New Book Release: Inspiration and Process in Design

 
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Our latest book, Louise Fili: Inspiration and Process in Design, is part of a Moleskine/Princeton Architectural Press series which also showcases Paul Rand, Seymour Chwast, and Milton Glaser. Profusely illustrated with sketches, reference, and comps for personal and commercial projects, it even includes practical advice for how to make a proper script out of cooked bucatini.

 
 
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Montecatini Pro is Here!

 

We are pleased to announce the expansion of our font, Montecatini, into twenty-four alluring styles, spanning six weights and four widths. In its successful first release in 2017, the typeface introduced distinctive ligatures typical of the time when Art Nouveau emerged as a worldwide phenomenon.

With the addition of these new styles, Montecatini Pro now has a dynamic capacity for comprehensive usage. Everything looks better in Montecatini, from book jackets to monograms to packaging and logos—and the wide selection of ligatures, weights, and widths make copyfitting a delight.

Montecatini Pro is available for purchase at MyFonts. If you are interested in learning more about the typeface, please take a look at our mini-site

 

Marseille, now in six weights

 
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Introducing the Marseille family! The elegantly thin lines of the original LFL typeface have been expanded into six irresistible weights: thin, light, regular, medium, semibold, and bold. All weights feature both upper and lower case, support for over 200 languages, and several alternate characters. With these new features, designers and type lovers alike are assured to be better equipped to explore the distinctive flair that exudes La Belle France.

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Mardell is Here

 
 

We were thrilled to be invited to design a font for the Hamilton Wood Type Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Mardell (named after veteran pantograph operator Mardell Doubeck) is an Italian Futurist-inspired typeface that was cut out of wood to print a specimen sheet as well as a trio of posters celebrating Italian cuisine. Carciofi, Affogato, Pennette, or Zabaione anyone? 

The font can be ordered in wood (bill@woodtype.org) or digital formats.

 
 

for purchasing options, see links above.

The Masters Series: Louise Fili

 
 

School of Visual Arts will honor Louise Fili with the 28th annual Masters Series Award and Exhibition. “The Masters Series: Louise Fili” will be the first comprehensive retrospective of her forty-year career and include book jacket, branding, food packaging, and restaurant identity work. The exhibition will be on view through December 10 at the SVA Gramercy Gallery. Hours are Monday through Friday 9:00am to 7:00pm and Saturday 10:00am to 6:00pm.

 

WORDS AND PICTURES, PARTIE DEUX

 
 

Stressed over your Bastille Day shopping? Fear not: Graphique de la Rue has arrived! Following the success of Grafica della Strada, this new book of signs is Louise’s typographic love letter to Paris. From the iconic neon script for La Coupole to the deco elegance of the Folies Bergère, Graphique delivers endless inspiration from the City of Light.

And when words fail, let these notecards do the talking: Quatre Mots Français, four essential French words—merci, salut, bisous, plaisir—in designs inspired by the art deco ironwork of Paris. Both are available now for pre-order. Vive la France!

FIRENZE A COLORI

 
 

Good news for Italophiles: the dollar is strong again and our updated guide to artisan shops in Florence has just been released! The Cognoscenti’s Guide to Florence, written with Lise Apatoff, takes you on a tour from Aqua Flor, a profumeria that will create your own custom scent, to Zecchi, a legendary art supply store with a dazzling display of colored dry pigments. If you can’t bring home the exquisite colors, no matter at all: our newest pencils, Tutti Frutti, have also just arrived—double-sided with complementary hues. Buon viaggio!

Both are published by princeton architectural press

 
 

ELEGANTISSIMA: THE EXHIBIT

 
 

You’ve read the book…now see the exhibit! Elegantissima: The Design and Typography of Louise Fili opens at the Art Director’s Club on Wednesday, September 10th from 6–8:30pm. Designed by the incomparable Kevin O’Callaghan, this exhibit comprises work from four decades displayed in different conceptually thematic room environments. Walk through a vintage library filled with books, book jackets, and illustrative copyright pages; a recreated bistro packed with restaurant menus, logos and business cards; a Depression-era kitchen area featuring food package and label designs; and a haute-couture boudoir (with a deep violet fainting couch) draped with intimate apparel.

The exhibit runs from Monday, September 8th–Friday, September 19th.

 
 

Words and Pictures

 
 

Grafica della Strada is Louise’s typographic love letter to Italy: a photographic diary of a forty-year obsession with signs from Torino to Taormina, and just about everywhere else in between—in gold leaf, mosaic, marble, brass, ceramic, enamel, wrought iron, and neon. Books are available for pre-order starting today!

And if our new book should render you speechless, you might also consider Quattro Parole Italiane, a boxed set of handsomely designed notecards that will allow you to say thank you, best wishes, or even just hello with great graphic panache.

Perfetto

 
 

We love our collection of 1930s Italian pencil boxes. Our most preferred are the two-color, double-sided pencils, commonly in red and blue, for teachers to correct homework. (“Errore lieve, segno rosso; errore grave, segno blu”: red for a minor infringement, blue for a serious offense.) When Princeton Architectural Press invited us to come up with a line of gift products, the two-tone pencils seemed perfect—thus the name. Steering clear of blue, our least favorite color, we opted for our signature red and black. No eraser, by the way. Who makes errori? Buy