"Cake developed Voices after attending a two-day conference, Typography and Power, that invited attendees to explore how type and print can influence the political realm. “Can the choice of a particular font include political and ideological implications?,” asked organizers. “Can certain writing systems and logotypes be seen as manifestations of power?” Philipp Lehr and Robin Scholz, the two young design students behind Cake, took to Google Image Search for answers. They plumbed the depths of the Internet, culling 50 typographic manifestations of protest that range from terse (a heavily censored “Everything is fine; love your government”) to funny (the always relevant “Give a shit!”). Each sign is contextualized with a bit of explanation from Wikipedia. “The idea behind the publication is some sort of compendium that collects interesting and individual typographic characteristics of protest signs,” says Scholz. There’s an easy explanation for why we still make our own signs: It’s free and fast. Not everyone has the forbearance to create their own Shepard Fairey parody. But the duo illustrate that there’s also something deeply emotive about a protester holding up a message in their own unique handwriting. Through type, protesters find a way to distinguish their individual voices—a harsh, boldly scrawled shorthand can still stand in for a bullhorn or tweet."
— 1 | In The Political Realm, Typography Is Power | Co.Design: business innovation design
"The typography is simple and precise: Ibis Text plus Scout (both by Highsmith), generous margins, white space aplenty, beautiful and practical illustrations. The writing is informal, incisive, and fluid; the tone never condescending. Inside Paragraphs is a TARDIS of a book, its 100 pages peppered with gems like, ‘Setting type can be thought of as a collaboration between the typographer and the typeface.’ phrases like ‘hierarchy of white space’, plus practical advice about everything from optimal and optimum parameters for H&J, and why all-caps settings require more space."
— Space: The Initial Frontier | I love typography, the typography and fonts blog
"The recent discovery of an elusive Higgs boson-like subatomic particle wasn’t just a watershed in the annals of science, it was a landmark moment for typography. Only not in a good way. CERN physicists set off a supernova of Twitter rage when they chose to present their findings—findings that could be key to uncovering the very secrets of the universe—in Comic Sans. Many type designers, myself included, expressed deep disappointment, and armchair critics railed against the scientists for making such an important announcement in one of the most hated fonts in the world (and perhaps the entire universe). It was the typographic equivalent of showing up to a board of directors meeting in flip-flops."
— The Higgs Boson, Announced In Comic Sans, Reveals A Failing Of Modern Type | Co.Design: business innovation design
"My taste for letters appeared really early in my life, during my teenage years. At that time it wasn’t properly an interest in type, but certainly a taste for letters as plastic shapes. Going to the Arts Décoratifs school in Paris led me to discover classic typography. How could one not to be nostalgic when contemplating those school years? It’s very important for me because of how much I learned during these years. Classes with Rudi Meyer and Jean François Porchez gave me the context and the latitude to look at the subject with a more experimental way of thinking."
— An Interview with Stéphane Elbaz | I love typography, the typography and fonts blog
