Design is about process

Magical Ordinary Characters

2012-01-01T20:53:00.000+08:00

I have a special affection for this combination of characters. In its obvious (everyday) meaning, it reads 'Bus Station'. In its equally literal reading, it says 'Change Luck Station'. I read the latter. Feels so 'Alice In Wonderland' - ordinary, magical and dark. ♥

Hey Life! Love You :)

2011-12-29T01:04:00.001+08:00

This is a closing entry to give thanks to my wonderful vacation that is coming to a swift end. Typographically speaking, it has not been a prolific year but I am not one to be too hard on myself. Nevertheless, here are some drawings to prick myself, instead. On a side note, what have I been indulging in besides fussing over my four-month-old abode?

♥♥♥♥♥ K-Pop and Mando-Pop ♥♥♥♥♥

蕭敬騰 is literally a human jukebox. He is not exactly spanking new. I am three years late to discover this musical gem. He is especially good at doing old songs like 衝動的懲罰 (originally by 刀郎), 記得 (originally by 张惠妹), 我怀念的 (originally by 孙燕姿), and 新不了情 (originally by 万芳). Not that he does not have anything original: 只能想念你. I will be getting his 蕭敬騰同名專輯 **幸福**

秘密花园 is my other ****幸福****. I am one year late for this one. So I was not in the frenzy (last year) when Hyun Bin went to serve his National Service. I have never gone out of my way to purchase a drama serial until 秘密花园 came along. It was a out-of-body experience and I LOVE out-of-body experiences.

So, this vacation has done me super good and I am totally feeling very **幸福** and inspired indeed. I am glad to be where I am.

It's not what you win but how you conquer it

2011-12-28T23:02:00.003+08:00

Conqueror is organizing a competition. I think the message makes Simple looks cool. Listening to 蕭敬騰 - 倒帶 now. On repeat mode: 蕭敬騰 - 新不了情.

To Another Wonderful Year Ahead.

2011-12-08T23:41:00.001+08:00

Rue in Typodarium 2012

2011-11-03T00:56:00.002+08:00

Finally arrived in the mail. Rue is featured in Typodarium 2012. A project by Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz.

TypePlay2

2011-08-27T12:45:00.002+08:00

Finally arrived in the mail. Simple is featured in TypePlay2. A project by Sandu Publishing.

TypeTalks2 in Posen (PL)

2011-08-19T22:48:00.002+08:00

This is a cool site because Rue is in it: MyFonts.de Alright, seriously, this is a cool site if you understand deutsch.

Awesome Random Type

2011-08-14T23:23:00.001+08:00

by Elizabeth Sutrisna

by Joe Chan

by Podd Mah

July in Taiwan

2011-08-10T21:27:00.004+08:00

Chinese Metal Type

2011-08-07T21:19:00.000+08:00

Great find in Taipei at the Red Mansion near Ximending:

Character Updates (Simple)

2011-08-07T21:17:00.001+08:00

After more typesetting:

Prahaha Free Download

2011-06-27T00:45:00.004+08:00

Finally, I have decided not to pursue Prahaha as a full latin character set which means I am not going to put it up for sale anyway and therefore might as well give it away for free. Download under the Creative Commons License. Prahaha, my very first and free typeface that comes in 3 weights which does not come in as a full latin character set. However, please contact me for commercial use.

Handsome Pig & Chewy Bag

2011-06-26T23:58:00.004+08:00

Almost forgot about the 2 (fav) logos I did earlier this year.

Pearls of Wisdom by Winnie Tan

2011-06-25T20:26:00.005+08:00

Awesome quotes and type and other stuff :) Pearls of Wisdom by (another) Winnie Tan.

from ffffound!

Free Rue Display Posters

2011-06-25T18:44:00.007+08:00

My typeface activity for this year (to-date) is practically a dismal zero. Needless to say, it was a super pleasant surprise when I received this bundle of joy. VB thought the colors looked kind of militant. I thought they simply look organic :)

So, if you have bought Rue Display over this link and happened to be in SG, I will have it delivered to you!

Buy poster online here.

Life at large

2011-06-25T18:36:00.002+08:00

for the past year...

for the past month...

