Typeaffair

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.

“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.”

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.

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.”

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.”

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.”

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. 

“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.”