a treasure in our humble library

Typographic Variations: on themes in contemporary book design and typography in 78 book- and title-pages
With prefaces written by Paul Standard, New York, G. K. Schauer, Frankfurt, and Charles Peignot, Paris, together with commentary notes and specifications.
Designed by Hermann Zapf
Published 1964 by Museum Books, New York

This book is amazing. It is so simple and so elegant in its design. Each "page" is actually an entire spread, of which only the right-hand side is used. All of the page numbers are embossed into the page. Each page's design has an embossed border around it so each and every page is about the design that is showcased on that page and NOTHING else. It is, in its entirety, elegant. It is completely simple. It is the epitome of timelessness and absolutely gorgeous design. Take this image of page number 25, for instance. I completely does the actual page no justice at all, but even as it is on the screen, it is seemingly way ahead of its time. The simple distress on the thick border, the ever-classic, sans serif typeface, and the excellent use of design rules-of-thumb (the positioning on the page, the contrast amongst colors and fonts, the continuity with the border pieces, etc.) all intermingle to present to the viewer an excerpt of what could easily have been a design masterpiece. While a lot of the book is in Zapf's native German tongue, there are some designs in the book that are in English, French and some that are in Latin (and probably some other languages that my feeble American brain just skips over).
I didn't manage to snap an image of it, but I just came across a page in the book (67) that has contemporary looking illustrations of a hawk with a turtle in its talons and then the words »Les Fables de Jean de la Fontaine« (the European style quotes [»«] are used throughout the book, so I thought I'd just pay them tribute here) and below that it has another illustration, this time of two roosters in a cock fight. Then below that it finishes off with the credits: »Illustrées par Fritz Kredel.« All-in-all, I consider this book an amazing source of inspiration from the past. The elegance, the simplicity, and the overall design is just so incredible that I have literally been sitting here for an hour just looking at pages 1—68. I still have 10 more pages to go. Whoever thought that such a simple book from the 60s could prove to be so powerful? Hermann Zapf, that's who!

By the way, I looked up this book on Amazon.com, and there's apparently only ONE on there for sale and it's currently going for $399.99, so...I really feel like I have a sacred, design treasure in my hands. If you ever get a chance to see this book, I would highly recommend at least a quick sit-down and flip-through. It's totally worth your time!

this looks like an interesting book...thing

So, another love of mine is typography. This book by Tara McLeod entitled, "Hot Acrobats Perform Cheese Fog Polka," looks like a real interesting view on old-school typography. Here is a synopsis of what the book is from the site where I found the picture:

With butcher paper, a swag of wooden type, and an 1832 Albion flat-bed press, Tara McLeod, owner-operator of The Pear Tree Press, printed 20 copies of Hot Acrobats. It was printed in sections on one continuous sheet and could well have been called: £63 NIGHT HAWK BAM! McLeod has some 25 publications to his credit over a period of ten years. He also prints limited edition books for the Holloway Press at the University of Auckland.

If somebody wants to buy it for me, that would be awesome...especially since he made only 20 prints of it.

current philosophy

Currently I am reading this book by Hillman Curtis entitled, "MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer." The first part of it, Process, has been some of the most rewarding and informative reading that I have done in a long time. I'm not even a new media major. I'm a graphic design major. While this affords me a bit different mediums, the ideas are all the same. Everything he talks about with the process that they go through at hillmancurtis, inc. I am finding to be the most helpful knowledge to ever know. While this book is for a class and is a required and forced reading (two things that generally turn me off from reading altogether), I am finding that I'm picking it up whenever I have a spare moment just to read a page or two, or to look at some of the images and quotes that he considers his own inspiration. I'm not going to say that the man is a genius, don't get me wrong, but he is quite in tune with how the whole design process works, and how it works best for him. Another thing about the book that absolutely thrills me is the inclusion of large images, and sometimes several consecutive pages of just images, and when there is text, it is in such an nonintrusive and unimposing form that I am almost delighted to read it and I find myself turning each page with anticipation. So far, one of my favorite quotes from this book is this:

WHAT'S IN A WORD So what is inspiration? The Merriam-Webster dictionary has several definitoins, but two in particular really stand out for me: The action or power of moving the intellect or emotions. (and) The act of drawing in, specifically the drawing of air into the lungs.… Ideas/inspiration are all around us and, like air, we share them—breathing them into our bodies and returning them, changed, into the creative atmosphere.

I just thought that was such a powerful and profound statement. Ideas aren't (and cannot be) created. They exist, like oxygen, everywhere. They're already out there. We just have to open our eyes (lungs) to the possibilities and breathe them in and really take them into ourselves so that our lives are sustained by them. Then, when we exhale, we release the ideas back out into the world, slightly changed and altered, but with the same basic structure. Brilliant! The idea that imitation is the greatest form of flattery never rang more true.