spare type

Me on Typeradio

2011-10-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

Donald Beekman and Liza Enebeis of Typeradio interviewed me at the ATypI 2010 conference in Dublin, Ireland. Now they have uploaded this fun interview on Typeradio.org. Enjoy.

Print Magazine's August 2010 issue, p.74-75

2010-07-30T03:56:00.000-07:00

A magazine double spread, stating "Every improvement in communication makes the truth less visible", commissioned by the prestigious Print Magazine's August 2010 issue. More info here. And also here.

Visitting London College of Communication

2010-02-22T11:27:00.001-08:00

A humble homage to the British '70-'80s Punk movement: the Typo-mohawk, worn during my talk at the London College of Communication last Friday.
(Photos courtesy Lazo Kakou and Lucy Brown)

Typo mythology: How type and mankind were created

2009-12-20T11:10:00.000-08:00

It all began when my eye caught a small figurine my wife bought from an Ethiopian woman. The figurine looked like a woman holding a child. It immediately reminded me of African ritual idols...this sparked my imagination.

I dreamt I was a typo-anthropologist who one day discovers a faded illustration of an interesting statue in an old encyclopedia. The statue looked like a strange synthesis of a human body and what looked like parts of type forms.

Apparently this was an illustration of a shamanistic ritual idol from equatorial Africa, which arrived in the west with a group of slaves in the beginning of the 19th. century.

I decided to go to Africa to seek out the origins of that ritual idol I found in the encyclopedia. In Africa I encountered, with the aid of local guides, an ancient isolated tribe which I was the first western person to visit. I was served a festive meal and invited to sit beside the tribal chief. The chief treated me to a tobacco pipe mixed with a local opiate and then while his hands gesticulated wildly and with the assistance of an interpreter, he proceeded to tell me a story...

"Thousands of years ago, the ancient ancestors of this tribe fell from the great heavens above the wild jungle. They fell straight to the earth..These were giants, the sons of gods and they had heads formed like letters. Thus they thrived with no worries upon the earth, subsisting on wild berries and drinking the water from the river...

"...One day some of them did not follow the orders of the great god which created them. His response was decisive and fierce. One by one he lopped their heads off with a heavy machete, separating the letter-head from their torso. And so the story goes this is how humans were created and their means of communication - language and type."

The chief ceased to speak. He pulled out a small idol from his lion-skin pouch, identical to the one I saw in the encyclopedia! He added that since those ancient times the tribal people pray to these idols so that they may be blessed with wisdom and knowledge and also to express gratitude for being their descendents. He gave me his blessing and awarded me the idol as a gift and symbol of our new friendship.

© Oded Ezer Typography. Created, written and designed by Oded Ezer. Story illustrations and translation by Yasha Rozov. Figurines illustration by Yifat Yairi. Assisted by Ruth Pikado. Figurine photographs by Idan Gil. Oded's portrait as a typo-anthropologist by Ruthie Ezer

The story of the Tipografya poster

2009-12-10T05:47:00.000-08:00

It all started in 2003, when I was asked by my mother, whose a painter, to design a logo for her. I have used a very popular Hebrew typeface called Frank-Rühl, as a starting point, and cut the lower part of the letters. The result, although very minimal, was surprisingly readable.

I then thought about the possibility to replace the removed lower parts with what looks like antennas. The result was the a poster, showing the Hebrew word for Typography, that I have designed specially for a competition in china, whose theme was, well, “Typography”.

The strange thing was, that this piece, with it’s antenna elements, did not even pass the first judging session of the competition. Luckily, later on it became one of my most known pieces, and also my studio’s logo.

The Plastica Manifesto

2009-08-21T06:21:00.000-07:00

I have published this short manifesto, addressed to 21st century's Hebrew Type Designers (a.k.a "The Plastica Manifesto") back in 2000, in the form of a poster. The words were printed in a very small size, next to "giant" 3D letters, standing on their own feet (Kisho Kurokawa, the famous Japanese architect who died in 2007, commented about these letters in 2001: "These could be described as letters turning into insects. Witty, and powerful enough to give viewers many kinds of thoughts such as tribunal, historical, cultural and the meanings of the letter itself...")

So, here it is, almost 10 years after it's creation and publication, freely translated from Hebrew:
"Contemporary Hebrew type design is being influenced by two sources:
By the traditional Hebrew letter-forms throughout the history, and by Latin typefaces. Why not add more sources of inspiration..?
Using the principles of other fields (e.g. biology, architecture, psychology etc.) in the typographic design - will produce new, outstanding creations, in this discipline"

May 2009: The Typographer‘s Guide to the Galaxy

2009-02-04T00:30:00.001-08:00

This is so, so exciting. Gestalten's book about my work is in stores around the world now. Here are some sample spreads from it. All the credit and thanks go to Gestalten.

1996, the year of dimensional typography

2009-02-01T05:04:00.000-08:00

I was a 3rd year student when a friend of mine brought me a modest looking pamphlet - J. Abbott Miller's Dimensional Typography: Words in Space as a present, and it blew my mind completely. That was 1996.

This pamphlet assembled simple, exciting 3D typographic experiments in space and time. I had never seen anything like this before. Miller used 'product design' methods on letters in times when the whole 3D programming was still at the beginning. The book showed letters rotating in a computer program and it looked like some kind of strange typo objects.

My head started to run very quickly. It took me two more years to understand what I needed to do: to devote at least half of my time for experiments and to see how typography can benefit from technology.