Home Ownership is Kick-Ass Awesome! :D

2011-03-29T23:29:00.000+08:00

Totally overwhelmed with pride and joy.... :S

Simple (in use)

2011-03-29T23:22:00.005+08:00

The Coolest View

2011-01-10T20:52:00.001+08:00

My favorite view on my 21-inch iMAC for now. Gives me an idea to make it into a screen saver :D

Rue in SLanted

2010-12-31T10:36:00.004+08:00

Rue is featured in Slanted - Typo Weblog & Magazin based in Berlin. An issue in Women, Typography, Design. View more of publication.

Simple Feedback

2010-12-24T23:34:00.003+08:00

I love all the feedback I am getting for The Simple Font. Really appreciate them all who took the effort to leave me comments as follows:

- head spinning and blurry-eyes inducing.
- difficult to read.
- fun to read.
- something weird happens when the font is used in text.
- I feel something happens when I read.
- there is a kind of musical pace.
- looks like toilet mosiacs.

It makes The Simple Font feel so alive! :D :D :D
PS: Helps me sieve out my target audience too.

Rue on Veer

2010-12-24T23:07:00.005+08:00

I like how Veer handle Rue; the marketplace font.

Simple

2010-12-24T23:05:00.001+08:00

The Simple font is featured in http://www.typographyserved.com/

The Wayfinding Face

2010-12-09T15:33:00.000+08:00

Luc Devroye describes 'Simple' a Wayfinding face. I like :)
http://cg.scs.carleton.ca/~luc/singapore.html

(BUY) The Simple Font

2010-12-06T22:57:00.002+08:00

The Simple Font is finally available for purchase at http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/winnietan/simple/

A (thousand) Simple Calendar

2010-12-06T18:35:00.007+08:00

Introducing Simple - The Bilingual Font.

The vague motivation about simple is that it would be somewhat ‘pixel’-based. The idea was conceived in the beginning of 2010. The drawings came in around April during my convalesce. Richard Dawkins’s ‘selfish Gene’ played a big role in molding my thoughts of the typeface as a game of successful replicators* that propagate itself into various forms of surviving vehicles**.

The process of simple began with the usual alphabets followed by a series of icons and soon it was an avalanche of Chinese characters. The pool of proposed Chinese characters were loosely determined by the needs of a lunar calender.

In a nutshell, simple is a single-weight, minimal, grid-based San-serif display. Prudent with details and sturdy in form, the geometrically-driven structure marks the foundation of a cross-cultural assortment of Latin alphabets, Chinese characters and thematic icons. After months of extensive typesetting, simple is also realized to be well-catered for use in graphical information design in games and tournaments, logotypes, advertisements and headlines.

The search for a new printer... IS ON!!!

2010-12-03T22:22:00.008+08:00

After making so much fuss about the paper-direction for the content pages, they eventually still get it WRONG for the cover. HOPELESS!
花錢受氣.
氣: Bubbles...
I am drowning in my own bubbles.
(or exploding into flames)
****arrrgggghhhhhhhh****
I need to distract myself with some world-crisis news...
like the euro is taking another plunge, of sorts.
Apparently, yoga does not help in moments like this.

WTF

2010-11-28T21:53:00.002+08:00

Winnie Tan Fonts

The 'Simple' Mockup

2010-11-28T21:48:00.002+08:00

This is suppose to be a simple calender. A 2-color job. But guess how many mock ups does it take to bring us to the final? No less than 12!!

Oh well... I am not looking for anything fancy. All I want is to get the fundamentals right.

So looking forward to the deadline for the job and the school vacation, no more toughness on the printer, the students and most importantly... myself.

A Tall Face

2010-10-03T22:26:00.005+08:00

The possibility of the next face, a tall one.

(More) Work-In-Progress

2010-10-03T22:22:00.003+08:00

So looking forward to the deadline with the LS guys!

A Cathartic Update

2010-10-02T23:09:00.003+08:00

I cannot believe I practically let something so obvious slip by. The new 'R' only appear after 2.5 months of typesetting. Thanks to the word 'APRIL' when the moment-of-realization strikes! Better late than never I guess...

