Henning Koppel for B & G

13/10/08 – Pot with teak handle from Henning Koppel’s  Form 24 (aka. Koppel White) service (1962) for Bing & Grondahl.  More images//

Letter by Letter: An Alphabetical Miscellany

24/06/08 – Select excerpts and notes from Laurent Pflughaupt’s Letter by Letter:

Introduction

“Tracing back through the history of these abstract signs, which we manipulate and decipher unconsciously on a daily basis, is often like discovering their hidden or forgotten meanings. We find that today we still use capital letters whose structures are identical to the engraved capitals that date from the beginning of this era. We also discover that the design of our printed letters is based on Carolingian lowercase letters, which were rehabilitated and perfected seven centuries later by Florentine humanists.” (9) (more…)

Joe Colombo Boby Trolley

24/06/08 – Joe Colombo “Boby Trolley” designed for B-Line, Italy (1968) . Injection molded ABS in 3 shelf/3 drawer variation. Salvaged from Vancouver’s Downtown East Side (DTES) a little worse for wear but still functional. More information//

The Elements of Typographic Style – Part 1

18/05/08 – A selection of excerpts and principles from Robert Bringhurst’s The Elements of Typographic Style [Part 1 of 2]:

Foreword

“But when I set myself to compile a simple list of working principles, one of the benchmarks I first thought of was William Strunk and E.B. White’s small masterpiece, The Elements of Style.” (9)

“But the underlying principles of typography are, at any rate, stable enough to weather any number of human fashions and fads.” (10)

“The essential elements of style have more to do with the goals typographers set for themselves than with the mutable eccentricities of their tools.” (ibid.)

I THE GRAND DESIGN

1.1 First Principles

1.1.1 Typography exists to honor content.

“Typography with anything to say therefore aspires to a kind of statuesque transparency. Its other traditional goal is durability: not immunity to change, but a clear superiority to fashion.” (17) (more…)

John Maeda’s The Laws of Simplicity

28/04/08 – Excerpts from, and notes on, John Maeda’s The Laws of Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life (2006). For more information visit the website.

Simplicity = Sanity

Technology has made our lives more full, yet at the same time we’ve become uncomfortably “full.”

“[...] to understand the meaning of life as a humanist technologist.” (iii)

-simplicity is a growth industry (pp. iv, 11, and 45)

“I originally conceived of this book as a sort of simplicity 101, to give readers an understanding of the foundation of simplicity as it relates to design, technology, business, and life. But now I see that a foundation can wait [...], and [...] a framework will suffice [...].” (v)

“There are three flavors of simplicity discussed here, where the successive set of three Laws (1 to 3, 4 to 6, 7 to 9) correspond to increasingly complicated conditions of simplicity: basic, intermediate, and deep.” (vi) (more…)

Emil Ruder’s Typographie

14/03/08 – Excerpts from Emil Ruder’s Typographie first published 1967:

Introduction

There are two essential aspects to the work of the typographer: he must take into account knowledge already acquired and keep his mind receptive to novelty. (5)

There must be no letting up in the determination to produce vital work reflecting the spirit of the times; doubt and perturbation are good antidotes against the tendency to follow the line of least resistance. (ibid.)

It is the intention of this book to bring home to the typographer that perhaps it is precisely the restrictions of the means at his disposal and the practical aims he has to fulfill that make the charm of his craft. (ibid.)

Typography has one plain duty before it and that is to convey information in writing. No argument or consideration can absolve typography from this duty. A printed work which cannot be read becomes a product without purpose. (6)

He [i.e., the typographer] is not free to make his own independent decisions; he must depend on what went beforehand and take into account what is to come. (8)

But the typographer does possess this ability to stand back from the work, and it is very useful to him in his craft since critical distance is a virtue in a typographer. The typographer must be able to take the impersonal view; wilful individuality and emotion have little place in this work. (ibid.)

The many active contacts between people from every country today leave no scope for type faces with a pronounced national character. (10)

The craft of the typographer, like any other, necessarily reflects the times. The age gives him the means with which to satisfy the needs the age creates. (12)

The creative worker, on the other hand, spares little thought for contemporary style, for he realizes that style is not somethign that can be deliberately created; it comes all unawares! (ibid.)

More than graphic design, typography is an expression of technology, precision and good order. (14) (more…)

Jan Tschichold’s The New Typography

Excerpts from Jan Tschichold’s Die neue Typographie (1928):

Introduction

“The ‘form’ of the New Typography is also a spiritual expression of our world-view. It is necessary therefore first of all to learn how to understand its principles, if one wishes to judge them correctly or oneself design within their spirit.” (7)

“The illustrations in this book, with few exceptions examples of practical work, prove that the concepts of the New Typography, in use, allow us for the first time to meet the demands of our age for purity, clarity, fitness for purpose, and totality.” (ibid.)