Early influences: The (incomplete) list

2008-08-03T00:14:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite questions to my students is: "Who is your design hero?". Same as "How did you meet your lover" stories, I'm always fascinated to hear the answer, giving me the chance to learn not only about the person that speaks to me, but also something about the time and cultural context we live in.

If we had met in the early 1990's, short time before I begun my graphic design studies at the Bezalel academy in Jerusalem, I would probably give you the following list of designers that were, each one in a different way, a reason for me to become a future design professional; And although my taste in design has changed since then, I thought it would be just fair to pay them a homage for inspiring me to become a designer.

So - here it is - the (incomplete) list of the ten designers/artists and their works, that were (part of) the reason why I went to study graphic design, back in 1994:

John Heartfield
Gert Dumbar
Takenobu Igarashi
Alain Le Quernec
Barbara Kruger
David Tartakover
Klaus Staeck
Neville Brody
Philippe Apeloig
Michal Batory

10 thoughts about attraction

2008-07-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

Maybe I am attracted to typography because type is abstract. I like abstract elements.
Or because the fact that designing typefaces is like meditating, for me. I love meditation.
Or because I love the fact that different fonts make you react differently, although the content remains the same.
Or because I love to play. With type.
Or because I like the feel that letters have 'personality'.
Or because I love black and white.
Or because I enjoy staring at letter forms, sometimes even without bothering reading the text.
Or because I'm kind of an obsessive guy, and typography needs an obsessive approach.
Or because I am better in creating typography than doing any other thing.
Or because I prefer type rather than image.
But actually, I don't really know what attracts me to typography, of all the facets of design.

Back to 1988

2008-07-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

I was asked recently by a young graphic design student from Sydney, Australia, what was I doing prior to studying design. When thinking about it, I discovered that as a teenager in the 80's, I never thought to become a type designer or a typographer. I don't even think I knew that such a profession exists.

I was into music. I went to an art high-school, where I was studying music and played the classical and electric guitars. It was the days of legendary bands like The Smiths, The Cure, The Pixies. Avant-garde Israeli poets Yona Volach and the younger Hezy Leskly where still around. There was no internet, and I was not familiar with the graphic design scene in Europe or America, nor with the work of prominent Israeli designers Dan Reisinger and David Tartakover. But I remember hand-printing some T-shirts for my school friends (see below) and "designing" the school newspaper as a side hobby, using clip art elements that where printed, cut and pasted directly from an early application of a Macintosh computer.

The photo above is from 1988 (exactly 20 years ago), and I am 16 years old. I was photographed by my father, bowing down after playing a complicated piece in a national competition for classical guitar. I have a forced smile on my face: I didn't play well. I think it was that moment where I knew I will never be a "real" guitarist. It was around that time I have decided to turn my then design hobby into "something". What will be this "something"? I wasn't sure.

5 thoughts about logo design

2008-07-17T05:34:00.000-07:00

1.
Logos became the main facade of companies, products and institutes; and because it is easier for logos to reach wide audiences (via various media platforms) then the actual product, the right logo design is essential for creating the right context for the end user.
2.
I enjoy designing logos. I am thankful to have the ability to visually communicate abstract values to people. I am thankful to be able to make my living from such an interesting process. I love to have a good session of sketches, and to be able to create the right logo for the right costumer and his audience.
Visual competition on the people attention gets tougher and wilder, as technology gets more and more advanced and sophisticated. I think that designers should be more careful and aware of the power that they have in their hands.

3.
It is the ability of a logo, be in Hebrew, English, Japanese, Arabic or Hindi - to deliver all the values it needs to deliver, that makes it special. This is what challenging, for me. It always takes me some years to look back and be satisfied with a logo I have created. If a logo is still relevant some years after it's creation, then I am satisfied with it.

4.
A good logo is easily remembered; a good logo has an iconic nature, and becomes part of our life and memories; a good logo has cultural depth although it is simple; a good logo is surprising in it's simplicity and freshness, even a hundred years after it was created; a good logo serves the people needs more then the client's or the designer's needs.
5.
When designing a logo, always try to understand the essence, personality and exact values of the company, product, or institute. Then the work itself is the precise visual "translation" of the literal key words, so the end user will feel about it the way you want him to.
Always interview the client as for his/her values and vision. Always make a good research before you begin to design. Always try to make as many sketches as you can because you will never know when the right logo will come out. Never think you are smarter than your client or his/her audience. Always play, never "work".

I ❤ Milton

2008-07-12T02:12:00.000-07:00

Coming back from Typo Berlin, I have realized how little experimental works I had created in English in the last few years. I saw the enthusiasm of the audience when I showed a single piece in English, while the Hebrew ones were unreadable to most of them.
My decision was to increase the number of works created in English, and I thought I could start with a series of homages to (non-Israeli) designers who I admire.

The first name that came to my mind was the great Milton Glaser, whose I Love NY logo is one of the things that stuck into my mind forever. It is simple and direct, and I felt it will be still recognisable even if I'll make it more complicated.

After making the 3d model for the photo, I called Idan Gil, my friend and the man who photographed most of my latest typographic experiments, to shoot some photos. I wanted the image to be monumental, mysterious and intensive. By the end we have finished with 2 options, both of which had it's own strong "personality". I have decided to go with the left one, but put both of them here for you to decide.
(For more images check here ...and yes, I promise to use this technic for the last time).

Gestalten’s interview

2008-07-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

As this is my first post in Spare Type, I thought the best way to say hello is to show you this lovely podcast that the guys of Gestalten shot with me last month in Berlin.