The Multi-tasking Reality

2010-09-26T22:52:00.006+08:00

This is the 9th week I have been away from my blog. Thanks to the full-time job. Simple's progress has been fragmented and chaotic but nevertheless rewarding. I am also still working on more typesetting for Rue... which is kind of distracting and far from ideal :S

Typesetting Concentration Camp...

2010-09-26T22:51:00.003+08:00

I have never done so much typesetting in my life, in the months of August and September. The most challenging brief would have to be: Set only one weight per composition. Hope that's all for Rue in the meantime. I just want to spend all my time with Simple now.

Free font

2010-07-23T23:37:00.002+08:00

Rue Semibold is available to download from Typetogether.

I Wish I Had Done This.

2010-07-02T21:01:00.011+08:00

Guess where I found this cool font? At the totally uncool Woodlands NLB! It's from the DVD cover of Bjork's concert at the Royal Opera House (2002). Till I track down the identity of this font, I will call it Bjork for now.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Literally minutes later, I got the answer I was looking for: Thanks to David from Identifont.com. Vespertine is a linear font designed specifically for the icelandic artist Björk by M/M Paris.
http://www.mmparis.com/bjorkasabook/bjorkasabook01.html
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
This is what I would call a highly evolved being camouflaged in a seemingly child-like form.

The Paranoia of Working Alone...

2010-06-21T15:57:00.000+08:00

“It is a calamity, to say nothing of the time wasted, to labour over details in a poorly conceived design.”
- Sallie Tannahill, B. P’s and Q’s; A Book on the Art of Letter Arrangement.

"The reason is, when there is a hard problem, one has to work a long time and has to be persistent. In order to be persistent, you have got to be convinced that it's worthwhile working so hard, that you're going to get somewhere. And that takes a certain kind of fooling yourself."
-Richard Feynman, Feynman's Rainbow by Leonard Mlodinov

The 'Simple' Font 2

2010-06-15T23:23:00.002+08:00

Inspired by GYT, I used up the rest of the day doing more typesetting.

The 'Simple' Font

2010-06-15T13:39:00.003+08:00

I have finally settled on a name for the 'S' font: 'Simple'. Else, nothing is really carved in stones except some typesetting for review purposes. I will definitely need to add more glyphs to the set though...

Rue on Veer

2010-06-15T13:01:00.004+08:00

Guess what! I found Rue on Veer complied by Cabinet Type. It's a very delightful find because I absolutely love the way it has been typeset and its association with food. Yes, I can see Rue as a food/packaging type :)

The 'S' Font - Part 2

2010-06-04T09:32:00.009+08:00

It began with the usual latin alphabets... followed by a series of icons and soon it was an avalanche of chinese characters! But why not? Yes, daunting but why not? Been a month and with 550 glyphs to-date. Scheduled to debut as a calendar font in 2011. Still no name in mind, so 'S' font it will stay till then.

Such a turn of events. This will be my first bilingual font.

On a side-note, I found an image of a hundred 福 character somewhere on the internet but lost track of the source. Fascinating image! 百福圖.

The 'S' Font

2010-04-21T16:55:00.002+08:00

These are some preliminary sketches for a new font. The vague idea is that it is pixel-based. Maybe it's the influence of currency/stock/weather-watching during my convalescing, or even Tolstoy's 'War&Peace' or Dawkins's 'Selfish Gene'... it's always good to identify some reference point(s).

Regardless I have shortlisted some names for as follows:
1) Saturn (a spacey feel...)
2) Spacey!
3) Scone (simply something I have not eaten for ages)
4) Spider (a tedious metaphor?)
5) Speaker (think Kylie Minogue)

Oh well, maybe typesetting 'Eyjafjallajokull' might bring me somewhere...

Vernacular Type 1

2010-04-21T16:21:00.001+08:00

Some vernacular type I have been collecting for a while now. From Singapore, Istanbul, Kuching and for various reasons.

Everything comes to an end - good or bad

2010-04-04T13:35:00.006+08:00

'Fire can both destroy and provide warmth. Illness is the same. I can feel joyful when I am sick. During an illness, the burden of everyday concerns disappears, and when I am cured, I once again feel his pressure.' - Leo Tolstoy

Keenly felt.
It's only on hindsight that I could ascertain I was indeed joyful at my most vulnerable.

