Hinting, or screen optimising, is the process by which TrueType or PostScript fonts are adjusted for maximum readability on computer monitors. This text compares different ways of hinting (black & white, grey-scale, ClearType, DirectWrite), and explains the behaviour of fonts under different rasterisers.

Two years after releasing History, Peter Bilak reflects on the process of creating this skeletal system where different styles are imposed on a Roman capitals base. Previous experiments are mentioned as well as inspiration sources for the typeface presented.

Article written for the Centre national des arts plastique, discussing conventional distribution methods of digital typefaces and their alternatives. The text focuses primarily on French typography scene.

Article written for the Centre national des arts plastique, discussing conventional distribution methods of digital typefaces and their alternatives. The text focuses primarily on French typography scene.

Real life situation that forced a type designer to evaluate his profession. One small typographic detail (incorrect version of the diacritics over the letter L) causing troubles with authorities. With happy end.

Third in the heavily subsidised series ‘Graphic design in the Netherlands’, Jan van Toorn, Critical Practice takes on the difficult task of exploring and striving to elucidate the work of Jan van Toorn (JvT), a designer who is not always clear about his intentions, who makes frequent use of inexplicable images and text, and whose work is often described with concepts such as ‘alienation’, ‘incomprehensibility’, ‘defamiliarisation’, ‘digressions’ and ‘intrusion’.

More than 35 years after the seminal art book Ways of Seeing was published, Peter Biľak looks closely what it means still today.

A short essay scrutinising the general misconceptions of western typography, and appropriateness of Euro-centric type terminology.

An essay on history and definition of type families, type design parameters, and possibilities of creating larger type systems today.

What do we understand under the term typography? Before starting any discussion it is useful to clarify the terminology. This is a first from the regular columns that Peter Bilak writes for online version of the Swedish magazine CAP & Design.

This article is intended for an audience of contemporary designers and students who are at least one step removed from mid-century British typographic culture; it is a critique of the Gill Sans typeface and the idiosyncrasies of its creation from a contemporary perspective. The central argument is that an earlier typeface by Eric Gill’s mentor, Edward Johnston, is a superior piece of type design.

Interview conducted by Luciano Perondi and Silvia Sfligiotti discussing issues of translation, languages, teaching, writing, organizing exhibitions, and having no answer to question about parallels between design and science.

Peter Bilak, grafico e type designer slovacco attivo a L’Aia, con la sua fonderia digitale Typotheque e la rivista Dot Dot Dot si è fatto conoscere come voce originale e indipendente nel campo della tipografia e della riflessione critica sul design. Due anni fa ha iniziato una collaborazione con il Nederlands Dans Theater e il coreografo Lukas Timulak, con il quale progetta e mette in scena performance di danza contemporanea. Lo abbiamo intervistato a Milano, nel cortile della nuova sede Aiap, il 30 maggio di quest’anno, il giorno dopo la sua conferenza all’Istituto Europeo di Design.

Dieser Artikel basiert zum Teil auf meiner Forschung für die Ausstellung über das tschechische und slowakische Schriftdesign mit Schwerpunkt auf der Entwicklung der Typografie in den letzten zwanzig Jahren, die ich zusammen mit Alan Záruba 2004-2006 kuratierte. Die Ausstellung mit dem Titel 'Experiment And Typography' wurde erstmals 2004 an der International Biennale of Graphic Design in Brno gezeigt und zog später weiter nach Prag, Den Haag, Bratislava, Cieszyn, Ljubljana, Warschau und Budapest.

This article is partly based on the research for the exhibition on Czech and Slovak typeface design, that we co-curated with Alan Záruba in 2004-2006 focusing on the last twenty years of typography development. The exhibition entitled 'Experiment And Typography' was first presented at the Biennale of Graphic Design in Brno in 2004 and it later travelled to Prague, The Hague, Bratislava, Cieszyn, Ljubljana, Warsaw and Budapest.

Review of the first India's design conference held in 2006 in Goa.

A Korean translation of the lecture where Stefan Sagmeister talks about the state of current design, ethics, advertising and aesthetics.

