Eyeball Youball
Behold what Max is holding up! It’s an art piece I made (with a lot of collaboration!)—an 18″ x 8″ steel eye socket with copper leaf and a red resin eyeball that lights up. It will be attached to one of the “pods” of Mutopia Evolution, a fire sculpture by the Flaming Lotus Girls that […]
Elder Mother – designs for merchandise
Elder Mother is an immense movement and light sculpture designed by renowned artist Charles Gadeken of San Francisco. (Gadeken is the creator of Entwined Meadow, an installation of steel trees and bushes with interactive lighting controls, seen in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.) It’s a massive 30-foot metal tree with long strings of plastic cubes […]
Favorite Adobe Fonts, 2023 Sticker Fonts, Font Friday
I wrote this post a while ago, after I created the 2023 Burning Man sticker designs but before I knew that three designs had been selected for printing. So here’s a little peek behind the scenes. The greeters at the gate of Black Rock City, the temporary city built by Burning Man workers and participants […]
FLG Font Tuesday
The metal/fire/sculpture art collective I’m part of, the Flaming Lotus Girls, or FLG, was interested in having merchandise made that, unlike these, wasn’t associated with a particular event or sculpture. I took on the challenge! I found a beautiful illustration of a lotus flower at stock house Shutterstock and used it as my base image: […]
THREE of my designs were chosen by the Burning Man organization for printing as stickers to be given to all participants
The greeters at the gate of Black Rock City, the temporary city built by Burning Man workers and participants in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, hand out welcome materials to everyone entering. Among these are always stickers emblematic of the event in general or that year’s theme. THREE of my designs were chosen by the Burning […]
Firefly Fox-bird Friday
I was recently authorized to try out the Beta version of Adobe Firefly, the company’s offering for AI image generation. Adobe has since thrown open the gates and anyone can use Firefly Beta, no waiting. (This post isn’t about fonts at all, so it’s not really a Font Friday, but this AI stuff is too […]
Frequent Font Friday
The greeters at the gate of Black Rock City, the temporary city built by Burning Man workers and participants each year, hand out welcome materials to everyone entering. Among these are always stickers emblematic of the event in general or that year’s theme. In the last three weeks I’ve submitted no fewer than thirteen (13) […]
Happy International Women’s Day 2023!
Happy International Women’s Day! Women are naturally meek and timid and are easy pushovers. Try us.
Feline Font Friday 3 – it’s #eightsthecat’s 7th birthday, also it’s Tuesday
Today, February 28, 2023, is my lovely and delightful cat Eights’s seventh birthday. Lucky seven! Next year will be extra fun as it’ll be Eights’ eighth, so I’ll give her eight of everything, or maybe everything divided into eighths, or both. Here is gray and white Eights (on the left) when she was a wee […]
Friends Font Friday
This glorious enameled color wheel pin was a gift from my good friends Chris and Mickey. It combines two of my favorite things: colors and type. The outer circle is a 12-section color wheel—doubling the usual number of colors. The inner, moveable circle is black, with cutout arcs. White type follows the arc and gold […]
Flaming Lotus Girls 2023 “Mutopia” sculpture stickers
These are promotional/fundraising sticker designs for the Flaming Lotus Girls’ metal/fire sculpture Mutopia, which will be going to Burning Man this year. I image-traced photographs of the artwork to start off, then added color and type. Photo #1: Image trace stickers: Photo #2
Phonological Font Friday
An interesting article by UK layman Peter Irons from his blog, “To Read or Not to Read: This Blog will chart the progress of the emergence of the use of computer screen technology to enable more people to maximise their reading performance across the world.” In his blog Irons explores reading deficits such as dyslexia, […]
Fibonacci Font Friday
A glorious number of type designers have created fonts based on the Fibonacci spiral. Some of the designs are lovely, such as Sarah Samira’s, some are incomprehensible, such as Nicola Ball’s, and some are just terrible, such as Rachel Sinclair’s, but it’s the (mathematical) thought that counts. Fibonacci Font—Sarah Samira Design The Fibonacci Spiral Fibonacci […]
Finnish Font Franz Font Friday
From edenspiekermann.com: Finnish font wins Russian Award FF Mister K, the font developed by the Finnish designer Julia Sysmäläinen, won the International Type Design Competition ‘Modern Cyrillic’. The latin version of the typography inspired by Franz Kafka had been introduced at the TYPO 2009 conference. Mы пoздравляем Mister K! The competition was held by ParaType with support by […]
Festive Felines Font Friday
Well, I missed the the beginning of Hanukkah and the Winter Solstice this year, but I’m just in time for Christmas. Here are some cartoon kitties celebrating the holiday with “Merry [or Meowy] Catmas”. Type-wise, the designs all have hand drawn script that that gives them a sweet and homey look.
