Như Ý’s sixth release kicks off with an alluring rendition of “Mưa Trên Biển Vắng.” Sadly, the rest of the album featured catchy but forgettable pop songs. It’s a damn shame to hear such a seducing voice is being wasted. Then again, she only spent two months putting seven tracks together.

With his unique Korean-Irish background, Steve Byrne championed jokes on stereotype. From Black, White, Asian to gay, Byrne spares no races and genders in his latest stand-up special. Champion is available on NetFlix for some energetic, comical pleasure.

This is not a brag, but a celebration. I was surprised to learn that I have received an A+ for my graduate course on Professional Design Practices. It’s the first A+ I have ever earned in all my academic life.

Even though grade matters, I didn’t care much. In my undergrad, all I ever hoped for was a C. I had to drop two classes (U.S history and literature) and made them up over the summer at community college simply because I couldn’t even get a passing grade. Those were the embarrassing moments. Needless to say, my undergrad GPA was just a bit above average. Fortunately the type of work that I do don’t require high GPA. I focused most of time building my portfolio to land me a job. It worked out well for me.

When I started the graduate program, I didn’t expect much either even though I put tons of effort into my projects. My grades have been good so far, but A+ was the first time ever. With Professional Design Practices, I knew that I have many weaknesses even though I have a strong portfolio. I came in to learn presentation skills, how to best present my work, how to speak up and state my opinion. It opened up my door for me to be more confidence.

Alexander Lawson’s Anatomy of a Typeface is an informative historical study of classic typefaces starting from Goudy Text and the Black-letter Types. Each typeface was designed to serve a particular purpose and Lawson explores the reasons behind it. It’s on my re-read list.

In Shaping Text, Jan Middendorp writes:

A good jazz musician will master different styles and genres in order to feel in control in various formations or in jam sessions. A professional graphic designer, too, will have to improvise and find ways of communicating all kinds of contents in all kinds of circumstances.

In Design Elements: Typography Fundamentals, Cullen writes:

Type for the web, as well as digital devices and gestural interfaces, meet challenges because conditions vary, unlike fixed mediums such as print. Multiple browsers, platforms, and screen sizes present type differently. Typefaces suited to one might not suit another. Expect the unexpected in digital realms. Be flexible and responsive. Digital formats know no bounds. Unlimited virtual space offers potential unseen in other areas.

In the introduction of Designing Type, author Karen Cheng writes:

Type is the visual manifestation of language. It is instrumental in turning characters into words, and words into messages. In music, the quality of an individual singer can completely change the experience of a composition. In communication, type is the visual equivalent of an audible voice – a tangible link between writer and reader.

In the preface of Letters of Credit, Tracy argues:

The use of typography is a matter of taste as well as sense; and the fact that typographic letter forms are an inexhaustible source of interest and pleasure is a thing to be grateful for.

His view on type as human creation:

Not long ago it was taken for granted that the people most interested in type faces were those who used them, or actually created them: typographers, publishers, printers and, of course, type designers themselves. But in recent years another set of people, quite different from those with direct involvement, have developed an interest in printing types. They are the academics—the mathematicians, computer scientists, psychologists, even philosophers—who have found it worth their time to theorise about the nature of letter forms as human creation, one of the things that other animals do not have.

He concludes:

Typography may be no more than ‘a minor technicality of civilised life’, as Stanley Morison remarked, but it deserves the best we can give it.

In White, Hara writes:

Despite the cultural boundary between East and West, and the technological gap dividing those civilizations, the sense of beauty attached to typeface has been cultivated through the simple act of placing characters on paper. In this regard, Guttenburg’s cast type and Chinese woodcut printing share a common feature. Letters became independent objects through the sheer fact of being printed in black on white paper.

Overwhelmed with the use of colors he encountered on the streets, graphic designer Kenya Hara turned to white as the most basic and necessary element in his work. This is a short yet fascinating read on the perception of White, emptiness and their essential role in graphic design.