L'Art Director di Collins descrive il procedimento seguito per il progetto di una nuova serie di dizionari, dal punto di vista storico, del layout e della scelta dei caratteri. Data la scala alla quale il contenuto del dizionario viene espresso, e il modo particolare in cui viene letto, le decisioni microtipografiche hanno un effetto amplificato.

Essay accompanying the exhibition Graphic Design in the White Cube during the 22nd International Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 2006. Nineteen designers and collectives were commissioned to design a poster for the design exhibition in which they participate. Instead of bringing work from the outside to the gallery, the work is made for the gallery. Instead of recreating the context for the exhibition, gallery conditions are the context for the work.

As a teacher of type design and typography I have always wished to have a book, which I could recommend to my students without hesitation, and so I was excited to receive Karen Cheng’s Designing Type. As the author remarks in her introduction, there are simply very few books that comprehensively explain the type design process.

An honest appraisal of the role discussions about type design have in the broader culture today, and why there is a need for a more cohesive discussion within the field.

El no-diseño como una repuesta al sobre-diseño y el manierismo contemporáneo. Alegato a favor de un diseño que, tomando en cuenta su contexto, responda a las necesidades de comunicación y no a modas pasajeras con las que el diseñador luce su virtuosismo técnico.

Un interesante análisis sobre la historia, el contexto y el uso político de imágenes gráficas conformadas por multitudes: ¡la gente como pixeles!

Graphic designer Willem Sandberg became the director of Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum in 1945. From that time until 1962, he designed almost all the printed matter for the Stedelijk, and transformed the museum introducing new ideas into the stuffy world of museums of that time.

Una honesta valoración del papel que las discusiones sobre diseño tipográfico juegan hoy en la cultura general, y porqué hay necesidad de discusiones más integradoras dentro de la disciplina.

El diseño tipográfico como conocimiento acumulado y continuidad: una mirada al papel de los diseñadores de tipos, la historia y la tecnología, los revivals y la invención.

Una breve mirada al enfoque ‘sintético’ con que Peter Bilak entiende el diseño de tipos. Se examina Eureka, su diseño anterior, y las recientes familias de Fedra.

Art director of Collins describes the process of designing the new set of dictionaries, history, layout and choice of type. The scale at which a dictionary’s content is expressed, and the particular way in which it is read, microtypographic decisions have an unusually large effect.

Rudy VanderLans talks with Peter Biľak about the Typotheque founder’s education, design practice and experience as an ex-pat Slovak living in the Netherlands. Dot Dot Dot is discussed, as well as the typefaces Biľak has produced and his current teaching practice.

Steven Heller describes the guilty revelation experienced when he learned that typeface software licenses are sold for use on specific, not unlimited numbers of CPUs. He calls for the ethical treatment of type designers: respect for their copyrights.

Andy Crewdson discusses the origins of the Dutch designer’s recent family of types.

The introduction to a series of interviews and articles by and about Martin Majoor, the designer of Scala, Seria, Telefont and others.

An epistemology of the word ‘experimental’ as it applies to design and type, contrasted with its scientific connotations. Examples of past and current design, type and reading/language, as well as scientific experiment, are taken into account.

The abstract for Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The introduction to Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The first part of the introduction to Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The second part of the introduction of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The first chapter of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

A continuation of the first chapter of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The third chapter of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The fourth chapter of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The fifth chapter of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The conclusion of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The bibliography of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The list of designers interviewd for Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

A brief look at Peter Bilak’s ‘synthetic’ approach to type design which examines both his earlier Eureka and more recent Fedra families.

Type design as accumulated knowledge and continuity: a look at the role of type designers, history and technology, revivals and invention.

Dan Reynolds reviews a travelling exhibit of Czech and Slovak type design from the past two decades, and compares this exhibit to the Fresh Fonts exhibit of Swiss design shown in Zurich until July 2004.

A critical review of the London-based design group’s second collection of work, published in 2004. Peter Biľak’s review, first appearing in Items magazine, poses questions about the role of self-promotional design publishing as he describes the visually stimulating work of a contemporary design studio.

A critical review of a new book featuring excerpts of Marshall McLuhan’s work, designed by David Carson. Tha author considers the complex task of illustrating McLuhan’s intricate work, and whether or not Carson’s visual devices are successful.

