28 Comments

I have to say I'm charmed that a Linotype foundry has a YouTube channel. Sometimes the internets are full of win.
Katy McDevitt
2010-12-08 16:32:36

Good grief. These are absolutely dire.

All I can think is "Winamp Milkdrop".
Tom
2010-12-08 16:38:00

I love Barnbrook, but these are dreadful. Really dreadful.

It's all tacky-looking preset effects, it looks like a mid-nineties After Effects demo reel.
Matt
2010-12-08 16:58:16

Everyone at CR needs to look at http://www.motionographer.com for a while until you figure out what good motion graphics looks like.

Barnbrook's got a reputation I know, but this is lazy, poorly executed, dull and amateurish and as such has no place on CR blog (or anywhere else).

What happened to the Sydney festival work they did a while ago? That stuff was lovely!
Ed
2010-12-08 17:49:42

Love these films! good to see a company like Monotype trying to do something unusual but actually very appropriate for a typeface release.
JoanG
2010-12-09 08:13:05

Amazingly and beautifully wrong on so many levels. I think it's a brave approach but it simply demonstrates nothing. I would not use or buys these fonts in case my work ended up looking like this.
Ollie Aplin
2010-12-09 10:08:07

Very beautiful, nice soundtracks too. Didn’t know Barnbrook did film work
Derek
2010-12-09 10:46:44

Appropriate, clever work but a collection of the worst logos in the design business at the end - the Linotype one makes my eyes bleed : - S
Noreen
2010-12-09 11:08:13

Love the Malabar one on their website, fresh, clean, innovative animation.
Stuart
2010-12-09 12:22:07

Love them! they are poetic so very unusual for a Type Foundry
oksana
2010-12-09 12:54:10

Well done to Monotype for trying something a bit different. Its this kind of atmosphere that first interested me in typography. Excellent work as usual from Barnbrook
david d
2010-12-09 23:54:42

Jesus, now *that's* tacky.
G
2010-12-11 09:57:00

Got to agree with negative comments above, these are really poor! Looks like a students first experiment with After Effects, and they have stumbled across the type animations panel (along with some pretty awful use of Trapcode plugins). Those involved need to look at the likes of Tomato to see how working with type to portray emotion should be done, examples like the 'spoken word' series (to name one) stretch back to the mid 90's. This is how it should be done. I'm on the fence with Barnbrook - the 17th Biennale of Sydney branding was amazing, his infographic work recently (forgot the exact reference) and this are really poor examples of design. If I was the client and i'd paid for this, i'd want my money back.
David
2010-12-13 13:47:15

Unless i am wrong I believe Jonathan Barnbrook did the 'spoken word' series along with Tomato in the 90s, a cursory look at his website would reveal that. For me this is a brave attempt to do something different for a typeface release rather than just sending out a press release or a downloadable pdf. A pretty good combination of music & moving image and doesn’t feel like the usual After Effects fodder you see on so many showreels. It looks like its an interesting analysis of the emotional resonance of a typeface rather than strictly dealing with function or the specific characters in a font. If we want a wider understanding of typography then its things like this that will do it.

There is another issue here, Barnbrook does seem to really raise the ire of people on this blog along with the likes of Brody and Saville, doesn’t matter if he does the most fantastic piece of work in the history of design, people will come here and slate it. Can’t help thinking that a lot of it is jealousy. As with many successful designers from the UK, they have made a name for themselves and people seem to want to waste a lot of their own time proving they don’t deserve it. Here is a tip - spend your time trying to match their work rather than just slagging it off.
jason
2010-12-14 16:15:33

The most amazing thing here is that he got these past a client like Linotype. From the stuff i have got from them before they seem a very conservative company that almost goes out of its way to not have its finger on the pulse of stylish typography. Barnbrook does seem to be able to take a commercial job and push it much further than most that’s for sure.
Dorian
2010-12-15 15:36:26

@Jason

Jealousy doesn't figure in to this project for me. I was, however, insanely jealous of the Sydney stuff (as I said earlier), was the first to commend it on this very blog, and as such I've nothing against Barnbrook and his studio when they're on game.

These animations are dreadful though.

