September 21, 2014
In
appreciation, creativity, inspiration, poetry, words and language
What Poetry Tastes Like
June 8, 2009
In
art, creativity, graphic design, typography, words and language
The iPhone and Fun with Type
While adding some weblogs to my blogroll, I came across one called Huge Type. I was intrigued. You can’t consider yourself a serious designer without some form of adoration for typography. Clicking on the site, I found it was an experiment / experience kind of thing. Further intrigued me.
Then I saw that this project / experiment incorporated the iPhone. (There again, who doesn’t love the iPhone?) And I thought, what a great, entertaining way to direct people’s attention to the sheer volume of outstanding typography – and its fantastic craftsmanship – that surrounds us daily, to the point of viewer non-chalance.
We see type so often – on magazines, buses, billboards, our computers, our books – we use it to write with, design with, read with – that typefaces run great risk of being taken for granted. They’re just “there”, they show up, they look good or bad.
Alot of people aren’t all that aware of the important role played by type. But it is an amazingly important, critical part of any visual layout. One word can evoke entirely different feelings based on what font is used to say it. That’s pretty powerful.
So, while I’m at it, kudos to all the font designers out there, who painstakingly render their works of typographical art. Thank you to the type design greats of history, and the modern font artists who carry on a strong tradition of skilled mastery.
Well I got off on a bit of a tangent there – but well worth it, if it reminds people of the expressiveness possible through the use of type and a gathers a little appreciation for the unsung heros of typography. (We all know of Leonardo DaVinci and Frank Lloyd Wright, but how many know Giambattista Bodoni?)
So, take a look at this site if you’re interested in combining the iPhone and a little fun with type. You may start seeing letters and words in a whole new way. http://www.hugetype.com/
January 9, 2009
In
words and language
A Matter of Words
I love words. Written words. Not everyone has this kind of voracious appetite for words, and I understand that a lot of people would rather talk, or hear words, than read or write them. Maybe it comes with breeding, or DNA. But for those of us who love writing, it’s like breathing; you feel compelled to do it.
As a child, if I wasn’t drawing, I was writing. That pretty much still holds true. I love to write … letters, stories, poems, thoughts – all of it. I love the possibilities offered up with each new ripple of intermingling letters. I like the rhythm and the play of sounds that create a sentence. I love how words flow on a page, how they fall or jump, dance or hum, whisper or smack. I like how they all come together to make sense of something.
I also like that there are thousands of words available to pick from. And I like games where you find as many words as you can from one larger word. I like making words in scrabble. Words are fun.
But I also have a deep respect for words. Spoken or written, they are reflections of thought capable of moving people to personal greatness or ruin, to love, or even war. They can calm, or outright bore. They can repulse or inspire. In a split second, the words we choose to use can hurt just as easily as heal.
Some may argue that words are just talk; words are insignificant. That actions speak louder, I do agree. And true enough, not every word uttered will have the impact to captivate, bring laughter round the world or poison a soul. But I believe that even our everyday language carries far more weight and influence than we realize.
It’s important to be careful with our words; to be mindful of what we say. Maybe to “watch your mouth” as your mother might have said. To take even just a moment before speaking to check the thought.
Whether you love words or not, the world would do well with more respect for the power words can hold.