Maple Valentype Blocks from House Industries

I must apologize to all (2) of my blog readers for neglecting making type gift suggestions when the winter holidays came around. To atone for my inattention, let me make suggestions of a select few items that will be sure to charm your sweetheart or that you can give yourself as a special treat.

On the top of the list (as always) is the latest holiday offering from House Industries. Pictured above, you can see the lovely, screen-printed Valentype blocks. If you think you might want one or more of these, you better act quickly as they are only available until the 14th of this month. Be sure to get them while you can!

Valentine Typewriter Print by Emma Kelly

The next item on my list is this beautiful Valentine Typewriter print by illustrator Emma Kelly. I just love all the nice, subtle details that give this piece such a sweet feeling without being too syrupy.

Alexander Girard Love Heart Wall Art from Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters currently offers a small selection of art and home furnishings featuring some of the best work of Alexander Girard. Among these are several love-themed items, including the wonderful art pictured above, this love heart is one of my all-time favorite lettering treatments.

Conversation Heart Mini Triptych by John Golden

And of course, it wouldn’t be a complete listing of gift ideas without at least one link to Etsy. This time, I really liked these mini triptychs by John Golden (I’m assuming that’s the artist’s name). In fact, I got one of these for someone special myself! If you still need more ideas, I am constantly adding images of type-related merchandise to my WLT stream.

You Are My Sunshine by Bob’s Your Uncle

Lastly, you might want a card to go with your prized gift. Ever since I saw the charming line of cards from Bob’s Your Uncle, I haven’t been able to get enough of them. I love how they combine wry wit with a straightforward type treatment. I was pleased as punch when I found the online outfit, Jack Cards, where I could order them. They’ll even address and stamp them, too!

And that’s a wrap. Here’s wishing all (2) of you that read this a happy and healthy holiday for you and your loved ones. ❤❤❤

we love typography

I have impeccable tastes. It’s true. This was confirmed to me when I was invited to be a contributor to the highly-exclusive type and lettering archiving website, welovetypography.com. Actually, I was quite humbled and honored to be included as a part of this project. If I had invites to share with you, I would, but unfortunately the scope has been kept intentionally small. I hope you’re not too jealous of me. One nice little feature is that I can add tags to the photos I’ve shared and often I’m sharing images of things I’d like to be able to buy. If you type ‘merch’ in the search field, you can find some purchasable items, since I seem to be posting shopping suggestions less frequently these days.
And now I have to clear the air on a recent occurrence that has happened in connection with me being a contributor to the welovetypography website. It appears that several blogs have credited me for the photography of one of the images that I submitted. The fact of the matter is that I am not an accomplished photographer. I wish it were so. The photo that has been the cause of this confusion was actually taken by one Marieke Wijntjes, more information on this particular image can be found here.

Although not nearly as talented as Marieke, I do enjoy photography. Many of my own photos are cataloged on the popular photo sharing site, flickr. I have several sets that might be of interest to those interested in type and lettering, including: Kirillitsa (a set of photographs of Cyrillic script), English Pub Signs, and Found Lettering, to name a few. You can view all of my type and lettering sets here.
Besides, my own photo sets, I have also initiated the formation of several groups on flickr.com including groups on: Indian scripts, W.A. Dwiggins, Wood type, Sketches of type, and several others. You can view all of my groups type-related and otherwise here.
I hope that some of these images will prove to be as inspirational to you as they are to me.

