System Process Form

Type as Algorithm

Paul McNeil, Hamish Muir

£75.00

The ultimate typographic experiment – 7,762,392 typefaces from one of the world’s foremost typography studios

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Overview

System Process Form is a detailed survey of MuirMcNeil's Two type system, an extensive collection of geometric alphabets in which every stroke, shape, letterform and word is designed to correspond and collaborate in close harmony.

The methodologies demonstrated transcend the short-term limitations of single solutions to single problems, revealing the ways in which system, process and form constitute the bedrock of a successful design practice.

Using a combination of algorithm, chance and deliberation, a core database of 23 type systems and 198 individual fonts is interpolated to generate millions of hybrid forms in which every dot, line, space and letter is designed to correspond and collaborate in close harmony. The showcased examples, selected for their distinctively abstract and striking qualities, are printed in three vibrant neon inks and metallic black.

The result, far more than a mere catalogue of typefaces, demonstrates the power of excavating design problems at their deepest roots, allowing abundant and diverse outcomes to proliferate spontaneously.

Product Information

Book Details

Format: Hardback

Size: 31.5 x 24.0 cm

Extent: 400 pp

Publication date: 29 February 2024

ISBN: 9780500027349

Contents List

Introduction: System Process Form - An exploration of 7,762,392 typefaces

Two Type System Inventory
TwoPoint
TwoLine
TwoSlant
TwoStroke
TwoTone
TwoBit
TwoBar Mono
TwoBlock

Base Pattern Panels
Two Type System in use
Two-layer combinations
Three(+)-layer combinations

Biographies

About the Author

Paul McNeil is a graphic designer, educator and author. He has extensive experience in design teaching and was course leader of the master’s programme of Contemporary Typographic Media at the London College of Communication from 2010 to 2015. Seven years in the making, The Visual History of Type, McNeil’s definitive survey of type design and typography from 1450 to 2015, was published in 2017. Hamish Muir was co-founder of the London-based graphic design studio 8vo (1985–2001), and co-editor of Octavo, journal of typography (1986–92). He was a senior lecturer in graphic design at the London College of Communication from 2002 to 2019, and has regularly delivered lectures, workshops and short courses to national and international institutions and audiences.