Paul Renner’s quest for “sachlich” created a typeface that is as technically astute as it is elegant — Futura was born alongside a rash of German grotesque typefaces that were created in the late 1920s. These typefaces had their roots in the progressive, modernist zeitgeist of the period. At one point, after some initial resistance, Futura was co-opted to serve Nazi propaganda. Its huge popularity with American printers…

The ghost in the machine of “corporate vanilla” — As an archetypical jock with a military dad, Andy Roddick possessed the background, work ethic, and attitude of a champion. In 2003, Roddick won his first US Open trophy. It was widely expected that he would have a record-breaking career and would dominate tennis in the tradition of American greats…

Bhakti as typography — As the 1930s got into their full swing, a new demand for display and logo typefaces was seen across Europe. The expanding scale of industrial production meant that the global economy was orienting increasingly towards an ever-growing market of consumer goods and services. Large typeface design corporations like Monotype quickly…

The Hong Kong inquest into the death of superstar Bruce Lee in 1973 required a professor of medicine to be flown in from London. This is the story of that man. — I. A Saturday evening in 1960’s Middlesex, UK. A young man, of about mid-twenty in age, is discovered brutally injured from fight injuries in a side-lane. He is barely alive and does not survive thirty hours in hospital. In their murder investigation, the police struggle to find evidence that will…

Edward Johnston’s diamond-shaped “tittle” and the origins of a classic typeface design — In London’s central Piccadilly Circus shopping and entertainment district, giant electronic hoardings encircle a statue of Eros that treads one-footed upon a fountain. An ever-flowing river of pedestrians, spilling out of shops and restaurants, circumambulates the fountain’s platform. The fountain is raised by a hexagonal rise of steps. Tourists and…

Hitler pretended he was a great intellectual but his mental calibre never progressed beyond genre young adult cowboy novels — Hitler’s racial supremacist world-view had many powerful sympathisers beyond Germany, especially in America and England. Hitler loved cars and deeply admired Henry Ford. This was because Ford was not just an immensely popular industrialist, escaped from an Ayn Rand novel, but also a legendary anti-semite. Adolf Hitler prominently displayed a…

Relax. David Hockney can draw. — Let me simplify this for you: it’s called naive art (ordinarily, this term refers to art made by people without formal training). Yes, I know you have an opinion. I mean who could deny you one? Yes, it counts. No, I’m not being sarcastic. Okay, a little. Yes. You do…

Why politicians use multiple pens to sign landmark documents — Watching Joe Biden getting ready to dismantle some of Donald Trump’s most odious executive orders in his first day in office as the 46th President of the United States of America, I was a bit baffled. Every time he signed a new folder, he reached for a box of pens…

Maggi Hambling’s tribute to Mary Wollstonecraft lit up a bleak winter with some social media pyrotechnics — One morning in November 1924, readers perusing their Morning Post (one assumes served by a butler, crisply-ironed on a tray with their bed-tea) were informed of a grievance in the form of a public letter. The signatories demanded the removal of the newly unveiled sculpture in Hyde Park with as…