Structurosa by Paul D. Hunt

I got a complaint about my blog from one of my friends when I was home in Arizona last. She told me that it was ‘boring’. I assumed that the reason was because that I don’t post enough personal information on this blog. I guess that I’m of the opinion that my Facebook page is more of my personal platform for my own private and political pabulum. Also, I’ve been accused for not feeding my blog enough. So this post is meant to remedy both of these problems.
Firstly, a bit of old news: I moved from the UK back to the US in December and landed in San Jose, California in January of this year to begin working for Adobe on their typeface development team. I wrote a brief life history to explain how I got to that point for those of you that might be interested.
And of more immediate vintage, I just completed an interview for FontShop’s FontFeed, detailing my involvement with FontStruct. This might prove interesting to you if you were able to read through my Adobe biography above without falling asleep.
Lastly, I wanted to take this opportunity to shamelessly mention that I have recently tried to monetize this blog by adding a link to my Amazon A-store, which includes some handpicked items on subject of type and typography. If you haven’t clicked on the link in this paragraph, you can always find the store through the widget showcasing books (many on sale!) on the top, right of this page. If you like any of my recommendations, then buy something!
More news soon, I promise!

Mens Ampersand T from House Industries

This will likely be the last round of gift ideas I pass on for the year, but I just had to pass along that House Industries now has Ampersand Tees back in stock! I already bought myself two, so no need to buy one for me, but make sure that you get these for your loved ones before they sell out again. House has lots of other interesting merchandise, so be sure to check out their selection with everything from cutting boards to handbags.

If you liked the Fleet Street print that I blogged about a few weeks back, but found that none of the options really fit your budget, you’re in luck there too. The artist is publishing an open edition of tiny prints for £20.00 a pop.

Lastly, I must advocate the purchase of any products you can get your hands on by the extremely talented artist, illustrator and letterer Ray Fenwick. He has a load of products you can purchase on his site. It seems that I missed the boat for finding this bedding with my favorite ‘Quiet, Please’ print, but if someone tracks them down, please let me know! Tiny Showcase also has a range of Fenwick merch, including the Hall of Best Knowledge book, bookplates, and more.
I hope that’s got you covered for gift ideas for all your designer friends and friendesses. Happy shopping!
P.S. How could I forget?! Another essential item for every font lover is P22 Playing Cards for $10 per set, or free with any purchase over $100.

Helvetica Rotalic by Filip Tydén

I brought up the word ‘rotalic’ in a conversation with my old boss, Richard Kegler, when we got together for his birthday and I was surprised to find that this term is not yet common parlance, so here’s a new (and really useful) typographic term for all of you to incorporate into your everyday vocabulary. I myself first learned of this useful term from the seminal typography blog i love typography.
Apparently, the following article was originally found on Wikipedia, but it has since been scrapped, and I had to rescue it from Wikibin. I an effort to preserve and promote such knowledge, I’m reposting the thing here:

Rotalic

Rotalic is a rotation applied to a typeface. It is a variation similar to the oblique type and the italic type as the vertical lines of a glyph are inclined, but it differs from these other variations in keeping the original shape of the characters. Therefore, any typeface can have a rotalic version.

The name rotalic is a combination of roman (generally used to refer to normal typefaces) and italic (generally used to refer to slanted ones).

Examples

Garamond Rotalic via 'It's Nice That'

Usage

The rotalic typeface is mainly used to highlight a text or as a display font. It can fit the same semantic purposes of the italic and oblique typefaces (emphasis, titles, foreign words), though examples of its usage are still rare.

Alternative Representations

Counter-clockwise Rotalic

The rotation is applied in the opposite direction.

Extra Rotalic

A rotalic typeface is usually rotated between 7 and 10 degrees. The Extra Rotalic have rotations from 15 to 20 degrees.

History

The rotalic was introduced as a typeface variation by Filip Tydén in 2007. The first typeface to have a rotalic version was the Helvetica Textbook, which was used in a series of posters at the Royal College of Art in London.

Top: One of the first posters set in rotalic by Filip Tydén.

Kern Arrows Zip-up from Veer

As promised: more timely gift ideas. Within its short lifespan, Veer’s Kern Zip-up (not to be confused as a hoodie!) has become an instant classic and a must-have fashion staple for type nerds everywhere. Gifting this item to a typographically savvy designer friend is sure to result in profuse amounts of gratitude. There are only two (2) small problems, however, with this gift suggestion: 1) the Veer merch store doesn’t ship outside of North America, and 2) the snug-fitting numbers only run to size XL (which I had better fit into!).

