Typoholism

Correla and other updates

Pepito — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:08:29 +0000

Current version of Correla

Just finished revisions. Figures are next. Sorry for the bad spacing. Any comments, ideas, criticisms? I’m quite stuck and would definitely need some nudge in the right direction. PDF can be found here.

On the other hand, my double major application was accepted, besides having a so-so portfolio (didn’t have time). Well, anyway, I am officially taking up Computer Science and Information Design. I am so glad.

Correla (a work-in-progress)

Pepito — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:11:17 +0000

Nearly complete with spacing the lowercase. Will probably tweak the bastard letters of the alphabet: v, w, x, y & z.

Lots of requirements from school; exams and whatnot. Can’t wait for this semester to be over so I can focus on this during the summer.

I will abuse the free laserjet printing at school. At around 70 or so pages of free, grayscale, text-only printing, I won’t have to worry about printing kerning tests. Fantastic. My only worry is that the quality is at 300 dpi. I’ll probably sneak in and just set it to 600 dpi or so. :3

On another note, I have been reading Heidegger, and I have just started with his Introduction to Metaphysics. I like his style. I want to revisit Sartre after though, or probably start on secondary texts on Kant.

And I really need to get a job and earn money. I need more books for my type education, which is unfortunately not offered anywhere near where I live. I’ll need to go abroad if I want to study type. It’s frustrating. And books here on type are very hard to find. I have to order online instead. I’ve been wanting The Complete Works of Adrian Frutiger for some time now. I just want to see his design process. Good thing our library has a collection of nice type books, albeit more focused on book typography and typography in general. I found Letters of Credit by Walter Tracy (correct me if I’m wrong, my memory is quite frail).

And I hope that the Information Design department appreciates type design in a portfolio. I just hope they do. I suck at traditional art and drawing on paper, but many say that they prefer those. Ah well. I’ll still push through with that double major. I just hope they do.

Restraint is Freedom

Pepito — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:23:40 +0000

Creativity spurs not out of freedom, but from restrictions; for at its core, design is problem-solving. Therefore, from restrictions, one attains greater creative freedom. As we restrict ourselves, we establish boundaries upon which our minds may freely wander. This ‘shaping’ is a guide that aids our creativity into manifestation; it gives a malleable form to our end-goal. However malleable or ethereal the form is, it is still a form to start with, and is significantly better than starting with nothing at all.

Quenya Serif

Pepito — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:19:00 +0000

Sorry for the sudden hiatus: I’ve had several projects and other school requirements that needed immediate attention, and thus I have had little time for posting.

I have been sketching a Tengwar design between classes (most especially during Math). What I first came up with was a sort of an angled slab serif design, with little contrast. I figured it would be a good starting point, but I immediately remembered Martin Majoor’s principle of deriving the slab right after the sans, which is derived from the serif. You could tell that I may opt not to follow this principle, but I find it logical, and I think it gives better unity across a family. So I sketched a serif, with medium amount of contrast. I did the fat weight first, and then I will do the light and just interpolate the regular from the two.

Here is a preview (in PDF format) of the fat weight. It’s incomplete though. I’ll work on it when I have time.

On Tengwar

Pepito — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:47:02 +0000

The problem with writing in Tengwar (a script the great Tolkien invented) in the computer is the need for separate software in order to write logically. What I mean by ‘logical writing’ is simply getting what you type. For example, if I press the M key on the keyboard, then I get an m on-screen, under certain assumptions. Therefore, the writing of Tengwar in the computer is a very inhumane process, because one requires the need for third-party applications before being able to write logically. However, there is an elegant solution to this problem.

OpenType (OT) technology easily enables character substitution, which leads to standard and discretionary ligatures, different stylistic sets, contextual alternates, and many more; thus making the typeface ‘intelligent’. In the case of Tengwar, this feature must be used (more of abused) in order to write naturally and logically. This is the solution to the problem of Tengwar’s reliance on third-party software.

This, however, leaves non-OpenType-savvy applications undesired, which includes Microsoft Word and OpenOffice Writer (I have no idea if recent versions support OpenType), both well-known word processors (and easily accessible due to distribution). This still makes writing in Tengwar an arduous task, except for the likes of Adobe InDesign. However, both word processors should support OpenType by now; the OpenType hype must not be ignored. I have no reason to see why these word processor giants would not support OpenType.

Expect me to take on the Tengwar OT project.

Ken Touched This

Pepito — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:05:40 +0000

My girlfriend and I were searching for videos of misheard lyrics in Youtube, and we found this one:

Hilarious. However, unlike other misheard lyrics videos, this one has great design. The use of Rockwell is really good (I especially like the style of Rockwell-set words), and Myriad is a rather safe choice, but it gets the job done.

The song is Can’t Touch This by MC Hammer.

Welcome to Typoholism & More

Pepito — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:29:31 +0000

I am sick; I have typoholism*. But I do not consider this as a harmful disease. In fact, I love being a typoholic.

Type may be one of my greater passions, but I do also have a love for philosophy, programming, writing, and design.

Welcome to Typoholism, and more. I will be posting off-the-ass essays, thoughts, discoveries, criticisms, and none-of-the-aboves in this blog. Happy New Year!

* In case you are wondering, typoholism is defined by iLT as a disorder characterized by the excessive consumption of and dependence on type, leading to physical and psychological harm and impaired social and vocational functioning (via).