Wolfgang Weingart

I was recently introduced to the book My Way to Typography by Wolfgang Weingart. It's a brilliant book full of loads of interesting and beautiful typographic experiments. The piece above is from a series called Typographic Process. I have read that Weingart is "the father of Swiss Punk Typography". The experimental and carefully considered style is, in my opinion, brilliant. Weingart is said to have taken apart Swiss typography and then re-structured it to create something new, which turned into a new style of working. This process of working with what is around you and taking it apart to build something new is one key element in design. One has to take what is given to them in a brief and work with it to create something new and unexpected. This is something that come across in Weingarts work.

Pallett Belben Identity

I have recently been working on various projects, one of them has been the identity for a new jewellery company based in London called Pallett Belben. The image above shows the logo used on their business card which I also designed. The front of the business card is printed on recycled matt paper and the back is a shiny black vinyl.

The jewellery Pallett Belben makes uses a mix of materials and weaves fine gold and silver chains and leather to create really interesting on off pieces of jewellery (their web site is here).

Pistilli Roman

I was recently sent a link by a friend to the What Type Are You post on the Pentagram blog. At the end of the questions you can see all the typefaces that people potentially are and I came across Pistilli Roman, I thought the typeface amazing. The line weights, curves and serifs used made it seem contemporary yet very retro. A brilliant combination when done correctly.

Robert Brownjohn

After my previous post about Robert Brownjohn I found this. It's so simple yet very witty and clever.

Hit Club

As I have previously mentioned I am currently setting up a record label. To showcase some of the bands we have on the label we recently put on a night at the industry music festival In The City in Manchester. It featured just a few of the bands we're currently working with. The image about is the poster that was designed to advertise the night. Printed on thin grey newspaper and stuck up around Manchester the day before the gig as we wanted it to be a bit of a surprise.

Siegfried Odermatt

While browsing the Internet the other day I found this poster designed by Siegfried Odermatt. It is one of those images that I saw and thought that's brilliant and then moved on. However after I found it again I realise how much it has inspired my work. It is striking, minimal and yet incredibly clever.

Gerhard Richter

I found these amazing pieces by Gerhard Richter the other day, really interesting to see the contrast between the photography and the surreal colourful paint. The sporadic composition of the paint is also really interesting, it gives the images a kind of movement that is sometimes hard capture in photography.

Niessen & de Vries

I recently found out about the work of Niessen & de Vries, it's incredible. A brilliant use of colour, pattern and typography which combined create amazing work.

Watching Words Move

A while ago my friend Lucy Vann lent me a book to look at called watching words move and told me she thought I may like it. She was right. Every page had an interesting and clever variation on a common word that animated it. The creators of the book were Ivan Chermayeff, Tom Geismar and Robert Brownjohn, although Brownjohn isn't credited on the cover however he is on the back. The book was created in 1962 and still seems completely relevant today. Although only one typeface is used throughout the book it visualises the words brilliantly. This is a reference that I will always use to remind me that even the simplest visualisations can make a big impact.

Francois-Marie Banier for DvF

My girlfriend recently showed me one from this series of adverts in a magazine, she is not normally one to be absorbed by advertising however this advert was different. Soon I was staring at the page as well. These pieces were created by Francois - Marie Banier for Diane Von Furstenberg. Banier shot the images and then had them printed on a large scale and painted, wrote and drew all over them, the results are quite incredible. The elegance of the model Natalia Vodianova is highlighted with the black and white photography and then the vibrancy of the clothing DvF creates is captured in the use of inks and colours.

Apart from the visual element of the adverts I also like the concept behind the work. It evokes and attitude and stands out from other advertisements in a magazine. It has its own artistic credibility which I think is very important in design work and advertising.

You can see more about the whole series on the web site www.dvfprojects.com. The site is well worth looking at.

Angela Lidderdale for Vitra

The image above was created by Angela Lidderdale for Vitra. I really like the idea that the objects that surround the chair were sources of inspiration when it was designed however I'm not sure this is the case. Even if it isn't I still really like the was the surrounding objects create a mood board for the chair. The objects create an atmosphere that gives the viewer a whole other perspective on the piece. In my opinion there no clever copy is needed the image conveys the message brilliantly.

Yusaku Kamekura

I was recently look at the new project from Tony Brook and Adrian Shaughnessy called Unit Editions. It's a progressive publishing company that specialises in affordable books about Graphic Design and the Visual Arts, which sounds amazing.

When I was on their new web site I found a link to their flicker which had images from the book "The Graphic Design of Yusaku Kamekura". The images are incredible, the work is so simple yet so striking. I have attached 2 images above however it is well worth looking up more. Even in black and white each symbol seems to have a three dimensional quality with depth and detail. It reminded me that good design doesn't have to be over complicated with colour and composition to be striking, bold and engaging.

Herbert Spencer - Typographica

I recently went to the Design Museum and saw Super Contemporary. I wasn't sure what to expect as I had read the press surrounding the exhibition and it heavily concentrated on the work that had been specifically created for the exhibition. This was a great part of the exhibition, Paul Smiths rabbit bin and the Lamp Post Chandelier by Thomas Heatherwick were particular highlights, however what I found brilliant about it was discovering the creative history of London. All the people, studios and work that have come out of the city, I'm sure my posts will soon feature some of the people I read about at the exhibition.

One of the amazing things I found was Typographica magazine by Herbert Spencer. There was one issue on display which featured a sliver screen print onto black colourplan paper of TYPOGRAPHICA running down the side. One couldn't flick through it which was a shame however the cover was brilliant enough. Since I have looked up more about the magazine and although it is not that well documented, that I have found on the internet I did find this cover. It has a confused Swiss style about it which I find really interesting and cuts up and rearranges typography to great effect. It makes the viewer look closely at the cover to see what is going on and it's then one realizes that all the text on the cover is printed backwards. It is experimental and bold and really stood out to me.

New Typefactory Poster

While reviewing my Uni work I found a few things I would like to change and improve. One of these things was the posters I had designed for the Typefactory project. Above are 2 of the new designs. The posters have the depth and experimental quality that the previous posters had however these posters have a much more complete feel in my mind, the strong use of colour is much more striking and the experimentation with the letters from the logo is much more defined. There are going to be more in the series, these will be posted on my web site soon.

Daniele Buetti

This is the work of Daniele Buetti, I came across the work while on the Haunch of Venison web-site. The work is created by punching holes into the photographs and then putting them on a light box. The result is brilliant. The text has a glow about it, which is explained by the use of the light-box. The typography is also brilliant because of the way it meanders across the piece displaying these thoughtful qoutes. I find them almost quite dream like, very interesting.