I have no idea what to expect for my first myomectomy post-recovery. Upon consciousness, I just felt the body weak and distant. The body and mind were separate entities.

Lying in bed made me realized the tremendous milestone achievable by the body every single day. Silently bustling with unwavering determination, the busy body is constantly smoothing the nervous mind through an inexhaustible healing slumber.

The 'hyper-sensationalized' body was my source of comfort. It was constantly communicating to me on its progress through the 10.5cm wound (of course) uterus, bladder, fallopian tube, etc. And now as I got better, their acute presence is no longer keenly felt, it really feels like I have lost a friend.

I missed being in LALA-land with my friend(s).

Rue@Typetogether

2010-02-23T10:06:00.002+08:00

230210. Rue is finally released today! :)
Rue@TypeTogether

Quandary

2010-02-08T11:08:00.002+08:00

My most low-key baby: Quandary is now on www.typographyserved.com too!

Prahaha + Rue

2010-01-17T14:36:00.005+08:00

Prahaha hardly garners the kind of attention that Rue usually gets. So finally, news came on a Sunday afternoon that Prahaha is featured at www.typographyserved.com via the Behance Network.
Rue Display www.typographyserved.com

Graffiti Analysis 2.0

2010-01-09T11:57:00.001+08:00

This is so completely super!!!
http://graffitianalysis.com/

So is this.
Graffiti Research Lab L.A.S.E.R Tag

New 'female' Font

2010-01-08T15:14:00.005+08:00

In case you are wondering (just like me), what is the new font used by 'female' magazine: it's ITC Caslon 224 Black Italic. At least for now, I can finally distinguish 'female' from 'her world'.

Since the October of 2008

2010-01-03T22:12:00.004+08:00

Rue took 9 intensive months to conceive. Followed by 2-3 months of distraction (holiday+moving home) plus 4 (multi-tasking) months and still counting to the last weight of the italics. Geez, has it been that long?

Rue's estimated release is Febuary 2010. Check out www.type-together.com for updates.

So Long

2010-01-01T10:48:00.003+08:00

Gone but not to be forgotten.

2010

2009-12-30T19:38:00.001+08:00

Make love not war. Snog the White Tiger to a brand new 2010!

Food Font - bon.appetit

2009-12-30T15:41:00.002+08:00

‘bon.appetit’ is a customised hand-lettered display type inspired by the visceral experience of food. Exuberant and spirited in form, it is flexible to dress up in quaint and classic or sleek and modern. Organic and ornamental, ‘bon.appetit’ is a dramatic exaggeration of ‘rue italic’ in both spirit and form. When used in tandem, its complimentary contrast creates an unprecedented union.

Rue Posters

2009-12-21T13:50:00.000+08:00

Rejected Posters

2009-12-15T23:43:00.001+08:00

Rejected posters that took me one full day to work on. I am now left with 2 days to produce 10 posters that adhere to the regulations...

Abandoned but Important

2009-11-22T11:09:00.002+08:00

Another of Rue. If I don't post it, I will forget all about it.

Chinese Italic

2009-11-21T12:52:00.005+08:00

**GASP** A sighting on Chinese Italic. Rare find I supposed though I am not sure if I would like to see more of it. It's not something I ever thought about until now... then I start wondering does it make sense to have a chinese italic?!?! does it?! or even an arabic italic?

CY: seems like most non-latin scripts don't look good italicised?

HHM: my friend terence yeung said he's going to name his first son Italicised.

WT: (@CY) i never really thought about it until i actually saw it on 早安您好 (or 早安您好), it was most peculiar in the most unflattering way. (@HHM): i guess terence yeung is just plain weird lor, an 'italicised' baby does not come across as a pretty sight.... asymmetrical, lope-sided, stressed... :S

HHM: lol! i've never thot of it that way! imo an italicised child would prob be a very picky eater and socially awkward.. btw, i don't think chinese italic makes sense!

