Task 1: What is a type foundry?

* What do you understand a type of foundry to be, and what is the origin of the word 'foundry' in the context of type?

-> A type foundry is a company that designs or distributes typefaces. Before digital typography, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces for hand typesetting, and matrices for line-casting machines like the Linotype and Monotype, for letterpress printers.

* Who set up the foundry you have chosen to research, what is their background and where are they based? (You may need to go beyond the website to find this out!)

-> James Edmondson(founder of this company) does most of the design. Jamie Otelsberg handles customer support and project management, and Lynn Barber is in charge of sales and licensing. Oh no Type company is based in Oakland, California, and was birthed in 2015.

* How would you describe the kinds of typefaces they design? Be creative with your descriptions.

-> Typography with motions, I guess these combinations work really well and those motions feed off the vibrant energy of typography. I can see various forms of letters and I also like those contrast in letterings which are expressed in simple black and white colors. They also use handwriting to make it into more gothic-style letters like san-serif.

* Is there a typeface on the site that particularly stands out to you? Why?

-> The typography designed together with the encoding symbols and characters that looked like computer language was the most impressive. This is because designing a common language in the digital world is a very interesting and necessary field, going one step further from the category of designing only existing characters.

* What methods are used on the website to demonstrate the design, functionality, and origins of the foundry's typefaces?

-> (Why do they name their company, Oh no.) Spacing, or designing the spaces inside and between letters, is the oft-overlooked supremely important aspect of designing type. Though this is a popular opinion among the most legit of pros, it can be counter-intuitive (get it?) for anyone new to type design.

When spacing a typeface, the lowercase n is a logical place to start, due to the fact that it has two vertical (or nearly so) stems, and space between them. Similarly, the o will define the space around curved strokes, which is another very important decision to make. In the capitals, the H has those vertical stems with space between them, and the O will define the spacing on capital round strokes.

For those reasons, H, O, n, and o are incredibly influential letters when it comes to spacing, and supplying the overall genetic material for a typeface. I was looking for what word or words could be made with those letters, and I stumbled on “OH no.” The name is a reference to proper spacing, and respect for the craft.

It’s also like, “Oh nooooo!!!!!”

They use several mediums to promote their works.

Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Dribbble, Facebook, YouTube, Medium.

Find an additional source of research about the person behind the foundry (a talk, a podcast, an article, an interview) and write a short piece of analysis about it, documenting and responding to some of the designer's main points.

->James runs OH no Type Company, an independent foundry focused on display faces and expressive lettering. "What kind of music do you like? Chances are, there are more than a few genres or artists that come to mind. The longer we live, the longer our list grows into areas slightly obscure, and unexpected. But why isn’t type the same? Why do we as designers gravitate to the same styles that have been around for decades and centuries? What is to be gained from experimentation in the field of type design, and how can graphic designers leverage and build upon the results? Diversity should be celebrated, and by rejecting the vanilla, we open ourselves to indulging in the richness of infinite possibility."

James Edmondson of OH no Type at the San Francisco Public Library

James said that the internet is kind of allowing people to get feedback and collaborate on things and it’s also giving independent designers a means to distribute their own work. So in this video, he basically introduced various typography designers based on different styles. His values of typography seem to be focused on the word ‘diversity’ and ‘experimentation’ after all. And it seems that he is using the advantages of the internet platform very appropriately to promote and display his works.

Project 4 Research

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