In all my years of design school, I regret never taking a type design course. Despite my lack of training, I’ve always wanted to give it a shot. So I was glad I happened to be in Michigan to meet and hear Karen Cheng, Associate Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, give a lecture at Michigan State University to promote her new book, Designing Type. Her cheerful demeanor and humorous presentation kept the students engaged and certainly piqued their interest in typeface design. The book, like the lecture, carefully breaks down the nuances and subtleties of creating a legible but unique typeface. It was refreshing to see someone inspire such enthusiasm in students, especially in regards to type design. I find her book Designing Type to be a thorough go to source for type enthusiasts and students, a must have for those teaching typography. At the end of the lecture, she posed an intriguing question, what is the greatest typeface of all time?

In celebration of the first day of school, despite melancholy children across the nation, I suggest checking out the website Learn Something Every Day. Take a look, you might just learn something new.

Phoenix Commotion the Texas based construction company started by Dan Phillips has been building homes out of reusable materials for about 12 years now. Mr. Phillips didn’t see the sense to keep filling landfills with plainly useable materials. He says, “You can’t defy the laws of physics or building codes, but beyond that, the possibilities are endless.” The result? Charming and inspired affordable homes made from salvage items such as picture frames, wine bottles and corks, scrap wood and even cattle bones.

To build a house? James May in his sincere love of toys, especially legos, is currently constructing an entire house made from the tiny plastic bricks. It is a volunteer based initiative, with adults and children alike coming from all over Britain to help with the project. Now this is what I would call some serious ambitious fun, one little piece at a time.

Dans La Tête is a beautiful short that explores the reality of war with a comical sort of brutal honesty. The animation, music and ultimately the narrative seamlessly thread together the death(s) of Antoine Bertrand in a not so subtle commentary about the fragility of life and war. “Protect your inner camera”… Je l’adore.