I have always thought that "good design starts with clean hands". But I have heard great designers talk about how good it is to get your hands dirty. My thought is very literal, and the latter, probably a figure of speech. So, you can take both. Get the hands of your mind dirty, but the hands on your body should stay clean in order to execute the best work you can. Another thought. I have always related design process to the practice of folding origami. If your first fold isn't accurate, then every subsequent fold will be increasingly inaccurate -- exponentially inaccurate, in fact -- though I haven't gone through the equations to prove that theory. Similarly with any design, if you aren't collected and decisive with every step, the ultimate outcome will be sloppy and disheartening. And I don't just mean with visual execution but with the thoughts in the design process itself. So you can make the design-equivalent of this.
Several years ago, we made a leap. The internet overcame, in a sense, all geographical restriction. Connections are interest-based now. Many friendships are because of commonalities in worldview rather than physical proximity. Is it better or worse? Time will tell. Humans change. For now, we have the vivid reality that occurs all over the internet and we must take advantage of it. (I do a little online mentoring but,) It was while I was teaching a class in real-time and real-life the other day that something dramatically simple dawned on me: This exchange of ideas is "at will." Yes, there are grades, attendance and tuition. But in a bigger sense, everyone in the room is there because they want to be -- because they WANT the exchange.
Then I thought: I can simplify things by removing the tuition, the attendance, and the grades. Hell! I can even tear the walls down.
So, here will exist a place for young graphic designers, art directors, typographers and writers, ideapeople, and those who want to burn up the track. The ultimate goal is to create a place on the web where mentors and mentees can find one another, branch out, reconvene, post project devlopments and further the importance of considered thought. Links and images will be updated often. And topics of relevance will be brought to the table for discussion. Those who want in, get involved.
Paul Renner/The Art of Typography · Christopher Burke
Geometry of Design · Kimberly Elam
Typographica · Rick Poyner
Macro+Microaesthetics · Willi Kunz
Der Typografische Raster · Hans Rudolf Bosshard
Designed by Peter Saville
Production for the Graphic Designer · James Craig
TM · Chermayeff & Geismar
An Essay on Typography · Eric Gill
The New Typography · Jan Tschichold
The Art of Looking Sideways · Alan Fletcher
Typography · Friedrich Friedl, Nicolaus Ott and Bernard Stein
Designing Books · Jost Huchuli, Robin Kinross
Pioneers of Swiss Graphic Design · Lars Müller
Grid Systems · Josef Müller-Brockman
Elements of Typographic Style · Robert Bringhurst
Background
In the old days... when a few of us had just started to notice typography and its power (what it said, how it looked and what it meant), we also started to see how few other designers noticed, cared or delved into the world of typography. A designer who does not pay attention to the history of design and typography, and does not become consumed with the details of type design and usage is like a carpenter who finds wood uninteresting, and ignores his nails. As an instructor of design and typography at the School of Visual Arts, the desire to transmit a passion for typography is stronger than ever. But it isn’t just typography. It isn’t just the letters. It’s the act of communicating a message — bridging the space between the beauty and nuance of typographic details and the larger concept. As Musashi puts it, “Rat’s head and ox’s neck”.