• They're aesthetically suspect (but then, I accept that much of Barnbrook's work is pretty aesthetically love/hate);
• They're sloppily animated (check the scale popping on the Elegy one);
• They show you nothing of the quality of the typefaces that a good type sample would (H&FJ's type specimens are a good example of this) - not even in a conventional motion graphics scenario (how many people will actually want to have the exploding pixel type shown in the Klint video?);
• The idea that these videos will enlighten the viewer about the typefaces' emotional and human connections is completely counter-intuitive to their execution - dry, electronic After Effects filters combined with mechanical rotations and electronic music.

The whole thing smacks of a publicity stunt whereby Barnbrook's deliberately sending out dodgy work to get a buzz going around things. Either that or everyone's lost their minds.
Ed
2010-12-15 16:31:13

@Ed
Your arguments are pretty subjective about whether they show the typeface emotionally well or not, so I simply don’t agree, there is a delicate emotional quality to them and i don’t think just because they use electronic methods that this is negated in any way. Are they good type samples? In the conventional sense no, they are not trying to be but i think they are very successful in the orginal terms i described them. They also seem to be linked to pages of clear samples if you want them. Its pretty obvious that there are others here who don’t see them the way you do either, so they must have something that touches people in them.

"The whole thing smacks of a publicity stunt whereby Barnbrook's deliberately sending out dodgy work to get a buzz going around things. Either that or everyone's lost their minds."

Sigh, were you just writing this to prove my point? If that is not a bitter, nasty personal comment aimed at Barnbrook I don’t know what is. A good test of whether somebody is putting forward a reasoned proposition on a blog is whether they would say it to the person's face. I am pretty sure your spine would wither at making such immature accusations directly to Barnbrook himself. On a wider level you just give more ammunition to people, refuse to take design seriously in the art criticism field, it's mainly because designers cannot talk about graphic design properly instead resorting to vindictive and personal comments when discussing other people's work they don’t like.

Anyway, don’t want to get into tit for tat arguments, so we will have to agree to disagree, you don’t like them for the reasons you have stated. I think they are a very interesting piece of the work for the reasons I have stated.
Jason
2010-12-15 18:00:03

Hi Jason,

I agree with your sentiment of not wanting to get into some kind of tit for tat argument. However, I wasn't criticising your view on Barnbrook's work. That would be pointless, and as you say we each have our own reasons for liking or disliking it.

I was arguing that my dislike of the work is based on actual reasons (however subjective) rather than jealousy, as you suggested. My last comment was based purely on a judgment that Barnbrook's studio puts out great work one month then (in my opinion, obviously) really sub-par work the next.

I would suggest that this kind of move would fit in with Barnbrook's dalliances with controversy (in the design industry at least) to provoke discussion and 'push the envelope'. This is speculation, of course, and probably cynical, but not drawn from bitterness and not a personal comment as he's known for producing deliberately controversial work.

I gave reasons for my criticism to deliberately try not to get into the usual 'Barnbrook is shit' comments because they're boring and I don't think he's shit. Equally boring to me, however, is the counter argument that everyone who criticises him is jealous or bitter.
Ed
2010-12-15 22:47:12

Thanks for the advice Jason. Do you think I plucked Tomato out of thin air!? Of course I knew his involvement! I obviously need to reiterate for you, but I was simply stating this is how it should be done, and whoever produced this (under the Barnbrook name) needs to see how it's done right. The principle is good, the execution terrible. There is no denying that. If you would be happy producing that quality of work, then carry on. But a "world class" agency shouldn't be letting that standard of work go by. People have been critical here, but constructive. There is no jealousy. But when the likes of Barnbrook produce great examples of design (Sydney, roppongi etc), then that standard has to be met. Design is all about critical analysis. You are in the wrong business if you don't like it.
David
2010-12-17 07:22:46

@Ed

You agree with my sentiment but want to carry it on. Ok well, then allow me to respond to you. i think posting puerile, unsubstantiated nasty comments about the motivation of another designer, as you did about Barnbrook, is a pretty shoddy thing to do and then trying back it up by giving your reasons after for not liking the animations to give your personal post a bit of respectability is worse . So I will still stick to my original thoughts about the work and maybe you will think again before you go around posting such material.



