LOVE/LETTERFEST
Celebrating the love of letterforms and the lovable characters who hold them dear is TypeCon2008, to be presented July 15–20 in Buffalo, N.Y., by the Society of Typographic Aficionados. Punkt is the theme, and as you might surmise from the moniker, this year’s TypeCon will range from the irreverent to the serious with talks, workshops, tours, exhibitions and special events for the type-crazed of all persuasions. Conference fees start at just $125; where else for that kind of coin can you feel the letter-love with the likes of Matthew Carter, Akira Kobayashi, Stefan Sagmeister, Erik Spiekermann, Doyald Young, House Industries and many more? www.typecon.com

STAMPTASTIC
It’s the little sheet of stamps that could. In 1997, Alyson Kuhn organized a program about stamp collecting while serving on AIGA San Francisco’s board. She invited 26 local creatives to design a stamp apiece for the event; as a group, they created designs relating to stamp terms for every letter of the alphabet. Now these “Cinderellas”— the technical name for stamps that aren’t actually postage—are the basis for an exhibition at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

Alphabetilately, opening July 31 for a minimum one-year run, also marks the Washington, D.C., museum’s 15th anniversary. Each stamp kicks off a display case with objects illustrating its concept, and the exhibit also takes a look at typography in stamp design. Michael Osborne of San Francisco’s MOD/Michael Osborne Design—the man behind this project’s M stamp—is designing the exhibit, while Kuhn, a freelance writer, handles the text. www.postalmuseum.si.edu/alphabetilately/index.html

STAMPS OF APPROVAL
This might be the year to start celebrating Charles Eames’ birthday. To mark the June 17 occasion, the United States Postal Service is offering up something even better than cupcakes: They’re releasing a set of 16 Charles and Ray Eames stamps to honor the couple’s revolutionary contributions to design. And best of all, the bright graphic stamps let the pair’s creative output—from chairs and architecture to patterns—hog the limelight. www.usps.com

FREE STUFF
Just as photography redefined painting, Tim Milne believes the digital age will assign new value to printed materials. He’s created a marketing project called Matter to prove his point. Earlier this year a select group in the U.K. received a box full of covetable objects, including a Nintendo Wii wristband, Stolichnaya vodka pin and pots of Play-Doh that referenced the clay rabbits in commercials for the Sony Bravia.

“Matter is based on a universal human truth,” says Milne, CEO of Matter Media. “People will feel better about you if you give them something, and the answer’s a thing.” Unlike direct mail, the Matter box offers consumers a curated experience. Brands can’t put just anything in the box, and it’s released sporadically to different audiences. Right now this limited-edition experience is only avail- able in the U.K., but expansion is in the works. Submit your details in the site’s subscription section to receive the first U.S. box. www.matterbox.co.uk

MANGA + SHAKESPEARE
Purists may scoff, but Shakespeare’s plays make great graphic novels. The sword fights, murders and poisonings provide plenty of action-scene fodder as Wiley’s new book series acts out these riveting plots in Manga-style comics. For young readers put off by dense Elizabethan language, these visual versions of Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Julius Caesar make the Bard’s words easier to digest.

To turn these plays into 185-page comic books (at $9.99 each), Adam Sexton pared down the original texts without changing them. He also worked with the artists to make sure their drawings stayed faithful to the texts. “I was to some degree … the Shakespeare police,” says the former literature teacher. The original depictions of Juliet, for instance, made her look older than 14. And in another play, Sexton pointed out that an obscure reference—Hamlet’s “bare bodkin”—actually referred to a dagger, not a sword. Look for Manga versions of The Scarlet Letter and Huckleberry Finn next year. www.cliffsnotes.com/go/manga

BASIC TRAINING
Ellen Lupton and her graduate design students at the Maryland Institute College of Art brought design to the masses with D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself. Now she’s teamed up with fellow educator Jennifer Cole Phillips to create a tome on the basics of form. Graphic Design: The New Basics ($35, Princeton Architectural Press) illuminates the gray areas between software and visual thinking, and as the introduction states, shows “how to build richness and complexity around simple relationships.”

While the book is meant for students and young designers, its examinations and examples of scale, hierarchy, transparency, modularity and more hold value even for experienced designers. Flipping through these pages is like exploring a visual dictionary on form, offering a useful way to reconnect with basic ideas and slow down during a project’s concepting phase. The student and professional work shown here makes even the most basic visual principles come to life in unexpected ways. www.gdbasics.com

WORDS OF WISDOM
When first-year students arrive at University College Falmouth in England, they receive a poster designed by one of the art school’s graduates. These charming creations offer wisdom ranging from “let go of what you think you know” and “make more GIF files” to “debt is not your friend.” The works of art make their way onto walls, awaiting the moment when their wisdom finally hits home.

