Seen and Noted

Green and friendly is the new face of New York City's Central Park, and FB Titling Gothic is its new typeface.

Freshly back from this year's Society for News Design Conference in St. Louis, I am hopeful and inspired for what lies ahead in the world of news design, both digital and print.

As a little girl, I often perused my brother’s comics. X-Men, Tales from the Crypt, and MAD Magazine were just a few. One of my favorite pieces in MAD was Spy vs. Spy, where the Black and the White spies found interesting ways to kill each other. Cartoonish violence aside, I was always fascinated by their creativity. And I always rooted for the Black Spy.

“I know this may look insane, but it works for me.”

Laurie Rosenwald spotted our typeface, Loupot at Carnegie Hall.

“Letterpress is obsolete, that's what makes it valuable.” I wouldn’t call it obsolete, exactly—perhaps the person misspoke—but yes, it is very valuable. Even so, technology inevitably marches on. And without documentaries like Typeface spreading the word, people will not know to take time to appreciate this art form.

Much like wood type itself, this film is flawed…

Obama is a central focus in this midterm election. Candidates associate themselves with the President or oppose him. So I would have thought the visual identity choices would reflect this relationship. Not so much.

Rhode Island School of Design's new alumni magazine, RISD XYZ, just launched. The publication showcases the inspiring stories and accomplished work of RISD's alumni community. Chriswell Lappin of WellNow Design led the design, along with other contributing alumni, to give it not only a vibrant new look but also an exciting direction.

Best of all, much of the type is set in Antenna and Receiver, both designed by Cyrus Highsmith, a RISD alum himself (97 GD) and faculty member. The sans serif Antenna is the earlier design; Receiver is closely related, but with clear-cut slab serifs. His forthcoming ...

Thanks to my long career at Font Bureau, I can spell bureau with confidence. Now, thanks to the new slab serif version of Antenna, I can spell its name, Receiver with the same certainty. The e goes before the i ! Receiver isn’t published yet but you can check it out in RISD’s new alumni magazine, RISD XYZ.

For those of us who keep tabs on magazine redesigns, What’s been Worth Watching the past few weeks is TV Guide itself.

The magazine unveiled a fresh redesign last week with a new palette of typefaces, including several from Font Bureau — Quiosco for text, Boomer Sans & Serif for a wide range of display.

The new design by Robert Newman, James Reyman, Kate Thompson and Katherine Dillon of DillonThompson features a brighter, bolder, cleaner look and a crisp ...