"A Super WordMark"

Project 2 for class deals with wordmarks and this caused me to think about one the most recognized and possibly beloved wordmark logo today, the Superman logo.

Now most people would not think of it in this way but when you take a moment and consider it, it makes since.  We have all seen countless organizations, schools, businesses, etc. that have copied/incorporated it's design in order to draw from its world wide recognition factor for their cause because it is so well known..
Most people would argue that this is not a wordmark but given that it is made up of a letter and minimal extras (the outline borders) it would classify as one.

Originally, the S Logo was designed to look like a police badge but over the years it evolved into the design that we currently have:

The Original design circa 1939

Current design circa 2011

Overall, very few logos carry the weight and influence that this one has over the last 80 years.  Just goes to prove that a well done design is a design done well.

As an added measure the lettering for Superman's name has barely changed since it first appeared on the cover of Superman #1 in 1939.

Circa 1939-1940

Circa 1983

"An Interesting Serif StyleTypeface"

Letterhead Font has done it again.   They have just released a new typeface called Cameo created by Tom Kennedy. The typeface is a serif style font as is described as, "the perfect substitute for the over used Copperplate font.  

As far as serif style typefaces go, I like the look of this one. The characters are very clean and consise.   Go to http://www.letterheadfonts.com/ to view the other character sets for Cameo as well as sample design uses.

"Variation in typeface but a quality logo design based on type"

On of my favorite music groups is an 80's-90's British R&B trio called Loose Ends. They had a very distinct sound for the time which lead to them being sampled by future hip-hip and new jack style r&b groups. What also interested me about the group was their logo, block comprised of four lines of two different colors arranged horizontally (three) and vertically (one) to look like a "L" and an "E". I also noticed that they periodically switched between a serif and a sans serif typeface to spell out the band's name.

"Tiepolo"

THE HISTORY OF ITC TIEPOLO

Cynthia Hollandsworth Batty and Arthur Baker, as part of AlphaOmega Typography, in 1987 designed the ITC font Tiepolo.  They described it as a “sans serif with serifs,” but it has been compared to calligraphic designs with similarities to Asian calligraphy.  ITC Tiepolo was named after and inspired by the works of 18^th century Venetian painter and printmaker Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, the son of famed Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. While a talented painter, much like his father, Domenico was best known for his printmaking in etching.

"A Site to See"

Since I'm taking a class on Typography, I decided I should start using the correct terminology (so I actually sound like I know something cause the appearing like thing is working out that well) for type.  I had heard that "font" was not the correct word to use when describing a particular style of type.  The correct term would be typeface (I'm sure the assigned reading for class will address this point too) and that font refers to the lettering size. Of course as with many things in society today word corruption/misuse is still going strong and font is considered a synonym for typeface.  

Now on to what matters...

I have always been fascinated with typeface and its use, especially in logo designs.  I was really amazed to learn that many of the typefaces I had seen were excessible on the web (of course for a fee).
As I surfed the web I came across, hands down, one of the best type centered sites out there, Letterhead Fonts http://www.letterheadfonts.com/ . The typefaces available on their site are incredible.  The varied uses for the fonts in different projects is outstanding.  The quality of work done in developing the typefaces and there later use is something that I aspire to do.

One typeface that caught my eye on the site was LHF Sofia. It is a script style typefaces and it is beautifully done.  It has a modern day flair and elegance that seems to be lacking from a lot of script style typefaces. Here is the glyph for LHF Sofia and a sample of it in use:

"Leslie Cabarga- Type I like"

This is the cover to Leslie's book entitled "Progressive German Graphics 1900-1937".  The type on the cover caught my and the type contained within held me captive.  His lettering for the cover is outstanding and fits the topic that he covers in his book.

"A new semester, a new focus"

The theme for this spring is typography.  My posts while deal a lot with type and its various uses.