“Each designer is passing on something very personal, and in an equally personal and creative way,” says project founder John Stan-bury. “It feels a little like you are having a conversation with the person who created it.” This honest dialogue makes the posters as appropriate for a studio wall as a student flat—and now it’s easier for the rest of us to acquire a favorite to hang above the printer. Stanbury has launched an online store where he sells full-size posters along with miniature versions in a new postcard set. He’s also expanding the project to include audio, film, writing and outside contributors. www.advicetosinkinslowly.net

NOVEL DESIGN
Graphic Thought Facility: Resourceful Design represents two never-before-seen scenarios—the first time The Art Institute of Chicago has devoted an exhibit to a single design firm, as well as the first solo exhibition for the U.K. studio Graphic Thought Facility.

Graphic Thought Facility’s work is smart in unexpected ways, but without jumping the shark. They’ve created monographs for design legends Ron Arad and Tord Boonjte, an identity for the Design Museum in London, programs for Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and even a product called MeBox (a cardboard storage system with perforated discs on each box that can be punched out to form letters and symbols to create a personalized filing system). Sample the goods through August 17. www.artic.edu

WINDOW SHOPPING
Using flashy design to sell real estate is hardly new, but it’s worthy of note when there’s a hard-hitting concept behind the showmanship. For Cyan/PDX—a green residential development underway in downtown Portland—Ziba design consultancy created an interactive window display that grabs attention for all the best reasons.

At Cyan’s sales center, screens drop down behind an oversized window bank during evening and early morning hours. This 60-ft.-long canvas plays projected nature images originally shot in the surrounding neighborhood, allowing passersby to enjoy close-up looks at everything from fluttering green leaves to clouds and flowers. What’s more, the display also makes a statement by interacting with the surrounding environment: Microphones pick up ambient street noises, and these sounds cause the Cyan logo to move across the screens. As things get noisier, this checkerboard pattern becomes more opaque. It symbolizes man’s impact on nature and shows why Cyan’s emphasis on sustainability matters in the first place. www.ziba.com

HAPPY CAMPERS
Summer camp might let the grade-school set escape their parents, but Type Camp offers designers something even better: a chance to geek out over type away from the pressures of clients and deadlines—with choices way more enticing than swimming versus archery. Sessions span three different countries and dates from May through December. Explore London’s abundant typographic treasures, work with street typographers in India or take a closer look at information design in Canada. All camps are led by top-notch creatives … ghost stories optional. Learn more about Type Camp in the feature article “Type Camp: Reaction & Catalyst,” in this issue. www.typecamp.org

I ♥ MACS
Soon there may be a Netflix category for graphic design. Following in the wake of the Helvetica movie, MacHEADS examines the cult-like following for all things Apple. The feature-length documentary traces the history of the brand’s superfans from the first Mac user group in the ’80sthrough the fervent excitement around the release of the iPhone. “A lot of people we interviewed feel that the Mac understands them,” says producer Ron Shely. That might be something of an understatement. In the film’s trailer, sex columnist and popular blogger Violet Blue declares she’s “never knowingly slept with a Windows user—ever, ever. That would never, ever happen.” It was a slightly different kind of opinionated throw-down that inspired the film in the first place. Ron’s brother Kobi Shely came up with the idea after watching friends debate Apple’s decision to run Windows. The brothers, who use Macs but don’t consider themselves Macheads, plan a mid-2008 release. www.macheadsthemovie.com

HOME, PREFAB HOME
There’s lots of buzz around prefab modern houses, but few people have actually seen the latest design ideas up close. Now MoMA is solving the “seeing is believing” problem with Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling. In addition to a gallery exhibit tracing the movement’s history, visitors can see five full-size houses outside the museum.

At 76 sq. ft., the Micro Compact Home from architect Richard Horden may not exactly sound full-scale, but this experiment in small living is actually available for purchase in Europe. It’s meant to be used as student housing or a pint-sized vacation home. Plus, it boasts true green design—photovoltaic panels and wind turbines—that allow it to be sited beyond the confines of traditional electricity grids.

Other notable entries include the System 3 house, which fits inside a standard shipping container. Multiple houses or stories can be stacked on top of each other to create a larger dwelling. Another design, House for New Orleans, includes laser-cut ply--wood panels that fit together without nails or hinges. The temporary neighborhood lives at MoMA July 20 to October 20, 2008. www.moma.org