I have finally read a Stephen King book—ironically not a novel, but a nonfiction on writing. In the first half he shares a vivid memoir of how he became a writer. Some of his childhood details are hilarious. In the second half he writes about the craft, the process, and the language. The book is a fascinating read, but in short, King’ Prime Rule to writing is “read a lot, write a lot.” Not revelation but reassuring advice coming from the King himself.
For my independent design project to complete my graduate journey in the spring of 2015, I wanted to tackle a subject that suits both my personal interest and creative passion. I have thought about this project when I first began the program. I wanted to do something related to music (jazz, hip-hop, or Vietnamese) or typography. In the summer of last year, I finally settled on the topic that I am excited about: Vietnamese typography. I am passionate about typography and Vietnamese is deeply personal.
As I become more conscious of typography, I realize that fonts that support Vietnamese writing is extremely limited. The combine of online font services from Typekit and Google Fonts featured thousands of fonts, and yet only a handful could be used to display proper Vietnamese characters. As I am browsing Vietnamese publications to read news or music, many sites, 99% of the time, are still using default system fonts such as Arial, Helvetica and Times New Roman.
With those two issues in mind, the purpose for this project is to introduce the Vietnamese writing system and its unique typographic features to two types of audiences. First, my goal is to help type designers to understand the nuances of Vietnamese letters so they could expand their fonts library to support Vietnamese language. Second, my intention is to guide web and graphic designers in using correct Vietnamese typography in their work.
When I first began my research on the topic, I find my sources to be very limited. The most resources I found were books and only posts on Vietnamese grammar. Nevertheless, they gave me a good start. During the summer of last year, I began putting together a rough draft with the resources that I had combined. I sent the draft to my friend whose language skills are equally impressive in both Vietnamese and English. She sent me back with so much valuable feedback that I have decided to do more research and rewrite everything.
I started doing all of this work before my it was approved for my final project. I didn’t realize that I needed approval until I signed up with an advisor this year to do my research for the project. Luckily when I presented my concept, it was approved immediately. I am now in the process of finding more sources and digesting everything. I have already changed my plan from my original direction, but I still get plenty of time to work on it.
Yesterday, Đán held a flashlight with his left hand and opened my eyelids to exam with his right. After that he instructed me: “Now take off your clothes.” I laughed my ass off. At three and a half, he could be quite charming when he wants to. Unfortunately that only happens about 10 percent of the time. The other 90 percent of the time is quite the oposite.
He is at his worse when he gets up from his nap. He snaps just like that. Somehow Đạo had gone through this routine as well when he was at Đán’s age. Now Đán is doing the same but with a much worst tantrum. I simply can’t cope with it so I let his mom deal with it. She is much better than me.
On Saturday, we took Samantha, Eric and the kids out to bowling. Đán couldn’t wait until his turn to bowl. He simply wanted to bowl continuously. When we tried to explain to him about the game, he kicked he his bowling shoes and pushed him mom. When we couldn’t get him to calm down, we took him out to the car. I guess we won’t come back to bowling until he understands the concept of self-control.
There’s not much to weigh in on Hà Thanh Xuân’s new release, Cuối Tuần Bên Anh. Other than her luscious voice riding cha-cha rhythm as smooth as a glass of Sangria, the album is a typical Asia’s reprocessed productions. Most of the arrangements are dated back to the early ‘90s. As long as Trúc Hồ still holding down the reign, Asia is still stuck in the past two decades. He has more interest in politics than moving the music production forward.
With that said, Cuối Tuần Bên Anh brings back so much nostalgia. A few weeks ago, as I was lounging at the beautiful beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic with a Crazy Monkey in my hand and Hà Thanh Xuân’s album pumping in my Sennheiser, I took a trip down to memory lane. That keyboard lick in the beginning of “Ngựa Hoang” is a Trúc Hồ’s unmistakable arrangement. I still remember rocking that instrumental cha-cha medley album while walking from and to middle school everyday. Damn, those good old days are now long gone.
From Vũ Tuấn Đức’s produced “Tình Đầu Dễ Quên” and “Cuối Tuần Bên Anh” to Trúc Sinh’s “Hãy Vui Đêm Nay” and “Cố Quên” to Sỹ Đan’s “Tình Là Sợi Tơ” and “Bé Yêu,” these familiar sounds, which remain intact, make me wonder what the recording process is like in the studio. Probably something like this. A singer looks up the catalog and picks out a song. The producer finds the pre-recorded arrangement, puts it on and tells the singer to get into the booth and just sing into it. After ten or fifteen songs, they have completed a professional karaoke session. Now they just need to take a few studio pictures, send them over to the graphic department, probably one guy, to Photoshop the hell out of the image and whipped up the album design with some horrendous typefaces. Done!
A big, beautiful coffee table book on Erik Spiekermann, an eminent type and graphic designer. Although his body of work is inspiring to flip through, it would be more insightful to read about his process, like Yves Peter’s “The Making of FF Meta Serif.” I was expecting something along the line of Adrian Frutiger Typefaces.
