Alphabet City Press

5 May 20152 May 2015

Civil defense

I know. Most visitors to Hawaii would take photographs of coconut trees and beaches, but I find the beauty of tropical scenery difficult to capture. I was not on the lookout for typography and graffiti but seem to have arrived home with quite a bit of it. This civil defense warning device box caught my attention because its defacement struck me as so polite: none of the important information was obscured, and each of the stickers has allowed the others some breathing room. I also thought the typography of the red CD in the yellow triangle and blue circle was quite a clever piece of design.

2 May 20152 May 2015

Frozen brushes

My friend emailed me because she thought I would be interested in the frozen brushes at the supermarket. Indeed I was, and went to see for myself! Everyone seems to be feeling the cold this week. This is Australia, so it isn’t cold cold, but everything’s relative, and even if the temperature doesn’t drop to single digits, when you’re sitting at your desk and your feet feel like iceblocks, then your feet feel like iceblocks. This supermarket is always freezing, even during summer, but obviously even the brushes are feeling the onset of winter.

28 April 201528 April 2015

Yogurt

National Frozen Yogurt Day—now there’s a completely made-up thing! I had never tried frozen yogurt, but at the Whalers Village, Ka’anapali, where I happened to be on said fabricated day, there was quite a buzz, and everyone (including me) was making the most of the free yogurt on offer. Quite a canny promotion, I’d say, and while I have not become a convert to this particular confection, I liked their tubs of jaunty typography.

25 April 201525 April 2015

Blue ribbon

I was pretty chuffed to receive first prize for my cased-in book at this year’s Royal Easter Show. At the beginning of March I visited a local bookcloth supplier for the first time in the hope of tracking down a particular cloth I needed for a project. I got more than I bargained for! My eyes glazed over at the myriad of choices on offer. Not only did I find the cloth I needed, but some time later walked away with enough supplies to keep me going for quite some time. My purchases included a warm grey linen bookcloth and an iridescent orange and yellow duocloth, the combination of which inspired me to make this book and solander box.

22 April 201522 April 2015

Thunderstorm

There’s a dingbat for everything. This thunderstorm comes from the Eclectics character set. Eclectics, designed by Pepper Tharp, has all manner of dingbats you thought you never needed, but this thunderstorm is just right for the extreme low pressure system that is bringing lashing rain and wild squalls to the NSW east coast this week.

19 April 201519 April 2015

McAloha

While I am not a patron of this fast food joint, I am not oblivious to its presence. In Sydney, McDonalds occupies some of the finest converted sandstone buildings, and although I would prefer to see less of these red and yellow ‘restaurants’, at least they are occupying the beautiful old buildings rather than knocking them down. In Hawaii, I was amused to see the location’s influence on the signage. The buildings I saw were nothing special, but the aloha spirit is ubiquitous! The shape of the h and lower case a indicate that the typeface is probably Helvetica Heavy.

16 April 201516 April 2015

Komoda Store

I can’t believe it. I was so busy admiring the letter shapes of this Komoda Store and Bakery banner above the awning that I neglected to go inside and sample the fare! I hardly want to be reminded of what an oversight that was (and I won’t be making the same mistake next time). I have since discovered that they are famous for their award-winning baked goods: cream puffs, guava malasadas, glazed donuts, Long John donuts with vanilla custard filling, coconut twists, Golden Krust bread and more, much more—all up around thirty varieties, and all produced by hand.

13 April 201512 April 2015

Hawaiian alphabet

The Hawaiian alphabet consists of five vowels and seven consonants (or eight if you include the ‘okina, the letter used to indicate a glottal stop). I find it quite remarkable that such an expressive language can come from so few letters, but then again, the Hawaiian language is rich with words that have multiple meanings. This poster is displayed in the restored Hale Pa’i (House of Printing) on the grounds of Lahainaluna High School, on the hillside above Lahaina.

10 April 201510 April 2015

Cigarettes

It seems that fewer people smoke these days, and there is much less evidence of cigarettes being sold. In Australia the displays of distinctive colourful packaging have long gone, and apart from those gruesome health warnings I can’t even recall what a pack looks like now. This is the window of a general store on the Kula Highway in upcountry Maui, and I don’t know if they still sell cigarettes or not, but I’m pleased this old sign has not been removed.

7 April 20157 April 2015

Pink orange green

Pink, Orange and Green were designed by Timothy Donaldson, who says they ‘started life at the same time in my sketchbook in a doctors waiting room’. Donaldson, obsessed with handwriting from a young age, spent hours experimenting with different writing tools and materials. A job as a sign painter was the first step to his career as an award-winning (and prolific) designer and calligrapher, as well as teacher of graphic design, lettering and multimedia in Stafford, England. He has contributed more than two dozen typefaces to the ITC typeface library, including the Humana Sans and Humana Serif font families. Some of his other well-known typefaces include John Handy, Trackpad, Flight and Neo Neo.