Super Keen On Berlin | Newsletter
And just like that, we are in September, and 2023 is flying by!
July was hot and humid in bustling Barcelona. The city displayed its most festive attitude, and we made the most of it. At the end of July, we landed in cool Berlin to spend five weeks with Carlos, my longest friend.
We definitely underestimated the trip: a two-hour flight, same timezone, same season… seemed like a piece of cake! The reality was that our Spanish schedule and climate were seriously shaken, and it took us nearly a week to get back into any sort of rhythm.
On the second day in Germany, we visited three co-working spaces around our neighborhood called Pankow. The first space looked like a 90s corporate office. The second space had everything you need, and everything you don’t need as well. The third space was just right for us: a two-level co-working and venue surrounded by books, plants, and a peaceful/zen atmosphere. On the third level, there is a Chinese calligraphy and tea ceremony room, so the choice was obvious! C*Space Berlin welcomed us warmly and has been a great space for us to work and meet local and international friends.
Berlin has reminded me of Melbourne in so many ways! The city is huge and full of trams, although the population is under four million people. The weather is constantly changing; we were wearing jackets in the middle of summer. The streets are very wide and spacious, with plenty of green areas on every second corner. The air feels fresh and it rains often. People love scheduling long-term plans, and of course, they love their tea, coffee, and beer.
Other things were very different: They use glass for a lot of their packaging, and they have an outstanding recycling process. Public transportation is a dream, running efficiently and covering a greater area of the city. Businesses don’t like visa cards, and cash is queen in many of them. They also love smoking indoors when permitted.
This is my third time visiting this city, and my first time understanding more about its culture, geography, and rituals. If you are planning to visit Berlin in the near future, here are a couple of great resources: The first one is an insider Berlin guide by my colleague and friend Patrick Thomas Studio. The second one is a city map by Gabby Lord, an Australian creative director and co-founder of Super Keen Studio —You are welcome!
During August, I had the opportunity of meeting some friends from the art, design and type industries including Teagan Glenane, Sol Matas, Elena Veguillas, Sol Kawage, Harri Kuhn, Martina Flor, Lavia Lin and Maria Fallada.I also attended Typostammtisch Berlin, a monthly meet-up of type designers, type users and type lovers going on since 2006. You can check their agenda above.
THANK YOU Berlin, it has been great to see you again!
Below, you’ll find a calligraphic editorial in collaboration with Pentagram; six editorial illustrations in collaboration with Nate Burgos from Design Feast; and my next Copperplate Variations Course (L2) starting on September 6.
On the last section of this newsletter, you’ll find a great mid-year font release resource by Alphabettes; an article about display typefaces by Maria Doreuli; and a great conversation with Faride Mereb from Hello Departures.Much love, Maria xx
Calligraphic Editorial | Middlebury Magazine
Calligraphic editorial commissioned by Pentagram, part of their full Middlebury Magazine redesign.
The piece showcases a highly ornamented and fully customised pointed-pen calligraphy, featuring high contrast, angular attributes and discontinuous ductus to match the energy and personality of the partner illustration by André Carrilho.
Commission by: Pentagram
Art Director: Stu Taylor
Editorial: Professor Stephen Donadio
Client: Middlebury Magazine (US)
Yeah: A Retrospective by a Fan of “John Wick” | Editorial Illustrations
For the past couple of months, I’ve been working closely with Nate Burgos from Design Feast, crafting six editorial illustrations for his latest article called “Yeah: A Retrospective by a Fan of John Wick”.
The illustrations combine neon lettering, type and highly symbolic line work elements for everyone who binge these visually stunning chapters several times. Read the full article here.
Thank you very much Nate for all your trust and support, I’m really happy with the result.
Art Director: Nate Burgos
Client: Design Feast (US)
The truth is, I am a cat person. I lived with my first and only cat, named Graham, for eight years. I didn’t realize how much you could love an animal until I lost him.
When Nate Burgos from Design Feast asked me to work on a movie editorial, my first thought was, “I need to watch all four movies straight away.” My second thought was, “Dogs are very important elements in these chapters, and their presence is very intentional.”
I pitched the idea to Nate of featuring each dog as the main element for each chapter, and he agreed. The illustration style blends clean line work with the look and feel of a pencil sketch, and these are the final results.
After four dog illustrations, my selective perception has shifted. I see dogs everywhere now. I notice their size, hair color, attitude, and personalities. I’m still terrible at guessing dog breeds, but I’m getting there.
I’m still a cat person, but now I have a soft spot for cat-sized dogs, and my very favourite ones are dachshunds, in case you were wondering!
Read Nate Burgos’ full article here.
Copperplate Variations | Live Online Course (L2)
I have been teaching Copperplate calligraphy since 2014. After all these years, I envision the learning curve in three main steps:
1) Grow (Level 1)
2) Branch out (Level 2)
3) Flourish (Level 3)
This 10-hour course is for students with existing knowledge of the Copperplate alphabet looking for expanding their skills by creating longer pen movements, introducing variations in ratio, ductus and learning about ligatures, numbers and swashes.September 6, 13, 20, 27 & October 42h x 5 Wednesdays
6pm – 8pm AEST / UTC +10
Mid-year Font Releases 2023 by Alphabettes
We have reached a good number of font releases in 2023. Halfway between 2022 and 2024 seems like a good moment for a recap. What happened in the font market in these first six months of 2023? Get ready for a font treatment. Experimental, neutral, bold, colourful, classy, expressive, playful…, there are options for all kinds of type tastes. Explore the list and consider adding some of these new typefaces to your font library.
“More than meets the eye: debunking of the display typefaces” by Maria Doreuli
“This article is a recap of a talk I made at Fontstand conference in Porto in May 2019. I find the subject still relevant and I hope my thoughts on the matter will be of some value to you” Maria Doreuli from Contrast Foundry.
Hello Departures Talk Series with Faride Mereb
Imagine a liberated design practice and education outside systems of oppression. What do we need to unlearn, explore, do, transform and reprogram to rethink design? Hello Departures Talk Series invites you to pause and join designers whose critical perspectives and work are contributing to more equitable design futures.Faride Mereb is an award-winning Venezuelan book designer, art director and researcher currently based in New York City. Her Caribbean and Arab heritage and a profound love of books have deeply influenced her work, giving it a hybrid nature. She holds ongoing artistic collaborations in Latin America and Europe. Mereb won the 10×10 Women in Photo-books Research Grant in 2022 with her project on Karmele Leizaola, while also doing research for a year at Columbia University as a Visiting Scholar.She also won the AIGA 50 books 50 book covers, Latin American Design Awards, and been part of the selection of Venezuela for the exhibit of Stiftung Buchkunst in Leipzig, Germany. She currently directs the design studio and archival research center Letra Muerta INC.
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