Tuesday, September 23, 2008

What Type Are You?

Art types.

The cult of lateral thinking.

That striped list.

Do you know what type you are? Literally. What typeface is the one you like to see your name in? If you are like me it's like having to choose a color knowing full well that there are many colors that are perfectly beautiful and can't I have more than one please? Why, yes of course you can. That is next. Because I have to have other types that go with, or contrast from, that first type I picked. Types? We're talking about types?

Yeah. Here's the big fat monster sitting in front of all the fun puddle making . I am sworn on my dear granny's head to have this thing marked off that ever loving striped list now. I spent 2 hours Sunday looking at type. And types of type and great international design. And W magazine. Did you know Helmut Lang is an artist now? He walked out on his life in fashion and is opening soon with his sculpture exhibition. Way cool. Now there's a type. A brilliant type of creative mind. Ahem...see type, riviting huh?

Type can be a minimalist playground. It can say I am too fusty and curmudgeonly to even speak to you, or it can say, hello baby, and make you want to buy whatever they are selling in those little black pots of magic for your face. The type I am presently typing on won an International Design Award. Yep. The little keyboard that is a slim bit of silver, white chiclets and sans serif type, got huge kudos. Elegant in its simplicity. And it is beyond fun use. So type is a sure fire commodity. It has power.

I am going to play a trick on myself. I am going to combine my Tuesday to do list which as anyone can see has 4 collages for me to do on it today. I am going to make sure I play with type in some of those. Thus killing two birds with one stone. ( I just wanted to type thus, almost made it thusly because of all the Steven King chatter about killing off adverbs. But then I can be perverse like that when forced to do things I think I may not like. )

So Brush is chilling. Today is a scissors, pencil, glue kind of day which I actually WILL like. And I did see a cool thing they did for Saks in black and white involving a grid. Just a little lateral thinking going on here today. What type are you? I would really like to know. I am going to pretend type could be furniture I am looking to live with for a while. Ahhh, see now that already narrows down the field.

11 comments:

Parisbreakfasts said...

French writing!
Handwriting I mean....but I love type...so hard to choose...
And I like that writing in icing on bithday cakes too..
Really my fav is the writing on French restaurant blackboards
YUM!

A Brush with Color said...

Welllllll, the hard thing is--it depends!! For some things, I like a feminine script-type type, and for others, a simple Arial-type no-fancy-schmanzy type--etc...so what's the type you're fishing for being used on specifically? That, my dear, is the question. Good luck!! ;))

Parisbreakfasts said...

On second tought I want Cy Twombly hand writing!!!

Janice C. Cartier said...

PB-I love that menu writing too and Twombly is just about my favorite.

ABWC- I like san serif usually. if I go with a script , I usually go with my signature.

I think we'll play with those two.

Thanks. It is hard when we are so close to it ourselves.

Janice C. Cartier said...

(oh, going on new blogsite )

Anonymous said...

I am feeling a very keen desire for that stripey list of yours. Although mine would be a ratty mess of fountain pen scribbles and multi-colored highlighting and more scribbles. I am famous at work for my insane ongoing project list, printed fresh daily on Classic Crest (I keep a stash in my desk). My relationship with My List probably borders on unhealthy obsession.

I discovered Cronos Pro a few years ago and I love it. It's sans serif, but it has little sexy "almost serif" swellings. It's elegant and has classic proportions but it looks fresh, too. I seem to be constitionally incapable of looking at a typeface and determining what it is/is not well suited to, so I use it for anything I can. Harry used something more standard for my blog header, though, I think just to be cruel to me.

Janice C. Cartier said...

Ahh, Harry, the perverse demon...I like the Cronos Pro... now looking at high contrast type... who knew... so many...

That striped list is fresh from the B&N stationary section. It's kind of fun and taped right where I can see it. The colors got me... I am trying to keep it simple.. HAH!

Anonymous said...

Janice,

Let's try this again... is my earlier comment stuck in your moderation folder right now, or has it disappeared? I'll redo if it's gone.

Later,

Kelly

Janice C. Cartier said...

Not here. ??

Anonymous said...

Okay,

Quick version. I said it more flowery earlier. harumph.

Me, I'm Goudy.
http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/adobe/goudy-1/old-style/

All the way. Since I was an itty-bitty Capricorn, that face has spoken to me.

You? I see you as a combo of old-jazz-vinyl Modern No. 20
http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/bitstream/modern-no-20/modern-no-20/

and soft, lyrical Georges
http://www.fontspace.com/philippe-blondel/georges

Combining those two skillfully would say Janice Cartier Painting a Day to me.

Good luck finding what says "you," to you!

Regards,

Kelly

Janice C. Cartier said...

ooh..... I love those! Kelly. Nice stuff.