Viva la Deadlines

While watching a recent documentary about Yves Saint Laurent, his partner had a comment on deadlines. Something to the effect: I don't know what magic designers have but they always make the deadline.

Eight years in newspapers honed my deadline muscles and muses. But I wanted relief, so I turned to academia for—among other things—it's openness. But deadlines are part of design always and this month was an extraordinary one.

So just a note of gratitude to Pierre Bergé for not only acknowledging the power of a deadline, but for making me feel better when I needed it. Four major publications have returned from the press in the past week alone. I feel the weight of the world off my shoulders.

Maybe that's the magic. Design generates constant relief. Constant labor. Constant ticking. Constant joy.

Trifecta of Cool

Ok, it's actually a foursome of cool but quadrangle isn't a very cool word.

Heath Ceramics + Eames + House Industries + French Paper Co. = a reason to remodel the exterior of my house. Visit here for loveliness.

Infinite City

Infinite City is one of those books it's practically impossible to write about, because it is too eloquent to be summarized. As Rebecca Solnit's title suggests, it simply cannot be contained. So accept these meager photographs as valentines to what has been the most enchanting read I've had in years. The most conceptually-pristine project of recent memory. The perfect integration of three passions of mine: writing, design and cartography. Each map in this atlas is juxtaposed in a manner that evokes more than their literal meanings.

Loveliest flourish of the whole book: not placing a period at the end of the essays. Rather, each essay ends with the glyph for infinity ∞

Forgotten Dreams

Werner Herzog's new documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, is mesmerizing. Cave paintings are the original watermark ... the oldest traceable record of man. This film takes us inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France to witness 30,000 year old cave paintings. I have only been in two caves in my lifetime. Caves have that way of dwarfing mankind; diminishing how I feel about my place in the universe. The patience of stalagmites and the pristine way caves preserve their caches really make me second-guess the Rocky Mountains I see every day of my life. We have no way of knowing how many mysteries are unaccessible to us. So it's fortunate when discoveries like this are made. I understand the primitive impulse of marking, but seeing the hand prints of ancient man in such a fresh way only provokes questions upon questions for me. And absolute respect for humans; for our creative spirit; for our brief time on Earth and for our unifying desire to leave something behind.

Foiled Again

Sometimes I feel like a squirrel with my constant attraction to shiny things. To justify recent impulses, I offer descriptions from a Pantone webinar of how metals are being used now:
• as ephemeral colors with broken shines.
• as material illusions with textured monochromes.
• in ways that are familiar, but new.

Take for example a palette they call Titanium: a bridge to new heights.
Where blues break and mutate, then turn to black. Bursts of overexposed colors create tonal variation. It’s a complete statement in metal with both reflective and matte surfaces.

These two invitations came off the press this past week. Evening Under the Stars is printed on Reich Shine's Onyx. To enhance it's astral qualities, and to make it seem more blue, I specified a pale foil and matching juniper-colored envelopes from CTI's Aspire Petallics. But the colors are fleeting and drift from a variation on the standard black and white event; to a turquoise-infused galaxy hovering over fountains and night-blooming flowers—a complete landscape in indigo, beryl, verdigris and aquamarine.

The Polo Cup invitation for the University of Utah called for foil to add flair to Pat Bagley's signature jockey drawing. In its third year of use, we needed to make it familiar, but new. We embossed the entire illustration contour and foil stamped the line art. I think the foil is honorific of his handiwork. It glints like like pencil lead and like a trophy. Attendees will recall the previous year's flamboyance and whole-charactered cast.

Inked Letters

This lovely fragment from a full alphabet in ink and water was created by Ruslan Khasanov. I haven't been able to get it out of my mind all week. It's dreamy, ephemeral, and exquisite.

iGutenberg

This charming infographic spans two and one-half millennia of printing. From China's wood type to Germany's Gutenberg Bible to the good old American iPad. I've had my iPad less than a month and am still in the honeymoon phase. It's the perfect format for magazines, and magazine reading. I love the seamless nature of leaving an article to visit a Web site and promptly returning. I love the layout options and dynamic content expressions without the commotion of Web publishing. It's another example of every day magic.

The graphic is produced by Visual Loop and designed by Flávia Marinho.

Making Faces

I just received my copy of Making Faces: Metal Type in the 21st Century. Making Faces is a documentary by Richard Kegler of P22 Type Foundry showcasing Jim Rimmer, master typographer, who passed away in January 2010. The DVD came with a lot of extras: a specimen book of Stern—the first (and perhaps only) font released simultaneously in metal and digitally; a chapbook of Rimmer's type designs (pictured above); a cast metal lower case 'k' from the Stern family (also pictured above); and a copy of Rimmer's font Loxley, made for an edition of Robin Hood.

In the spirit of connecting this to entry to my blog—metal type is a perfect watermark. It leaves an impression beyond the letter forms and the paper fibers. It's a watermark of type designers and their lives, of craftspeople and industry; a watermark of both time and history. Kegler's drive to capture Rimmer at work on film is a valentine in the nick of time.

Journey's End

7 years. 12 trips. I have completed my journey book. 

