It’s launch day at Fontsmith! Phil Garnham’s FS Emeric superfamily is now ready to try and buy after over two years work. But there’s more going on to welcome this new family into the world.

“Emeric is a kinetic type. An optimistic typeface which marries precision with expression, geometry with movement and functionality with humanity — a classic working sans serif with a distinct and individual character, open to whatever shape the future may take.”

We’re already used to beautiful specimens from the foundry — ‘10 Years in Type‘ by Thompson Brand Partners delved in two Fontsmith’s history — and this time round Believe in® have designed a fantastic booklet and poster, along with a microsite created by Taylor / Thomas.

The celebrations don’t stop there — Phil also asked eleven of his heroes to create a poster, each using a different weight of the typeface. Contributors include Build, Studio Dumbar, Pentagram, Non-Format, Manual and Bibliothèque, all screen-printed on Colorplan by Dan Mather in a limited run of 50. You can see the whole set here. Lucky customers buying two or more weights of FS Emeric will receive one randomly selected poster (while stocks last).

Here’s some background information from the team:

FS Emeric — a landmark new typeface launched by Fontsmith

The original brief that Phil set himself carried a bold ambition — a sans serif typeface that was capable of adding a fresh new voice to the classic modernist fonts. Read more

I came across Alec’s work in the alcohol aisle last night — his artwork for London’s Partizan Brewing really stood out among all the other wired and wonderful bottles on display. Luckily his name was proudly printed on the label, so it didn’t take me long to track down his work. I’m a huge fan of his colour choices and fun quirky style.

Here’s hoping the beers are as tasty as the branding. Cheers!

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is currently living in space as a Flight Engineer, and luckily for us, he’s sharing some amazing photos via Twitter. I’m a sucker for aerial photography, but these are next level, literally. The shapes and colours of our dear planet from up there are just beautiful. Getting a glimpse inside ISS is a nice bonus too.

Big thanks to Mr. Hadfield for this rare treat.

Looking back over my records, it’s nice to see 2012 served up a healthy dose of super stylish films — so stylish in fact, they may well be worth your time based on their looks alone. From December back to January, here are my top five. Read more

Obviously we’re all aware of Mother, but I just wanted to share these two great campaigns from New York in case you’d missed them. They make it look so easy!

Above: Enough. Is. Enough for JCPenney Below: Happy Accidents for Virgin Mobile

I’m not personally a Harry Potter fan, but I found this little video by MinaLima fascinating. What a great project to be involved in (if you like that kind of thing, of course).

The Printorium brand was designed by London’s Structure — you can read more about it here, and here’s a brief intro by Miraphora (Mina) and Eduardo (Lima) taken from their site:

The Printorium are graphic designers Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, brought together in 2001 by the artistic needs of the early Harry Potter movies.

Establishing the visual graphic style of Harry Potter from the outset, we’ve helped inspire joy and wonder with the creation of hundreds of unique graphic prop designs for each of the eight films. These include The Marauders’ Map, The Daily Prophet and a multitude of items for Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes.

Building on our wealth of experience in the industry, The Printorium explores the rich visual appeal of a collection of iconic films from an artistic perspective. Our offering encompasses collectable fine art prints from unique and original designs, all produced for the first time ever in our London studio.

Closing Time: A Nation of Shopkeepers by Nick Dawe is a great photo essay on the demise of the independent shop in Britain. A few of my favourite quotes and photos below. Click over to More Intelligent Life for the full show.

“I worry terribly about missing shops: they disappear so fast. So I am dependent on recommendations. Everyone knows an old hardware shop or shoe shop, but it’s the more obscure sort I worry about most: drapers, taxidermists, that kind of thing. A sense of loss is partly what drives me.”

“Do I think we’re a nation of shopkeepers, in Napoleon’s phrase? No, not any more. But we once were. Tesco and the internet have turned us into a nation of shoppers, which is a different thing altogether. ”

César Pesquera’s latest piece, a beautifully shot surreal 4-minute short showcases the fine selection from Brooklyn’s vintage design shop, Antoinette. An Army Of Crystallized Thoughts is a nice take on the lookbook with great music by Portabot (also known as, believe it or not, César Pesquera).

Production credits and more info on Vimeo and Antoinette’s blog.

P.S. While you’re here, check out this cheeky Renault ad directed by César.

Oodles of smart work and clever projects from Ji Lee. I found it hard to pick a single image to sum up his portfolio, but I think the piece above, entitled ‘Brazil, rich and fat‘, gives you a good idea of where he’s coming from.

You may already know Ji’s work form The Bubble Project, which seems to be spreading like wildfire.

Please enjoy…

Spanish studio, atipo’s new typeface has popped up quite a few times on a couple of my preferred social networking sites this morning, partly due to the fact that a simple mention will get you a free copy of it’s regular weight — a lovely idea, as I’m sure just like me, most designers like the chance to play with a new font before handing over any cash.

As you can see from the specimen spreads below, the four sisters (Thin, Light, Regular and Bold) are a good looking bunch.

Download the specimen, watch the video and get your hands on the goods at bariol.com.

One of Barcelona’s finest, Hey update with a new website ready for the spring. Looking good guys!

P.S. What a lovely map!

This Brooklyn based Paris born husband and wife team have been featured on FormFiftyFive before, but I’ve only just come across them, so I hope a little reminder doesn’t bother you.

I really admire and enjoy the creativity and fun in all of their work, from illustrated type (here) and quirky custom fonts and lettering (here, here, here and here), to illustrations (here and here) and stop motion animation (here and here), and of course, their personal infographics project (here) as featured by Ray back in May 2010 (here).

Lovely crisp architecture and interiors photography from Brighton based James Stephenson, aka clickclickjim. For further reading, please head over to his blog.

It’s been around for a while, but I really love Tracy Worrall’s illustrations in this great little advert for The Saucy Fish Co by The Neighbourhood.

Sound design by Zelig Sound. Original packaging for The Saucy Fish Co by Elmwood.

Moving image, music and design outfit Rudd Studio launched a new site along with their new identity last month. Matt Rudd, the studio’s founder, worked with Michael Thomson on strategy, co-worker Steve Jones on web development and Fontsmith’s Jason Smith on the logo. An insight into each step of the process is available on their blog.

UK readers should be familiar with Studio Rudd’s work as they’ve been heavily involved with Chanel 4 since 2005. I’m paralytically fond of the cunning 4 +1 identity and animation, which you can see it in action here.