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TypeTalk: Step Away from the Computer

IleneStrizver99 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:22:16 -0700

TypeTalk is a regular blog on typography. Post your questions and comments by clicking on the Comments icon above. If Ilene answers your question in the blog, you'll receive one Official Creativepro.com T-Shirt!

Q. I'm bored with the look of digital fonts, even the ones that try to look grungy. Do I have other options?

A. Most definitely! In the days before personal computers (or “BC”), designers and art directors created nontraditional type and type treatments using their imagination. We can still do that today.

Scanning Around With Gene: The Miracle of Photochrom

GeneGable — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:42:36 -0700

Today’s installment requires a leap of faith that, by the time you view many of the images, you may have a hard time maintaining. So I’m going to repeat the basic premise several times: Every image here was made from a black and white photograph with the colors added through a patented lithographic process that relied on photographer’s notes to accurately reproduce the colors. All of these images (with the exception of the first example) were made before the invention of color film, which took place in 1907 but didn’t become practical until the 1930s.

Scanning Around With Gene: Everybody Loves a Party!

GeneGable — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:21:03 -0700

Back in the day, no party was complete without a few goofy games to "break the ice." Perhaps the need for party games is best summed up in the introduction to "Grown Up Party Fun" by Elsie Duncan Yale: "Let's play something!" exclaims the life-of-the-party as the talk begins to lag. Then he suggests a game to suit the crowd, and the fun is on for a whole rollicking evening!" Elsie recommends Ping Pong as one way to get the rollicking going.

Today's images are from party books dating from 1927 through to 1971. Click on any image for a larger version.

TypeTalk: Distorting Type

IleneStrizver99 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:41:23 -0700

Q. Most design software lets me stretch and squeeze characters, but I'm not sure how far is too far. Are there acceptable parameters for distorting type?

Scanning Around With Gene: The Pioneering Look Magazine

GeneGable — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:25:03 -0700

Even if you didn't read Life magazine when it was in print, you've probably seen old issues and are aware of the impact this great weekly had on American magazine publishing. But right behind Life was Look, an equally excellent publication that in some ways had even more influence than Life.

At its peak in 1967, more than 9.2 million copies of Look were printed on a ten-color printing press designed specifically for the magazine. The best-selling issue entailed printing more than 1 billion individual pages.

TypeTalk: Find Figure Styles in OpenType Fonts

IleneStrizver99 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:36:01 -0600

Scanning Around With Gene: The Images of Autumn

GeneGable — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:32:32 -0600

When I was growing up in southern California, the change of seasons was most noticeable in the lower hourly rates charged at beach parking lots. The only changing fall colors in Los Angeles are the intensity of people’s tans.

So when I moved to northern California, I was glad to be far enough north to get a hint of what fall is really all about. I live near wine country and the intensity of colors in the vineyards is impressive, though it still pales in comparison to some communities in the Northeast.

Scanning Around With Gene: Oddball Image Roundup Two

GeneGable — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:21:11 -0600

As I go through various publications and other sources looking for images, I always end up with a small pile of oddballs – images that catch my eye for one reason or another but don’t really fit in any one category. Sometimes they end up in the pile because the artwork is strange, sometimes because the message is disturbing, and sometimes because they are out of place for the time.

So once a year I round them up and present them in this hodge-podge collection. You can click on any image for a larger version.

Scanning Around With Gene: Rest in Peace

GeneGable — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:55:36 -0600

I've never been much for visiting cemeteries, at least not to view the graves of people I've known or loved. I don't really have a good excuse for this -- it's probably just a selfish way to avoid emotions and issues that I prefer to repress.

But a recent visit to my hometown happened to coincide with the anniversaries of my father's and sister's deaths, which happened one day apart, though in different years. So my other sister and my mother convinced me to go along on their annual pilgrimage to the Holy Cross Cemetery where both my sister and father are buried.

TypeTalk: Times Roman vs Times New Roman

IleneStrizver99 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:47:16 -0600

Q. What is the difference between Times Roman and Times New Roman, and why are both listed in my font menu? Is Times Roman the “Old” version? Please explain!

Scanning Around With Gene: Illustrations Carved in Steel

GeneGable — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:42:17 -0600

I recently came across an 1883 edition of “Mountain, Lake and River” with illustrations by the English artist William Henry Bartlett. It contains 25 steel engravings, all of mountains and waterways in the United States' East Coast.

Bartlett was a popular engraver/artist at the early part of the nineteenth century, producing mostly small engravings from his travels throughout the world. He lived from 1809 to 1854. The images here are most likely from the 1830s. Click on any image for a larger version.

Here is the book cover along with two views of Niagara Falls.

Scanning Around With Gene: Linoleum Love

GeneGable — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:33:33 -0600

A recent challenge to help a friend choose retro floor covering for a 1950s kitchen sent me to my magazine archives, particularly old issues of Better Homes and Gardens and Good Housekeeping. What I discovered was a treasure trove of great ads and great floor patterns. Styles have certainly changed over the years, but I must say I'd take a number of these looks as is.

TypeTalk: Best Headline Breaks

IleneStrizver99 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:58:01 -0600

Q. Should I pay attention to how a headline breaks, or is that the job of the writer and copy editor?

A. Today, a designer is also the typesetter, so you're responsible not only for how the type looks, but for making it as readable, logical, and clear as possible. The line breaks of a headline have a major impact on this.

Scanning Around With Gene: Really, Really Deep Type

GeneGable — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:04:43 -0600

I’ve been collecting a few examples of super-three-dimensional type, which I truly love. I can picture a designer drawing these examples using a T-square, triangle, and ruled graph paper (and in a few cases an airbrush). They are the sorts of logos you might draw in an advanced drafting class to show off your mastering of perspective.

All of these examples are from between 1943 and 1953. Click on any image to see a larger version.

Scanning Around With Gene: Twin-Bed Relationships

GeneGable — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:48:36 -0600

Thanks in part to the Motion Picture Production Code, which guided Hollywood morals from 1930 to 1968, most married couples back then were portrayed as sleeping in two beds separated by a nightstand with a lamp and telephone to keep them apart.

I assumed this was only a Hollywood convention until I came across a 1957 publication geared toward newly married couples. It too depicts the modern married bedroom as having his-and-her beds. Click any of these images to see larger versions.