Hasta La Ideas

After a long hiatus (inexcusably skipping 2009 and ’10) we’re back with our annual review of the year in type.

The idea is simple: I invite a group of writers, educators, type makers and type users to look back at 2011 and pick the release that excited them most. The reviews range from the academic (like Paul van der Laan on Zizou or Jens Kutilek on FB Alix) to the theoretical (such as Jan Middendorp on Agile) to the personal (like Carolina de Bartolo who reviewed Calibre and Periódico after firsthand experience with a redesign of WIRED magazine) to the playfully unexpected (Microsoft’s Si Daniels praises Apple Color Emoji) to the exclamatory (Matthew Butterick on Neue Haas Grotesk).

This is not a juried contest. The result isn’t necessarily the “best fonts of the year”, or even those most used or ballyhooed. But these 50 selections do capture a pretty accurate snapshot of where type design is now, and where it’s headed.

If 50 seems like a lot, consider the thousands of new releases that didn’t make the list. The general public’s interest in typography continues to grow, and with that comes hundreds of new designers who are dabbling in or starting new careers in type making. Our list of honorable mentions represents only a small slice of the new fonts published in 2011.

As always, the other clear trend is new technology. By the end of 2008, we could finally declare OpenType the default font format. Three years later, in the wake of the @font-face declaration, there are new formats and new substrates as destinations for type design. Yet, in contrast to OpenType’s glacial adoption rate, webfonts are poised to take hold quickly, sparked by intelligent delivery platforms (pioneered by Typekit in 2009), early adoption by major foundries (led by FontFont), and screen-specific font design (like Font Bureau’s RE series).

The unexpected benefit of the new webfont era for an effort like this one on Typographica – it becomes easier to judge a typeface more fairly. Despite type’s long history in print, a font made today will likely be seen on screen far more often than on paper. I’ve always lamented that critics and users usually judge typefaces only on screen, not in their “proper” medium. But in an age in which we read more on screen than in print, maybe this isn’t a universal problem anymore. Of course, now font makers need to rethink the way type is made and rendered, but we’re already seeing progress there.

This year’s list wouldn’t be possible without Chris Hamamoto’s enduring design, Billy Whited’s proficient coding, Laura Serra’s image wrangling, able proofing by Matthew Coles, and, of course, all the contributors. We’re also grateful to FontFont for the newly updated FF Quadraat and Process for Anchor, typefaces that make writing and reading on the web a pleasure. Thank you!

The “Typefaces of 2011” image uses Salvo and Acta.

Competition: we’ve teamed up with bi-monthly publication Architectural Design to give away five copies of their latest issue, Experimental Green Strategies.

The book highlights the work of 14 architecture firms from around the world that are researching experimental sustainability and implementing their findings into built projects.

Featured studios include Atelier Ten, Aedas, Biomimicry Guild, Foster + Partners, 3XN/GXN, Hoberman Associates, Nikken Sekkei, Perkins and Will, Rau and more.

AD editor Terri Peters also invites people to attend a launch party for the book being held this evening in Copenhagen – click here for more details.

To enter this competition email your name, age, gender, occupation, delivery address and telephone number to competitions@dezeen.com with “Experimental Green Strategies” in the subject line. We won’t pass your information on to anyone else; we just want to know a little about our readers. Read our privacy policy here.

Competition closes 6 December 2011. Five winners will be selected at random and notified by email. Winners’ names will be published in a future edition of our Dezeenmail newsletter and at the bottom of this page. Dezeen competitions are international and entries are accepted from readers in any country.

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Competition: we’ve teamed up with Italian designer Denis Guidone to give away nine of his Rigolo notebooks with slanted and squiggly ruled pages.

Designed for Fabriano boutique, the notebooks in red, blue and yellow are inspired by the way school children first learn to write on ruled paper.

To enter this competition email your name, age, gender, occupation, and delivery address and telephone number to competitions@dezeen.com with “Rigolo notebooks” in the subject line. We won’t pass your information on to anyone else; we just want to know a little about our readers.

Read our privacy policy here.

Competition closes 23 August 2011. Nine winners will be selected at random and notified by email. Winners’ names will be published in a future edition of our Dezeenmail newsletter and at the bottom of this page. Dezeen competitions are international and entries are accepted from readers in any country.

Subscribe to our newsletter, get our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter for details of future competitions.

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Here are some more details from Denis Guidone:

There’s something irresistibly poetic in observing the notebooks of the children taking their first steps in writing; a wonderful mess rules.

In Rigolo errors will draw our thoughts … free to make mistakes, every day all over again.

Rigolo is a lined notebook where the printing becomes landscape.

The idea takes shape from childhood memories; it is just a rethinking of the old lined notebooks that we used in kindergarden. How often has our teacher been reproaching us because we were unable to keep our notebook in good order?

In Rigolo the lines change colour and slope, they convey subjects ranging from geometry to figurative abstraction and the child is invited to follow them through writing.

While projecting the graphic, the optometry’s studies stating that children at their first steps in writing tend to tilt their handwriting of 30 degrees were taken into account.

Rigolo: Bruno Munari national award 2008 for editorial graphic experimentation wanted by national committee Bruno Munari and its proponents: the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the Foundation DNArt, Regione Lombardia, the association Bruno Munari and the Triennale of Milano.

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Inspired by budding French fashion photographer Sandrine Castellan’s passion for oddly composed photos, CH asked the up-and-comer who currently inspires her work. While the three that top her list reflect her interest in unusual poses and unconventional settings, each photographer has their own distinct style and compelling way of visually crafting a story. We caught up with each of them to get a fuller understanding of their approach.

Sandrine Castellan

Raised in Aix-en-Provence, Montreal-based photographer Sandrine Castellan has been working her way around the camera since her grandfather gave her first one nearly 15 years ago. Castellan considers collaboration her “biggest thrill,” finding inspiration in unexpected ideas and people but recognizes that it begins with a meticulously-selected team.

After switching her focus from still to motion pictures during college, Castellan returned to the medium upon graduation. She is continuously pushing herself, finding her most interesting project is “the next one.”

Jonathan Waiter

Known for creating photos that show a model’s vulnerability, Jonathan Waiter‘s stunning black-and white-images simultaneously reflect both sensitivity and empowerment. Intent on creating as visceral a feeling as possible, the Netherlands-based photographer’s images are a raw interpretation of beauty.

Waiter essentially considers photography a predatory form that, by seizing the scene from reality, ultimately transforms the meaning.

David Aaron Morett

NYC-based photographer David Aaron Morett has been obsessed with taking pictures ever since the night a “guy named Hwa” gave him a “wonky old Nikon with a broken light meter.”

The style of Henri Cartier-Bresson sparked Morett’s interest in photography—making him determined to find those indescribably beautiful moments in time and “capture them like rare butterflies.” After years assisting, printing and retouching, more recently Morett has become focused on the craft of photography, finding nuances in lighting techniques and well-conceived projects.

Red de Leon

Preferring an “invisible” style of photography, NYC-based Red de Leon successfully depicts models in awkward poses using understated lighting and simple framing. His contemplative nature shows up in each image, and, while he finds the industry limiting in regard to full creative potential, his resulting thought-provoking photographs are full of energy.

Inspired by Michael Haneke’s film “The White Ribbon,” de Leon regards transitional periods in history as a relevant interest. Concerned with highlighting essential human elements, he hopes to explore an anachronistic story that teaches him about “design, human nature, fashion and progress.”