Typeradio Podcast

Jay is fresh from India. He just spent a month there as a visiting professor at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, giving a crash course in typography. He is totally convinced that India is going to kick Europe’s ass very soon. Indians are hungry, they have commitment, they want to show their skills, while Germany for example is fat and satisfied with its existing typographic heritage. Watch out, an Indian three wheeler will soon drive over Mercedes Benz!

When Jay was small, his uncle Pete worked downstairs on illustrations and book covers. When he was 16 he found a book at the local library about advertising typography by accident. Silk screen experiments. Teaching gigs in the mid 80’s. Printing shops. Keyboard short cuts in InDesign. Johannes Itten and the colours of old Bauhaus buildings. —Jay tells the whole story of becoming what he is today.

How did native Canadian Jay Rutherford end up with a professorate at the Art and Design Faculty of the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany? What’s the main difference between Canadians and Germans? Is he ever considering going back to Canada? Being a teacher, the students’ respect sometimes comes years later: ‘I’m sorry, I was such a jerk when I was your student, but thanks a lot’.

Professor R. K. Joshi has a beautiful morning ritual: as soon as he gets up he gives water to the plants. Then, standing first to the east, he drinks water in all ten directions one by one. Stay tuned, more rituals to follow. And finally, an unbeatable praise for speech, for spoken word.

R. K. Joshi has three books that he values as his gurus. Those books made him fall in love with the calligraphy, to the whole process of how you concentrate, how you take care of the tools, to spiritualism of calligraphy. Sound of words. For him, the sounds are more important than the written meaning of word – a good example is the holy syllable ‘om’.

‘You’re not a master of your own creative work – the master is your assignment. You do your work, and then leave this world.’ Why signing works is not part of general Indian philosophy? This podcast contains a fantastic side track to R. K. Joshi’s cooking habits and to his favorite dish. Does R. K. Joshi’s two daughters follow daddy’s artistic activities?

R. K. Joshi gives a short introduction to India’s 22 languages, to their common phonetic sounds. Maybe it’s possible to develop a common script for all Indian languages? What kind of difficulties are there? Why did it take his whole life to reintroduce Indian calligraphy for Indian students, and why the task is still not finished? About his passion to carry the aesthetics of old time Indian scripts for new digital tools and typefaces. Who was the first guy in India to carve text on the stone, during King Ashoka’s time?

Professor R. K. Joshi is designer, artist, calligrapher and poet. Multi-lingual communication, art history and reviving of India’s calligraphic tradition are close to his heart. Currently he is working as a Visiting Design Specialist at National Centre for Software Technology (NCST) in the area of language technology and type design. Typeradio talked with R. K. Joshi at ATypI in Lisbon, September 2006. He talks about his long affair with calligraphic books, how he got in to an Indian advertising agency and how he got inspired by Italian writing masters like Arrighi. In the early days of his career he went to a printing press to learn practical problems in Indian typography. He was also keen on to bring western influences to Indian scripts.

Phil Baines talks about British graphic design in the 80’s, graphic design rockstars, his You Can Read Me font for the Fuse project, his current projects and what he would have on his gravestone and which carver would carve it.

Phil Baines talks about his own design education, what he doesn’t like about type design, why graphic design is more important than type design, his favorite typefaces and the Penguin Great Ideas project.

Phil Baines is graphic designer, Professor of Typography, curator and teacher at St. Martins College in London. After studying to be a catholic priest, he switched to graphic design. He reflects on how religion still plays a part in his life, a strange ritual, relaxation, his favorite books, teaching and the changes in design education. Typeradio talked with Phil Baines at ATypi in Lisbon, September 2006.

Diederik talks about his start in type design. Self-taught Andreu says he would like to be a student again, if he wasn’t a designer. He talks about his font designs, both revivals as well as originals. His revivals are neither plagiarism nor nostalgia, he is aware of his work’s role in Spanish typographic history. Andreu’s mother is happy with what he does, Diederik’s parents are not quite, although he always wanted to be a designer.

Is there typical Spanish design? The difference between Spanish and Catalonian design, the pros and cons of globalisation. Andreus role in Spanish typographic history. Andreu talks about his font foundry Type Republic and the Garcia Fonts project.

Andreu Balius is a graphic and type-designer from Barcelona, Diederik Corvers is one from Rotterdam. They talk about religion, working as a designer in Barcelona and Rotterdam, mountain biking as relaxation, favorite dishes, heroes. What is typical Spanish or Dutch design?

Roger Black reflects on ‘design equity’, his work on the Baltimore Sun, the importance of verbal skills in graphic design, the ‘intellectualisation’ of design and recent developments in typography.