5 posts tagged “stanley moss”

[Cross-posted from Lucire] Lucire has a distinct Italian flavour at the moment, thanks in part to photographer Thomaz and his Milano shots from two fashion week shows so far: Byblos and Frankie Morello. Of the two, Morello is more newsworthy in its three-dimensional, origami quality; Byblos is more subtle, using silks and cashmere in showing off a structured, almost military inspiration.
   Stanley Moss, who gave us news of a special at the splendid Palazzo Magnani Feroni in Firenze, reports on more bargains in these budget-conscious times from Italy’s most artistic city. Whether you are shopping for gloves and handbags, ceramics, or a great-value meal that includes truffles, then his ‘Florentine Insider’ article has the low-down.
   The world does not revolve around Italy, as much as we would like it to: Elyse Glickman and Leyla Messian report from Hollywood on the Golden Globes’ suites, and we show off some beds that we spotted at a Design Mobel launch in Wellington, New Zealand last Wednesday.

Since India has been extremely kind to me—the people here are amazing—I owe it to this nation to bust a few stereotypes.
   First, the food. It is excellent and in two days I have had no problems with my tummy. ‘Delhi belly’ is a cruel stereotype that I was given by some friends prior to my departure, though I knew instinctively it was cobblers. The same rule applies here as everywhere else: if you are careful about what you stick in your mouth, you are fine. People do know that in rural areas things can be tougher. Nevertheless, I can make this conclusion: Indian food is fab and way better than expat Indian restaurants.
   Secondly, this is certainly not a backward country, and anyone who has read books such as The World Is Flat would know that. Here I am, surfing on wifi, and at speeds and with connectivity better than what I might find in other parts of the world, and that includes New Zealand. There is a rich–poor gap and that does mean some poverty but that also generates invention. I saw booksellers yesterday with used books alongside new ones; we should be copying some of the recycling efforts that Indians undertake every day.
   If your impression of an Indian car park is old colonial hand-me-downs, think again: the Daewoo Lacetti (Chevrolet Optra) is newer than what many countries sell, including Australia and New Zealand:

I did a bit more work on JY Aristi last night and today. Here are some test documents for it, now with a few revised characters.
   Firstly, Hamburgerfonts (or, in this case, Hamburgefontsiv) is a common test word in typeface design. It shows the cap height, x-height (the height of a lowercase x), ascender height (b, f, t) and descender height (g) plus some regularly occurring letters and how the typeface fares with diagonals and curved letters.
   The first graphic compares JY Aristi (first line) with some similar typefaces to check copyfitting and styles. The typefaces are JY Aristi, JY Ætna (on which JY Aristi is loosely based, but was designed for 14 pt settings), Monotype Plantin Light (a 10 pt master), Monotype Bembo (also based on a 10 pt master) and the ubiquitous Monotype Times New Roman.

   What is apparent above is that JY Aristi could work in text. There is little contrast between verticals and horizontals and it is largely legible. The new g is more robust. It can be an excellent text font with some oldstyle connotations.
   JY Ætna, because it was designed for 14 pt, appears lighter when set at the same point size. It also appears narrower. The idea is that when it is set at the size it was designed for, it should look like it has the same contrast and weight as the text. In this case, I think it would work with JY Aristi.
   The third typeface is Monotype Plantin Light. This version was based on drawings for a 10 pt model, so it should compete with JY Aristi. The x-height is greater so if we were to shrink down the point size to match the x-height, it would be more compact.
   Fourth is Bembo, which has the same roots as Ætna and Aristi. I normally like Bembo but I think this early PostScript version from Monotype is too light for text usage. Monotype issued a new Bembo Book some years ago, but I haven’t bought (a licence for) it yet.
   The last is Times New Roman, as installed on nearly every computer in the world. Times was based loosely on Plantin and it’s here for comparison. It also has a high x-height but its designer, Stanley Morison, was clever in having many of the common letters condensed, which newspapers love—that’s why, for so long, many newspapers used it—and many still do.
   JY Aristi is not meant to replace Times—I see it used more for magazine work (one of the aims) and my colleague Stanley Moss thinks it would work for academic usage as it looks historical enough.
   Finally, here’s JY Artisti side by side with Monotype Bembo, set to the same x-height and leading. It’s not really a fair fight: Aristi is easier to read and more compact. Put Aristi alongside Times and I am sure it would not fare as well. However, I believe the two typefaces have a similar overall effect.

Thanks to the hard work of my fellow director Patrick Harris, the Medinge Foundation Ltd. has been incorporated in England and Wales. Through this we hope to continue the work of the Medinge Group and, in particular, its commercial arm in brand consulting. More official news from CEO Stanley Moss in time.

There are a lot of connections between myself, Stanley Moss, Pierre d’Huy, Lucire and the Medinge Group. Rather than explain things too much, I’d like to share some photos that won’t be in a future Lucire from Stanley, who serves as its travel editor. This was from a road trip in Arizona, passing the red rocks at Sedona, back in the late summer and early autumn.

   The last shot is Pierre with Hopi chief Allen Pooyouma. Pierre is not freakishly tall: the Mustang is a good indicator.