Deliscript Lauded by Type Directors Club

I was extremely excited to learn recently that my Deliscript font family (Alphabet Soup’s major font project of 2009) was chosen by the Type Directors Club to receive their prestigious “Certificate of Excellence in Type Design” in the display fonts category for their TDC² 2010 Typeface Design Competition`. Deliscript was one of only 16 designs chosen from the many typefaces entered from 29 countries.

Deliscript will be showcased in TDC² 2010, will be on display in New York City throughout the summer of 2010, and will be published in TDC’s Typography 31, the Annual of the Type Directors Club. The exhibition will then go on tour traveling throughout North and South America, Europe, and East Asia.

Once again I’d like to extend my thanks to the very talented Patrick Griffin of CanadaType for his invaluable help with Deliscript’s OpenType programming.

“QWERTY” Pen & Card Case Released by Acme Studio

Acme Studio of Maui, Hawaii is known for having an incredible roster of world reknowned designers who have designed pens, watches, cufflinks, wallets and various other accoutrements for them. Some time ago I proposed a pen and business card  case to them with a vintage typewriter key theme. This January they’ve released my “QWERTY” pen and business card case design. Currently it’s at the top of their New Releases page (click on “New Releases” at upper left) and and on their Designers page (click on my name a little ways down the list at the left).

My Dad with his trusty Underwood

I’ve always loved vintage office machines—especially old typewriters. I guess it’s because I grew up with them. My Dad was a writer, and my memories of him are filled with the sound of his tap, tap, tapping away day and night on his trusty old Underwood. When word processors started taking over, he just found it too difficult to make the transition. It’s hard to explain, but I think it had something to do with a kind of personal bond that he had formed with his machine. Because of my early associations with manual typewriters I still love not just their look and graphics, but especially the feel and clackety-clack sound of the keys, and the imperfect impressions they’d make on paper.

Those memories of my father and his Underwood are now very near and dear to me. Typewriters have now been pretty much relegated to the dustbin of history. The “QWERTY” keyboard layout still survives despite many attempts to improve on it. In designing this pen and case I saw an opportunity for me to create a small homage to these wonderful machines. It may sound odd, but the way I see it, in a way it’s kind of like one almost obsolete writing instrument paying tribute to another.

Acme Studio products can be purchased in Acme Shops worldwide, in better stationery and art supply stores, in museum shops, and online.

Podcast Interview on PodKISSt

After doing my first live radio interview for WXRX I did another, slightly longer interview for the KISS fansite “PodKISSt“. In this interview I discuss influences on my work, how the two covers for KISS came to be, the limited edition prints of those covers, international problems with the KISS logo, crazy fans, and some advice for budding young artists out there.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN