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70 Really Stunning Typographic Designs
smashingmagazine.com — Over 70 examples of sexy, bold and experimental typography. Some examples are typographic posters, some are typographic illustrations and some are just sketches with type. In any case, you will hopefully find some inspiration for your future works.
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- mesarah, on 05/13/2008, -14/+7Great list!
- danomagnum, on 05/14/2008, -0/+1What is it with people and brown? It's really not a very pleasing color.
- pearcey, on 05/13/2008, -19/+20Type is Sexy! Check more of Nik Ainley work here..... http://www.shinybinary.com/
- Onyxblaze, on 05/13/2008, -1/+11??? This is actually relevant.
- JARSInc, on 05/13/2008, -1/+7I saw "Sexy" and "Check out" and compulsively buried it. It's like a reflex.
- xmizzbojanglesx, on 05/13/2008, -10/+1fag.
- JARSInc, on 05/13/2008, -1/+7I saw "Sexy" and "Check out" and compulsively buried it. It's like a reflex.
- YoctoYotta, on 05/13/2008, -3/+1*****, I know who's doing my album artwork now.
- commonground, on 05/13/2008, -0/+3great link
- Onyxblaze, on 05/13/2008, -1/+11??? This is actually relevant.
- disher91, on 05/13/2008, -18/+0Experimental typography...
sounds like it should be cruel to animals or something.
"This typeface was not tested on animals" - zadie, on 05/13/2008, -10/+570 flavors. This list covers a very wide range of styles.
- trix911, on 05/13/2008, -3/+16none of the pictures are showing up
Digg Effect?- Qong, on 05/13/2008, -0/+2It works when I click on them, for some reason.
- jggube, on 05/13/2008, -0/+4They probably offload images to another server to reduce bandwidth consumption and free up their primary server to serve content instead of images. The server that serves the images probably crashed. It's 70 huge images, it's understandable I guess.
- kinggimped, on 05/13/2008, -6/+2None of the pictures *is* showing up.
/grammar nazi- FarvaRadio, on 05/13/2008, -0/+4No he was right. "Pictures" is plural, so he can use "are". Your usage of "is" is incorrect.
http://www.stufun.com/verbs/isare.php3- kinggimped, on 05/13/2008, -3/+1You, sir, are wrong. But nice try.
"None" is short for "not one".
Would you say "Not one of the pictures are showing up"?
If so, no grammar cookie for you.
It's a very common mistake, people get confused by the plural noun. But the subject is 'none', which is singular, therefore, takes the singular form of the verb. As pointed out by your wonderfully kindergarten style link.
I knew I'd get dugg down for pointing it out, but I stopped giving a ***** about minus comments back when I realised that anything's going to get buried by everyone if it doesn't maintain Digg's specifically memetic status quo.
- kinggimped, on 05/13/2008, -3/+1You, sir, are wrong. But nice try.
- FarvaRadio, on 05/13/2008, -0/+4No he was right. "Pictures" is plural, so he can use "are". Your usage of "is" is incorrect.
- synthoid, on 05/14/2008, -0/+1GTA4 and Iron Man are both 100 times better than these typographic designs.
- Jevy14, on 05/13/2008, -13/+5whats the deal with onetymer up there? he seems a little cranky to me
- pault107, on 05/13/2008, -0/+4Umm, what?
- Amosis, on 05/13/2008, -8/+26Some of these sacrifice readability for design, personally not a fan of script faces. For me something that is truly stunning typographically maintains an element of readability whilst pushing the limits of a particular face, whether that be ascender/descender play, exploring the limits of ligatures, etc. All the while leaving a lasting impression in the few seconds a design has to make an impact. However many of these are truly stunning, I will agree.
- Peko, on 05/13/2008, -2/+4Your favorite font sucks
- ireland88, on 05/13/2008, -0/+2Your the kid in my design class that I want to punch in the face.
- wild, on 05/13/2008, -0/+8Amosis. What professor got in your head that type has to be respected? Shoot him. Then take your portfolio to kinko's and xerox everything up by 250%. Take out tracing paper and start grabbing letterforms from the copies and tracing them onto a single sheet. Start no two letters on the same horizontal line. When the sheet is full, take that, and reduce it down by 135%. Now cut it in half, spin it around, and trace it again. Fill in the areas you traced.
