Typography & Monogramming – Our Two Loves!
With the recent launch of our new lines of stylish and uber luxe robes, towels, and laundry bags we decided we must show you what inspired us and how it all started.
Now where should we start?
The monogram was a royal signature or seal and currency, initials carved on coins to mark the reign of a particular Roman and Greek ruler. In the Middle Ages, artisans—who know a good thing when they see it—began to use their monogram initials to sign their work. In the Victorian era, monograms became a symbol of aristocracy. Believing that monogram letters marked on their table linens, cutlery and other household goods was a sign of prestige, upper class families became veritable monogram generators. Soon every household boasted their own form of monogram styles: embroidered monogram letters for noblemen, simple personalized stamps for the lower class.
LV & Coco Chanel!
The monogram has evolved into a great branding tool for one’s personal identity. Albrecht Dürer used his monogram initials “AD” on finished pieces as a testament to the importance he placed on the artist as creator. After eight years and numerous variations of his monogram letters, Rembrandt landed on his now instantly recognizable last name mark. Louis Vuitton’s son Georges was the monogram creator of the now-famous “LV” logo, developed as a way to prevent counterfeiting of the Parisian company’s designer luggage. And two interlocking “C’s” helped transform the legendary Coco Chanel into an international symbol of elegance & wealth. We saw this beautifully made video which got us even more excited to get our hands dirty.
Steve Jobs & Typography
“Because I had dropped out & didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and sans-serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating. “None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography.” this stop-motion animation by Canadian graphic designer Ben Barrett-Forrest expresses our and Steve Jobs sentiments (we think) perfectly.
Now?!
What do we mean by ‘Next-Generation Personalization’? With personalized user names and hashtags on the rise, social media just might be monogram’s soul mate. Indeed, the next wave of monogramming & personalization has begun to take shape. Now your Twitter handle ‘@designpataki’ achieves the same affect—if not more—as your monogram initials. You can monogram gifts with memorable hashtags so family and friends can easily tweet or post pictures of shared special events. Send us some, spread the love!
To see our new collections, please click here.
Videos via youtube.