FH: if you think about it, the use of italics is to alter the tone of a statement & alter the syntax by creating emphasis on the italicised word when reading... so in mandarin if you alter the tone using italics, would it not become a different hanyu pinyin accent? therefore you might even inadvertently change the meaning of the italicised word? (actually that could be quite interesting!)

WT: ya fab, i realised that chinese language do not offer a formal treatment for an italic-equivalent emphasis... or am i ignorant of it? :s
in chinese, each character is a sound. If the sound is altered, it just ain't that character anymore.
whereas in the case of an english word, it's a composition of sounds. so a slightly altered tone of a word is still recognisable... since it's that identifiable composition of sounds.
with this, whether in syntax or in form, maybe italic is just not an option for chinese at all?

FB: Slanted Arabic could work for certain styles, if used properly and if it is slanted to the left, it doesn't look bad. I saw many samples in logotypes or product brands but usually based on very geometric fonts. Slanted calligraphic fonts look baaaaad. Chinese and Japanese glyphs looks ugly when slanted but as I cannot read them, it is just an opinion of a designer. There is an long ongoing discussion about emphasising in Arabic text among experts and most of them recommends style mixing.

WT: Thx filip for the insight on Arabic :) As it is for both readers and non-readers of chinese, thumbs down to the italic equivalent! :)

On hindsight, this is really more an oblique than an italic anyway.

Rare Find

2009-11-21T12:35:00.000+08:00

Rarely do I find anything that excites me in Singapore. Such a rare find at a Bukit Panjang Rd bus-stop.

Dr Seuss

2009-11-21T11:57:00.002+08:00

This is a real person (<--famous type designer) and I find him incredibly creepy. Reminds me of Dr Seuss - The Cat in the Hat which also give me the creeps.

Designer vs Client

2009-11-21T11:17:00.004+08:00

Specimen from TypeTogether.com

2009-11-11T23:24:00.010+08:00

A package arrived in the mail today and Rue ornament is on the cover of TypeTogether's font catalogue 2009. It's a thrill to see how Rue is being applied.

The content page of featured fonts and respective designers.

A double-page spread.

I know I am anal and probably more so than ever as I stare at this page. Other than the fact that the italics are not printed in its final form (simply because it's not done yet), I can't help but feel Rue is not 'used correctly'. It's like losing sleep when I sold my first painting. Geez, I need to learn that they don't belong to me anymore...

The modified italic below compared with the above ex-italic.

Weedout

2009-11-09T09:28:00.003+08:00

Potential client (from hell) asking for freelance service via email:

"...best if they are fresh grads who are super nerdy with an overpowering passion!! haha.."

First of all, I do appreciate honest people. But as I am not even a friend, I am not sure if you should share such explicitly implicit sentiment with me.

Secondly, I neither practice nor advocate cheap design service.

Prahaha

2009-11-02T12:02:00.009+08:00

Prahaha - 'Me and other Animals in Prague' is my 1st typeface created for a self-initiated fanzine in my first semester at VSUP. My baby steps in the making of Prahaha was taken with František Štorm. He was as kind as he is but it just does not make my process any less stressful, not to mention the culture-shock I was experiencing in Prague. On hindsight, Prahaha is a highly-strung face that is hiding behind a cloak of false composure.

As it is my first typeface, there is only consideration for the english language with basic punctuation marks.

No specimen can be more simple than this. 150x210(mm), 8pp offset print.

Obviously a display face.

Postcard 110x280(mm).

Preliminary drawings.

Final poster approx 1.5m tall.

The fanzine was an exercise to put the typeface in use.

The animals.

Another issue of the same theme with a variant style.

All 3 fanzines in long-format accordion view.

Quandary

2009-11-02T11:27:00.009+08:00

Quandary is my 2nd typeface created for a horror theme in use with an illustrated book - 'The Predicament' by Edgar Allan Poe. It is intended as a highly expressive face to accentuate a sense of mystery and macabre. The single-weight uni-case font is developed from the numeric glyphs found on the astronomical clock-face in Prague's Old Town Square.

Fairly strange but still legible.

The astronomical clockface at Staroměstská Old Town Square.

The final book with exclusive typeface, illustration and binding.

Inside pages with more Quandary.

And illustration.

Prahaha is used as the bodycopy.