Now step back notice that letters are nothing but a series of shapes combined together to convey information. And notice that what you just did says something interesting. Both about you and about the sanctity of type. Its a myth, used by visual communication professors across the country to give credence to their teachings. Readability should never be a criticism laid against a design. Whether or not it conveys the right message should be.
Design has no communicative value if it does not express emotion with its message. There are no other rules to what we do than communicating the message. The message, the message. Communicate the message. Everything else is a ***** distraction.- techobo, on 05/13/2008, -0/+5Wild, I am gunna have to agree with you on your post there. I see that some of the pieces were designed in a way that hindered readability. Maybe I am a little bias because I am as well a graphic designer and typesetter, but it usually makes it more interesting for me to decipher the message. Using expressive type at the cost of readability is not a bad thing if done correctly. Although your clients will usually have different ideas. ;) Just don't mess around too much with legibility.
- ciphex, on 05/13/2008, -1/+4Amosis, do not let this Wild guy detract from your very true observation. Type serves a purpose. Of all the different types of visual design, type is unique in that it communicates so directly. It doesn't suggest, or beat around the bush. It states.
Now, I'm not saying that people can't get creative with typography. Some of the examples in this article were awesome. But if the designer wants to use typography to it's fullest message-conveying potential then, contrary to what Wild imagines in his artsy subjective rant, he must respect its purpose. Some of the examples in this article were plain bad at communicating any kind of idea. This is not because the designers had any lack of pictorial talent, what they lack is reason.
Artists have different goals.
Some artists/designers wish to express themselves in a way that speaks to them personally. Some want to bleed creative and in this find their meaning.
These can, of course, be appreciated and learned from.
But others wish to speak to the rest of the world directly, to take what is in their heads and add it to ours. It is these purveyors of knowledge that the world remembers.- wild, on 05/13/2008, -0/+4[It is these purveyors of knowledge that the world remembers.]
Like Chip Kidd and David Carson, right? There is room in the world for what both of us are saying. Yes, type should communicate. But to hold it holy high ground and not revel in communicating through its bastardization, you miss out on some powerful tools at our disposal.- techobo, on 05/13/2008, -0/+1David Carson didn't really do too much communicating. He made pretty pictures though.
- wild, on 05/13/2008, -0/+4[It is these purveyors of knowledge that the world remembers.]
- Peko, on 05/13/2008, -2/+4Your favorite font sucks
- MedHead, on 05/13/2008, -12/+4Wow. Most of those made my head hurt. Many weren't easy to read. Some were unreadable.
- mediaspree, on 05/13/2008, -14/+6These got more and more nauseating as I scrolled down. Simple, readable type will always suffice.
- ShempRider, on 05/13/2008, -3/+25#4: "STAY FRESH creating original artwork in a copycat world"
C'mon, very few people are THAT original. Almost all have influences. The rest are lying.- volacide, on 05/13/2008, -0/+6Try again. EVERYONE has influences. It's impossible to escape. Even if you don't think you're being influenced by anything, you are. Something is driving you, consciously or otherwise, and your taste and your drive that has developed over time is an amalgamation of all you've seen before.
There are hints and bits of things in all designs, it's that decision to scrutinize that design so harshly for those familiar pieces. It's one of those reasons why you have to learn to let go and not look so hard into things. Just enjoy the designs, original or not, if they make you feel good, if they captivate you, that's all that really matters. I'm not endorsing copycats, but I'm also not allowing that fact to hinder my ability to enjoy these things. - wild, on 05/13/2008, -1/+2Ever try to design something by locking yourself in a white room with a blank piece of paper and a pencil? Good luck.
- Quandris, on 05/13/2008, -0/+0wow, use your ***** imagination a little.
- volacide, on 05/13/2008, -0/+1Are you kidding me? That might be just what most people need to do their best work. Nothing ever comes to you instantly, it takes time.
