I see the typeface “Hobo” in a lot of different places — labels, signs, posters, logos – the list goes on. I once thought that this was one of the ugliest type designs out there, but I now realize that it’s not the design itself, or even the terrible name — it’s mostly because of how it’s used and misused. Of all the type crimes out there (thank you Ellen Lupton: http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/contents/extras/#Type_Crimes), you’ll often find Hobo as a nearby accomplice. And I’ve certainly made my jokes about this “awful” typeface over the years, but once I studied the origin and the history of this design, I’ve become much less critical.
Stylistically, Hobo looks like something crafted from 1970′s, but was actually designed in 1910 towards the end of the Art Noveau Movement. It was designed by Morris Fuller Benton, one of America’s most prolific typeface designers. After closer examination, the letters are actually well-proportioned (when typeset properly) — every part of each letter is curved, which gives it a decorative effect, but with a modern twist. It’s lowercase letters are unique — descenders that do not drop below the baseline. Yeah, it’s weird — but it’s designed to be a display type. Fairly progressive for 1910, considering that most typography from that period was very decorative and ornate.
So I’m no longer a Hobo-hater. I just hate seeing it being misused.
Note: If you’ve seen examples of Hobo type out there (good or bad), please send some pics my way – I’m starting a collection of images and would love to include yours! Thanks.
The oldest use of Hobo I've ever seen!
Type Crime!
“A poster, unlike a painting, is not and is not meant to be, a work easily distinguished by its manner—a unique specimen conceived to satisfy the demanding tastes of a single more or less enlightened art lover. It is meant to be a mass-produced object existing in thousands of copies like a fountain pen or automobile. Like them, it is designed to answer certain strictly material needs. It must have a commercial function.”
-AM. Cassandre, translated by Michael Taylor
AM Cassandre, "Dubonnet" - 1932
In a few days I will be traveling to Paris for a vacation and I wanted to familiarize myself with the history of French design, but I found no books or blogs on its history. This is, perhaps, due to France’s overwhelming amount of cultural history in painting, cinema, food, and fashion. Though French design seems to play a smaller role in France’s cultural history when compared to so many other facets of artistic expression, it’s advertising (publicité) and typographic (graphisme) legacies are by no means insignificant to a broad popular culture. (1) Below you will find an assortment of beautiful French posters that represent a rich cultural history of French graphic design.
Toulouse-Lautrec, "La Chaine Simpson" 1890's
Roland Ansieau, "Berger" 1935
Raymond Savignac, "Autorail Paris" 1937
Ramond Savignac, "Cigarettes Collie" 1952
Bernard Villemot, "Orangina" 1953
Recently, while roaming the aisles of Barnes & Noble, I came across a shelf of beautiful leather bound books, foil stamped to perfection and classically styled with a timeless design. The edge of every page was painted to compliment the well-purposed colors of the cover. The vintage marbled endpapers looked as though they could have been torn straight from the walls of my grandmother’s circa-1970′s bathroom. The type was exquisitely crafted by hand, subtly extending into gorgeous swirling swashes shifting and flowing in space, creating shapes that even Mondrian couldn’t have arranged with much ease. Bordering patterns evenly embellished every edge and corner, giving balance to the frame of the book.
There was no New York Times quote, no rave review, no, dare I say it, Oprah Sticker; just a beautifully crafted piece of literature (or art, really) that enraptured me. I knew I had to have one—if not to read, then to keep on my bookshelf so that I could one day show my future grandson what a real book looks like, hopefully inspiring in him a nostalgic longing for the preservation of the past. Because after all, that’s what they’ll become. With the invasion of the electronic book—they even sell them in bookstores now—I fear that the real books so many of us love and cherish are soon to be forgotten.
However, as long as there are people writing books, I get the feeling there will be people like Jessica Hische (the illustrator of these brilliant book covers) to design them into something beautiful and lasting. If you ever find yourself roaming the aisles of a bookstore and you find a beautiful book, pick it up and admire it for the weight of its cover, the design on its face, the smell of its pages, and the spot on your bookshelf that it will soon take.
As I said before, the books I’m describing here were illustrated by the sickeningly-talented Jessica Hische, who never ceases to amaze me with her super-human typography/design/illustration/money/life/nunchuck skills. PLEASE check out her work if you haven’t before. She’s truly inspiring.
-Kevin Archie, Design Apprentice
Literacy 2030 is an initiative lead by the Central Carolina Community Foundation that unites literacy organizations across the Midlands of South Carolina. With the admittedly aspirational goal of achieving 100 percent literacy in South Carolina by 2030, the organization supports literacy service providers by facilitating member communication, encouraging collaboration and providing access to funding sources.
