MrBrezina

TypeShorts 2012

Tue, 22 May 2012 16:04:57 +0200

It was a tough decision not to organize TypeTalks this year, but frankly I am too busy to do a good job. But next year we are back and there are already speakers lining in a queue. And very exciting speakers I must say.

As a remedy for missing out this year it has been decided to do TypeShorts™ at least. And “at least” sounds odd here. The event format was first tested in Poznań last year and for some it was more exciting than the conference itself. The four main strands of this punk side of type conferences are very simple: (1) no curatorship (2) 321 seconds per talk (3) access to alcohol (4) small venue.

This year will TypeShorts take place in Brno on 21 June (find more information on the TypeTalks web). If you did not register until now you better head to the site right now as there are last two last places left.

btw. I was very pleased that the Now we are talking Festival adopted the TypeShorts™ format as a part of their programme last year. Anyone else wants to use it, let us know. It is free as in “please ask first nicely”.

Workshops at Central St Martins and MATD

Mon, 14 May 2012 19:15:59 +0200

The last week in April I spent in London and Reading (rhymes with leading) giving lectures and feedback to students of the Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London) and MA Typeface Design (University of Reading). At CSM I presented a lecture ‘Specifying type consistency’ describing the fundamental principles in type design. One could say it is like the 8 Faces poster packed in a lecture. The first day in Reading was bit more experimental with a workshop (or discussions) on concepts for originality in type design. You can read a little more about it in an article from Ben Mitchell’s keyboard. There are some bright students at both schools, some more graphic-y some more type-y. It was a pleasure to meet you all, your great teachers and to catch up with old friends.

A period of uncontrolled media excitement

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:00:29 +0200

First, let me say that the funny picture with a marker was made by my former student Matěj Hanauer. I should be giving him more credit for that, because it makes anything I say seem less serious and that is a good thing.

Second, in India, I have given lectures in Delhi, Ahmedabad (NID), and Mumbai (IIT) and visited quite a few designers in order to promote Rosetta and get in touch with Indian design reality. The trip was already rolling when Kalapi Gajjar Bordawekar invited us to Baroda which was quite off our road by then. “Hey it is Gujarat we have to go and pay him a visit!” And so we did and we had a great time. And somehow he planned a lecture for me to give (small one I thought originally), and it was in a Taj hotel, and under the Association of British Scholars, and even the press got invited. What happened because of this unplanned visit is best described with words ‘frenzy’ and ‘vortex’ and this list:

Article in Times of India (English, scan)
Article in Divya Bhaskar (Gujarati, scan)
Article in Gujarat Samachar (Gujarati, s.)
Article at iHNed news portal* (Czech)
Article in Baroda Times* (English, scan)
Interview in Czech TV (Czech, start 53:11)
Interview in ČR 7 Radio Prague (English)

*) Take with a pinch of salt. Particularly the remarks about my modeling attitude.

The last one is the best imho. I am very honoured for all of them, though. And if there is any moral behind, it should read: sometimes it is better to visit friends than work hard on your PR. Now, back to drawing letters… but seriously, how cool is that? Such an exposure for Gujarati type design!

India 2012

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:59:10 +0200

During February and March, I have been traveling around India as a tourist and as a lecturer (see Rosetta typobites for more info). Here are some selected instagrammed pictures to give you a hint of how I perceived the trip. During the two months we have visited seven Indian states, three main medieval cities and travelled about 4400 km within the country, most of it by train. And indeed we have seen lots of letterings, cowshit, temples, fine patterns, and yes — people. Thank you India for such a great time!

Read the full post here

Písmo s Respektem

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 18:42:49 +0100

This article is available only in Czech.

Nedávno vyšel v Respektu č. 47 (21.–27. listopad 2011) článek Lucie Kavanové nazvaný Písmo s charakterem. Typografové, grafičtí designeři a především písmaři by měli nejspíš jásat, že se písmo a jeho tvorba dostává do širšího povědomí, že je „trendy“. Člověk věci znalý však musí povzdechnout nad špatně odvedenou novinářskou prací. Není přece žádný důvod, aby byl obecně napsaný článek také nepřesný a zavádějící.

Přečtěte si celý článek

Slides from some lectures online

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:59:35 +0100

Placed on my Speaker Deck, there are slides for some of the lectures I gave in the past months either on conferences or during workshops. To date there is my WebExpo lecture “Type is the most important thing on the Web” (Czech only), lecture about “Rosetta Type Foundry” (Czech and English), and most recently added lecture “On Typeface Design” (Czech and English) for students starting with type design. Hopefully, you will find this little Christmas gift useful.

8 Faces interview

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:02:33 +0100

The interview magazine 8 Faces has asked me a few questions about the recently published print (see Design work), type design for world scripts, and founding and running Rosetta Type Foundry. If you want a copy of the magazine you might need to hurry. Usually, it is sold out very quickly and the issue #4 we are talking about has been published just now.

Thank you Elliot!