by Amber on May 19, 2011 in Design
More glorious, crooked, colourful, peeling, perfect, typography from the streets of Newton. See part 1 of the fun here.
Some are actually different ‘crops’ of the same building. Once again, I love the details – the ribbed diamonds of the awning above the not-a-love-shop, tired neon signs, the stripes behind the fish shop hours and the way Suits To Measure is broken up (like a poem, or one of those best friends necklaces – Be fri & St ends).
It’s hard not to be stimulated and inspired around here. I hope where you live has just as many visual tidbits.
by Amber on April 18, 2011 in Design
I live in a place called Newton. I am very fond of the name Newton – it was my great grandfather’s English name. I also adore the names of the streets. The neighbourhood centers around one long strip – Karangahape Road (K Rd), and then there’s Mercury Lane, Cross Street, East Street, Pitt Street, Poynton Terrace… So without further ado, here is a selection of type and letters spotted around my favourite neighbourhood:
It pays to keep your eyes open. And look up.
{See part 2 – more Karangahape type – here!}
by Amber on April 8, 2011 in Design
Spotted outside a dairy in sunny Grey Lynn on my lunch break. I love this sign so much. I want to scoop it under my arm and run swiftly down a side street with it. The hand painted type, the damage, the message:
PS. The photo was taken with my new cellphone – 5 MPs worth. Holy moly. I am so impressed with the quality Is the compact purse camera dead?
Katie Turner is an illustrator living in Brooklyn, New York. She draws loads of fun, brightly hued pictures of people telling ghost stories and cute boys.
There’s also a lot of great hand crafted type in her portfolio, viz:
This however, is my favourite piece:
YES. Right? How did she know that’s what floats my boat? (Although if we’re going to get a little more specific, I like 80′s horror movies.)
If these made you giggle, check out Katies’s website and her blog for more delightful illustrations.
by Amber on April 23, 2009 in Design
GEORGIA is a font designed in 1993 by Matthew Carter. It was made for Apple Computer and bundled with System 7.1 in 1993. It was intended to replace New York (designed by Susan Kare in 1984). Along with Hoefler Text, it is one of the fonts in common usage with text figures numerals.
Isn’t Georgia a lovely typeface? CFS is nearly 1 – getting on a bit in blog terms… so I thought a mini-facelift was in order. Change of theme, fonts and updating my links!
I’ll be chipping away at it over the next few weeks. Please let me know if anything goes haywire with the new theme or any suggestions you may have. The advantage of freshening up ‘your life’ via a blog rather than plastic surgery? People will never tell you if your eyebrow gets a life of its own…
by Amber on March 5, 2009 in Design
For word geeks, whether you like the shape of them or are more interested in what things are called. It’s beautiful either way!
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Click the image to enlarge.
[via fadiman]
by Amber on October 9, 2008 in Design
HELLO!
Sans serif, straight-backed – friendly or formal, whatever you prefer… Helvetica, what’s not to love? If you’re a type fiend you will be pleased to know of the myriad of ways you can express your fondness for this classic font.
First up: the film (and matching bag)…
This documentary is well worth watching even if you have only a passing interest in design. It’s both educational and insightful – some people just love typography! I went with a horde of graphic designers and there were some epically geeky chuckles.
The tees…
There are so many variations out there now (Wu Tang, Sarah Palin children etc.) but this was the original! AA also has a plain letter series… I like them a lot, especially paired with Karen Walker-esque blue pants. Leather & blue – how very on trend!
The jewelery…
Zoe Ikin has made these gorgeous silver brooches, which you can buy in any letter you please. Why Helvetica? “There’s a timeless beauty in Helvetica and this range turns the design icon into a precious object you can own.”
The delicate lower and uppercase scarves…
The cups…
If your ‘lorem ipsum’ shirt is in the wash, why not tote your Helvetica cup round at work? It’ll make the designers smile at you knowingly and the other folk look at you like a mentalist. Geek out – it’s all good fun!
by Amber on July 29, 2008 in Design
Like typography? Excellent, you’re in for a treat because the good folk over at I Love Typography do too! I am so happy to have found this – it’s like all the best typographic bits of ffffound put in one handy place, with commentary. Here’s two of my favourite type examples I discovered through the site:
Origami Type
Cupcake Typography!