Sharilyn Wright, a Canadian bookbinder at Lovely Design, makes these from vintage papers sourced from all over the world. Acts of serendipity resulted: a gatefold of Asian script coincided with a map I had of Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC printed in Korean. A postcard map of Newport Beach fell onto a turquoise sheet of construction paper, a perfect sea match. An electricians diagram eerily resembling Central Park coincided with a trip to New York for a conference on design. And a final act of serendipity ... my latest trip was to Los Angeles; as I adhered one final coaster, I turned the page to see the end sheet is a map of L.A., which is the city my parents lived in as newlyweds. It feels like I have come home.

Though I can no longer close the book, it's durable quality holds up. And why would I want to shut this volume overflowing with memories? A mundane, yet exotic, candy wrapper from the Lan Su Japanese Garden in Portland instantly fills my senses with tea, ginger, umbrellas, and a recuperative lunch with friends. I can still smell their café. Letterpress scraps immediately conjure Oblations Press, and the hour spent rifling through their inventory. I bought my yellow Lamy pen from there, and have never loved a pen more. A doily from the Farmhouse in Dunwoody, GA brings back high tea with my sister, surrounded by fancy ladies in hats and a tea kettle buried in a crocheted cozy. A scrap of a poster of lettuce from Earthbound Farms in Carmel Valley, CA brings back walking barefoot through their chamomile labyrinth as much as it makes me think of the Steinbeck book I was reading on that same trip. I can almost feel the sun on my neck. I think I prefer memory to photographs.

Between the Folds

Between the Folds is a charming—if it's appropriate to use that word—Independent Lens feature about how origami has contributed to design, math, engineering and science. It's absolutely mesmerizing to watch the constructions that can be done with a sheet of paper. The plane can become disorienting through experimentation; consequently opening up the mind to not only dream possibilities, but to an ultimate reality. They showcased organic folds as well as mathematical. I found the case-studies about how origami has contributed to air bags and synthetic proteins inspiring. What's more, the pleasure these scientist-artists convey is authentic. I think it's because they will never lose the sense of inquiry and surprise that life, and their vocations, have in store.

[Photos from PBS Web site.]

Sirens of the Sea

Judith Schalansky is my latest delight. I bought The Atlas of Remote Islands during the middle of winter. Exotic island escapes seemed in order. I was vulnerable to a seductive, yet sparse, cover. The subtitle: 50 Islands I have Never Set Foot On and Never Will conjured another favorite author. In The Art of Travel Alain deBotton tells us of Duc des Esseintes who, in order to escape the hassles of oversea travel, made an aquarium so that ‘the imagination could provide a more-than-adequate substitute for the vulgar reality of actual experience.’ The Atlas was an easy sell.

I was more than a month into this bedside escape when I finally read about the author and made the shocking discovery … she’s the same designer behind Fraktur Mon Amour, another valentine from an earlier post of mine.  I should have detected her signature use of spot color and adoration of unusual typography. Now I am as envious as I am grateful for Judith Schalansky.

I might not have stumbled on the about the author page were I not seeking a note on the type. There was none, but a little research led me to the quirky, yet sublime, Sirenne. You should read about it here. I have no idea how this book came to be, but I imagine Judith said to herself one day “I’d love to make maps”; and then she did just that.

Knockout of a Prize

Hoefler & Frere-Jones is the most sophisticated type foundry in America. Their bespoke families are precise and enviable. I can't think of anyone who can capture in words everything their creations convey quite the way they can. Reading about their fonts is proof that a creative brief matters, and can be achieved. The delight in reading Tobias Frere-Jones: Gerrit Noordzij Prize Exhibition is the affirmation of design as both business and art.

Finding this book was an accident, a gift. Every trip to Portland, Oregon means a mecca to Powell's Books. And they never disappoint. I made two discoveries I didn't even know were published; Frere-Jones award catalogue is one of them. The highlight of New Year's in Portlandia was celebrating with friends. The take-away, however, was this jewel of a book.

Diabetes: Focus on Women

I'm thrilled to announce I have designed my first book. Diabetes: Focus on Women is a compilation of case-based vignettes told by diabetes and women's health experts. From sexual dysfunction to oncological risks, this one-of-a-kind book explores the full spectrum of women's health. It even covers gestational concerns as well as post-partum care. This guide provides a practical approach for health care providers, diabetes educators and patients alike. Each chapter ends with practical pearls and pitfalls. The book also includes:

• Evidence-based algorithms for glucose, lipid and blood pressure management

• Complementary and alternative medicine for diabetes

• Educational resources and websites for patient education

The project originated from a conference two years ago, and funded in part by a federal grant from the Office on Women's Health. Twenty contributing doctors and scientists are involved. Co-editors Kathleen B. Digre, M.D. and Robert E. Jones, M.D., FACP, FACE were an absolute delight to work with. Presentations at national conferences, access via health science libraries, and local development efforts will help the book reach it's core audience.

Designing this book has been a dream project. I got to do the most advanced typesetting of my career, as well as 49 tables and figures. Most of all, books last. It's exciting to have done something that will stick around. The book was printed in the U.S. Proceeds will be used for charity care at the Utah Diabetes Center.

Colophon: The book is typeset in Martin Majoor's Scala and Scala Sans, with Hoeffler & Frere-Jone's Sentinel used as a display face. Supporting Greek and Roman glyphs were required. Cover art is by Nicholas Jones.