Open spine binding. 110x280(mm), 30pp, 60 copies. Offset printing at VSUP.

Rue

2009-10-31T23:07:00.016+08:00

Rue is my third typeface and also my graduation work at VSUP. TypeTogether will be publishing the 'upright' version by the end of this year while I am currently working on the italics.

Formally, Rue is conceived as a casually ornamental, low contrast and vertically-stressed monoline narrow-faced san serif with random traces of calligraphic tendencies. I suppose it is a representative summation of my eclectic aesthetic decisions through the disconcerting process. As a face, Rue is rather spirited and biological which seems to purpose itself well in an organic lifestyle of aesthetic and wellness such as botanical products and services, books and literature of such. In addition to an extensive period of typesetting Rue, I also realized the potential of the face as a form for gift and ornament. In retrospect, Rue was conceived as a typeface, used as an image and discovered as an ornament.

Why Rue?

It was to commemorate the transition of tutorship from František Štorm to Tomáš Brousil. I cannot figure out if I have had the 'best of both' or 'not enough of either'... At the same time, I needed an -R- word to continue from -P-rahaha and -Q-uandary. That is how Rue received its name before conceiving its form.

Rue is conceived in 2 styles (display+book) with 5 weights (thin+light+regular+semibold+bold). Approx. 400(+) glyphs per character set.

Typical presentation style where colours are used sparingly.

Muddy-coloured alternative.

Exhibition panel standing approx. 3x3m.

In the press, on the drum. Offset and silkscreen printing.

38 copies of offset prints with silkscreen covers. Freshly assembled from bookbinding workshop.

Same specimen with cover variations.

Inside the specimen.

The specimen both as a face and ornament.

Rue as an ornament.

Rue was never about clarity.

It was an endless journey of trial-and-error.

And abandoned ideas.

Rue is a diary of finding my way in the vast universe of typeface making.

Alice Font2

2009-10-31T22:53:00.006+08:00

Said the mouse to Alice:
“

”

Alice Font

2009-10-26T22:38:00.007+08:00

Audio books rock!. I am currently with one on 'Lewis Carroll Alice's Adventures In Wonderland'. Something about the shrinking potion labeled 'DRINK ME' hits me in a typographic sort of way. This is the essence of 'Alice' for me at the moment.

This is the nip, tuck version.

This is the raw sketch.

Demystifying 'Creativity'

2009-10-22T12:07:00.003+08:00

This entry is inspired by 2 videos I chanced upon, Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity and Amy Tan on creativity.

'Creativity' is a treacherous if not elusive expression. At best, we can only try to articulate our own experiences as a way to confront and not be condemned by our very own anxieties. And yes, a large portion of 'Creativity' is about anxiety management which never cease as a threat to bring us down to the lowest low. Waddling through a muddy stream of ambiguity and self-doubt, clarity has no business in the process of 'Creativity'.

'Creativity' is nevertheless not just about depression and suffering. Creativity is about realizing (with laborious discipline) an imagination (with plain spontaneity). A desperate attempt to make things happen at the greatest inconveniences. The reward of it all is the promise of a glimpse of a universe that we never knew existed. 'Creativity' is a steadfast commitment to the unknown.

As gratifying as it is exhausting, it is a humbling process of constantly overcoming one's prejudices with new discoveries.

MRT/LTA font

2009-10-12T14:04:00.003+08:00

If you ever wonder what is the name and designer of our MRT font? Check this out for the official list of metro fonts around the world.

Czech Republic in the news

2009-10-12T01:39:00.005+08:00

Czech Republic is in the news for being the last and only EU member who refuse to sign the Lisbon treaty. How surprisingly unsurprising...

Plato and platypus walks into a bar...

2009-10-11T22:53:00.000+08:00

At a meeting of the college faculty, an angel suddenly appears and tells the head of the philosophy department, "I will grant you whichever of three blessings you choose: wisdom, beauty - or ten million dollars."
Immediately, the professor chooses wisdom.
There is a flash of lightning, and the professor appears transformed, but he just sits there, starring down at the table.
One of his colleagues whispers, "Say something."
The professor says, "I should have taken the money."

