Typeface and lettering design reproduced in the catalog for Alphabet. Official press release:

Focusing on an ordinary subject that we see each day, often by the hundreds of thousands, Alphabet presents 26 letters as more than just shapes for conveying information. The 51 artists and designers in this show conceive and interpret the alphabet in surprising and inventive ways, ranging from graceful and polished to witty and unconventional. The 63 alphabets featured in Alphabet were created by artists in North America, Europe, and Asia, and represent work from well-known typographers and designers as well as rising artists and design students.

The alphabets in the exhibition reflect a range of thinking about letters that encompasses the conceptual, illustrative, typographic, and beyond. Some of the artists have created their alphabets from a variety of non-traditional media or found objects, while others render their forms with pen and ink in obsessive detail. By presenting each alphabet removed from the context of words and typography, we focus on these 26 shapes as forms unto themselves rather than just the building blocks of words. The alphabets in the exhibition (all received through an open call) are shown dissected into their base elements–A through Z–freeing the artists and designers from the confines of legibility. At the same time, they are challenged to expand the experiment (usually created only to form a single word or image) into a complete system that goes beyond a short headline, the realm to which such experimentation is usually relegated.

Alphabet opened in Baltimore in conjunction with the city’s 2005 Artscape festival, and is traveling nationally through 2009. Alphabet was curated by Post Typography and organized by Artscape.

After traveling around the United States for the past three and a half years, the Post Typography-curated, Artscape organized show, Alphabet: An Exhibition of Hand-Drawn Lettering & Experimental Typography is returning to Baltimore in April.

Alphabet will be on display at Baltimore’s Current Gallery from April 3 – 26 with a reception the evening of April 10. The exhibition presents alphabets created by 51 international artists and designers, from well-known typographers to rising artists and design students. Alphabet opened in Baltimore in conjunction with the city’s 2005 Artscape festival, and is traveling nationally through 2009.

Current Gallery
30 South Calvert Street
Baltimore Md 21202

An interview with Portland, Oregon-based printers and publishers Pinball Publishing for Néojaponisme and Viewers Like U.

Interview with the European type design collective Underware for Néojaponisme.

Interview with U.S.-based German type designer Jens Gehlhaar for Néojaponisme.

A series of mini-articles about 和英文字レタリング (Japanese and English Lettering) by Tsunetoshi Hurusawa on Néojaponisme.

We’ve been cranking away on a number of web design projects as of late.

Just launched:

The brand spanking new Lullatone website. We worked extra-hard with Shawn and Yoshimi to realize their vision of how they want their band and sound design business to appear online. Print identity in the works, as well.

Also new:

Website launched for Tokyo-based WIFM Magazine, a bilingual publication that targets the most discerning of Tokyo’s populace. WIFM is published quarterly.

An essay on Japan and Modernism to accompany a series of downloadable graphic patterns for Néojaponisme.

Tuesdays 19 May – 21 July
19:10-21:00

I will be teaching a ten-week intensive introductory typography seminar at Temple University Japan

All About Typography teaches the connotations of type & typography: the visual reading of language.

The class is an in-depth look at typography (designing with fonts) for both beginners and experienced practitioners. The class is a working examination of Western typography including lectures on type history, type classification, and contemporary practice. Practical exercises, as well as in-class critiques will help broaden students’ understanding of typography practically and critically.

All About Typography’s syllabus is based on a handful of proven typographic education projects developed by design faculty from the best graphic design departments in the world: Yale, CalArts, London College of Printing, and Cranbrook.

The class will conduct projects to explore typographic expression, learn correct typesetting practices, and increase design acumen: how to say things clearly with graphic design.

The class will host guest lectures by some of Japan’s top graphic designers.

The class is Mac-based, but will apply equally to PC-based environments.

Course reading:
Thinking with Type, Ellen Lupton
Assorted handouts

More information:
www.tuj.ac.jp/cont-ed

The past two weeks have seen both Craig Mod and the AQ crew lecture the web design class I teach at Temple University. Thanks, Craig, Chris, Paul, and Eiko!