- volacide, on 05/13/2008, -0/+6Try again. EVERYONE has influences. It's impossible to escape. Even if you don't think you're being influenced by anything, you are. Something is driving you, consciously or otherwise, and your taste and your drive that has developed over time is an amalgamation of all you've seen before.
- rbdkx, on 05/13/2008, -21/+5***** THE RIAA!!!
- foofoobee, on 05/13/2008, -4/+5Just because someone else got dugg up once for randomly throwing this in doesn't mean it will work every time.
- Grimdotdotdot, on 05/13/2008, -2/+1***** *you*!
- sambapati87, on 05/13/2008, -2/+16i see one by my design professor (pretty amazing for before the 1970s)
http://88.198.60.17/images/typography-beauty/080.j ... - Warpling, on 05/13/2008, -5/+2Images are all down ._.
- nicksoni, on 05/13/2008, -8/+2some pretty good stuff on this list, but i personally visit www.manystuff.org every day for all my typographic needs.
- se1zure, on 05/13/2008, -6/+16these are NOT good typography. These are neat designs, but good typography places more emphasis on legibility before novelty, which many of these did not. So almost all of these are awesome designs, only a handful are actually examples of good typography.
- bcerz811, on 05/13/2008, -1/+2i agree. i wasn't all that impressed by any of them except the hand drawn ones (because of the skill it would take to draw those out). good typography is legible--thats the whole idea; to make a creative, visually appealing, unique design out of type that easily conveys its message to everyone. which includes being readable...
- Hangly, on 05/13/2008, -1/+1Thirded. I looked at the list hoping to find something I might be able to use. No such luck.
- YummyN, on 05/13/2008, -1/+1I too was a bit disturbed by the lack of legibility on most of the designs. They were nicely done, but I wish I could have read the copy and let it bring more meaning to into the design.
- Peko, on 05/13/2008, -0/+2Am I the only one who thought it was a fairly nice collection of design *featuring* strong type elements?
(After I too was a little frustrated trying to find links to true type files) - wild, on 05/13/2008, -0/+7[but good typography places more emphasis on legibility before novelty]
No. Good typography places emphasis on communicating the message. Sometimes you break the forms to make the message work. See my response to Amosis above.- ciphex, on 05/13/2008, -1/+1Wild, you are somehow failing, for whatever reason (or lack thereof), to accept the fact that typography, by it's very nature, is most effectively suited to it's original and proper purpose. When "design" interferes with a type's primary purpose then the message loses emphasis. This is simple logic. (see also my responseto Amosis)
Sure it's ok to break form. It's ok to augment. But when it's all about the message, what's more effective than the message itself?
Objectivity, man. It is. - se1zure, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1your right, but the best way to convey a message is to have the message be legible. I never said legibility is the only important factor, i was just highlighting that more emphasis is placed on legibility before novelty in most cases.
- ciphex, on 05/13/2008, -1/+1Wild, you are somehow failing, for whatever reason (or lack thereof), to accept the fact that typography, by it's very nature, is most effectively suited to it's original and proper purpose. When "design" interferes with a type's primary purpose then the message loses emphasis. This is simple logic. (see also my responseto Amosis)
- heyrobertdavis, on 05/14/2008, -0/+0Kinda like saying the point of food is nutrition... uh, yeah - but sometimes I want a nice healthy stir-fry, and other times I'm looking for some crazy high-end meal. Plenty of room for all kinds. When I'm driving through the airport trying to figure out which terminal I need to head to, I'm all about the highly legible gothic on the high-contrast background. Looking at a poster for a concert? Not so much.
- smackkmonkey, on 05/13/2008, -10/+2these are cool but you can't download any as fonts
- soupr, on 05/13/2008, -1/+17I wish I was this good at anything
- jonvictorino, on 05/13/2008, -3/+6You're pretty good at being depressing.
- mechard7512, on 05/13/2008, -3/+4Most of these images would make for some pretty bad ass shirts...
- fekimoki, on 05/13/2008, -2/+7I wish I had a dollar everytime smashingmagazine.com gets Digg's front page.
- SteelFrog, on 05/13/2008, -1/+3Whether you like it or not, they have pretty solid lists and all on a single page.
