Post Tagged with: "Design"

W. A. Dwiggins

W. A. Dwiggins

Type design on the cover of MSS by WAD

I’ve just finished a collection of stories by Roald Dahl (Someone Like You, if you care — utterly brilliant) and throughout the experience I’ve caught myself delayed numerous times by the object itself — enthralled by the meticulous typography and intricate ornamentation that adorns each chapter break. Not to mention the altogether unique cover design and spine treatment. As I rounded the last turn, I was confronted with a paragraph under the heading: PRINTER’S NOTE. What followed was a colophon of sorts that ended with the perfunctory, “The typography and binding design are by W. A. Dwiggins.”

So, who is this mysterious master of modern type and page design?

Turns out, William Addison Dwiggins, or WAD as he apparently preferred, was quite a fellow. He might be most famous for coining the term graphic designer back in 1922 in reference to himself and his work. He designed the (still popular) typefaces Electra and Caledonia and a total of 329 books for A. Knopf, Inc. The hardcover I’ve just finished bears the BORZOI imprint and will go straight on the top shelf where it belongs. Thank you, WAD.

November 22, 2010
Forget About Good

Forget About Good

Here’s the second edition in what I’m calling my Brucetop Maupaper project. In case you missed the first, you can download Allow events to change you here.

September 14, 2010
Icon

Icon

Trade marks and symbols by Stefan Kanchev

STEFAN KANCHEV is, to my mind, the preeminent figure in mark making in the modern age. No offense to all you Paul Rand disciples. Born in 1915, Kanchev was the son of an iconographer and a student of Bulgarian folklore and traditions — which served as inspiration for much of his design work. In total, he is credited with authoring some 1,600 brandmarks in his lifetime and was named “National Artist” of Bulgaria. For more context and biographical info, not to mention a look at his impressive postage stamp and book cover collections, visit his official website.

UPDATE: The good-hearted folks over at Logoblink have put together an extremely comprehensive PDF about the life and work of Mr. Kanchev. Download it here (~30MB).

September 12, 2010
On a Wim

On a Wim

Wim Crouwel is the Dutch typographer and designer largely to blame for my love of grid-based posters and the International Style in general. See more from his incredible body of work »

April 18, 2010
Time Well Spent

Time Well Spent

For over a year, I’ve been working with a church in Pennsylvania to develop icons to represent the different aspects of their worship and work. Distilling the vision of an entire congregation into a set of simple symbols proved no easy task, and we went through many rounds of revisions. These four are my personal favorites.

My hope is that the new icons will be accessible, flexible and stand the test of time — but moreover, I hope that by going through this process, the leaders of the church have found a common language for some of the intangible aspects of ministry that are often difficult to put into words.

April 17, 2010
Swissness

Swissness

Brockmann Posters

Josef Müller-Brockmann, 1914 – 1996  |  The Swiss maestro of poster design. More on Flickr »

March 20, 2010
An Incomplete Manifesto

An Incomplete Manifesto

Since my days as a student, Bruce Mau has been a consistent force for massive change in both my work and lifestyle. In an effort to further contemplate and celebrate his Incomplete Manifesto for Growth, I’ve decided to create a series of desktop wallpaper. The first is included below: Allow events to change you. Enjoy!

February 18, 2010