NOTES ON TYPE

Introducing Ryno Slab

Kosal — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:15:04 +0000

Here it is, folks. My latest contribution to the overpopulated world of fonts and things. Ryno Slab. A super tough slab serif that’ll set solid on your posters, t-shirts, album covers, and headlines. If you would like to purchase Ryno Slab, maybe you’d like a discount (for a limited time). Take this Tough Characters Test [...]

Typography and Illusions

Kosal — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:03:22 +0000

Optical illusions influence to many aspects of type design. Overshoot, for instance, compensates for the extra white space generated by a curve. Letters are tweaked to overcome the illusion of extra weight wherever two strokes meet. While most typographers’ interests lie in the delicate balance of black and white, I decided to experiment with letters [...]

Contextual Reading

Kosal — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:01:07 +0000

Look at the four words on the left and say them out loud. Go on, really — read it aloud. Clearly pronounce the first, second, third and fourth word. Then you may continue to the next paragraph. Go on, I’ll wait… Good. Now how many of you failed to notice that the last word is not [...]

A Typographic Stroop Test

Kosal — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:00:52 +0000

When we see letters, we can’t help but read them. When we’re asked to look at letters and complete a cognitive task other than reading, it goes against our very nature. The Stroop test taught us that. So here’s a challenge. Designers are used to seeing the name of a typeface set in the font [...]

An Ideal Tag Cloud

Kosal — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:09:13 +0000

1They exist everywhere. Plagued with holes, awry baselines, and font weights that flagrantly stick out. Tag clouds1 are the breeding grounds for uneven color. The newfound attention given to typography on the web addresses generic formats adapted from print, such as headlines and pull quotes. Since tag clouds were invented by the internet, there’s no [...]

My first font.

Kosal — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:21:27 +0000

1 With not many “serifless romans” to choose from save Doyald Young’s Young Finesse and Palatino Sans by legendaries Hermann Zapf and Akira Kobayashi, I decided that my first true typeface design will be the suave sans you see to the right.1 It’s far from finished, but I think it’s well along enough to post. [...]

The New MyFonts Logo

Kosal — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:42:10 +0000

I love brush lettering whether it’s calligraphic or spontaneous, like the old Interview Magazine masthead. Being a practician and fan of of optical illusion, hidden symbolism, and ambiguity in design, I usually scan peculiar logos for hidden meanings. When a script logo is done right, it’s enough for me to admire the craft involved in [...]

Making of a Masthead.

Kosal — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:48:19 +0000

Welcome to Notes on Type. I didn’t spend much on the name since I was so psyched to design the masthead. When the sketching process started, I set a few parameters for myself. Since the subject matter of these notes is typography, the masthead has to use letters. Duh. The second is that it has [...]

On Color.

Kosal — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:46:19 +0000

Good typography is always about considerate usage of color. Color In typography means value. in basic terms, it’s the overall evenness of visual attention. evenness of typography is practiced from the large scales of paragraphs on a page, down to letterforms in logotypes, and even a single character’s design. Glyphs are designed to work together. [...]

Shapes and Letters in Logos

Kosal — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:51:32 +0000

I’ve always been a fan of the Trademarks of Chermayeff & Geismar. Looking at their logo designs in detail confirms the effectiveness of a golden typographic rule. When mixing type with imagery, choose letters with qualities that best complement the image. Sticking with the defaults, or using your favorite typefaces without considering the image it’s [...]