Tag Archives: typography

A Miniature City Built with Metal Typography

A Miniature City Built with Metal Typography typography sculpture art

Type City is a recent artwork by artist Hong Seon Jang that uses pieces of movable type from a printing press to create an elaborate cityscape. It’s fascinating to watch as the need for printed books and typography wanes, the unused objects themselves are more frequently used as an actual medium. Jang also completed a much larger Type City in 2009. Also, if you liked this, make sure you watch the creation of Ephemicropolis by Peter Root, a city built from 100,000 staples. Images courtesy Hong Seon Jang and David B. Smith Gallery. (via quipsologies)

Knife Typography

Knife Typography typography knives installation art

Life is Beautiful is a 2009 installation by Iranian artist Farhad Moshiri using hundreds of kitchen knives to create some exquisite typography. (via notcot)

By Christopher on April 14, 2012 • art installation knives typography

A Hand-Painted Typographic Experiment by Tien-Min Liao

A Hand Painted Typographic Experiment by Tien Min Liao typography design

Handmade Type is a typographic experiment by designer Tien-Min Liao wherein shapes painted on her hands are transformed by gestures to create letterforms. However she gave herself a unique constraint: the painted figures on her hands for each individual letter had to be utilized for all variations of the letter, both upper and lowercase and sometimes even italic and handwritten. See more examples and the full alphabet over on Behance.

By Christopher on March 14, 2012 • design typography

Alphabet Topography

Alphabet Topography wood typography design

Created by Yale-graduates Caspar Lam and YuJune Park of Synoptic Office, Alphabet Topography is a physical examination of letterforms as it relates to usage frequency. Vowels and consonants like “R” and “T” were given more vertical prominence while lesser-used letters like “W” and “G” hardly make a blip. Of the creation process YuJune tells me:

I modelled the letters individually in Rhino and exported sections of each letter to AutoCad and based this alphabet on word frequency as defined by the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory, which interestingly enough, is almost identical to word frequency as defined by old linotype machines. I wanted a total variable of 6″ from the most often used to least often used letter, which gave each letter a height difference of .23 inches. I used architectural butter board and laser cut each letter in sections, and there was no client for this project—we developed it from a desire to explore the idea of language landscapes—visualizing language and the ebb and flow of spoken English.

I’ve always been an incredible sucker for physical typography and this project is no exception. (via it’s nice that)

By Christopher on February 17, 2012 • design typography wood

Edible Gelatin Typography

Edible Gelatin Typography typography food

I’m sure the idea of making letters out of gelatin has been around for quite a while, but this particular attempt by Lucía Rallo and Aranxa Esteve of m-inspira is gorgeously executed. From the choice of colors, to the crafted letterforms and even the photography itself; I’m trying to eat these things through my monitor right now. They don’t seem to have a dedicated page for the project, but hit fresh on their homepage and you’ll see some larger images cycle through. Mocoloco reports the duo using standard gelatin and sugar and they are indeed ready to consume. (via mocoloco)

By Christopher on January 13, 2012 • food typography

Intricate Laser-Cut Calendar and Alphabet by Nando Costa

Intricate Laser Cut Calendar and Alphabet by Nando Costa typography paper design calendars

Two exquisite laser-cut paper pieces by Brazilian born, Portland-based Nando Costa. The first is a laser-cut calendar that he designed in collaboration with his wife, Linn Olofsdotter that’s made from 140lb paper and takes nearly an hour to cut. The second is an alphabet poster that measures roughly 12″ square and features images of vegetation, insects, the sky and forests. Simply impeccable work and reasonably priced. Lots more fun stuff in his Etsy shop.

By Christopher on January 6, 2012 • calendars design paper typography

Words Can Fly: A 3D Typographic Poster in Support of Fukushima, Japan

Words Can Fly: A 3D Typographic Poster in Support of Fukushima, Japan typography paper origami Japan birds

This beautiful typographic poster made of folded paper was designed and constructed by Montreal-based designers Kyosuke Nishida, Brian Li and Dominic Liu for the Words Can Fly A Thousand Miles Project. The piece shows a number of origami cranes bursting through the surface of carefully crafted type. Via their website:

This design was inspired by the Japanese traditional custom, Senbazuri, which means a group of a thousand origami cranes. It is customary to fold these cranes to wish someone luck. We wanted to pay tribute to this custom through the process of constructing the paper sculpture.

The words on the poster were inspired by the instant encouragement and consoling words that Japanese people were able to receive just after the tsunami and earthquakes hit Japan, through social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter.

The project is currently accepting financial donations and handwritten notes in an attempt to console and encourage people in Fukushima. You can read more and see some making of photos over on My Modern Met.

Nishida and Li were featured earlier this year on Colossal for their typographic Still Life Comes Alive installation.

By Christopher on December 26, 2011 • birds Japan origami paper typography

A Lego Logo for T Magazine

A Lego Logo for T Magazine typography sculpture Lego identity

A towering letter ‘T’ for T Magazine’s winter travel edition by Lego artist Sachiko Akinaga inspired by Central Park. The piece took eleven days to complete, with several 16-hour nonstop shifts. (via notcot)