Extra-Curriculars

Projects that make life even more interesting.

The Rosetta Disk: The Long Now Foundation set out to create a long-term archive (think 10,000 years) of linguistic data for 1,500 of the world’s most-spoken languages.

The Rosetta Disk works on the same premise as an old-school microfiche. Thousands of pages of linguistic data are etched—in tiny form—on the face of the Disk. The data can be read visually, using a standard microscope.

The design features eye-readable text that spirals down to microscopic size, thereby encouraging the viewer to look more closely, at which point she will discover the wealth of information provided.

You can learn more about this fascinating project here.

Type design: As the founding design director for 7x7, new city magazine, I sought a display typeface as unique as San Francisco itself.

Enter a collection of vintage French maps. The handlettered type had just the right mix of elegance and oddness. After digitizing and tweaking to unify the forms, Pierre was born.