We loved developing this identity system and branding platform, and we’re hard at work on a website to be launched in mid-September.
Strategy and creative team: Cathy Monetti, Ryon Edwards, Kathryn White, Kendra Schaefer (thepixellary.com)
In meeting a few weeks ago, I listened to a conversation that revolved around a logo. A glance revealed the existing logo was dated, but the client was interested in a refresh, so there was a plan to show the client a three-step journey. The designers showed a range of logo options that took the mark forward ever so slightly, then two steps forward and then just a little further.
What a smart thing to do for a brand to do: take a step forward.
In 2010, the world witnessed the Gap-tastrophe that was the new Gap logo and “brand.” Shortly after that unfolded, we witnessed the Starbucks micro-refresh which was discussed ad nauseam because of its unfortunate timing on the coattails of the Gap disaster.
Gap logo -- attempted refresh (image via NY Magazine)
At what point does brand equity turn into a detriment? If your logo looks like it fell out of 1982, what does that say about your company? Do you wear the same clothes you wore ten years ago? Are the walls of your house the same color they were in 2001? You’re probably not even living in the same house. There’s no denying things and people change—sooner than we probably like. Still, I find it interesting that many companies are resistant to evolution.
I’m afraid they confuse internal equity and external loyalty, hanging on to an identity or mindset they like and feel invested in rather than one that could give their brand a lift with the people at the heart of the matter: their customers.
When a brand establishes rock-solid principles reflected in their actions, that’s equity that should be off limits. A company’s basic platform should deliver far more mileage than the mark that identifies their business. After all, that’s what the company is built upon.
For a recent naming assignment we were working on, the “@” symbol and the “&” symbol came up in conversation. I’ve always loved the typographic character of the “and” symbol, known as the ampersand. The symbol is one of the oldest alphabetic abbreviations and dates back to Roman times. It evolved from the Latin word et, which means and. If you’ve ever noticed elaborate (italic) styles of ampersands, the Et letterforms are quite visible in the design. Ampersands were traditionally used for display (larger) work, as opposed to smaller, longer format texts, so the designs were more creative and elaborate. Over time, and with the creation of modern sans-serif styles, the symbol has become simplified and less ornate.
To me, a sketchbook is far better than an empty canvas or blank piece of paper.
The first spread of a sketchbook is an intersection for imagination and observation as documentation. The sketchbook is where illustrators and designers record their lives with few words and more drawings.
I’ve kept every sketchbook I’ve used since October of 2001, so when I moved in with my now husband and half my boxes were sketchbooks, I was worried he was having second thoughts. Inside all those black covers were melodramatic teenage musings, drawings of pets, drawings of friends, doodles, hand-lettering, pieces of ephemera and plenty of mistakes. Those mistakes are part of a landscape of process that sometimes leads to realization. While most of my sketchbooks have been kept private, some designers and illustrators choose to publish their pages in blogs or books in formats like the site Issuu.
Looking through a sketchbook from your past or the sketchbook of a fellow design or illustrator is inspiring, voyeuristic and delightful.
Participatory sketching:
http://arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject and http://www.drsketchy.com
Great sketchbooks for you to explore:
James Jean
Sterling Hundley
Meaghan Dee
– Maria Fabrizio
We recently completed an identity update for New Morning Foundation, an organization that seeks to improve young people’s access to reproductive health education, counseling, and clinical services throughout South Carolina. We were asked to give the existing logo a “facelift” and to redesign existing brand identity collateral.
Why do we “rebrand” anyway? That word and the word “branding” are thrown around quite a bit, but it’s important to remember that the logo is not the “brand.” The brand is all about the customer touchpoints and the experience one has when interacting with the organization — when you boil it all down, the brand is someone’s gut instinct about a company or organization. I remember Marty Neumier stating years ago in a workshop that “the brand” is what OTHERS say it is, not what the company says it is. That statement has stuck with me for years.
And the logo is a small, but very important part of the brand. It must strike the right balance of the rational and the emotional. It must convey the spirit of the organization in a split-second. The cross-sensory experience is the brand, but the logo has to uphold and to support that.
Changes or redesigns could mark an internal cultural shift, a change in business objectives, or change in ownership. Often times, as in the case of New Morning Foundation, it’s a matter of staying relevant and is born from the desire to have visual consistency across mediums. Lay a solid foundation with a strong, meaningful logo, and that will help branding efforts at any level.
Old logo
New logo
New identity package
