From Helvetica To Haas Unica

Posted on Posted in TypographyTagged , , , , , 7 Comments

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Here’s a wonderful Flickr set of a promotional publication called From Helvetica To Haas Unica by Team’77 that takes you through the development process of Haas Unica. The publication analyzes the Helvetica forms and illustrates the difference between it and Haas Unica. What’s interesting is that Unica was created as an improvement over the the grotesk faces of the time, especially Helvetica. As much as I like Unica, I’m not sure how much of an improvement it is over Helvetica. Much of what makes Helvetica so unique and beautiful is removed from Haas Unica. Nonetheless it’s an excellent read.

I must have a copy! In the meantime you can download a PDF of the publication.

There is an ugly legal battle between Linotype and Scangraphic over the ownership of typeface. Until it’s cleared up, Haas Unica is not commercially available. Fortunately for me, after years of working in the “biz”, I’ve obtained a copy of the font. But since I’ve never purchased it, I don’t ever use it for any work which is unfortunate. I just load it up in my favorite font manager, set some type in Haas Unica and admire it’s beauty. What a shame.

Richard wrote in to let me know of another Flickr set showing the use of Haas Unica in Berlin’s Olympic stadium.

       

What Do You Think Of The Current Design For The Site?

Posted on Posted in DesignTagged , , , 43 Comments

I don’t know about everyone else out there but I’m the type of designer that gets tired easily of my own work, especially when it comes to the design of my sites. Historically, I’ve updated my designs every 6 months to a year. Recently I’ve re-designed my personal portfolio which I’m really digging (we’ll see how long that lasts) and now it seems like it’s time to update the design of this blog. Not really because I’m sick of it, just that I feel it needs to be freshened up. Maybe mess around with a new layout instead of the standard nav on the left, content on the right format. Also there are some functionality flaws that I think need to be addressed as well.

So, I want to hear from all you readers out there. Let me know if you love this design or if you hate it. What could be done to improve it or what you’d want to see in the new design. In the end I want the design to be something that everyone is comfortable with and is easy to understand and use. So let me have it, I won’t get offended. Leave me a comment below and together we’ll re-design this blog.

Oh one more thing… if you know of a really nice WordPress theme let me know about it and maybe I’ll use it.        

Burt Bacharach Vinyl Record Cover

Posted on Posted in Design, Music, TypographyTagged , , , , , , , 12 Comments

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This weekend I was in Virgin and I picked up this Burt Bacharach record. Not because I’m a fan of his music but because I love the slip cover design. So simple but beautiful. Great example of the International Typographic Style. I have to do some investigating and find out who designed this.

Extra credit points for anyone who can name that typeface.

You can check out more photos of this lovely cover on my Flickr page.