Recently in the webbing Category

I've been thinking about type and font a lot lately. I suppose it started when we were working on our Carpoolchella signs.

One of the most exciting parts about starting a new language is learning how the people who speak it write. Learning languages that use non-Latin scripts is a way to start off with a clean slate: my Greek is more attractive than my English because of the amount of dexterity I had by the time I started learning to write it. My English still has hang-ups from kindergarten. The same is true for my Italian - although compared to most Italians my handwriting is gorgeous - though not my Latin: I write it fairly exclusively in majuscules, as Latin is wont to be written.

The thing I miss most about Japanese is calligraphy. Brush calligraphy has something that pen calligraphy doesn't. It was never an art at which I was particularly skillful, but I love India ink and the feeling of a brush on paper.

I was looking for my copy of Fitzgerald's translation of The Odyssey and came upon my Pentel color brush that I used to practice calligraphy. All the perks of brushwork with none of the mess. Because my finals are tomorrow, I am in high procrastination mode. This is the opening of Ὀδύσσεια.

At some point in my life, I would like to learn standard calligraphy... but scripts such as Devanagari and Longobardisca seem so much more fun, and the latter is something which would actually prove useful. I also want to make an illuminated abecedarium (I suppose it's properly called an abecediary, but being a Latinist and all...) but am certain that my inability to draw or paint would hinder me.

This guy, on the other hand, I think I could do:

This is my idea of an appropriate Green Day song for the time of year. I think most would think of a different song, but "Burnout" is definitely the first that comes into my mind.

I have never been fond of traditional graduation announcements - too fussy. So I designed mine in Photoshop myself. They're formal, but not stuffy. The hardest part was finding a sufficiently high resolution version of the seal of the University, but the UCSF School of Dentistry came through. (The first image? Propaganda. From Brin and Page, no doubt. At least my degree isn't from a junior university.)

The color scheme is pretty basic, blue and tan. I mostly focused on texture. The font is Adobe Garamond, which I also used for my thesis. Medieval Sicilian courtly poetry, as it turns out, is not really my thing. What is my thing is the nouveau-y background, which I of course did not make.

As far as school goes, I have this one last week to push through, and I'm really not looking forward to it.

The reason that I never really considered going to art school to study graphic design was that I figured it would take all the fun out of my hobby.

And boy was I right.

I've been working on various print material for my club's show - tickets, flyers, posters - in addition to doing the design work on the website. The main poster was a headache and a half, but I really liked the end result. I've started work on the programs and the fun has all left the building. I'm learning a new program - Adobe InDesign, since PageMaker is no more - and experiencing the joys of attempting to make something look good when printed. There is no joy in Mudville, let me tell you.

Right now I'm trying to figure out what type of border to use on the cover. It's clear that a border is necessary, but what that one border will be is beyond me. I'm now experimenting with kapa and really hoping that it works.

What a freaking headache.

About two years ago, I threw together a webpage for my club in literally about five minutes. It was supposed to be temporary, but it's still up. The design is pretty ugly. I'd worked on mock-ups for a new layout last year, but lost them to a hard drive crash. I decided that we're going to have a real website this year.

I spent the past three or so days (on and off, of course!) working on my initial plan: simple background, clean navigation. I spent quite a bit of time working on a kapa inspired pattern for the background. I ended up making a texture I loved, but no amount of fiddling with Kuler or anything else was able to help me find a color scheme that worked with it. It's hard to find something nice to go up against three different but strong browns. It's also the kind of design that might be off-putting or weird to people who don't know what kapa is and looks like.

In the end, it had to go to the junk pile. There was no way around it. I was looking through various Hawaiiana I keep around and got to some vintage postcards, then was struck by inspiration. This never happens to me. I put on Kings of Leon, as a courtesy to a friend who harassed me into giving them another try (they sucked at Coachella. I'm sorry. I loved "Molly's Chambers" pretty much since the week it was released, but if you can't put on a live show...). So I've been listening to "Sex on Fire" and fooling around with Photoshop for the past three hours, but I got something I really like. And yes, it looks shitty, but it's a JPG because I didn't want to waste space on a PNG.

Now I just have to code it. I don't even care that I'm up three hours after I intended to go to bed.

