On May 03 the first edition of the Kerning conference will take place in Faenza, Italy. A two-day conference on typography; one day of workshops, another day packed with presentations. There are presentations by Luc[as] de Groot, Richard Rutter, Aral Balkan, Marko Dugonjic, Nina Stössinger, The Standardistas, Yves Peters, and our own Bas Jacobs. So join us for a nice day and meet some interesting new people. And talk type. And web. And software. And also talk hinting, as hinting is the new kerning.

There are still some tickets available, so last chance to combine type with nice weather.

Coming Monday, 18 Feb, at Lux in Nijmegen (NL). #ietsmetletters. Presentations by Martin Majoor, Job Wouters & Gijs Frieling and Underware. Eclectic evening. Something about type. Or not. Well… let’s see. Anyhow, we’ll bring a mystery guest. Doors open 19:30.

http://www.nijmeegsontwerpplatform.nl/

Why is it that always the night before we give a presentation, we get new ideas for the presentation? This movie was made with the mirror in the hotel room the night before our presentation at the Type Directors Club in New York, June 2012. Actually, the lecture started and ended with Bas his dad, who has trouble making good letter shapes.

Our Tour Du Champagne is coming to a city near you soon. Coming months we’ll leave our caves for a couple of public appearances. Some workshops and lectures. Dates, locations and times might change, so keep an eye on this spot for the latest info.

01 April — Tokyo
The Type Directors Club of Tokyo will take it to the max this day with 6 hours of typographic lectures. Be prepared. Hosted by the Joshibi University of Art and Design, Suginami Campus. More info at the website of TDC Tokyo.

21 May — Hong Kong
On our way to Bangkok we will do a short stop at A122 Courtyard, School of Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University. This event is made possible with the local support of Keith Tam.

21 May — Stockholm
The Swedish design magazine Cap&Design organizes a one-day journey in the contemporary typographic landscape. Let’s talk type for one loooong afternoon. Check Cap&Design Live for more details.

22 May — Göteborg
The Swedish design magazine Cap&Design organizes a one-day journey in the contemporary typographic landscape. Let’s talk type for one loooong afternoon. Check Cap&Design Live for more details.

26 May — Bangkok
Presentation ‘Everything that can happen in a day’ at BITSMM, 1:00 PM at Alliance Française de Bangkok. Because of the floods the event had to be cancelled at the last moment some months ago. But nothing is gonna stop us now.

02 June — West Michigan
A one day type workshop, followed by a lecture on Saturday evening. No love. No happy. Survive like Robinson Crusoe at the streets of Grand Rapids, just by using your typographic skills. While not being allowed to talk, you have to collect as much kisses or smiles as possible. Use your creative skills to collect your surface and writing tools for your text, and make the most appropriate lettering. Most kisses/smiles = win win win. More details at the website of the AIGA West Michigan.

05 June — New York
18:30 Lecture ‘Keep dreaming’ at the Type Directors Club of New York. Just imagine…

06 June — New York
Type workshop ‘Keep it straight’. If you think you’ve got enough energy to be part of this internet-free ants’ nest for one day, you’ll experience that type design can be a thrilling experience if everybody kicks the same ass. We’re gonna make 1 font, and that can be as electrifying as Sylvester Stallone in a B-movie. Especially when there are 20 captains on board and when the real KISS principle will be executed: Keep It Straight, Stupid.

08 June — New Orleans
One-day workshop ‘I give you my word for it’, exploring unknown typographic territories in cooperation with Nicholls State University, which is in Thibodaux, just outside of New Orleans. Subject: Altered meanings through typographic interference. Give an object or location a different function or meaning, by creating your lettering on it. The lettering needs to have an appropriate shape, which fits to the object/location and its new meaning. Leave your laptop at home, get ready for dirty hands. While you are making your brilliant new creation, the basics of type design will be discussed.

1) Tell us about yourself and what you do.
We design type.

2) Describe a typical day in the studio.
Sit on our ass in front of a screen and work our butts off.

3) When you were growing up, what did you want to be?
Comic artist.

4) What was the catalyst for starting Underware?
Due to a lack of education we had too much spare time during our studies and started to create our own projects, which eventually became our daily practice.

5) What is the biggest sacrifice you have ever made?
If you always try to make the best out of every situation, nothing feels as a sacrifice.

6) What is the biggest/most common misconception about what you do?
We had to explain civil servants too often already that we don’t sell lingerie.

7) What is the lowest point of your career?
Too many embarrassing mistakes to mention, we’re still sorry for all of them.

8) What is the best advise you have ever been given?
Never trust anyone who tells that ‘it should be done like this’, there are always multiple solutions for every problem.

9) and the worst?
It should be done like that.

10) Looking back now, what advice would you give to someone like yourself?
Alles geben. 
Never give up.

11) Being a designer is tough. What keeps you going?
Scoring with soccer. I remember all my beautiful goals, even those from 25 years ago.

12) What is your biggest fear?
An obscure animal comes out of the drain, and bites off my dick when I’m sitting on a toilet.

13) Who/What do you have a bone to pick with?
God, but he is hard to reach.

14) If you were not a designer, what would you have done?
Euhm… God? Finally humanity would have a humane, self-contemplated, communicative God.

15) What would your last meal be?
All drugs I never took, just to get the experience before I die.

Thank you for your time,
Germaine

On Sunday 19 June, Akiem will be one of the speakers at the second symposium of TypeTalks, in Poland. Tickets are available at their website, but if you unfortunately can’t make: just carry on.

The most recent copy of Communication Arts magazine arrived in our postbox today. We didn’t expect 10 full pages on Underware, especially not after we received an email from the author that due to a lack of space ‘complete sections had to be left out’. They truly love pics, but they seem to adore A-Z. Rather surprising way to present typefaces for the ‘largest international trade journal of visual communications’. Anyway, now in the bookstore, library & online (paywall-alert).

All we ever wanted was a search engine… What started with ‘Hey, shouldn’t we add a search engine to our website?’, ended with a complete revision of the website. After updating and improving our website for eight years, that was about time. Redesigned, restructured and build from scratch. New functionalities, bla die bla. Just see it yourself. Well, at least previewing type at 350 pts. ain’t a problem anymore with these wide images. And the search engine? Yes, that made it to the final version as well.

You’ll also find some recent overlooked projects on the updated website, like the hand lettered logotype for Jet Cooper and the intelligent handwriting typeface of Mr Porter. Petty fact: 10 years after our first blog post, we finally have a real blog! And with that new search engine you can suddenly search a decade of disguised niceties of our old Walhalla-section. Enjoy!

Underware’s Mid November Tornado Tour 2010

Helsinki, 13 November
Make the Ego Bigger II (typeworkshop + lecture)
time: 10.00 – 14.30 o’clock
Grafia, Uudenmaankatu 11 B 9, Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki, 18 November
Next(con)text, seminar on typography and type
time: 14.00 o’clock
Media Factory & Department of Media
Media Centre Lume, Sampo Hall, Helsinki, Finland

Amsterdam, 18 November
BNO Tallks 6
time: 19.00 o’clock
Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Belfast, 19 November
the Bello-Eats-Liza-Fakir-Auto-Sauna-Tornado
time: 13.00 o’clock
University of Ulster, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Copenhagen, 19 November
Beyond the words
time: 09.00 — 16.00 o’clock
Conceptual Type — Type led by ideas
The Black Diamond, The Royal Library, Copenhagen, Denmark

Why D-I-Y if you can D-I-T?
lecture by Underware on self-publishing
Friday 16 April 2010, 16.20 o’clock
OK Festival Arnhem, the Netherlands