Tag: typography

Wisdom

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

Remember how almost two years ago I asked you to submit quotes you’d like to see printed? And then remember how life got all sorts of crazy and I never got around to printing them? That was awesome. (Please tell me you all got the Chris Farley reference.)

Anyway, finally got around to printing the first one…no guarantees the second will be done in less time. You can purchase here. And yes, Sarah, you have a couple headed your way! It might take me while but I keep my promises.

Keeping with the theme, I gave my mom a stack of blank cards last year for Mother’s Day and told her I’d print whatever she wanted on them. Just finally finished those up as well! Most of them went to good ol’ Marge, but there are a few extras available here.

 

Stiksel

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

Stiksel, a.k.a. Karin Röling, was working as a graphic designer in the Netherlands when she decided to try freelancing. Fast forward two years and now she is the proprietor of a thriving etsy shop filled with creative pieces that showcase her design background.

Karin says, “When I make something, I don’t have a clear vision of how it should look like. I throw my table full of materials and start working and combining. Textures, colours, shapes. Things evolve by starting making them. I mostly get inspired by the material itself.”

I love the way she uses materials with a previous life in new and interesting ways — and of course I love the element of vintage typography!

Ecofont

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I know everyone from news organizations to design bloggers have been raving about this, but I thought I’d join the chorus: Have you downloaded ecofont?

Basically, the designers reduced up to 20% of the black area of each letterform by creating small holes in the center of each stroke, undetectable at normal text sizes, thereby reducing the amount of ink used when printing the text. The typeface is based on Verdana (which is actually a little silly because Verdana was really designed for viewing on screen, not in print, but I won’t go there), an exceedingly common and simple typeface.

Even more impressive, SPRANQ (the company that created ecofont) hopes that the spread of ecofont will inspire environmentally-conscious practices throughout the business and design world. Specifically:

• End-users: print only when necessary, use a modern, efficient printer and use unbleached paper.
• Graphic designers: use modern color separation techniques to avoid unnecessary wastage in ink. In paper choice, take the environment into account.
• (Offset) printers: avoid modern laser techniques that make ink indivisible from the paper. Keep an eye on innovations, such as plant-based ink.
• Printer manufacturers: invest in environment-conscious innovation.

Kudos to SPRANQ for the genious invention and ideals for all of us to keep in mind. Now, don’t you dare print this blog post!

Typography Snob

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

Because I’m a total nerd, I regularly read the I Love Typography and We Love Typography blogs. We Love Typography is a feast for the eyes whether you’re into letterforms and design or not — there’s some really beautiful work posted there.

I especially love this post. That character with the glasses? That’s pretty much me when I’m driving around town . . . I have often been tempted to tell a business their logo is inappropriate. If you’re a big dork like me, try your hand at The Rather Difficult Font Game.

Typographic Sculpture

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 2 Comments

hello2Lately, I’ve been getting back into typography. I finally began several projects using all my vintage wood and lead type — one notecard is featured here, lots more to come! You can pick up this card here. I love the impression the lead type leaves — it’s so incredibly deep and clean. And you can actually see the slightly bumpy surface of the wood type (“HELLO”) on the card.

hello31

I’ve also been lusting after several sculptural pieces that I can’t wait to have in my house. I’ve been dreaming of creating a home office with a full wall covered in 3-D typography for years now, and hopefully I’ll get to do it soon. A few pieces to get me started:

These stainless steel letterforms were rescued from a 1950s era New York parking garage that was being demolished in 2002. These stainless steel letterforms were rescued from a 1950’s era New York parking garage that was being demolished in 2002. They are available here.

These ceramic letters once lived to title 8mm & 16mm home movies. They are available at Portland’s Noun: A person’s place for things (which is such a clever name, I just love it!) as well as in their online store here.