- bcerz811, on 05/13/2008, -3/+1i wouldnt have called #4 'breathtaking'....it was a nice design....but i wouldnt say it was breathtaking.
- bimtott, on 05/13/2008, -4/+4What, no Arial Black?
For shame.- Hangly, on 05/13/2008, -2/+2Arial is essentially Helvetica.
- Quandris, on 05/13/2008, -0/+0class dismissed!
- bimtott, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1No.
Helvetica has a rounded tail on the uppercase R
Helvetica has a decending tail on the uppercase G
Helvetica has a tail on the lowercase a
Arial has a backwards bevel at the top of the lowercase t, and at the top of the lowercase f
Arial is the bastard child of Helvetica. Stolen by Microsoft, and made to look worse.
- Hangly, on 05/13/2008, -2/+2Arial is essentially Helvetica.
- iXneonXi, on 05/13/2008, -1/+13One word: Helvetica.
- Hangly, on 05/13/2008, -0/+5Seven times.
- honeycomb, on 05/13/2008, -2/+1Brilliant and inspiring designs. Digg deep to find some truly amazing compilations!
- Subiejon, on 05/13/2008, -2/+2I hope people can learn from this. I'm glad typography is getting it's much needed respect.
- vagarach, on 05/13/2008, -0/+4The thing about that supposedly brilliant magazine cover is that it is 100% copycat (maybe they were trying to be ironic, which is even worse hipster nonsense). Trendwhoring at its finest.
Some of these, though, real quality work. - Hangly, on 05/13/2008, -0/+5I counted at least seven that are Helvetica.
- dvdcpu, on 05/13/2008, -0/+4qp looks like an upside down penis.
- KGtheway2B, on 05/13/2008, -0/+9For anyone curious about this one: http://88.198.60.17/images/typography-beauty/100.j ...
take a look: http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/5681/boreddg6.j ...
I was dissapointed, Thought it would be something cooler... - lopla, on 05/13/2008, -5/+4I am working on a set of HDR fonts, and the Digg community will find them Spectacular! Sensational! and Amazing!
- superdude16, on 05/13/2008, -5/+0i really dont give a ***** of what you are posting.......
- MaxMWood, on 05/13/2008, -2/+1Lovely but you can't actually download the font types which sucks.
- ireland88, on 05/13/2008, -1/+3I love type!
- ireland88, on 05/13/2008, -1/+6I wanna know how many fellow designers we have on digg. There must be a lot since yesterday goggles mothers day logo reached the front page, that is something few can appreciate.
- wild, on 05/13/2008, -2/+2I would like to know the breakdown as well, but in two categories. Thoe who are visual communication designers, and those who are web developers who call themselves designers. (o:
(yep, I am an arrogant prick, but there is a clear distinction.)- texpundit, on 05/13/2008, -0/+3I'm actually a visual designer/graphic designer/audio and video producer/web designer which happens to do web development as well. ;)
- techobo, on 05/13/2008, -1/+2We might have to also divide the communication designers from the dudes who download photoshop and declare themselves designers, who still do work for free because the exposure is "great", have anime in their portfolio, and think that Impact is a fantastic face.
- wild, on 05/13/2008, -2/+2I would like to know the breakdown as well, but in two categories. Thoe who are visual communication designers, and those who are web developers who call themselves designers. (o:
- abajaj2280, on 05/13/2008, -0/+1very nice and creative.
dugg. - icono887, on 05/13/2008, -0/+1I feel illiterate.
Good list! - mesmeriffic, on 05/13/2008, -0/+1Here's some cool typography effects for novice Adobe® Photoshop® users
http://elitebydesign.com/21-best-photoshop-text-ef ...
http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-blog/200 ... - bseam, on 05/13/2008, -1/+0I admit it. I'm a non-designer who loves type -- I'm constantly changing the font I use in Word, for example. Sometimes I like those serifs, other times, not. This is cool.
- NotalesS, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1digg just pwnd smashing magazine wp... wow
- theadvinci, on 05/24/2008, -0/+1Most of them are just plain ugly IMHO. But that's me.
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