Edward Johnston

Bit of research into his life surrounding the ISTD brief - The Devils in the Details'

Edward Johnston, CBE (11 February 1872 – 26 November 1944) was a British craftsman who is regarded, with Rudolf Koch, as the father of modern calligraphy, in the form of the broad edged pen as a writing tool, a particular form of calligraphy.

Johnston was born in San José, Uruguay. He started teaching at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London's Southampton Row, where he influenced the typeface designer and sculptor Eric Gill. Then he moved on to the Royal College of Art and many students were inspired by his teachings. In 1912 Johnston followed Gill to Ditchling where he died in 1944.

He is most famous for designing the sans-serif Johnston typeface that was used throughout the London Underground system until it was re-designed in the 1980s. He also redesigned the famous roundel symbol used throughout the system.

He has also been credited for reviving the art of modern penmanship and lettering single-handedly through his books and teachings. Johnston also devised the simply crafted round calligraphic handwriting style, written with a broad pen, known as the foundational hand.
In 1921, students of Johnston founded the Society of Scribes & Illuminators (SSI), probably the world's foremost calligraphy society.

 Sourced from Here

Top notch web design

Some really beautifully exicuted websites by Archive studio, its the overall quality and functional values of the websites that make them stand out to me. There is a lot of overly ornamental design in web at the moment, the term form follows function should be even more appropriate on web, given its interactive nature!
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It's hard to show just how well these websites use but there are links to all of them on the Archive website. I want to propose a website for my bookshop but want to make sure its well planned and organised before starting any design. I will write a list of what pages and map out the links between pages before starting on the grid / website.

This website in particular really emphasis the ease of use within minimal layouts, with a simple scroll box in the bottom corner. These are important things to remember for my PPD progression when planning my own website.

Lovely type on this website, not sure how the design studio operates as there is no description on their website other than 'design & development studio, might be people to consider visiting over Christmas.

Beautiful Packaging

I have tried to avoid doing mass amounts of design blogging as I wanted my own design to take influences from my research into the different subjects rather than being subconsciously influenced by the designs. This is just a quick post to show some of the examples that have really grabbed my attention over the last few months.

The designs for fragrance brand retaW are always exceptional. The packaging has connotations of purity with its constant minimalist colour pallets and use of type.
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This packaging would be perfect for spices as it shows the product inside but allows an interesting canvas for type and information.

Experimental Jetset

Some really interesting 3D work that inspired me to work on my latest concept for the bookshop brief. The Wim Crowel project in particular the way the type started to change as it moved really inspired me. I have decided against using Helvetica for the project but instead the very similar Swiss Akzidenz released slightly before.
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STUDIO WEBSITE

In the description of this project on their website they explain the slight failures in this project. The main issue was to do with the printing, which they said resulted in Crowell looking unlike his usual healthy self. They also explained that they should have used one of the other shots in the image below where the true depth of the image and its physical scale was more apparent. Choosing the appropriate designs to progress with in my bookshop identity will be an important part of the process, I will make sure I gather lots of opinions before progressing.

Really interesting idea, something I would advise anyone with an interest in type to look into and read about. The website is particularly good because of the effort put into the project descriptions, giving an insight into how the studio works.

HORT - NEW YORK

Shoe-boxes for each part of New York, and a huge mural as an announcement for 'The world is watching' street basketball event.
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Also 'type treatment' as described on the website. Nice idea to create some slightly altered type just adding the studio name creating some more personal hype around the studios identity stemming from the event.

I was particularly inspired after hearing the head of the studio speak at Typo Talks London, explaining their unconventional methods of working. Its hard to understand the process that went into making this project, especially when you look at the typeface, which looks as if it shouldn't work... but does so well and with so much character on the shoe-boxes and mural.

Posters from Shin Dokho

Some particularly interesting usees of type running through these posters with a mixture of bold headings and creative layouts. I want to consider how I can use the type I have been working on to create work that's as visually stunning and unconventional but to communicate the bookshop.
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The huge posters / books are also great research, the hierarchy of the type / layout will be key so that the design is appealing from further away but also when looked at closely. I also need to work out a hierarchy for the table distributing space content across the page so its quick and easy to understand to ease to process of using spices. I will plan how I wish the content to appear and what order it should be read to make the most of the space on the pages / poster.

