Live the Love
I have spent the past 4 evenings of this week at Cooper Union here in NYC, participating in lectures at Typemasters Week NYC (thanks to my amazing typography teacher Maurizio Masi at the Art Institute of New York City for putting me on). This is my first time getting a chance to participate in anything like this, and it was quite insightful and exciting for me. I got to listen to Erik Spiekermann, Cyrus Highsmith, Ale Paul and Luc(as) de Groot, all major influences in the worlds of typography. The highlight for me, without a doubt, was listening to and meeting Ale Paul, a wonderfully talented type and package designer from Argentina.
In what turns out to be a very disappointing fail, I left my camera at home during yesterday’s lecture. Ale Paul is the designer who I connected best with through his lecture, work and design aesthetic. I would have loved to record a few clips of some of his lecture, but it’s okay. My memory will serve me well and I took a ton of notes. A ridiculous amount of notes, including quotes of things he said that resonated with me. As his story unfolded, he explained to the audience how he manifested his inspirations and desire to create real solutions through design. Ale’s lecture was informative, comfortable, accessible and laced with just the right amount of humor to keep it moving along smoothly.
Ale originally worked in package design and has been designing type for about 8 years now. He always seems to use his inspiration supported by research to create his typographic design solutions. His original goal was to think of solutions for product/packaging… for example “What kind of typeface would you use for cheese?” Packaging is around us everywhere, so it makes sense that the typeface(s) used represent or add to the design direction of a product, event or idea. Another example was how many people get tattoos with typefaces (including himself), and the typefaces don’t look as great as they should. With lots of studying and research, he designed “Piel Script” which is a beautiful typeface created specifically for tattoos (piel means skin in Spanish, so Skin Script).
Ale believes in showing the client the way his typefaces can be used. He creates unique specimens (manuals) as well as photonovels, short films or pieces with illustrations to add to his design. Ale says, “For me, making specimens is a way to link my work with the user… showing the typeface in action. It makes an emotional connection with the client.” And isn’t that what we all want? For the client to feel emotional about our designs? An emotional reaction means the client feels that connection and believes in the design, and in turn believes in us.
Ale has had a fascination with script style fonts, ever since he was in school. He would see these styles in books and signage, and had a great appreciation for them. However, he was always told by teachers and professionals that there were only 5 typefaces to design with, and that scripts were for “fantasy”. He set out to prove them wrong… now having designed over 100 typefaces within the 8 years since he started type design, he is showing the world that indeed script is not for fantasy and can be used in many facets of design as a legitimate solution. You can check out Ale’s beautiful and well designed typefaces by clicking here or pointing your browser to http://sudtipos.com/home
"Eight years (ago) I was without work, and now my font is on Levi’s Jeans. I wear Levi’s! I cannot express in words how this feels. But it could happen to anyone!"
Hearing him say this reaffirmed how strongly I know I will succeed… YES! I will succeed! It can happen to anyone! After Ale’s wonderful lecture, he was selling some of his limited edition prints. I decided to introduce myself in person as I had contacted him earlier that week on Facebook and he responded briefly. Upon introducing myself, he remembered me and we spoke for a bit. He was kind enough to answer a few of my questions and allowed me to take home one of his prints… the print features one of his most recent typefaces, “Poem Script” on a gorgeous metallic gold background with the phrase “Live the Love / Happy Together” surrounded by lush glyphs (the ornamental designs and birds) that are included in the actual typeface design. I know that the phrase is exactly what I am doing right now and am so happy and honored to own a unique piece of Ale’s work that represents such a special time in my life.
Before I left, I told Ale a bit about how I ended up at the Art Institute of New York City for design. He asked me, “Are you happy?”, to which I replied “I am happier than I’ve ever been”. And he replied, “Then I am happy that you are happy!”
And that is what it’s all about, ladies and gents… Happiness! If you have not already, do whatever it takes to find yours! A special thank you to TDC, Cooper Union and Ale Paul. This was a wonderful experience and Ale has truly inspired me in ways that I will always remember and keep close to my heart.
