#26 - Man and machine
Hi Folks,
Here are a few things I thought were worth sharing this
- IBM Plex is the first ever bespoke typeface from IBM. Designed in house, over 2 years, the typeface is largely based on research into IBM’s rich history, particularly the design influence of the 40s and 50s, and of course their iconic eight-bar logo, created by American graphic designer Paul Rand.
“We tried to balance very natural, man-made typographical choices with things that felt machined or engineered and rational” says Mike Abbink, the typeface’s designer and IBM’s executive creative director of brand experience.
“Plex is about finding the quirkiness between manmade things and engineered moments and bringing that into letterforms”, he continues. A subtle mix of engineered and humanist gestures.
According to Abbink, “sharing a well-designed font with the world is an expression of IBM’s commitment to good design”, suggesting the reason they made it open source and free to download.
On a similar theme, here’s Austin Kleon talking to Jocelyn K. Glei on Hurry Slowly about “the dance between analog and digital”. Discussing how and why the best creative work happens in the analog space but gets executed in the digital space.
I’ve been spending time thinking about design systems and language lately. In the process I discovered a great little free course created by Adam Silver on writing maintainable css.
Two albums I’ve been listening, both quite experimental; Fever Ray – Plunge (modern day Viking music as I’ve been referring to it) and Joli Mai by Daphni. Most will know Daphni better as Dan Snaith from Caribou.