Treat

Jazz covers

I love the type treatment on old jazz records.

A short lesson on designing with type

Click here or the image below to get a little idea of what designers do when designing with type.
Enjoy the rest of the week, and have a great weekend!

Typography

A film short , directed and animated by Boca and Ryan Uhrich, about typography.

What's Your Canvas?: An interview with Lettering Artist Crystal Kluge

One of my favorite areas in design is handlettering. I did a lot of it when I was younger and dabble in it every now and then now. When I worked at Hallmark, I absolutely loved watching the lettering artists create their beautiful handwriting, and it was interesting matching their lettering styles to their personalities. When I discovered lettering artist and designer Crystal Kluge online, I had to find out more about her own hand lettering experiences. Check out some of her lettering and illustrations below and her fonts on MyFonts.com.

Hand lettering doesn't get the recognition it should. Why do you think this is so?
Like most handcrafted work, I think it’s gaining more recognition.  August’s issue of HOW magazine is all about handmade design, and how’s it’s influencing modern trends. That said, with the range of fonts available now, many people just don’t think of letters being created by hand.  Every month or so, I receive a inquiry about which font I used for my logo & website,  a number are surprised to find out it is handlettered – not a font.

Why do you think hand lettering is important?
I think for the same reasons drawing by hand is important. 

How did you learn to create such beautiful lettering?
I discovered a calligraphy pen at Grandma’s house when I was a 11.  It was a Sheaffer cartridge pen, I still have it.

What type of writing instruments do you use?
Simple dip pen w/ steel nibs

How would you describe the personality of your hand lettering?
Whimsical, romantic, modern

Is your natural penmanship very similar to your hand lettering?
I’m often asked this question.  When I was younger it was.  Currently, it’s not even close.  The stronger I develop my calligraphic skills, the further my regular penmanship declines.  It’s barely legible.

What inspires your lettering?
When I’m working with a client, I’m inspired by their personality, the context and special details of the project or event.  The more I know about it, the more my work will assume that spirit.

I’m drawn to expression types of lettering, kanji, arabic, vintage fashion advertising headlines & logos.  But I also respect the skill of traditional broadpen calligraphy, from old medieval texts to the amazing St. John’s Bible currently being scribed.

Any advice for those who have the gift of beautiful hand lettering?
Enjoy your gifts!

a. favorite letterpress

I love, love, love letterpress! It can make contemporary things feel vintage. I just discovered a.favorite design on Etsy and wanted to share this lovely find. 

a. favorite is a letterpress artist who loves letterpress, design, and typography, and she's based here in the Windy City.

Script lettering on Veer

I script lettering, and Veer is one place where you can find some really great script fonts. The one below is called Feel Script. I added the pillows at the bottom just because I love pillows with type.

Playful type inspiration

Here are a few playful type solutions I've collected. I personally love overlapping letters like "Man of the Year" in the top left corner.

Lizard Press

I love letterpress! Don't you? Lizard Press has an Etsy shop, based in San Francisco, where you can get cool letterpress cards, posters, and calendars.

 

Herb Lubalin—Type Designer

Well, this concludes the Treat Men kickoff, but it is certainly not the last post of inspirations by men in the arts and design. I will continue to bring more in the future. For now, let's check out one of my favorite type designers—Herb Lubalin.

Lubalin is said to be "the typographic genius of his time." His achievements included work in advertising, editorial design, posters, packaging, and type design. He's widely recognized as the typographer of the font avant garde.
     Lubalin followed a less traditional route for type, and this is what made him such a typographic genius. Alphabetic characters were created as visual forms and were meant to invoke thought, to inform and to engage the reader. To Lubalin, word and image were meant to be viewed as one, which essentially is like a poem except with the use of words and visual imagery. There's an actual word for this concept—typograms. A typogram is defined as a brief, visual typographic poem where the concept and visual form become one. Here are some that Lubalin created.