The most recent copy of Communication Arts magazine arrived in our postbox today. We didn’t expect 10 full pages on Underware, especially not after we received an email from the author that due to a lack of space ‘complete sections had to be left out’. They truly love pics, but they seem to adore A-Z. Rather surprising way to present typefaces for the ‘largest international trade journal of visual communications’. Anyway, now in the bookstore, library & online (paywall-alert).

When we ran out of out letterheads a while ago, we asked our parents to design our new stationery. They probably expected their designer-sons to design letterheads for them, not the other way around. But all six came up with an original, unique approach. Connoisseurs identify national distinctions, others just notice struggle mixed with experiment. We are just proud to have our own letterheads designed by our own parents.

See them all: http://underware.nl/lettering

The ‘Book of war, mortification and love’ contains a little note:

Wanna get the full voluntary suffering experience?

Step 1: Write down the page numbers of every page in this book containing the word ‘pain’.

Step 2: Send the page numbers to the publisher and earn the Authentic Martyr Certificate.

A while ago we received this handwritten letter:

Dear Mick, thanks for your letter.

We received plenty of emails which mentioned the correct page numbers, but as a true martyr you were the only one who candidly understood that real sufferers don’t send emails. They write a letter by hand instead. Well done, our compliments.

Additionally we should compliment you with the correct page numbers, you passed the test. Furthermore we appreciate your use of language, deepest hope to be granted the certificate for official martyr-dom (which actually should be martyrdom, but we’ll turn our blind eye to that). If that ain’t enough, you send us your compliments: I absolutely loved the book. The stories sometimes really got to me in an emotional way. Brilliant! We forgot to tell we don’t like to receive compliments, we like to suffer as much as we can. These 2 sentences almost destroyed your achievement, but we will be generous with you.

Handwritten & correct page numbers & correct language. Well, well, well. Scoring 3 out of 3 means you’re the only person ever to sincerely deserve the Authentic Martyr Certificate. Please find it enclosed in this envelop. In case you’re hoping to receive a nicely designed certificate, you should have known better. True sufferers are proud to have a Microsoft Word template on their wall, which reminds them every day of their god damn life that suffering is learning.

Keep suffering!

Underware

All we ever wanted was a search engine… What started with ‘Hey, shouldn’t we add a search engine to our website?’, ended with a complete revision of the website. After updating and improving our website for eight years, that was about time. Redesigned, restructured and build from scratch. New functionalities, bla die bla. Just see it yourself. Well, at least previewing type at 350 pts. ain’t a problem anymore with these wide images. And the search engine? Yes, that made it to the final version as well.

You’ll also find some recent overlooked projects on the updated website, like the hand lettered logotype for Jet Cooper and the intelligent handwriting typeface of Mr Porter. Petty fact: 10 years after our first blog post, we finally have a real blog! And with that new search engine you can suddenly search a decade of disguised niceties of our old Walhalla-section. Enjoy!

Want to read naked in a sauna but attached to your privacy? Travel often but don’t want to skip your daily sauna moments? This Unique High Quality Portable Infrared Sauna is affordable and can be used in privacy of your home or apartment or any living environment without large spaces & special wiring. Read naked anytime, everywhere.

update 14 Feb: oldskool video

Dear sir/madam,

Have a nice day!

I am Cindy, from Xuzhou healthland sauna equipment Co., Ltd here. Do you import sauna from China?

(more…)

A couple of months after our post which mentioned you could sleep with both Bello and Sauna, we spotted this typographic bastard in Helsinki. Something in between Bello and Sauna. Maybe someone took that post too literally?

Underware’s Mid November Tornado Tour 2010

Helsinki, 13 November
Make the Ego Bigger II (typeworkshop + lecture)
time: 10.00 – 14.30 o’clock
Grafia, Uudenmaankatu 11 B 9, Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki, 18 November
Next(con)text, seminar on typography and type
time: 14.00 o’clock
Media Factory & Department of Media
Media Centre Lume, Sampo Hall, Helsinki, Finland

Amsterdam, 18 November
BNO Tallks 6
time: 19.00 o’clock
Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Belfast, 19 November
the Bello-Eats-Liza-Fakir-Auto-Sauna-Tornado
time: 13.00 o’clock
University of Ulster, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Copenhagen, 19 November
Beyond the words
time: 09.00 — 16.00 o’clock
Conceptual Type — Type led by ideas
The Black Diamond, The Royal Library, Copenhagen, Denmark

Design the new Caribbean guilder symbol.

On 1 January 2012 Curaçao and St. Maarten (since yesterday 2 islands of the former Netherlands Antilles) will introduce the new Caribbean guilder as their national currency. This new currency needs a new symbol. In recent years there have been some new monetary symbols introduced. Most notably the Euro in 1996, Hryvnia in 2004, Rupee in 2010. This has shown that the introduction of a new currency symbol is a delicate moment. Fingers crossed. Let’s wait till the first committee fucks up the introduction of the new Caribbean guilder symbol.

If the government doesn’t manage to introduce a successful monetary symbol for its new currency, people will just write the currency at length (eg. 24,50 Cmg). Honestly, how often do Europeans still write (by hand!) 24,50 Euro instead of €24,50 just to avoid confusion?

Current fashion could quickly cause that the new currency symbol would look like “something + 1 or 2 horizontal bars”. But is that really necessary? Here is a sketch of a combined ‘c’ (caribbean) with a ‘ƒ’ (florin):

But even more important: whatever it looks like, you have to able to write this new symbol with your big toe in the sand (ũ Kurt Weidemann). Rough, small, quick and dirty, the symbol should survive. Even when written by a local barkeeper on the back of a beer mat, drunk as he is:

Hopefully this issue will draw enough attention, despite of the fact there are substantially less users of this currency than the Rupee. How predictable will it be? Let’s wait till the new official committee meets for the first time (men only). Let’s wait for the public contest of the authorities. Let’s wait for the shadow-contests of typophiles, wait for @fontblog’s call for submissions, wait for type designers’ comments in international media, wait for the offical presentation followed by tons of critique. And then let’s wait for the moment we discovered we could have done better.

Kuantu e ta kosta? See you in 2012.