@David

Design is about critical analysis yes, but I unlike you, don’t see much on the Creative Review blog, most of the comments are aimed either at the slagging work off or just saying 'its great', neither offers much. Yours was in the slagging off area saying the work like he used some default plug-ins is and the client should ask for their money back, its not what I would call critical analysis. Methinks you are getting a bit confused.
Jason
2010-12-17 12:44:00

I'm really sorry, how is type a 3D fuzzy thing made of dots?

How can one see the typeface in outline fuzzy with some appalling 3D distortion on it?

This is wack, I've honestly seen better screensavers back in the 90s. If more than an hour was spent on each one, somebody should get a slap. This was probably done in motion like "wow.. this is amazing" and quite frankly, it's really not. Like really really not. I'd much rather see white type on a black background, with nifty zoom-ins on the features, or even better, a really good interactive user interface to explore the typeface.

But of course, this is all about the eye-candy. Like sweets, this stuff has a habit of rotting the senses.

The fonts are pretty dull, too. One has to ask... is it worth it? A font is a hell of a lot of work to do properly, and these look quite interchangeable with existing ones. Every year I go through around 20,000 fonts and end up with about 100 which can be used, of which about 20 actually get used all the time. There sure is room for more fonts, fresh ideas, but I get the feeling I'd like maybe one or two really good new ones with a radical and aesthetic approach, rather than obvious rehashes for the purpose of having more to sell to generate "sales".

Nobody has really put enough thought into what type means onscreen, how it can work, what it's for.

This is *not* it. This is an abuse of moving image and computer-set type's convenience, and I think it's empty.
da bishop
2010-12-17 14:28:06

People getting their knickers in a twist about Barnbrook’s work. Plus ça change...
Jane
2010-12-17 16:05:14

Jason, you seem really upset by all the comments, but you are swimming against the tide. I didn't actually say I wasn't slagging it off, i'll hold my hands up to that. But others are giving critical analysis, and methinks you are confusing jealousy with peoples opinion, as Ed pointed out, it's a really boring comeback. My honest opinion is that it is visually poor, it really does look like a number of standard plugins used (just have a play around with the animations, you will see the similarities). There are many great examples of motion design out there, this simply isn't one of them. Nice concept, just not developed enough visually. Don't forget what design boils down to, someone is paying for the end product. This wouldn't come cheap from a design agency at this level. Design is brutal at times, this kind of thing is happening in board rooms around the world as we speak. It happens in design offices everyday, it's how we get past the first idea and onto the winners. You should be aware of it if you are in the design industry. Infact, i think you are as guilty as the rest of us -

"A pretty good combination of music & moving image and doesn’t feel like the usual After Effects fodder you see on so many showreels."

It's an opinion, it's my opinion, and i stand by it, and so do the other people here. I see great design all the time on this blog, and I comment on it, I've even pointed out examples of Barnbrooks work that I think stands out alongside my comments. Have a good Christmas mate. Life's too short, design goes on.
David
2010-12-17 16:34:44

As a student I used to wonder why Jonathan Barnbrook never responded to comments on the CR blog, however reading them on his last 3 projects that have been posted here I can see why that would be an entirely pointless thing for him to do.
Susan
2010-12-17 17:29:35

@David.
Couldn’t help picking you up on your assumption. I am sure plenty of people DO like this work, I for one absolutely don’t share your views. Just most of us come here, appreciate it and then leave without the need to post something. This kind of commenting system is always weighted towards the negative as it’s the people that want to have a rant and Barnbrook does that to a lot of people. So don’t assume that these comments are necessarily a fair reflection of what the audience thinks.

@Susan.
If you look at his Tibet film on here, Barnbrook did answer some of the comments, but despite a response from him it just seemed to make people even nastier and more vitriolic in reply, so completely understand his reluctance to do so. It’s a shame because I have seen him speak, he is very articulate and clearly thinks very deeply about design.

@De Bishop.
You really need to go to anger management classes!
Brian
2010-12-18 11:54:51

'Krap, a strong sans cerebral effort with subtle half-baked touches'
Curator
2010-12-20 06:09:30

Thanks to Creative Review for putting on a special Christmas pantomime this year called “People comment on John Barnbrook’s work”.
Darren
2010-12-22 08:39:34

Not sure what all the anger is all about. These are really rather beautiful.
Honour
2011-01-02 17:11:43

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