Two books are reviewed and compared: one, a Phaidon book by Steven Heller on the history of avant-garde publications from the early 20th century on, the other, a glossier Taschen book featuring the recent design work of some 100 studios. Read on as Stuart Bailey puts the two in a ring together and hands Heller a very large pair of gloves.

A review of Emigre Number 64, the Rant issue, where upon its pages designers do just that. Siegel talks about the old Legibility Wars of the 1990s, how design is being produced, thought of and critiqued today and in the 1990s, and he even provides an interesting background of the Dutch design environment as a foil for the maintream of the western design world.

A review of a new comic strip novel by an ‘underground comix master’, full of complex plot lines and psychologies, stories about and parodies of the underbelly of the cartoon business, all drwan exquisitely.

A film review of director Tony Silver‘s documentary about the life and work of the Amercian illustrator Marshall Arisman.

A critical review of the design book Restart, first appearing in Items first issue. Some very well-known designers’ work is featured in this modern vs. post-modern, 175 page book from two London-based authors.

A review, first appearing in Items first issue, of Bruce Mau‘s other large book, which arrived three years after S,M,L,XL. Described is an interesting archaeology of contemporary culture and design.

Steven Heller, in his affable way, reviews a book by Lewis Blackwell and Lorraine Wild which takes on Ed Fella's Polaroids of found graphics and alphabets throughout the US as well as some of his lettering. The book sounds like a lively account of American vernacular lettering and images, as well as a good platform to view Ed Fella's own work.

A collection of Robert Crumb’s lesser known work spanning three decades gives credence to Steven Heller's claim that Crumb is the god of comics. Heller also gives a bit of background to the New York/US counterculture that Crumb fed with his racy work.

The autobiography of iconoclast Tomi Ungerer is a fascinating first-hand account of his childhood under Nazi occupation. It is also a rare visual collection of his dangerously rebellious drawings from the time as well as the dark ephemera he collected, making this a rare combination of cultural and political documentation and artist's history.

A review of the late Kalman’s monograph in context, with a brief background of Tibor’s influential design work and approach to its role in the consumer culture of the 80s and 90s.

A critical review and description of an open-structured live multimedia performance series which took place in the Netherlands in 1999.

A useful critical review of the monograph from the Swiss designer who bent the Swiss grid. Stuart Bailey looks at the contradictions in Weingart's book and his design work in context.

A review of John Maeda's monograph from 2000. A critical look at the book's design, and the philosophy and work of the new media designer/artist.

Stuart Bailey discusses the curation of a retrospective of Dutch design, illustrating the fallibility of presentation methods which treat design work as museum or gallery pieces.

A positive review of a simply designed handbook of package design in a time where gloss is king in design publishing.

Darryl Hannah, politics, typeface choices, supermodels and Paula Scher are discussed in this review of the first issue of John F. Kennedy Jr.’s magazine, George.

A critical review of the design and content of a collection of some 20th century type and its applications.

An in depth account of Malcolm Quinn’s book about the swastika, which investigates in depth the history and function of the symbol, beginning with its earliest manifestations in cultures around the globe and even its pre-Nazi uses in western commerce, then focusing on its forever tarnishing appropriation by Hitler.

A review of Lewis Blackwell’s book The End of Print: The Graphic Design of David Carson. The review contains an archaeology of the state of design in the mid-90s and some of the discussions which surrounded the work of the surf pro gone design star.

A brief rundown of the treatment of art by the Nazi state and the background of Hitler’s repressive cultural policies in this review of two books, one about the art of the Nazi state in general, and the other specifically about the show Degenerate Art which toured the Reich in an attempt to exterminate modern art.

Paul Rand’s design philosophies, latter publishing history and vinegar attitude to 90s design is discussed in this review of several of Rand’s books of his essays and design.

A thorough albeit pointed review, from a perspective of the early 1990s, of Neville Brody’s and Jon Wozencroft’s pioneering magazine Fuse. A timely piece of history for those interested in the design of type.

A call for greater design history instruction in graphic design education as a way to better (and Heller hints proper) design. ‘Design programs should encourage designers to become critical historians...’

