then, only when setting large amounts of text in small point size.

So, there we go, talking about legibility means in the first place that you have to be extremely specific about the circumstances in which the reading takes place. The “triangular-serif story” might contain some truth, but it is not necessarily true when it comes to a billboard or when just two words are set in small type size.
The circumstances in which people can and do read nowadays can be so diverse that I have hardly any hope for the general legibilty tests and their conclusions, as we knew them from a few decades ago. Reading habits do change and they change, I am afraid, faster than someone like Stanley Morison made us once believe. People adapt and accept a lot when it comes down to reading — or better said: scanning — all kinds of messages.

Of course, there are still many of down to earth do’s and don’t’s within typography. These little laws and rules will often hold ground. But that is not legibility, per se — that is general design knowledge which, in principle, has to lead to better and more readable results. So, in the end, what does legibility exactly mean today for general graphic design? I find that very hard to tell.

On the other hand, I am almost sure that certain products which deal with information transfer are being developed in lab-like circumstances. These products are also being tested for legibility. But legibility there means in the first place not just the letters, but ease of use in general. Layout and user interface structure are in such cases often more decisive than a pixel more or less. — Fred Smeijers

Fred Smeijers is a type designer who specializes in typographic research and development for product manufacturers. Among his typeface designs are FF Quadraat and Quadraat Sans, TEFF Renard, and the OurType Arnhem, Fresco and Sansa. Born in the Netherlands, Smeijers studied graphic design at the Academy of Art in Arnhem. His first practice came in the mid-1980s with the firm of Océ, just then entering the field of typography with laser printers. This set the pattern for Smeijers’s long engagement with type design in its most functional applications, as part of product design. After five years he left to work in graphic design, helping to establish the group Quadraat (in Arnhem). The name of the design group was also given to his first published typeface: FF Quadraat, launched by FontShop International in 1992. His work of the 1990s included the expansion of the Quadraat family, type and lettering design jobs for Philips, collaboration on Martin Majoor’s Telefont type design, typefaces such as TEFF Renard and Romanee, and his first book “Counterpunch.” With the award of the Gerrit Noordzij Prize in 2000, Smeijers’s achievements in the field of practice, research, and education were formally recognized. This prize included a retrospective exhibition of his work, held in The Hague in 2003. His book “Type now” was also published then, as part of the award. That year also saw the launch of the label he co-runs: OurType. In 2004, Smeijers was appointed Professor of Digital Typography at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig.

Font Interviews Style Master RIME

Stephen Coles — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 00:38:42 +0000

In graffiti, staying original is a requirement for respect amongst its practitioners. Besides the undocumented “interactions” with police, problems with rivals, and staying active; being able to constantly re-invent yourself is something most writers live for. The title of Style Master has strict criteria; nonetheless new kings always emerge with innovative concepts and techniques to add to the palette of graffiti.

RIME has always been one of those writers who pushed the limits. With letterforms ranging from his various bubbly (round) throw-ups, to intricate sharp wildstyles, RIME always finds ways to shape his moniker into something different.

Wes Wong met with RIME to see what goes through his head when creating letters.

RIME: I was in sixth grade when I met a graffiti writer from Brooklyn who went to my school. He was already into painting and showed my friends and me some of his old handstyles. We were impressed and started to learn how to do different kinds of tags.

Wes Wong: How would you describe the general look of graff?

Graffiti tends to layer upon itself, each letter spills on to the next letter. The difference between graffiti and any type of traditional font is that most fonts and other forms of writing have good marginal space between one letter to the next, making them clean and easier to decipher. Graffiti is one flowing entity, one word, pressed together to get one form.

Would you say that there is standardization to letterspacing in graffiti?

I think that with each writer it’s different. I went through a period where I did not want to overlap my letters. But I wanted my letters to have no negative space between them. For instance my “I” and “M” had no gaps between them. I wanted to press my letters up next to the edge, kind of like puzzle pieces.

There are other people who like to overlap their first letter, making it reach in and extend, overlapping their following letters. I guess with each person it’s different. That’s one of the things I liked about graffiti, there are so many different ways you can make it.

RIME Boxcar (2003) — Click to enlarge.

When you first started, was your drive to have a good style or to get fame?

I’ve always been an artist so I was attracted to the more artistic ways of creating graffiti. I was into comic book characters before I found graffiti. Once I had access to Subway Art and other books related to graffiti, I would try to imitate pieces, but I got into graffiti more as a bomber. I was doing tags and throw-ups, just started getting into block letters. I didn’t get into piecing until the second or third year. The people that I was hanging around with were more into bombing.

RIME in Poland (2003)

How did you make the transition to piecing?

