Kinshasa 3

Still more progress on Kinshasa. Some tweaking of pretty much every character here.

Kinshasa 2

More progress on Kinshasa. Still quite a bit to do.

Kinshasa

I've tentatively titled this one Kinshasa.

It's starting to take on some character. I like whats going on with the K, R, etc. I need to incorporate that in the rest of the uppercase. The lower is somewhat reminiscent of Frutiger, surprisingly.

Note that my naming convention of late has been to name sans after cities, serifs in Latin or Italian and scripts after girls names.

Next from insigne: A "Clarendon Sans"

Next up on the list to do is a Clarendon Sans. At first, I was kind of wondering if it was possible. After some sketches I was satisfied this would turn out ok, but I later found that the concept has sort of already been done. See Leviathan. Despite that, I am going to move forward. I think there are few twists I can run it's direction.

Logo Design History

I love branding. In a way, I see every typeface that I create as a "brand." Recently, I ran across this excellent site detailing the design history of many of today's logos. An interesting and inspiring source.

Logo Design History.

Madeleine Released

Madeleine is an open script face with influence from early 50's scripts. The stroke doesn't have much variation, and the characters are wide and flowing. The script also features OpenType end swashes and discretionary ligatures to extend the twirling and fluid nature of the script. This mischievous script is useful for informal invitations, scrap booking or whenever you need a retro look.

Madeleine Progress 3

I have altered the stroke on Madeleine to be more "50's." In my research I didn't find a lot of stroke variation. Also, the letter forms are more consistent. I have abandoned the idea for a more spontaneous script. It's important to note that the idea was a script inspired by 50's scripts; not a complete duplication. Still, I think this stroke looks better. I found some neat reference material, so I may do a truly 50's script in the future. I think that 50's-esque design is coming back a bit. Take a look at some of Target's advertising. As a whole, they had some very interesting design in those days.

It's interesting to compare the experience of designing Lorelei vs. Madeleine vs. Asturias. Strangely enough, the experience was a lot more like Asturias. I began with an idea for a more spontaneous and irregular script and found I had to dial it back. I think that Lorelei is fairly spontaneous. I'm still trying to figure out how Lorelei worked in that form but Madeleine doesn't.

I'm trying to bring this blog more towards progress, as originally intended, instead of my general commentary on design/world affairs.

Madeleine Progress 2

I am still not really happy with this so far. The primary issue is that the characters do not appear to be working correctly together. The intention was to accentuate the sporadic nature of the script, but it seems to be working to strongly against the overall cohesion of the typeface.

Based on the structure of the sentence above, I find it extremely likely that I have been watching far too much Stargate Atlantis.

50's Inspired Piece

I am working on a 50's inspired script. I recently found this great blog: Today's Inspiration. Some really great illustrations from the past. I love to see great illustrated work, and the fact that a fair number of them include some script ideas is just bonus points. Enjoy.

Nanumunga

From the description: Insigne is pleased to release Nanumunga, inspired by the carefree antics of tropical fish. Designers will find this typeface is useful whenever a relaxed and lighthearted typeface is required. Nanumunga is a versatile face. The font includes small caps and a shadow alternate for titling. Some potential uses are advertising for children’s products, tropical destinations, or just whenever you need a slightly different “cartoon” look.

A few days off...

I took a few days off to see my parents, who will be leaving for Korea in a few months. More typefaces on the way.

For Webdesigners...

I recently stumbled across this handy tool. You can easily rotate images and add rounded corners to tables using this tool: swf Image Replacement. Much easier to deal with than CSS.

swfIR

Valfieris Aged Released

From the description: Valfieris Aged looks as though it just came off a antique printing press. Ink has pooled in the serifs and on the corners, and the metal did not make full contact with the paper in center of the letters. Valfieris Aged includes a full set of OpenType alternates for every character in the English alphabet, swash alternates, ending swashes, oldstyle figures, historical forms, small caps and 64 discretionary ligatures. These ligatures are used to alter the appearance of the type so that the printing appears realistic and without any duplicate letters to detract from the antique appearance.

The next great thing in parking garages!

I had heard of these, but this is the first time I've seen it explained. This would be great; instead of driving around for hours, just have one of these robot parking garages take care of it.

Upcoming from insigne

Information on new typefaces has been a little light around here; I've got two in the works.


The first is a playful sans-serif. I do enjoy doing these light hearted fonts every once in awhile.


The next is a grungy version of Valfieris.

The Dooley Diet: What it is.

Today, Insigne Design will analyze the Dooley Diet with a basic overview. What is it, you ask, with severe anticipation bordering on psychosis? Well, its pretty simple, and it's guaranteed to lose weight.

1. Eat whatever you want. Just make sure the total of the calories consumed is less than 1000.

2. Exercise for 2 hrs a day. 1 hr is strenous, the other less so. I will be utilizing the amazing fat busting potential of Nintendo Wii boxing (150 calories for 15 minutes worth of boxing) and Tony Little's Gazelle!

Yes folks, in addition to awesome typefaces, Insigne has the answer to your weight loss needs. No need to ban McDonalds. Interesting stats on the UAE...

I did this about 6 years ago and lost 40 lbs in a couple months. I lost a huge amount of weight once I really cut down on the food intake. Probably because of this. The key is just the motivation to do it.

They say that pain is weakness leaving the body. Hunger is fat leaving it.