Despite the piece’s off-colour title, an optimism exists in this reaction to what the author sees as the hermetic design field’s reverence of the late Tibor Kalman.

This article by the designer of Scala and Seria is as much a typographic guide and history lesson as it is a personal account of his approach to type design.

The background of the design of Majoor’s font Seria.

Stefan Sagmeister talks about the state of current design, ethics, advertising and aesthetics.

Emily King examines the interaction of punctuation, numerals and acronyms via corporate design and an album cover.

Steven Heller discusses the history and current state of guerrilla, activist and political design from posters to attached image files.

An enjoyably nebulous set of Rick Poynor’s thoughts about the current condition of criticism and the value of oppositional tactics in design and writing.

The optimistic theory is put forth that institutions of power have been democratized by the “empowering effects of the media” and that real change can be effected by graphic designers who use their work to engage the public in meaningful dialogue.

A reduced and expanded exploration of Swiss design and culture across the 20th century.

An interesting analysis of the history, politics and context of graphic images which are composed of crowds of people: people as pixels!

A brief examination of the politics, culture and designer’s role in the uses, cultural placement and proliferation of stock photography.

An essay about the design culture which is specific to the Netherlands.

A brief look at the role of graphic design criticism.

Emily King briefly looks at visual artists use of type, and their collaboration with designers in their work.

An analysis of the democratization and obfuscation of typeface creation with attention paid to its transparency, accessibility and methodology in recent years.

A refreshingly positive response to (and call for?) more, and more thoughtful culture and design publications in a time when the phrase “who needs another design mag?” is common. Max Bruinsma also briefly details the evolution of Dutch and other non-mainstream/design publications.

A poetically theoretical take on the fluid state of type, design and the vernacular in digital form as they relate to language and contemporary culture.

An anecdotal history and analysis of the racy work of Robert Crumb, and the cultural situationing of Zap comics then and now.

An overview of the work of Cuban-born titling artist Pablo Ferro who broke ground with the titles for films like Dr. Strangelove and pioneered moving type for the screen.

A history of the little-known collaboration of Ladislav Sutnar and Knud Lönberg-Holm, who together were a modern design team which was ahead of its time in the realm of information information design.

About the German-born founder of the Bettmann Archives in New York which houses over 5 million cuts, drawings, images and pieces of ephemera, collected since the 1930's.

A history and analysis of the role played by this American precursor to the graphic design magazine, which sought to bring progressive commercial graphic and industrial arts into the mainstream.

The life and work of the quietly pivotal Swiss modern design Eric Nitsche, who's clients ranged from the MOMA to RCA in a career that spanned the 20th century.

Screens of all sorts, their histories and their metaphors are approached in this theoretical discussion which take on the panopticon, Clinton’s inauguration and the largest movie screen in the world.

‘Scientific’ studies of typography and legibility are analysed by Ellen Lupton...

In 1999, Print magazine talked to 20 American design heroes and had them look at work from their halcyon days. Designers from Art Chantry to Massimo Vignelli discuss a piece of early work as a foil for Print’s ‘Designers Under Thirty’ section.

Max Bruinsma (who declares he has no printer, just a Zip drive) calls for greater attention to be paid to type on screen, is echoed by Matthew Carter, with a brief discussion of screen text technology and its place in reading today (or then).

Walter Benjamin’s ideas are explored (amongst other early 20th century avant-garde artists) in relation to the recent discussions around expanding the designer’s role from that of problem solver to one of author—and producer.

The point-form story of a German dentist named Hans Joseph Sachs and the magazine Das Plakat he founded on his love for posters. Responsible for the promulgation of early German advertising art abroad, his vast collection was confiscated by Goebbels for the Nazis’ collections and Sachs narrowly escaped the Holocaust. Steven Heller looks at the rise and fall of this significant early design periodical.

Wooden display types, Victorian chromolithography and the demise of Art Nouveau in the form of a poster for a German Match company in 1906...

An exploded view of the digital screen, informed by analyses of architecture, designers’ roles, avant-garde Dutch design from the De Stijl period and geometry.