“Modern man, whose vision of the world is collective-total, no longer individual-specialist, needs no special reminder of the rightness of being closely aware of such related activities as modern painting and photography. I therefore thought it desirable to say something more about this new way of viewing our world, in which our spiritual conception of the new forms are linked with the whole range of human activity.” (8)

Growth and Nature of the New Typography
a) The new world view:

“Construction is the basis of all organic and organized form: the structure and form of a rose are no less logical than the construction of a racing car –both appeal to us for the ultimate economy and precision. Thus the striving for purity of form is the common denominator of all endeavour that has set itself the aim of rebuilding our life and forms of expression. In every individual activity we recognize the single way, the goal: Unity of Life!” (13)

“Typography too must now make itself part of all the other fields of creativity. The purpose of this book is to show these connections and explain their consequences, to state clearly the principles of typography, and to demand the creation of a contemporary style.” (ibid.) (more…)

Calendar illustrations by Czech artist Josef Lada

08/02/08 – Josef Lada’s calendar illustrations from the 1940s featuring traditional Czech occupations, pastimes and holiday scenes. (Unfortunately, February is missing.) (more…)

Design from Denmark/Scandinavia magazine (1967)

13/11/07 – Design from Scandinavia was a design annual that showcased the best in Scandinavian furniture, textiles, handicrafts and applied art. It was the brainchild of publisher Kirsten Bjerregaard.

According to the website of the original publishing house, World Pictures:

Her ambition was to do a ‘design exhibition in the form of a book’, and her idea was realized in 1967 when Design from Denmark came out and was distributed worldwide in 50,000 copies.

The next year Design from Denmark became Design from Scandinavia and a voyage of communicating about quality design from the five Nordic countries had begun.

A companion series began publication in 1974 entitled Architecture from Scandinavia. I am unsure whether the series saw more than the two editions pictured in Design from Scandinavia 8 (p. 128).

The series, especially the early editions, have proven to be an invaluable resource for information on Scandinavian design’s floruit during the 60s and 70s. Today, these early issues have become collector’s items. (more…)

Website Prototype (Textual Interface)

30/10/07 – Website prototype with color-coded textual interface. Typeface: Helvetica. Try the site here//

Dieter Rams: Design is…

11/10/07 – Source:  Wallpaper* magazine (103),  guest editor: Dieter Rams

01. Good design is innovative
It does not copy existing product forms, nor does it produce and kind of novelty for the sake of it. The essence of innovation must be clearly seen in all functions of a product. The possibilities, in this respect, are by no means exhausted. Technological development keeps offering new chances for innovative solutions.

02. Good design makes a product useful
The product is purchased in order to be used. It must serve a defined purpose –in both primary and additional functions. The most important task of design is to optimize the utility of a product.

03. Good design is aesthetic
The aesthetic quality of a product –and the fascination it inspires– is an integral part of the product’s utility. Without doubt, it is uncomfortable and tiring to have to put up with products that are confusing, that get on your nerves, that you are unable to relate to. However, it has always been a hard task to argue about aesthetic quality for two reasons. Firstly, it is difficult to talk about anything visual, since words have a different meaning for different people. Secondly, aesthetic quality deals with details, subtle shades, harmony and the equilibrium of a whole variety of visual elements. A good eye is required, schooled by years and years of experience, in order to be able to draw the right conclusion. (more…)

Johannes Itten’s The Elements of Color

22/09/07 – Excerpts from The Elements of Color: A Treatise on the Color System of Johannes Itten Based on his Book ‘The Art of Color’:

In the realm of aesthetics, are there general rules and laws of color for the artist, or is the aesthetic appreciation of colors governed solely by subjective opinion? Students often ask this question, and my answer is always the same: ‘If you, unknowing, are able to create masterpieces in color, then un-knowledge is your way. But if you are unable to create masterpieces in color out of your unknowledge, then you ought to look for knowledge.’ ( 7)

Doctrines and theories are best for weaker moments. In moments of strength, problems are solved intuitively, as if of themselves. (ibid.)

Knowledge of the laws of design need not imprison, it can liberate from indecision and vacillating perception. (8)

As the tortoise draws its limbs into its shell at need, so the artist reserves his scientific principles when working intuitively. (ibid.)

Color is life; for a world without colors appears to us as dead. […] Light, that first phenomenon of the world, reveals to us the spirit and living soul of the world through colors. (ibid.) (more…)