Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was an American engineer, designer, futurist, author of more than 30 books, and a very good friend of Marshall McLuhan, but perhaps most well known for the architectural design of the geodesic dome and popularizing the phrase “spaceship earth”.
While exploring the website of the designer (apparently) chosen to design the forthcoming new cover for McLuhan’s The Gutenberg Galaxy(sorry — it’s a secret for now), I came across this quote from Bucky.
When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.
My quick take is that he’s talking about the broad strokes — ensuring an idea works before getting bogged down in the minutiae and finessing the details; the things that few notice, but are what help make something beautiful. It sounds just like something you might hear from Dieter Rams or Steve Jobs.
Continuing on a somewhat typographic theme, I’d be remiss to mention that Ligature, Loop & Stem has joined the sponsor ranks for the first Ampersand: The Web Typography Conference, a one day event held in Brighton, UK on June 17th, 2011 and focused on typography on the web.
The 2011 Ampersand conference logo
On top of providing a few of the long sold-out limited edition LL&S prints as prizes for Ampersand attendees, we’ll also be putting together an exclusive for the event. I can’t promise we won’t keep it a surprise until then, but we’ll see…
And if that weren’t enough, LL&S will also be sponsoring TypeCon 2011: Surge in New Orleans this year. We’re still working out exactly what we might do for that event, but needless to say, as was the case last year, the entire Butter Label crew will again be on hand.
The devastating earthquakes and tsunami that recently ravaged Japan ushered a call to arms for designers to contribute to worldwide relief efforts, and for the fifth time, the Society of Typography Aficionados (SOTA) leapt into action to launch Font Aid V: Made for Japan — to collaboratively create a font whose sales proceeds will go directly to the relief efforts in Japan.
The money raised through the sale of this font will be distributed to organizations such as AMDA International and is being facilitated by SOGO Japan, led by type designer Neil Summerour who has a long, personal connection with the country.
My contribution (in red) and several others to Font Aid V: Made in Japan
More than 300 designers from 44 countries submitted the over 500 glyphs which will comprise the font, now dutifully being assembled in FontLab by Neil Summerour and Grant Hutchinson. Once completed, the OpenType font will be for sale through several distributors for a mere $20. SOTA also hopes to produce a printed specimen booklet which could accompany the font and which will include additional information about each participating designer and their glyph(s).
As was the case last year, it was an honor to design a glyph (in red above) for inclusion among such illustrious company. And while Ligature, Loop & Stem is working out what we’re able to donate in addition to supporting SOTA, I whole heartedly ask that you share this with your friends, co-workers and fellow designers. Buy a license for yourself, buy one for a friend, and encourage others to do the same as soon as it’s available.
