Monthly Archives: July 2011

Acequias

Acequia is the Spanish and Arabic word that describes the ancient system of irrigation that, in Andalusia and other parts of Spain, is still the lifeline of small scale agriculture. Much is written of the great old muslim cities of … Continue reading

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Learn Diwan tunes

This post is for people who are familiar with or interested in the Diwan of Muhammad Ibn al Habib, the great scholar and sufi master of Meknes in Morocco, who died in 1971. He left this collection of sublime poems, … Continue reading

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Smoke Signals

I discovered the other day, as one does, a web site called http://www.cybergrot who are/were selling an old used box of Abdullah cigarettes. It was empty except strangely, for one remaining cigarette. Really quite a work of art. I find … Continue reading

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Two new books

A couple of quite different books just completed. The Abrahamic Archetype was commissioned by Archetype publishers in London for whom I have worked for many years. Archetype appreciate nice typesetting and have an experienced eye for detail. Baskerville is a typeface which … Continue reading

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Bembo, a short history

Anyone who is familiar with typefaces (it’s my job) will know the name Bembo. It is probably the most elegant of book text faces that I use and only aficionados will know of its curious provenance. Although Bembo looks as fresh … Continue reading

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Grassed Off

The Wimbledon mens final last Sunday, which was won by Serb tennis player Djokovic was remarkable for me not because of the tennis, but because Djokovic ate grass from the court he had just played on. A Wimbledon first for … Continue reading

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Giving it away for free?

I noticed over the weekend that Brian Eno has released a new 2 CD set of music with recited/sung poetry. It covers many different media being available as a free digital download, a double vinyl album. a double CD set … Continue reading

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The dreaded logo

The most difficult design assignment I’ll ever get is to design a logo or logotype. These can often be so baffling and can cause me to wake up in a sweat in the night as my sub-conscious runs interminably through … Continue reading

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The invisible client

Although many of my clients I have known personally for many years, the advent of the website has meant that I often have commissions now from clients I have never physically met. This is good for business but challenging in … Continue reading

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The Complete Dip in the Ocean

Almost ten years ago I put out a 2 CD entitled A Dip in the Ocean and I’m pleased to announce that I have edited, ready for release, a further hour of music from the same evening in Larache, which preceded … Continue reading

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