Cymatics - Matthew Lucas

Cymatics - Matthew Lucas

This statement is a great piece of contextual research as well as visual inspiration, we need a mission statement that explains what the project aims to achieve. This may be one of Dom's stronger points, something that we will need to consider carefully to devise a plan of how to approach the brief in the remaining weeks.

After seeing this somwhat simple set up I realised that Dom & I really need to think about how we will go about our own experiments and how to make the project unique. Lots of projects surrounding visualising sound each year, to create something that engages people with the subject is what I feel is key its its success.

The visuals aren't exactly within my own style choices, but they are unique and extremely suitable for the content. Need to think about how the choice of typeface will affect the overall design quality of the project. I will brose existing typefaces and consider making my own for the publication, even if its just for headers / title text.

Nice Things

Built up a collection of photos over the past weeks since deciding what I was doing for each brief. Researching like this is a much more effective way of working for me. I find it sets off more ideas and has more subtle visual influences in my work, opposed to browsing the internet and looking at the same sort of design and not having an understanding of how it engages with its environment.

Pretty bad photo, but the new buses are beautiful. Designed by Heatherwick, a studio which I looked at last year for the moving image module. Looks slightly like an eye patch on the back but the retro interior with a modern sleek twist redeems it. Also one of the most economic buses in Europe!

The Type on 'The Future Gallery' in London really makes the most of its black canvas. The slick black tiles with the white grouting also fits perfectly with the signage. I think its this relationship between a piece of signage has to fit with its surroundings but exploit the space and colours to stand out. I need to start putting my designs into the context of lots of books, because of the variety of colours and sizes I will keep the colour to a minimal and make the type stand out as much as possible to separate the signage from the books.

Retro Johnston Sans - Lovely to see old typography amongst the new designs through out the underground, especially after the hosting of the Olympics over summer. It also embodies the sustainability of the typeface, its constant changing surroundings and somehow it still works and looks unique.

Nice way of storing the disk that came with this book called 'format perspectives' in the Carhartt store in Covent Garden. I will consider using thicker stocks that completely conceal the disk.

These slightly thinner tipped in pages in this book add an element of mystery and instantly draws me towards that section of the book. I had intentions of doing something similar with my typography books but I will have

Corner Shop

Some truly outstanding design work by North Design in collaboration with Richard Stepney, and really pushes the branding / packaging guidelines, something I aimed to do for both my science & bookshop brief. - Sourced from September Industry

For more than two decades Fourth Floor has been doing things differently – cutting and colouring hair with maximum application and minimal fuss from its bright, split-level salon atop a 1930s industrial building in the heart of Clerkenwell. Accessed via a goods lift, it has remained firmly below the radar while attracting a fiercely loyal clientele and whilst many come from the arts, media, design and the creative industries all share with Fourth Floor an independence of thought and outlook.

The simple use of colour on the packaging fits perfectly into the minimal internal layout of the shop. Also the minimal use of colour with only two tones and black (including the contents of the bottle) it really rounds off the product and results in a design that stands out more than those that have more ornamental elements added. I want to apply these same themes of minimalism to my bookshop / spice packaging to separate it from other over saturated designs in the market.

The type for the shop was created using a re-drawn and edited version of the typeface Skyline black. The logo emphasises how using an existing typeface as a template can still result in a unique and interesting piece of typographic design.
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Also the quality of the production of this signage window really embodies the process of good design, after the degree understanding colour and production will be key in my progress in how a brand communicates and maintains a consistent visual identity.

All of the deliverables maintain the same high level of design and integration of materials yet maintain the brand image. Need to decipher exactly what I am doing with my book brief as the current idea seems too random and poorly executed. I need to gather my ideas and design work to decide what direction to take next.

Type Compass

 Looking at other type based publications seemed like a good method of deciphering how I would approach mine. This lovely little journal answers the questions regarding the amount of type that is introduced into the world, surrounding the last 20 years of typographic progression. The innovative format of the book is what drew me to it, including sections for notes and encouraging the reader to interact with various topics, making it useful for beginners and experts! How can I use this to exploit a variety of audiences for my products?

Buy a copy 
for yourself here...

Need to get hold of this ampersand, I have a copy trial of the typeface but it doesn't include any glyphs, might be something for the Christmas list.