Food Font Friday 3
Fontmeme.com provides font sources and information for typography in many fields, from airlines (see my post, Flight Font Friday) to movies to sports. See also my previous posts Food Font Friday 1: A Typographic Map of American Foods, and Food Font Friday 2: Typografische Schokolade (Typographic Chocolate). Food and Drinks Fonts Page 1 / Page […]
Food Font Friday 2
Typografische Schokolade (Typographic Chocolate) From Behance.net. (See also my blog post Food Font Friday 1: a Typographic Map of American foods and Food Font Friday 3: Typography of Food and Drink Logos.) Typographic Chocolate is a student project of the University of Applied Sciences Berlin, Department of Communication Design, under the direction of Prof. Jürgen Huber. The aim of […]
Food Font Friday 1
Feast your eyes on this typographic map of American foods! From UK seller Lucy Loves This. (See also my blog post Food Font Friday 2: Typografische Schokolade (Typographic Chocolate) and Food Font Friday 3: Typography of Food and Drink Companies.) Hungry for travel? From Cobb salad in California to pretzels in New York, the American […]
Free (Tattoo) Fonts Friday: 55 of the Best Designs
From creativebloq.com: By Rosie Hilder Top free tattoo fonts perfect for use in your body art designs. Choosing tattoo fonts is a big task – you don’t want to have the wrong design inked on your skin forever. And if you’re using the font for a project, you want to make sure you get it […]
Film Fonts Friday 1
See also (Bond) Film Font Friday; Film Font Friday, Wes Anderson Edition; Font Film Font Friday; and (Oscar) Film Font Friday. Here’s a link to a fascinating 2008 graduate thesis by Li Yu at Iowa State University: “Typography in Film Title Sequence Design.” The paper covers such topics as: A Historical Look at Film Title […]
Facepalm Font Friday
Duke at Yahoo! Answers asked: Who can type me a picture of a man doing a facepalm? Veronique answered: . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . ,.-‘”. . . . . . . . . .“~.,. . . . . . . .. . . . […]
Font Microsites Font Friday
A post from the League of Moveable Type at https://www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/articles/top-10-most-magical-and-magnificent-microsites. The League of Moveable Type is an amazing resource for all sorts of typeface information, font goodies (if you’re a member like me!) and basic drooling over typography in general and open-source type design in particular. Their “Manifesto” is here. by Olivia Kane For those that […]
(Rainbow) Flag Font Friday
A blog post from the Extensis group. It’s not quite clear what the people at Extensis actually do (see below) but it’s a good article. “At Extensis, we believe chaos is a barrier that stifles creatives’ efforts to solve problems through thoughtful design. So our job is to build a route around chaos, one that […]
Fold-Up Font Friday
Want a folded paper 3D alphabet? Of course you do! Check out this extruded origami text pattern generator. This free web-based tool generates your text as a fold-up extruded 3D origami model. It’s based on this paper from Erik Demaine, Martin Demaine, and Jason Ku at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. [From makezine.com […]
Fahrenheit Font Friday
Posted on The History Blog in 2012, but still SO COOL, from both type and history perspectives. Third original Fahrenheit thermometer surfaces An original mercury thermometer made by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, inventor of the mercury thermometer and creator of the temperature scale that bears his name, is going up for sale at Christie’s Travel, Science and Natural […]
Funeral Font Friday 1
A number of type foundries have font selections suggested for funerals and other solemn occasions. Once you think of it, it seems obvious, but I found it a little startling. Linotype’s Funeral Value Pack includes five solemn fonts appropriate for the setting of death and funeral announcements. Each of the typefaces offers its own unique appearance. […]
Fhtagn Font Friday 2