Most of the stuff that inspired me was a variation of different styled tags and throw-ups. I saw pieces in sketchbooks, but there wasn’t any stuff in my neighborhood. I would see actual work in Manhattan, on my way to school.

I did my first piece in January of 1993 at night behind a supermarket. I was amazed at how much easier piecing was then doing throw-ups or tags. I realized then that when you made a mistake while executing a piece, it was very easy to clean and build up your work in layers. With tags and throw-ups, the act of painting is instantanious which forces you to get things right on that first stroke. If you fuck up then it is what it is, you just have to accept it and try again somewhere else.

Detail of PYSA & RIME billboard

How would you describe your style?

I’ve always been searching for a style, ever since I dedicated myself more to piecing and throw-ups. I’ve been known to change my throw up every couple of months because I get tired of them. I have a difficult time doing the same thing over and over again.

Getting into piecing, I was always interested in all different areas of style. I’ve appreciated a bubbly style just the same as I would be into a more hardedge-technical-angular-geometric type style. I was always dipping in and out of different areas of style, sometimes mixing them together and creating something new with it. Some of my pieces tend to be rounded, bubbly and soft. Kinda dorky looking. Whereas the other ones I do are a little more sleek and aerodynamic. A lot of times it depends on where I’m painting, what brand of paint I’m using, and the situation of the wall or train I’m painting on. Also, If the writers I’m painting with don’t really paint bubbly style, I will paint something not as bubbly. I’ve always tried to be flexible with style.

Sometimes I’ll just start drawing something, which won’t be anything particular, and try to turn those into letters.

“Jersey Joe” - Cincinnati, OH (2004)

Do you freestyle most of your pieces?

For the past few years I have been doing a lot of freestyling.

What role do magazines play on the overall graffiti scene?

For me, viewing magazines was the main way of keeping tabs on the worldwide graffiti scene before the internet was really out and about. The first graffiti mag I had was an UnderCover in ’95. The styles were highly advanced to me. I was not on the level of making graff that looked like that. I had experience doing pieces but when I saw UnderCover, I felt that I would never be able to duplicate or surpass the styles they published. I felt like these guys were doing
some real serious shit.

Later on, Scribble and OnTheGo, acted as a platform to display progressive styles. Scribble magazine caught criticism because they were some what biased to the type of styles they put in there. Although you can complain on their taste, they did print a lot of the progressive styles. They would also do things like show seven pieces from the same production, but break them down into individual photos of each piece.

I think people were really studying the styles coming from these magazines from ’97–’01. They acted as a way for writers to keep tabs on what was being done.

It also gave way for smaller towns to see new work.

Definitely. What they did was change regional styles into something more global. For instance, there could be someone from Arkansas that will be painting in a style that is a bite off a Revok style. Revok is more known to have an LA, West Coast type of look. Now, you have a lot of writers from random places doing all these styles because they saw it in a magazine or on the internet. You have people who are not from Philly attempting to do Philly Handstyles

What do you think of the internet and graffiti?

I think that magazines are kind of dated in comparison to the internet today. Instead of waiting 3 months for the new stuff to come out, writers can just go on the computer and see something that was done the same day. You can check out a piece that was just done in another city in another country. I think that the internet has changed graffiti way more than magazines have. Graffiti right now is fresh, and I don’t mean fresh like in hip-hop. As soon as it is produced and in the public’s eye, it ends up on the internet. I’ve had a lot of my pieces come up on the internet within 24 hours of them being done.

Monku, a Los Angeles photographer, captured this
RIME piece days after it was painted. (2006)

What is your view of the current climate of graffiti style?

To me there are pieces out there that are lifeless. You can find these types of pieces being done by writers that are trying to imitate others rather then searching within themselves for something that fits their personality or artistic ability. I mean everybody takes references. I take references from a lot of different people. But a lot of times when I see pieces, they look empty like there is no soul in what they are doing. You can tell by the treatment. The letters are real empty and their piece is more about the design than the letter itself.

I like pieces that are timeless. They also have that ability to show me new things that I’ve never thought of before. I like pieces that make me think, ones that I can get an idea about the person behind the style. I don’t really like clinical graffiti without soul.

“The 7th Letter” by RIME and CEAZE (2005)

What are you up to now?

Lately, I’ve come to the point where I was tired of doing my name and the same brand of graffiti. A lot of my friends felt the same way. I wanted to try something different so I started the Exchange. This project got me to sketch again and gave me different sets of letters to work with.

Still don’t have enough paint in your system?
Check out more of Rime’s work on his site.

Font magazine is a free FontShop publication of typography and design. Issue 005: Legibility explores the topics of graffiti and the alphabet.