FT4

2009-10-08T12:59:00.013+08:00

Little known fact: FT4 is my very close brush with contemporary arts. It was a group exhibition themed Vanity Fair at VSUP gallery in the month of May 2009. The title of my work: FT4 (Free Tibet 4ever) - People don't really care about anything that doesn't affect them personally. Other group shows by VA studio.

It's a (mega) stencil standing at 2.8m by 1.5m.

I never consider myself keen on politics but the whole fanfare of 'Freeing Tibet' was literally driving me nuts when I was in Prague surrounded by not just the Europeans but foreigners of all sorts, predominantly the Americans. Other senseless shit like boycotting the Olympics in China, treating the Dalai Lama like a superstar... western hypocrisy has never hit me so hard on my face.

Oh well, in the meantime, my heart goes out to the Ukrainians who are probably going without gas (again) this coming winter.

Visual Predicament

2009-10-06T19:14:00.004+08:00

RSS (Rain, Shine, Snow)

2009-10-05T20:45:00.007+08:00

My daily walk to school everyday. Be it rain, shine or snow. The river is the view on my right, the city centre is on the left. Monday blues, PMS... I miss Prague today :(

Right view

Left view

'Not-going-anywhere' view

Sometimes, all it takes is a picture to calm down...

(如同)紅星大獎

2009-09-30T23:31:00.006+08:00

Alright, this is like an analogy of 紅星大獎, the top 100 typefaces of all times. The Periodic Table is pretty awesome.

Coming Ahead

2009-09-26T13:36:00.015+08:00

I opened my font files today to get a feel of what's in store for me and of course to refresh my memory. It's been months, in fact to be exact, since 6th April 2009 when I left the italics where everything were still very raw. The lowercase are pretty much all that I have at the moment.

And just to illustrate a rough idea of the required work scope, this table is a basic character set that I would have to fill up for each weight. There will be 5 weights eventually.

A Week Of Faces

2009-09-25T02:06:00.030+08:00

I have finished the 5 weights of Rue and now the ball is over at my publisher's court. I decided to get out of the house (for some social life) before moving on the the italics next week.

Thanks to CY. I manage to catch a nice (and free!) show at the National Museum of Singapore. 'A Story Of The Image: Old and New Masters From Antwerp'. I am definitely more drawn towards old stuff than new ones. The old prints are magnificent. There is something eccentric about old handwriting which is always full of inconceivable surprises only if one has the patience to pore through them.

Over at Chinatown, I saw these signage at a pomelo stall. How stunning! :) The Ah Pek running stall, also the calligrapher claims he is illiterate :O

I was killing some time at the URA and there was an exhibition on Singapore's Urban Planning. Guess who I saw? META! Oh, to be precise, it's FF META.

And ROCKWELL.

But somehow the union does not look too gleeful.

Last but not least, as I was updating my CV, I realized I ought to share my 'Made In Czech Republic' certificate that is typeset with a gutsy Czech font, Serapion from Storm Type Foundry.

Thin vs. Light

2009-09-17T03:37:00.015+08:00

Is 'Thin' really distinguishable from 'Light'? Well, apparently in typographic terms, they ARE different. It seems 'Thin' is lighter than 'Light'. Geez... how disconcerting and inadequate can these naming conventions get?! Rue is quite officially decided in 5 weights of Thin, Light, Regular, Semibold and Bold.

Luc Devroye

2009-09-15T00:13:00.008+08:00

I happened to come across this 'quiet-looking' webpage http://cg.scs.carleton.ca/~luc/fonts.html that seemed quite suspiciously forgotten. Alas! I was so wrong. It came to my realization that this is not a sleeping link after I read through The Czech Font Scene which was incredibly updated. Actually, there is even a section on Singapore... An amazing body of information by Luc Devroye. More on Luc Devroye. Winnie Tan's page by Luc Devroye.

A New Beginning (of daylight robbery)

2009-09-14T19:20:00.007+08:00

I have been fumbling with WordPress for a while and I was very disappointed that I have to PAY(?!) in order to modify the CSS. I find this very unacceptable. So I have decided to return to Blogger for the new beginning. Hopefully this will be a more lasting affair than the previous one. Farewell WordPress!