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn* Hailed as “A Cthulhuian Font You Can Download and Use to Summon Strange Beings,” NeatoGeek presents a quasi-cuneiform alphabet for your delectation. (See also my previous post, Fhtagn Font Friday 1.) The original post is below, but sadly, the font is no longer linked. You can find the type […]
Fhtagn Font Friday 1
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn* Howard Phillips Lovecraft was an early-20th-century writer of American supernatural horror fiction. Despite personal traits of racism, misogyny and anti-semitism, he managed to create some of the most significant works in early horror. Lovecraft’s literary corpus is based around the idea of cosmicism, which was simultaneously his personal philosophy and […]
Feather Font Friday, or the Quill Pen
Here are some tidbits about that venerable writing instrument, the quill pen. I’ve used a quill pen only a couple of times (messily), and am deeply impressed by people, past and present, with the talent and commitment to practicing to make letterforms easily and well. Here’s an account of one modern-day quill pen enthusiast, and […]
Far Away Font Friday: National Geographic’s Cartographic Typefaces
By Juan Valdes from nationalgeographic.com [Ed.: link is not valid.] From the article: Our maps have long been known for their distinctive typefaces. But few outside the Society know little of the history that lies behind them. Until the early 1930s, most of our maps were hand-lettered—a slow and tedious process requiring great patience and even greater skill. […]
First Sans Serif Font Friday
Today’s Font Friday is about the first sans-serif typefaces in history and in the modern era, from the fascinating site “Graphic Design History.” The site has a vast amount of thoughtfully-organized information. Says site creator Nancy Stock-Allen, M.F.A.: This site was first put on the web in 1999 as a quick outline of my lectures […]
Fried Font Friday
From the Handmade Font website: Eggs Font. Put Eggs Letters In One Basket “The Eggs Font was a challenge for us (just imagine how many eggs were fried for this unique font) and now it’s a new quest for all food typography lovers: you need to buy eggs letters and put them in one appetizing […]
Phys.org Font Friday
From the magazine Phys.org. This is from a while ago—2013, in fact—but still really interesting. Scientists use electron ‘ink’ to write on graphene ‘paper’ by Lisa Zyga, Phys.org (Phys.org)—Nanoscale writing offers a reliable way to record information at extremely high densities, making it a promising tool for patterning nanostructures for a variety of electronic applications. […]
Final F-U Friday: If You Really Hate Someone
From xkcd.com, naturally. On the final day of 2021, here’s how to ruin someone’s life forever, starting with January 1, 2022. Welcome to my world! ::cackles evilly::
Festive Fonts Friday (Christmas Eve Edition)
Here are some free festive fonts from dafont.com for your holiday use! (There are lots more at the link.) Not to be confused with my post Festive Font Friday (Tuesday Solstice Edition). Kingthings Christmas by Kingthings site Download Santa’s Sleigh by HypoTypo Download Candy Cane by Michel Bujardet site Download Merry Xmas by imagex site […]
Festive Fonts Friday (Tuesday Solstice Edition)
Not to be confused with my post Festive Fonts Friday (Christmas Eve Edition), which will appear on Saturday the 25th. Image above: “Diagram of the Earth’s seasons as seen from the north.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solstice Tuesday, December 21 at 15:59 Universal Time is this year’s winter or summer solstice! (Former: Northern Hemisphere; latter: Southern Hemisphere.) UT is […]
How to make a cup of time
With a purchased clockwork mechanism, you can make a clock out of almost anything, but this is my favorite. Materials: A melamine cup. Melamine foodware was mostly made during the 50s and 60s so you can often find cups at thrift or vintage stores. You can also find modern-day melamine cups in camping or baby […]
Farhad’s Font Friday: Knife Typography by Farhad Moshiri
