Zapf then goes on to describe the typical height at which he drew letters, the difference between drawing for a punchcutter and a scanner, and a desire to show his own hand in his typefaces. While it’s odd not to mention the author in the introduction to a retrospective of his work, Zapf’s comments encompass the sensibility of Young’s book. An ode to intense scrutiny, “Curves” demonstrates Young’s dedication to type, nuance, and the human hand in design.

“Curves” is a collection of logotypes and typefaces designed by Young. Each piece is presented from preliminary sketch to finished product, showcasing the process as much as the finished design. Young describes the context in which the design was developed, and the motivations that drive decisions to completion — ranging from a client’s desire for “something bolder still,” to thorough discussion of the limitations of a Bodoni. Young’s work, while almost purely typographic and rarely pictorial, is amazing in breadth. From casual scripts to serifless romans Young’s designs present the immense variation possible with logotypes and type design.

While not a workbook (although it claims to be on the dust jacket), “Curves” offers practical advice and suggestions on how to improve technique. Useful for young designers, Young references the typefaces he uses and reveals the faces’ historical usage and associations. Young discusses the characteristics of a typeface or logo in refreshingly tangible terms, offering criticisms mostly free from vague emotional terms that so often accompany descriptions of design.

“Curves” can feel self-serving at times, and the organization is less than ideal. Arranged alphabetically rather than by subject-matter, or date, the reader is left wishing for the context of time period and stylistic categorization for ease of comparison. The best way to approach reading “Curves”: expect to bask in its pages rather than follow a narrative arc.

This book excels when Young discusses the revision process. Offering insight into the shortcomings of an initial design and the decisions made before delivering a final design. Young’s straightforward writing guides the reader through the process. Also liberating is Young’s willingness to critique and alter established typefaces if the project demanded. In the age of digital typography designers often accept the characters provided for them as inmalliable. Possibly the result of never drawing a typeface or the percevied barrier a mouse creates between the hand and work on screen, it’s rare that designers take such care and liberty to modify type. A good lesson can be learned from Young regarding appropriateness and appropriation.

Chris Hamamoto is a visual designer for FontShop in San Francisco. He also co-designed Typographica.

For a long time Brendan Dawes’ saulbass.net was probably the most popular online destination for devotees of the great designer and film title director, Saul Bass. The website was lost when Dawes did what many of us do: neglected to renew the domain. Fortunately, it’s back again in most of its former glory at saulbass.tv.

One of the few goodies missing in this reincarnation is the free font download called “Hitchcock”. Used by Dawes throughout the site, Hitchcock was created by designer Matt Terich as an homage to the iconic lettering that so often appeared in Bass’ title work. The font is not a faithful digitization of any particular title sequence or poster — in fact, type designer Nick Shinn notes that Bass didn’t do the actual lettering and veteran Robert Trogman adds that Dave Nagata did most of the drawings — but it does give a general sense of Bass’ rough, hand-cut style.

Matt plans to expand Hitchcock’s character set someday. We hope he’ll add alternates to help it better emulate hand lettering. In the meantime, this version will suffice for the hobbyist when used with care and at smaller sizes.

See more of Matt’s poster art and web development at Design Medicine. He and his wife also recently built an art studio in their backyard with two letterpresses and one screen press for their invitation enterprise, Ink Fancy.

Matt has given us permission to host Hitchcock at Typographica:

• Download Mac Postscript [58K ZIP]
• Download Windows TrueType [18K ZIP]

Please don’t redistribute the font files or post them to any other website. To share the fonts, link to this page (the direct download URLs could change at any moment).

If Hitchcock isn’t quite what you’re after, other fonts in this vein include:

• FF Schmelvetica (Chester)
• Keener (Ethan Paul Dunham)
• Nowwhat (Adam Roe)
• FF Folk (Ben Shahn, Maurizio Osti, Jane Patterson)
• Bensfolk (Ben Shahn, Howard Lohner)
• Anarko (Peter Bruhn)
• Brickhouse (Allen Mercer)
• Maynard (Patrick Broderick)
• Taylors (Stuart Sandler)
• Darkheart (Ray Larabie)
• Gorg (Kou Nakamura)
• Dolce Vita (Ian Swift)
• Vertigo (Raymond Brekelmans)

In typical self-depricating fashion, Ray Fenwick closes the email announcement of his new website. He may be sick of himself, but the many Fenwick followers on Flickr sure aren’t. We eat up his serifed handlettering, victorian ornamentation, and absurdist humor like champagne-soaked oysters.

With the new site, Ray has a pretty frame in which to show off his main venture Hall of Best Knowledge (a weekly comic described as “the works of Chaucer projected on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel”) as well as other work, including screenprinted posters and freelance illustration.

Make some noise for Mr. Fenwick — he’s about to hit it big.

I have compiled a collection of several that I found interesting.

The (not inexpensive) choice to discard vinyl transfer in favor of a team of sign painters, shows an attention to detail that looks further than the bottom line. I can only imagine the complexity of information design required for a theme park the size of Disneyland; but someone was not content with merely appropriate signage, it had to be appropriate, context sensitive signage (making certain that the vernacular used is correct for the time period you are meant to be experiencing). From the pun names painted on the second floor windows of Main Street USA to the faux wood grain trash cans, hand-painted with log letters, from advertisements for fantasy travel companies to help pass the time in lines, to hand-scripted names with ornate filigrees painted onto storybook boats — they may not be 100 percent historically accurate (the wooden type on Frontierland trash cans springs to mind), but they evoke an emotional reaction that the smallest child can understand.

While attempting to track down some of the typefaces used in the park, I found a site best described as a true typespotter’s guide to the Disney theme parks. Although the research behind the typefaces is fairly thorough, the originality of some of the linked fonts is dubious.

See also: Alpengeist : Olde Sign Fonts from Letterhead