The Cube: practical research in theoretical models.
with
Erik van Blokland
The reprint of The Stroke by Dutch type design theoretician Gerrit Noordzij sparked deeper digging into the origins of his iconic cube. This talk reflects on what this model can mean for type design and education. As a conceptual object, the cube inspired modern interpolation tools and designspaces. A report about curiosity-driven research in type design practice.
The Herb Lubalin Lectures are recorded and made available here and on Vimeo with the generous support of Hoefler&Co.
About Erik van Blokland
Erik van Blokland, a type designer from The Hague, Netherlands, started the LettError foundry with Just van Rossum in 1989. He studied graphic design at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, and picked up the taste for type design in Gerrit Noordzij's class. The early experiments in type and code (Beowolf, Trixie, Hands) were published by FontFont. More recently Eames Century Modern at House Industries and lots of work for Photo-Lettering. Tool development became an important part of Erik's work (see Superpolator). First with Petr van Blokland and Just van Rossum in RoboFog. Later with Tal Leming in the RoboFab and UFO projects and the initial stages of the WOFF specification for webfonts. Van Blokland is a senior lecturer at the TypeMedia course of the Royal Academy of Arts.