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TYPECASTING
Font junkies are redefining typographic design
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In
a time when the written word has been taken over by the Tweeted one and
books and magazines have been replaced by Kindles and iPads, the art of
typography has made a rousing, if somewhat ironic, comeback. Perhaps
it's nostalgia for old school advertising or an homage to the printing press, but whatever it is, typography is being celebrated by artists and designers everywhere.
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Typographic Tattoos:
The world's earliest manuscripts were written on parchment made from
animal skin, but the tradition of pen to flesh has been reborn with a
surge in typographic tattoos. Instead of picking a piece of tattoo
flash off of a parlor wall, more people are choosing to get inked with
unique fonts, in the form of their favorite words, quotes and lyrics.
Design professor Ina Saltz has been collecting these tattoos in her
books Body Type: Intimate Messages Etched in Flesh and Body Type 2: More Typographic Tattoos.
Saltz says in her introduction that she believes we're now "firmly
ensconced in a new 'golden age' of typography" and calls the designs in
her books "intellectual tattoos," noting that many of those tattooed
with typography work in printing or graphic design. For those of us who
refuse to let go of the written word, we think it's fair to consider
these a permanent protest.
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Web Font Libraries:
Web design has long been limited by "web safe" fonts, which consist of
a handful of (pretty ugly) typefaces that are common enough for most
people to be able to view them on their preferred web browser. Until
recently, those who wished to use a fancier font would be forced to
render text objects as images or use sIFR (Scalable Inman Flash
Replacement), which used JavaScript and Adobe Flash to replace the
fonts directly on the web page. But now, web designers can put fonts
into their codes using the @font-face property of CSS.
In doing so, they are afforded the same creative freedom as other
graphic design professionals who have the luxury of choosing from a
library of approximately 90,000 typographic forms, with new styles
being created almost daily. It might be impossible to keep up with the
latest font trends, but at least now websites have a fighting chance.
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Typography Baubles: The
first printing press was made by a German goldsmith named Johannes
Gutenberg around 1440, and even though modern printing techniques are
way more efficient, we're still nostalgic for the romanticism exuded by
the old block letters of yesteryear. Fortunately, many artists are
finding new uses for old machine parts. New York-based Little Purple Cow uses type-bar "arms" from an old typewriter to make its Remington Bibb necklace. Fellow New York jewelry designer Erica Weiner
uses reclaimed iron type pieces, from the New York Center for Book
Arts, to make silver and gold plated pendants in letters of your
choosing. For those who prefer modern design, Dubai-based Mona Ibrahim's collection of "stereo.type jewelry"
uses a laser-cutter to carve bold English and Arabic letters into
leather and acrylic bands, necklaces, and earrings. Now, you can
actually wear the words you live by.
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* References to products and services in trendcentral do not imply our endorsement, but rather are intended to provide objective insights into emerging trends and examples of those trends. trendcentral is published by The Intelligence Group, a trend research and consumer insights company focusing on youth culture. For more information on our services, or to subscribe to our syndicated Cassandra Report studies, please contact Alina Goncalves at 212-277-5299 or via email at agoncalves@intelg.com.
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