Every industry will have an equivalent of this, but graphic designers who came through the type of training that I did are a funny bunch when they get together. We talk lovingly of darkroom chemicals, bromides and paste-up grids. Confessions are made about which model we had pinned to the inside of our lockers (the Mac II or the Mac SE). And of course eyes mist over as we mourn the death of typography.
I remember sitting in classes with cut out letters and blocks of text. Moving them fractions of a millimeter to the left or right until they were juuuuuust right. It felt a bit like safe cracking with high explosives attached to the dial. At some point it would just click into place, and you’d realise you’d been holding your breath for two minutes.
Along the way we had grunge, led by Raygun, The Face and music in general… but despite the way it looked, that was no less accidental. Type was king and we were humble servants.
OK, as Mark Twain might say, rumours of type’s death have been greatly exaggerated. There’s some beautiful typographical things going on in the world, and even in Singapore. But even now, something as humble as a sign giving directions for a train, a matchbox or a beer bottle can get me really excited if the type is interesting.
The rightful ruler of Kowloon, the late Tsang Tsou-Choi, once said “Emperors in China have always been calligraphers” and for 50 years he staked his claim with notices on lamps, pillars, walls and pavements on the island. I was all set to track some of his works during my visit but in an air-headed early-morning-flight moment I left my notes at home.
Still, Hong Kong was fun for the wide variety of typography on offer… from the slick to the lovingly rough-and-ready…
pics by creativespark
1 Comment
April 18, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Hi Marc
Nice.
Particularly loved the ‘crying’ letters.
Sis