Nazis and Jonses and Cathars, oh my.

I was once told that the reason I didn't like, didn't get, didn't respect The DaVinci Code was because I love grail lore too much. I don't love grail lore too much. This dude did.

I'll soon enough be heading off to the Languedoc. I've always wanted to go on a "grail" trip, three weeks of the stuff that dreams are made of. I'd go to Jerusalem and Petra and Vermont and Ireland and read Arthurian romances. I like the idea of theme in travel, like my mission trip. I like making my itineraries and planning and going and seeing.

I like not studying. I'm almost there.

Sometimes, my procrastination gets the best of me. By sometimes, I mean most of the time. The past two weeks have been test after test after test, and now I have a cold. I think this is a sign from god. Studying? Bad for my health.

This afternoon's procrastination has begun with this president quiz. (Thank you, Twitter.) I finished it in 2:39. Would probably have been faster if I didn't: 1. try to do it forwards (I know the presidents in order from 43-1) 2. think of Chester A. Arthur as "that walrus looking guy" 3. misspell Kennedy several times.

I move right on to the U.S. state quiz with a time of 2:02. I did them in order and almost forgot Pennsylvania, which is sad as it's one of my favorite states. I was too chicken shit to do the periodic table, having literally not glanced at a one since high school chemistry. Instead I did state capitals, which was hard. It took 7:22 because I kept getting stuck and you can't move on when you're stuck with this one. Oh, wait. On second glance, you can.

So then comes Europe, and this one throws me for a loop. Despite the fact that I've lived here for a year and could probably name all 106/9 provinces of Italy. It took exactly 6:00 and my final answer was Luxembourg. I got Moldova, then forgot Luxembourg. It surprises me that Kosovo doesn't have better results, in light of the fact that it's been in the news much more within the past year than, say, Andorra, but cool. Go for it. Okay, then European capitals? I missed Prague (DUMB DUMB DUMB), Bratislava, Vaduz, Ljubljana (another dumb one), Sarajevo (really dumb), Belgrade (even dumber) Pristina, Podgorica, Tirane, Skopje (a bit dumb), Bucharest (pretty dumb yet again), and Chisinau (hell, I'm happy I remember that Moldova is a country). 35/47 is not good, not remotely. I fail at Eastern Europe.

Monopoly took 2:52, which surprised me. I thought I knew the board better than that, but apparently I do not. I need an ego-booster next, thank you Greek alphabet. Twenty-four seconds. Then I did Hawaiʻi, which took nine seconds. Italian numbers surprisingly took 1:25... but only because I couldn't spell diciassette for the life of me.

At this point I get bored and go back to studying. So I guess in the end, it worked

I am preparing for an alluvial apocalypse in the form of final examinations... numbering 6 in total. In as much, two a week for the next three weeks. There is little time for dawdling, but I know that I stand no chance against the procrastination monster. I have therefore scheduled breaks in the studying because my control freak tendencies come out when I'm feeling stressed.

Today I spent my break and my lunch reading through Ask H&FJ, the blog - of sorts - of the Hoefler & Frere-Jones Type Foundry.

I never considered a career in design because I don't like mixing pleasure and pain. So put those whips away. Reading the old entries almost makes me want to reconsider my position on the matter. I never thought I'd find the humble & such an engrossing topic.

Southeast of the city center is a large public park called the Giardini Margherita. A week or so ago, I was sketched by an art student. Afterwards he and I had a conversation about art; when asked who my favorite artists were, I mentioned Marc Chagall (he was at the forefront of my memory as I had just seen an exhibit of his work at MAN in Nuoro, Sardegna), Henri Matisse, and Vincent Van Gogh.

What didn't come to me at the time were my favorite non-painters. I love the works of Gustave Doré and Sir John Tenniel, having come into contact with both through my once voracious book-devouring habit. That was the thought I had when I decided to make this blog and, consequently, I used some of Tenniel's works, acquired from Grandma's Graphics.

I love art, but am not terribly knowledgeable about it. I'm currently a bit too cheap to go to most museums. I think, were I living in France instead of Italy, I would be more of a museum goer. One tires quickly of the Renaissance.