THERE IS A SENSE OF SIMPLISTIC BALANCE BETWEEN ORDER AND CHAOS. DAVID CARSON. IN A 1994 ISSUE OF RAY GUN — THAT WOULD BECOME FAMOUS OR INFAMOUS (DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ASK) — DAVID CARSON FOUND THE INTERVIEW WITH ENGLISH SINGER BRYAN FERRY BORING AFTER READING IT AND DECIDED TO DO WHAT PERHAPS NO CREDIBLE DESIGNER WOULD’VE EVER DONE, TYPESETTING THE INTERVIEW TO AN ILLEGIBLE FONT: ZAPF DINGBATS. SETTING ASIDE THE FACT THAT EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHS IS MORE DECIPHERABLE THAN THE FONT HE USED FOR THIS SPREAD, THIS DESIGN IS FASCINATING AND AMUSING IN MANY WAYS. THAT SENSE IS PERFECTLY CAPTURED IN THE IMAGE OF BRYAN FERRY’S FACIAL EXPRESSION STARING IN THE DIRECTION OF THE TEXT. THERE IS A SENSE OF SIMPLISTIC BALANCE BETWEEN ORDER AND CHAOS TO THIS DESIGN COMPARED TO HIS OTHER WORK. IT IS TYPICAL TO SEE CARSON’S WORK CONTINOUSLY REDEFINING THE CRITERIA FOR LEGIBILITY OFTEN USING REVERSE LEADING, TEXT COLUMNS ROTATED HORIZONTALLY OR EVEN CRAMMED AND OVERLAPPING WITH ONE ANOTHER, EXTREME LETTERSPACING, AND OTHER UNUSUAL LAYOUT TECHNIQUES THAT CHALLENGES A READER TO ENAGAGE AND DECIPHER THE MESSAGE. DESPITE ALL THAT, HIS DESIGN LAYOUT IS HARMONIOUSLY BALANCED BETWEEN ITS SUBJECT, TYPOGRAPHY, IMAGES, TEXTUAL CONTENT AND CONTEXT IN UNCONVENTIONAL BUT MORE EXPRESSIVE WAYS THAT IS JUST AS MEANINGFUL AS AS A MODERN SWISS STYLE DESIGNED LAYOUT. WHILE THE INTERVIEW TEXT IS AVAILABLE TO READ AS A MAGAZINE SUPPLEMENT (I HAVE NEVER READ IT), THAT’S BESIDES THE POINT. THIS PARTICULAR SPREAD DESIGN WAS NOT IN ANY WAY HIS BEST DESIGN — WITH CARSON CALLING IT AVERAGE. HOWEVER, WHAT THIS DESIGN REPRESENT WAS DAVID CARSON’S WILLINGNESS TO RISK AND DESTROY DESIGN CONVENTIONS WHEN FEW (MAYBE THE LIKES OF NEVILLE BRODY), OR PERHAPS NONE WOULD HAVE DURING THAT TIME. HTTPS://MEDIUM.COM/@YOPAULMIRANDA/DAVID-CARSON-SURFING-THE-UNCONVENTIONAL-WAVES-OF-ZAPFS-DINGBATS-52A520186C64  CRACKLY DESIGNED BY ZUZANA LICKO IN 2019. LESS... CRACKLY IS A PATTERN FONT THAT FOLLOWS IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF LICKO’S PREVIOUS RELEASE, TANGLY. INSTEAD OF CURVED LINES, CRACKLY IS COMPOSED FROM STRAIGHT LINES THAT INTERSECT AT VARIOUS ANGLES. THE IDEA FOR CRACKLY CAME FROM LICKO’S CERAMIC SCULPTURES. SHE WAS COMPOSING STACKED TOTEMS FROM MODULAR CONES AND DISKS OF VARIOUS SIZES AND ANGLES, AND TO HELP VISUALIZE THESE SHAPES IN DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS, SHE MADE HERSELF A FONT SO SHE COULD TYPE OUT VARIOUS SCULPTURE COMPOSITIONS BEFORE ASSEMBLING THEM. RECOGNIZING THAT THE FONT ITSELF HAD POTENTIAL, LICKO WORKED ON ADAPTING THE ELEMENTS INTO SQUARE PROPORTIONS THAT COULD BE ROTATED AND CONNECTED. MANY OF THE RESULTING PATTERNS CREATE ILLUSIONS OF DEPTH WITH INCONGRUOUS PERSPECTIVES, REMINISCENT OF CUBISM AND M.C. ESHER’S WORK.
AS LICKO WAS EXPERIMENTING WITH THE CRACKLY PATTERNS, IT OCCURRED TO HER THAT THE COMPOSITIONS WOULD MAKE EXCELLENT GRAPHICS FOR COLORING, SO WE DECIDED TO MAKE A COLORING BOOK DISGUISED AS A TYPE SPECIMEN. OR VICE VERSA? WHAT CRACKLY ADDS TO THE COLORING BOOK PHENOMENON, THOUGH, IS THAT YOU CAN USE THESE PATTERN FONTS TO MAKE COMPOSITIONS, PRINT THEM OUT ON YOUR LASER PRINTER, AND GENERATE YOUR OWN COLORING PAGES. WE IMAGINE THAT KIDS AND ADULTS ALIKE CAN ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE OF GETTING LOST IN THE MOMENT OF EXPERIMENTATION AND COLORING. OR YOU CAN USE CRACKLY FOR ANY OTHER PATTERN APPLICATIONS, SUCH AS ENDPAPERS OR BACKGROUNDS. THE OPTIONS ARE LIMITLESS. HTTPS://WWW.EMIGRE.COM/FONTS/CRACKLY