This morning when I dropped Đán off at his class, the kids were lining up at the door to go somewhere. The boy who stood by the door got his fingers jammed near the hinges. I put my finger between that metal door just to test it out and it hurt like hell. Poor kid. I hope he is doing ok.
Đán didn’t get lectured today because the teacher was busy trying to see of his classmate was OK. As I left for work, he held a girl’s hand and looked back as they were walking somewhere. Yesterday his teacher gave him a lecture on how he should be coming class just like anyone else and not clinging to daddy. Yes, he still does it.
I have to carry him everywhere we go now because he is so used to being carried into class. It’s my fault because I am trying to get him into class as quick as possible because I am always running late for work. My morning exercise has been carrying him on my shoulder and running into his classroom. Now he’s getting used to it.
At home he always chases his brother down and wrestles him. He plays rough with his cousin and disobeys parents. Last night he threw a bucket of toys at me. I yelled and made him picked up all of the toys. After he had done so I asked him why did he do that and he thought that I was laughing at him. I didn’t realize that I did.
This troublesome 3.5 is so stressful. The constant fighting, jumping, and screaming is so exhausting. Đạo had gone through this stage. He’s now well-behaved for most of the time, but his brother is going through it. I really hope this phase goes away soon.
He could be so sweet when he wanted to. He could use his words skillfully when he wanted to. He could also snap so easily. Life with kids just doesn’t get any easier I suppose.
Read this book the first time to learn various punctuations from a variety of sources including AP, APA, Chicago, MLA, and a panel of expert in the field. Knowing the different conventions will help you punctuate with confidence. Read it the second time to learn June Casageande’s clear, concise, and comprehensible writing style. Keep it closed by your desk for punctuation reference.
When Advanced Web Design, a course I supposed to teach this semester, got dropped just a few days before the first class begin, I was devastated. Not because I did not get to teach, but because I needed a four-credit course to finish my Master of Arts in Graphic Design in the fall. Teaching was to be counted toward my studio elective class.
Out of desperation to fill in my elective, I proposed to write a little book on web typography. To my amazement, my professor accepted it and agreed to be my advisor. Even though this is something I am passionate about and have wanted to do it for a while, I had never written anything longer than a blog post. Though I am not a writer, I would like to take on the challenge.
One of the reasons I wanted to write this book is to scratch my own itch. In recent years, typography is exploded on the web, but I haven’t found a book that teaches me professional typography and shows me the CSS techniques at the same time.
When Jason Santa Maria released his book On Web Typography last summer, I was thrilled. Finally someone who is well respected in the industry wrote a book on this topic. On Web Typography is an excellent read and I highly recommend it, but Jason chose to leave out the codes. His reason is that the codes will get outdated quickly and he wanted his book to stay relevant for years to come. I understand his intention.
As for my little book, the primary purpose is to get an “A” for my four-credit independent study, but I would also like to publish it online. It won’t be printed or in an e-book format. I have decided to publish it in HTML for three main reasons: it could be read on any device; I have control of the design; and I can continue to update it as the codes continue to change.
The book will be online in early May. I will model after Mathew Butterick’s approach on how to pay for this book. All contents will be available for you to read. If you like what you read, you can pay for it in any amount you like to support. The book will be out in early May.
From content to media to performance, Dutson’s book covers all things responsive with the right balance of strategy and techniques. The discussion on sliders alone should be read by the decision makers and conditional JavaScript (also on sliders) should be read by the developers. It’s a good source to pass around with your team.
Jazz fans will be disappointed in Diana Krall’s latest release, Wallflower, once again. She offers no sense of swing and no chops on the piano. At 50 with a dozen albums under her belt, Krall needs to prove no further that she has skills. In covering hits from the ’70s and ’80s, Krall sets out to please no one else but herself.
With Elton John’s “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word,” she takes the opposite direction from the original. Whereas Elton soars on the chorus, Krall drowns deep down as if she is totally burned out. With John and Michelle Phillips’ “California Dreamin’,” she sounds completely fatigued in the beginning against the dead-slow string orchestration. Even when the arrangement switches to bossa nova, she has no motivation to push her delivery. With The Eagles’ “Desperado,” her voice gets so harsh that she could almost passed for Ryan Adams.
Krall is a “Superstar” and she also understands that “Loneliness is such a sad affair.” Accompanied by David Foster’s sensuous but passive orchestration, Krall gives the Carpenters’ ballad a new sense of sultriness. On the title track, Bob Dylan is heard in Krall’s delivery, but with a sense of exhaustion.
Other than the rock-up “Yeh Yeh,” a duet with Georgie Fame himself, Wallflower is a slow burner. The songs are familiar and you will be disappointed if you’re expecting some innovative reinterpretations. If you’re in the mood to hear your favorite songs covered in the most intimate and sullen ways, however, you’re in for a relaxing treat.