Thursday, July 16, 2015

Awe inspiring

You were generous, Suzanne, when you introduced yourself to the table at Baruch College's Symposium, Thinking Through Design, to note that you developed a love of typography while working with me at BTDnyc. We do love us faces and fonts in the office.












Above: poster by Michael Bierut for the Austin Initiative for Graphic Awesomeness, instigated by UnderConsideration. 


But there are  designers who not only love/work with but also transform and create typography and fonts. The Type Directors Club (TDC) held an award ceremony and the opening of its 61st annual typography exhibit and the winners of the TDC typeface design competition. Louise Fili, who captures the beauty of Italy and gives it her own heart and soul and feel, deservedly won the inconsistently-awarded medal. Hingston Studio won the best in show for a David Bowie video with a gorgeously-lit noir approach and noir-er typography. I've loved David Bowie through every single one of his phases, will continue to love him forever—and I thought Tom Hingston's work was superlative. Yet, I couldn't help thinking that another David (Byrne) had already worked with an earlier brilliant firm (M&Co.) to equally-startling effect. Of course, as a designer who stays perhaps too much on well-trodden ground, I realize it's a fine and noble thing to capture something and give it a new (noir!) twist. Have a look at the video on the TDC site and tell me what you think.

Running through August 6 at the Cooper Gallery, the show includes a healthy representation of student work as well as winning entries by the usual suspects. There's a reason the usual suspects are so well-represented; their work is pretty awesome. The exhibit includes a few pieces I don't get; but a good poke in a new or different direction is one of the best reasons to see the show—possibly more than once.





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