ISTD - Mike Ryan

Hi Derrick,

I've been umming and ahhing over ISTD quite a bit now and with Mike ryan coming in the past two days I really had to get my act together so I at least had something to talk to him about.

Day One - Thursday
Mike Ryan seemed to like the idea of changing 'type factory' to 'type &' for it's abstract inclusion of other elements and inquiring factor because of it's hanging structure. Although the session was brief it was good to talk to Tom about his ideas and what he thought on the other briefs to know that someone at least thought the same about the whys and why nots for some directions.

Day Two - Friday
I got a lot more headway this day and better than anything I got a drive and a buzz for the project with a new idea. After laying out some initial plans and exploring the use of the ampersand I came upon the use of a fatface for 'type' and a very script ornate '&'. Mike again seemed to like this idea for what it represented and after talking to him in general about type for a while I set off to explore the world of fat face via Sally's knowledge and library. I think it was pretty hard for Mike to do a lot when the briefs that people are doing are so insanely varied and most of us are still at initial brainstorming phases (despite talks from Neil and Sally to get something substantial sorted) but I still got a lot from his input and direction and his personal take on the type factory brief which clarified and off the flummoxing amount of paths that the brief could take.

Can't wait to carry on and get my teeth into learning the history of a not so widely documented type and digging up some gems!

(p.s. Between you and me Derrick, I already have dug up a few precious stones for research on fat faces so I'm just looking forward to more)