Folder Office

White trim on a red front

admin — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 01:26:34 +0000

TypeSelf-initiated study, not a commission

ReferencesTwo CC0 photographs

OutputA border in three sizes

ColoursTwo

Question

The building is almost entirely one red, broken by white fretwork along every eave, porch and gable. Its character comes from the trim, not from any sign.

Study

We redrew one run of fretwork as a repeating border tile, then reduced it until it failed. Below a certain size the cut-outs fill in, so the set has three versions: full detail for signs, simplified for print, and a plain scalloped line for small stationery.

The reference: white fretwork on every eave and gable.

A contrast: one bright banner against a front of carved grey stone.

Kept

Two colours and one border were enough to make a letterhead feel related to the building. The simplified tile is the one we would actually print.

A banner against carved stone

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 01:26:34 +0000

TypeSelf-initiated study, not a commission

ReferencesTwo CC0 photographs

OutputA banner proportion sheet

TimeTwo days

Question

The building’s name is carved across the frieze in widely spaced capitals. It is permanent and reads best from directly across the street. The banner on the pier beside the entrance changes with the season and has to work at a glance from the pavement.

Study

We traced both from the photograph at the same scale. The inscription runs the full width of the front. The banner stacks three short lines of condensed capitals below a block of colour, with a small mark at the foot. Measured against the columns, the banner’s letters are taller than the carved ones, on a fraction of the width.

Reference one: the carved name above, three stacked words on the banner.

Reference two, a different library. Indoors, the rows of desks do the directing.

Kept

A one-page sheet relating banner width to letter height, and a rule: a temporary sign earns its place by saying less than the building around it. We check new sign drafts against it.

A route card from a coastal fingerpost

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 01:26:34 +0000

TypeSelf-initiated study, not a commission

ReferencesTwo CC0 photographs

Format105 × 148 mm card, printed both sides

LanguagesTwo, as on the sign

Question

A trail post above a small marina carries two arrow boards. Each line gives a place, a pictogram and a distance, and names appear in two languages where they differ. Could a printed route card borrow that order and nothing else?

Study

We reset the lower board as a typesetting exercise: names on the left, symbols in a fixed column, distances aligned on the decimal comma. Then we set an invented twelve-stop coastal walk the same way, on a card small enough to hold up beside the sign.

The reference: place, symbol and distance, in that order on every line.

For comparison: one name given three ways, rather than many names given one way.

Kept

Aligned distances made the card quicker to scan than any version with leader dots. The three-column grid is now the default for our route and timetable drafts.

Captions for a case of small figures

admin — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 01:26:34 +0000

TypeSelf-initiated study, not a commission

ReferencesTwo CC0 photographs

Layouts testedThree

TimeOne week

Question

The case holds a crowd of small white figures in one long row, and the only text is a small bilingual label at the right-hand end. Anyone reading it stands with their back to most of the sculptures.

Study

We mocked up three alternatives over the photograph: one longer label at the end, short labels along the plinth, and a row of small numbers on the glass keyed to a printed sheet. The numbers kept the figures clear and let the text stay as long as it needed to be.

The reference case. Its one label sits below the last few figures.

A second reference: exhibition banners seen between columns, from the street.

Kept

Numbers on the glass, words on paper. Our caption drafts now start by marking where a visitor stands while reading.

Column spacing as a page grid

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2026 01:26:34 +0000

TypeSelf-initiated study, not a commission

ReferencesTwo CC0 photographs

Mock-upsLetterhead, booking form, door sign

TimeThree weeks

Question

Buildings with classical fronts often end up with a logo drawn from their columns. We wanted to borrow the spacing instead, and see whether the result still felt like it belonged to the same kind of building.

Study

From the photograph we measured the bay between columns, the column width and the depth of the band above. That gave a page grid of wide bays, narrow gutters and a heavy top margin. We set a letterhead, a one-page booking form and a door sign on it for an invented civic hall.

Bay, column and the band above: the three measurements behind the grid.

The same measuring exercise indoors, where arches set the rhythm for the desks.

Kept

The grid held up on the plain booking form, where a column logo would have looked out of place. It is now a starting grid in our identity files.

One station name in three scripts

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 01:26:34 +0000

TypeSelf-initiated study, not a commission

ReferencesTwo CC0 photographs

ScriptsThree

OutputA type-pairing sheet

Question

The board stacks one station name in Malayalam, Devanagari and Latin capitals, black on yellow, on two posts at the platform edge. The three lines look equally important, although each script has its own heights and density.

Study

We traced the three lines and compared their visual weight rather than their size. Then we set an invented two-word station name in three matched typefaces, adjusting each line until all three held their own at the distance of a carriage window.

The reference board: one name, three scripts, one colour.

The fingerpost from the route card study, where two languages share one line.

Kept

Equal weight, not equal size. Our multilingual sign drafts now begin with this trace-and-compare sheet.