3D Typography
Does the alphabet take on more meaning when it’s freed from the confines of cast-in-lead movable type, pen and paper, and the frame of a computer screen? Capturing words and letters in media that range from human skin to mini-sandwiches, 3D Typography is a celebration of the words that
 emerge in unexpected locales and language that has an intrinsic bond to its varied means of conveyance.
Jeanette Abbink and Emily CM Anderson—former Dwell creative director and senior designer, respectively—curated the tangible typefaces in this collection from projects around the world: Trash gathered by students is assembled to form the word “used”; a pianist’s solo is promoted with piano-wire script; cheese falls from a grater in the shape of the letters “M-I-C-E.”
The evocative forms that adorn the pages are messy, playful, complex, imperfect, and, at times, nearly illegible. Though Helvetica’s perfectly balanced composition conveys a clear message, it is precisely this collection’s disconnect between easy reading and meaning that makes discovering and deciphering it such fun. We just wish the book were accompanied by a traveling exhibition, allowing the words to be experienced in more than two dimensions.
Product
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3D Typography Book
Can you really compare experimental three-dimensional typography – like lettering made of live moss or letter kites that fly messages in the sky – to the work of Gutenberg? If you ask…
Dwell Collections
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Geigy's Graphic Design
Design Musem Zurich's current show Good Design, Good Business showcases the great graphic design from 1940-1970 of the Swiss chemical company Geigy.
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2010 Books by Dwell Contributors
Though we love to love our many talented contributors in the pages of Dwell, we figured that the fine work they do merits a special shout-out. So should you be shopping for a Dwell-lover, consider…
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Books and Films
Editor-in-Chief Sam Grawe: Although I gave up writing Christmas lists long ago, the following is what I would ask for if I were writing to Santa today. I can quite literally spend many hours…
Events
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Typography of the 19th Century Textile Trade
Adrian Wilson leads a presentation about his unique collection of handmade typefaces and trademarks last seen in use by nineteenth-century fabric merchants.
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What's Alt Is Neu
Taking MoMA's exhibition The New Typography as a point of departure, curator Juliet Kinchin leads the discussion on the once and future meanings of New Typography. In the 1920s and 1930s, the…
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Andrew Byron, Ed Fella and Sunook Park
This exhibition looks at the typographic work of three Los Angeles–based artist-designer-educators, and investigates the elastic and sometimes slippery relationship of language, form and…
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This is not text in 3D, but merely 2d type extruded.
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