Stephen Banham has had a lot to say about typography over the years, especially within the Australian scene. Founding Letterbox in 1991, the studio has since undertaken many typographic projects, including the much sought after Ampersand and Qwerty series, as well as helping publish many great fonts such as League, Kevlar and Bisque. If you consider yourself a typophile, read on.
What are you working on at the moment?
As usual the studio has a multitude of different projects – a glance at the projects file tells me that we’re doing some re-branding for a faculty of Monash University, a brochure for a musical ensemble, a book cover, some web work for a dentist, some research documents for RMIT University etc.. We normally work on between 10-15 commercial projects at a time. That sounds a lot but they are always in various stages of approval etc. The core projects this year however are studio-led. We are researching and writing a book at the moment (still under wraps) as well as doing a typographic art project for a City council. It’s a particularly exciting year of projects.
What are you reading/watching/listening to/browsing at the moment?
Reading – The History of Love by Nicola Krauss.
Listening – Music for Airports by Brian Eno. I’ve been re-buying a lot of ambient music from 20-25 years ago.
Browsing – ilovetypography.com and Brand New
Where did your passion for typography stem from?
A love of language – and how to play with it. Going right back the kind of comedies I liked as a kid – The Two Ronnies etc. It’s a finely tuned instrument that can be multilayered, viewed from all directions ect. Typography just happens to be its visual manifestation and so it’s this that I’ve pursued. It is a very joyous thing to do. It’s a little known secret that I still whistle on my way to work every morning.
Reading your site we know that you understandably don’t like to be asked what your favourite fonts are, we were however curious to know if you think there are any underrated fonts out there that haven’t had the exposure they might deserve?
Yes, with the incredible number of fonts being produced now there are bound to be some that are forgotten along the way. Sometimes they deserve this of course. But what most interests me are the fonts that spend their time in the wilderness, in the shade, once celebrated and now forgotten. To see Herb Lubalin’s lettering or faces like Bookman, Clearface or Souvenir re-emerge is really interesting. It takes a generation to come along and see them with fresh eyes. The lagtime is normally about 20 years or so – so we’ll see students engage with the early emigré faces soon. Strange but true.
We noticed your ‘Death to Helvetica’ Tshirt in your store. Is that really how you guys feel about Helvetica?
That’s an old, long and complex story. Best covered in the very well researched article by James Button.
Is there a place in this world for Comic Sans?
Yes. What it was meant for; a computer game for kids. Never to be let out again.
Do you think there are typical characteristics to Australian graphic design that stand out as being unique?
This is an issue I’ve been thinking (and writing) about for a long time now. But ultimately it’s a bit like sleep – if you try too hard it will always be elusive and frustrating. Just enjoy the ride and then maybe look back after 20, 30 or even 50 years. Besides, just what it is to be gained by pinpointing it or describing it?
What advice would you have to younger designers entering the industry?
Like the last question, just relax and enjoy the ride. Don’t swallow the stupid stereotype that you have to be a ’star’ by the time you’re 21. That keeps the field of graphic design infantile as well as burning out some very talented people.
First published in February 2010 on australian edge