So this classic has recently been re-rolled as the Kern Arrows Zip-up and incorporates some snazzy new features: 1) a brand new color (I adore gray), 2) nifty piping (ever-so-cool), and 3) directional arrows indicating which way the kern should come together (in case you were confused). I was glad to notice in the design credits that arrows from P22 Victorian Ornaments 2 and P22 Art Deco Extras are included on this fancy little number.
After that last post, you should be glad to finally get a gift suggestion that you can afford to get me, oh, or your own loved one. Beat the Black Friday rush and get your order in now!

Fleet Street Lino Print by Stanley Donwood

The festive season is fast upon us, and as always, I feel it is my duty to call attention to typographic goodies that make good gifts for lovers of letters and all things related to the printing arts. If you are feeling very generous and want to really treat your loved one to something nice, may I suggest this beautiful linocut artwork from Stanley Donwood, famous for creating much of the iconic imagery associated with the band Radiohead. Of course the £750 price tag for this artwork is just a bit hefty, but as one who as actually seen this print in person, the quality is exceptional and is a beautiful piece for any art collector. However, if this number is out of your budget due to the credit crunch, there are other options if you would like to own a piece of this incredible imagery.

Letter forms from the typeface Cassius by Mathieu Réguer

I really should have gone to Paris this weekend. I didn’t have anything terribly exciting to do here in London, two of my elder sisters were there for the weekend. I don’t know why I didn’t realize all of this before Sunday evening. Had I been there, I’m sure I would have tried to drag them to Ladurée, try to talk them into taking a boat ride on the Seine, or maybe I could finally make it to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I blame them, in part, for not getting me their itinerary sooner, let this be a lesson to all you Hunts!
However, had I been in Paris this weekend, I can tell you that I would most likely have been taking pictures of lettering more than of architecture. On my previous two trips to the center of the cultural universe, I was struck by the occurrence of what seemed to me to be a very French treatment of the majuscule R.

Cover from Portfolio of Ornamental Penmanship by A.N. Palmer Co.

Yesterday’s blog post from The Ministry of Type focuses on a singular specimen of lettering ephemera from the last century: a digitized version of W.E. Dennis’ Studies in Pen Art is truly a gem, but once you get hooked on this stuff you will want more and more (at least that is what happens to me). These materials are wonderful ephemera and excellent fodder for inspiration for those who love letters. The publication linked to by the Ministry is just one of several publications from the same period during the last century when business schools taught penmanship as a main staple of their curriculums.

A whole slew of publications dedicated to surface in America as early as the 1860s and were popular into the 1910s and beyond. Of course some of these manuals are better crafted than others. Some showcase impressive skills at ornamental lettering, while others more simply demonstrate how to write with a clear and legible hand. Some of of these are (again, at least for me) objects of desire and others are simply charming objects that may fill one with nostalgia.
One could spend years on end trying to rummage around and track down all of these books, but again we are saved some of the effort thanks to the world wide web. The International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting (IAMPETH) has put together a short listing of some of the most important manuals and has made them available digitally as .pdf files or as .jpeg images.
One day I’ll actually sit down with one or two of these books and a loaded pen and just may try practicing by writing some of you letters in an elegant hand, just don’t hold your breath until then.

Grandia in fine print.

This post marks the first anniversary of my blog and the end of my year at the University of Reading, where I furthered my education in typeface design via their Masters degree program. It has been a good year and I learned much more than I could have anticipated. To view the results of my work and my classmates’, you can visit typefacedesign.org and view PDF specimens of each of the typefaces, including a group specimen that we had printed up. If 1) you are interested in a copy, and 2) I know who you are, I just might see that you get a copy if you ask very nicely.
Have a look at Grandia and Gandhara and please leave any comments you have on the typefaces here. Thanks for having a look!

Gandhara in Sanskrit text.

Grandia/Gandhara language “cloud”