Last week's November 17th diatribe on typography was inspired by Evil Genius' blog. What the HMM staff writer was forced to deal with (the original intent of that post – ed.) was sources of inspiration, (but the writing department which is irascible and garrulous went rogue and instead took to the soap box to decry the current state of typography.– ed.) Hungover and incapable of defending himself (chastised and reprimanded – ed.) the writer has now submitted the fluff piece that should have appeared last week. (Late, as usual.– ed.)

Evil Genius has been into type and design since his college days, dabbled in graffiti, which taught him how far he could push a letter form before it became something else, and held jobs as a professional designer for a number of years. He is a founding member of "The Department of Public Works," which is a collective of Hawaii artists from many different disciplines and musicians. (HMM will take you on a tour of The Department in an upcoming post. – ed.)

What is inspiring about EG's blog, which hails itself as "a celebration of type, letters, and design" is that it turns our eyes to the way typography is used on signs and buildings that most of us largely ignore if we notice it at all. Thus, we re-see the world around us – or at least Honolulu's China Town – through EG's eyes, as opposed to merely reading it, and the once-familiar reveals entirely new marvels. The type that EG directs our attention to is largely from a past era, when a different design aesthetic dominated. Whether hand-painted, wrought from metal, or literally set in stone, most of what was made was made to last. There is a confidence and individuality in EG's subjects that is completely lacking in today's backlit vinyl-lettered signs that can and do change at a whim. EG's blog asks us to imagine being the artisan and knowing your work will be on public display for decades, suggesting the stakes were once a little higher.

HMM particularly likes post Type-O 32, which is about Smith's Union Bar – a downtown watering hole with which HMM is not completely unfamiliar. Like its gold foil sign, EG points out that Smith's is a testimony to endurance and substance, contrasting it with the self-consciously hip look of its more recent neighbors. As both a post and a parable this alone is reason enough to visit EG's blog, but even a casual perusal will reveal much more.

Editors note: Astute readers surely noticed that EG uses a comma between "...letters, and design," which indicates that Evil Genius sides with John Updike in repudiating R.W. Burchfield and his famous Modern English Usage. Updike's equally famous argument is that removing the final comma in a list of items is a "surrender of clarity" as doing so reduces phrases like "red, white, and blue," and "Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy" to the rhythmic equivalent of "tea, bread and butter." For those still foggy on the concept, try removing the comma after the word "shoots" in the following phrase: "eats, shoots, and leaves" and then immediately purchase Lynn Trusses' book of the same name. And pick me up a pulled pork sandwich while you're at it. All of which is to say that Evil's blog is not only spare and tidy, as one would expect a blog on design to be, and also written to last.

Tags: dept. of public works, evil genius, typography

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