67b

67b · a speculative journal

Notes from a studio that doesn't exist.

A slowly growing collection of ideas about type, print, and quiet digital — written as if there were a studio to write them from. There isn't. That's rather the point.

I · Aphorisms

Six things a studio like this might hold to.

General principles. No authority claimed. No one employed by them.

  1. Start with the text.
  2. If it needs a legend, it needs redrawing.
  3. White space is paid for; spend it.
  4. Default to letterpress; escalate if earned.
  5. Small is finished; big is expensive.
  6. Taste is a muscle, not a personality.

II · A field map

Things an imagined practice might — or might not — take on.

Not an offer sheet. A taxonomy exercise: the territory a small type-and-print studio could plausibly work in, and the territory it probably shouldn't pretend to. Hover for the reasoning.

Typography Setting text so it reads itself without you noticing.
Identity A mark, a grid, a set of rules — for an organisation that means to last.
Book design Interior, cover, dust jacket, endpapers, signature layout. All of it.
Catalogue Exhibition, trade, collection. Object-of-record for a specific moment.
Signage Wayfinding systems for buildings that respect themselves.
Editorial Periodicals, journals, annual reports — long-horizon reading.
Packaging Only if the object inside earns it.
Web Typography-first, static, one author, no login.
Exhibition Design for physical rooms — panels, maps, wall text.
Advertising Nothing to add here.
Motion A different medium. A different studio.
Social If it's worth saying, it's worth a better channel.

Core territory · Edge cases · Outside the frame

III · Open questions

Things an imagined studio might keep coming back to.

Not claims. Not projects. Questions worth taking seriously if someone arrived with them. File this under thinking aloud.

  1. Q.01 What if a public library's signage were drawn by one hand, not a committee? — wayfinding
  2. Q.02 Could a municipal typeface pay for itself in ten years of printed forms? — civic type
  3. Q.03 How small can a trade catalogue be before buyers stop taking it seriously? — print economics
  4. Q.04 Is there a book cover that works equally well at 25mm thumbnail and 250mm on a shelf? — book jackets
  5. Q.05 Would an annual report be read more if it were half the length and bound properly? — editorial
  6. Q.06 What would it take to redraw one road sign well enough that nobody notices? — invisible work
  7. Q.07 Could an independent press run a subscription model with one book a quarter, letterpress, no returns? — publishing
  8. Q.08 Does a museum need wall text at all if the objects are labelled honestly? — exhibition

IV · Reference shelf

Real books, publicly available.

Eight in-print references a practice of this shape might keep within arm's reach. These exist; they're easy to find second-hand. Everything else on this site is invented.

  • §
    The Elements of Typographic Style Robert Bringhurst · 4th ed.
    fundamentals
  • §
    Manuale Typographicum Hermann Zapf · 1954 / 1968
    specimens
  • §
    Pioneers of Modern Typography Herbert Spencer · 1969
    history
  • §
    Designing Books Jost Hochuli & Robin Kinross · 1996
    book design
  • §
    Grid Systems in Graphic Design Josef Müller-Brockmann · 1981
    grids
  • §
    New Typography Jan Tschichold · 1928 / 1995
    manifesto
  • §
    Counterpunch Fred Smeijers · 1996
    type design
  • §
    Thinking with Type Ellen Lupton · 2010
    teaching

67b is one of a small set of imagined publications by Tabaconda LLC. It has no staff, no clients, no services for sale. If you enjoy the exercise, you're welcome.