Life is Beautiful is a 2009 installation by Iranian artist Farhad Moshiri using hundreds of kitchen knives to create some exquisite typography. (via notcot) FARHAD MOSHIRI “Life is beautiful” 2009Knives / CouteauxDimensions according to space / 3,25 x 6,16 mPhotograph: © Guillaume ZiccarelliCourtesy: Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong & Paris Born in 1963 in Shiraz, Iran (Islamic Republic of)Lives and works between Tehran, […]
High-speed camera system reveals what snow looks like in midair
These fluffy snowflakes, known as aggregates, form when snow crystals collide with other snow crystals. Many of these flakes also show some riming, or an icy coating. A new high-speed, three-camera system developed at the University of Utah made these pictures as the snowflakes fell. Credit: Tim Garrett, University of Utah University of Utah researchers […]
First Nations Font Thursday 2 — Thanksgiving/Day of Mourning
See also my posts First Nations Font Thursday 1 and First Nations Font Thursday 3. To many non-Native Americans, Thanksgiving Day is a celebration of family, friends and the founding of this country, and an opportunity to think about the things we’re grateful for. To many Native Americans, however, it is known as the Day […]
Filters Font Friday
Type descriptions and filters like the below find their way into my most fervid dreams. The talented and hardworking presentation designer Mimi Heft (https://www.mimiheftdesign.com/) told me about Ilovetypography.com. Hire her for all your presentation needs! Original post is at https://fonts.ilovetypography.com/cedars?mc_cid=b9d99d1a93&mc_eid=b2ec9d6f4f. CEDARS+ is a new and revolutionary way to describe type via formal characteristics resulting from […]
Fright Night Font Friday
From the awesome, fontacular website fontmeme: Fright Night font here refers to the font used in the poster title of Fright Night, a 3D comedy horror film released in 2011. The film is a remake of the 1985 film of the same name and revolves around a teenager called Charley Brewster, who suspects his new […]
Fear-Free Fur Font Friday, except no fonts and it’s Sunday: Halloween Safety Tips for Pets
Here’s my yearly push to keep your little furry ones safe on Halloween. From the ASPCA: Halloween can be the spookiest night of the year, but keeping your pets safe doesn’t have to be tricky. The ASPCA recommends taking these simple, common sense precautions to keep your pet happy and healthy all the way to […]
Furry, Feathered (and more) Arabic Font Friday
Architect and graphic designer Mahmoud Tammam has translated his love of word manipulation into a delightful series celebrating language. Based in Alexandria, Egypt, the creative started the project as a “personal challenge.” He explains*, “I manipulate Arabic words and transform them into their meaning, and I made a total of 40 illustrated words.” In addition, […]
From Foucault to Frida Font Friday: Cover designs for books that don’t exist (but should)
From io9.com, from an article that’s since been deleted: As part of his Masters of Branding study at the School of Visual Arts, Tyler Adam Smith is creating 100 covers for books that should be written, from goofy snarks at popular authors to imagined sequels to beloved books. Designer Debbie Millman, who chairs the branding […]
Feline Font Friday 3 — in honor of Lucy the Cat, also it’s Tuesday
My first, best, cat’s name was Lucy. Lucy was short for Lucifer—as in “luc” = “light” and “fer” = “bringer”—because of the joy she brought to my life. She was small and almost all black, with yellow-green eyes. I loved her more than I’ve ever loved anyone, cat or human, before or since. I had […]
Create-a-Font Friday
From fontmeme.com, more cool stuff: Below is a list of software that allows you to create and modify a font.
Featured Font Friday: The Improbable Resurrection of a Quirky, Once-Popular, Art Deco Font
By Steven Heller from TheAtlantic.com: Monotype U.K. Tens of thousands of more-or-less similar typefaces are currently available, yet designers continue to create new ones and revive old ones every day. The soon-to-be released Monotype Metro Nova, however, stands out as a notable resurrection of what was arguably a lost masterpiece by William Addison Dwiggins (a.k.a WAD […]