New Font: BigBlok
A great many years ago when working in game publishing I had a real fascination with doing titles in a strong, super-bold font called Bolt Bold. The truth is I rather overused it. In doing some research I find it on more than a dozen different game books I wrote in the early 80s, all quite collectable and out of print today.
Don’t Miss Flatstock 33 at SXSW
Every year one of the best parts of the giant SXSW everything festival here in Austin is the Flatstock paper show brought to the Austin Convention Center by the American Poster Institute. The music and the video and the other aspects of the festival are great and way too crowded, but I find the posters and graphic arts materials at the Flatstock show way more intriguing.
It’s basically just a huge hall with hundreds of booths where independent poster designers show their wares and some of the posters are really interesting examples of original design work. Many of them use interesting fonts and found art, and there’s a great diversity of styles. It’s a wonderland for fans of contemporary graphic design.
I’ve been wanting to take a booth at Flatstock to promote fonts because a lot of the posters use our fonts, but to sneak in I’d need to have some posters to sell, and selection for the show is heavily biased towards rock show posters, which isn’t exactly my forte, though I’ve been tempted to put together a portfolio of completely bogus poster designs for shows by nonexistent bands, just to get a table at the show. But for now I’m going to have to settle for just reviewing the show and the coolest posters in it, as I did last year and the year before.
Look for my next review this weekend, and if you happen to be in Austin for SXSW don’t forget to stop by Flatstock 33 at the Austin Convention Center. It runs from now through Sunday.
East Austin Studio Tour
At the risk of doing a little too much promotion of things going on in Austin, I have to put in a plug for the East Austin Studio Tour which is going on all this week.
If you’re lucky enough to live in the Austin area, this tour of over 100 studios and events is not to be missed if you have an interest in any aspect of the arts. There are live music events, traditional art studios, street markets, folk art and even a blacksmithing competition – something for everyone at a time of year when the weather is beautiful and perfect for wandering the streets of converted warehouse studios which have become the home of a thriving artists community in east Austin.
The interractive online map is an essential if you want to check out the activities, because there’s an awful lot going on, a lot of it in venues you might not recognize without a guide.
It’s a great opportunity if you’re in Austin and maybe worth a trip if you’re not too far away.