An examination from 1996 of the history and concept of the designer as author, starting in the first decades of the 20th century.

A fascinatingly thorough investigation of the naming of typefaces. The naming of type as a window to history, conventions, the hermetic type world and cultural context, then and now.

In 1996 Erik van Blokland relays the problems with font embedding, which a decade later has little success…

The “epitome of a post-war Modernist”, Walter Herdeg, backbone of Graphis magazine, is appraised by Steven Heller.

A mid-90s account of the development and current state of Dutch design and type in the context of its cultural and political history.

A mid-90s appraisal of Dutch graphic design’s unique qualities, with an overview of various studios, designers and significant movements from the 20th century.

A talking Barbie lush as a foil for the Mac’s Speech functions; debates about the value of capital letters; Derrida, Saussure and Foucault; Oliver Sachs and Chaucer are all considered in this theoretical piece about the state of typography in new media.

In the early 1990s Steven Heller takes on the word ugly as he sees it applied to graphic design and design education. En route, his views of art history, pop culture and recent design trends are considered in his essay about style and meaning in design.

An early 90s discussion about social responsibility and design. Using a frightening 1960s social behavior experiment as his fulcrum, the author suggests that the designer has the responsibility to do more than provide design as a service to the client.

Martin Majoor, known for his typefaces Scala and Seria, is interviewed by Peter Biľak. The origins of his type, book design and working methods are discussed.

An interview from 2002 with the Font Bureau designer Tobias Frere-Jones, the creator of Gotham, Interstate and Garage Gothic to name just a few.

A discussion about the role of design, museums and more in British and American culture.

The globalisation and homogenisation of design, legibility and communication and the history of Emigre magazine are discussed in this interview with its founder, Rudy VanderLans.

Irma Boom, one of the world’s foremost book designers, discusses her working methods, preferences, and the nature of free-range design.

Design errors in academic design curricula, the 2000 presidential ballot and aviation and nuclear accidents are considered, the concept of human error is called into question, and a call for human-centered design for the fallible user is put forward in this discussion from 2001.

A discussion about the art and design ephemera collecting practices of Merrill Berman, who has amassed a vast portfolio of design history from the past century and more.

America as the republic of entertainment, the way Americans’ freedom in a vast choice of cable TV stations, xenophobia and the putting forward of the theory that American culture is NOT run by the political Right: all in the context of European and American history.

The prolific founder of Werkplaats Typografie, Karel Martens focuses on the design of the Dutch architectural magazine OASE in his 1999 conversation with Peter Biľak.

A discussion from the late 1990s with Erik van Blokland and Just van Rossum about their work as type designers designing programmers.

A mid-1990s discussion of the state of type design, graphic design in the Netherlands and emerging digital media.

A history of visual design and arts pedagogy, the Bauhaus, semiotics and gestalt theories as they apply to modern graphic design education.

A survey of woman designers of books, magazines, activist campaigns, identities etc. across the 20th century.

Lars Muller is taken to task for his religious reverence for and faith in the omnipresent Helvetica, and the book he produced which is described as a sort of universalist, modernist gospel but several decades misplaced. What one might come away with from the book and review is the possibility that type preferences are simply individualistic... so what does it matter anyways?

Steven Heller laments the disappearance of refined modern design craftsmanship and organization, and provides some background to Sutnar’s work, upholding him as a pioneer of just this sort of waning craft.

A thorough look at the history and development of large type families across the 20th century.

Emily King’s contents (part two of ten) for her dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

Emily King's acknowledgements for her dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

Part four of ten of Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

Emily King’s introduction to her dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

Part three of ten of Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century. here she lays down the modernist roots of her work.

Part five of ten of Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century. Saul bass, Hitchcock, Clement Greenbrg, Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood: the American avant garde and kitsch...

Part six of ten of Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century. Saul bass, Hitchcock, Clement Greenbrg, Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood: the American avant garde and kitsch...

Part seven of ten of Emily King's dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century. Bond titling sequences and the invasion of British design...

Part eight of ten of Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

The conclusion of Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

The bibliography for Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

A theory-heavy, mid-1990s look at the concept of Deconstruction, looking at its origins in French post-structuralist discourse and then current use in the design world.