Who is he? Any link to him? What Session?
Sorry if he is well-known to he majority of Typophile.
Thanks with Flowers

So Great to the East and West but still homepage is the best.
Is it hard to link to him? Or what?
Please no Puzzles but Flowers

I don't think that he has a homepage, Aziz. But he is/was a great typography professor in Basel, Switzerland.

Satya, I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with him a few years ago. He has great stories to tell. Personally, I'd like to know what he thinks about the new avant garde in Swiss graphic design… it is very different from the movement he helped create back in the 1970s. I'm talking about teams like Lineto, Büro Destrukt, Optimo, Norm, and all these great students making new (but often illegible) grid- and system-based typefaces.

Ask him if he remembers this crazy Greek guy at Carnegie Mellon in about 1987 when he, Ken Hiebert, and Dan Boyarski taught a 2 week typography class :-)

ChrisL

What's strange about Weingart is that I really like much
of what he has to say, and the way he teaches, but then
when I saw his recent book, I thought: man this sucks.

Ask him about... fonts!

hhp

And Tell him to create a webpage for him, if possible.
Or on-the-fly blog at least.
Dan_reynolds, Thanks with Flowers

I found him to be a very good teacher, and visually very perceptive. He was much more open than I thought he would be. He is also a lot of fun. Like any teacher, learn from him what you can in your short time together but don't be afraid to question what he says. He is open to that and the dialogue which follows is a very good thing for both of you.
He is not a type designer, he is a skiiled and creative type user who pushes the boundries of visual syntax purely with type--and a very limited palette of it. Think of it like reducing the number of variables in a scientific experiment. It is easier to focus on the manipulated variables if you control as many of the others as possible.

ChrisL

> It is easier to focus on the manipulated variables
> if you control as many of the others as possible.

Which would be great except the point isn't to manipulate variables.

To achieve, you have to let go.

hhp

Each person has their own reasons and methods. They may not be universally accepted or even appreciated by some others but that should not prevent them from choosing their own path. Weingart has spent his life as a teacher and has been successful at it with the methods he chose. Others may be successful teachers doing quite the opposite. That is the beauty of the human mind. It does not have to be confined by the opinions of others. There are plenty of things he has done which I might look at and say "that is crazy". I am still glad he did them, otherwise how would I know what would have been?

ChrisL

> It does not have to be confined by the opinions of others.

"But express a negative opinion about one of my idols,
and I will fight tooth and nail to get the last word."

hhp

did he made any typefaces? i didnt find anything/

No, he isn't a typeface designer. He is a typographer, graphic designer, author, and teacher. And probably a few other things, too. Maybe you can ask him to fill in the list. Read his book before the lecture… the type is enormous, and interrupted by pictures, so it shouldn't take too long.

> And Tell him to create a webpage for him, if possible.

I don't think everybody needs a homepage...
It's still possible to be alive without one.

Weingart was at our school a few years ago. Unfortunatly I was ill that week :(

>> And Tell him to create a webpage for him, if possible.
>I don’t think everybody needs a homepage…

True, but Satya why not fill out the typo wiki with what you learn, maybe even start a wikepedia page on him.

Cheers, Si

I had the unbeatable pleasure of studying with Weingart this summer—an amazing teacher and a very generous individual. And he loves being asked questions, is alarmed when students exhibit no curiosity, especially curiosity about the past, about history. So do pose questions. You could ask about his approach to teaching, the years with Armin Hoffman. Also, you could talk about what he sees as the difference between laying out by hand as opposed to laying out on a computer, about the disappearance of manual work in typography. If you really want to get him going, you could ask about his views on grids...

And he does have a homepage:

http://www.weingartarchive.com/

Ask him what he thinks about Helvetica ; )

Ask him what he thinks about Helvetica ; )
y, any specific reason asking for that? :)

Sorry Satya, I assumed you knew about his comments about helvetica in Lars Mueller's book "Helvetica: homage to a typeface". He feels (or used to feel) quite strongly about it and said helvetica was the epitome of ugliness and that anyone who uses helvetica knows nothing about typefaces...I thought you could tease him...
serious: after what Linda said I really envy you! I would organise something, show him around Ahmedabad and buy him a drink or two. Go on, ask him: you've got nothing to loose!

He does enjoy his beer verymuch :-)

ChrisL

I cant offer him beer in the class:)

But definitely I'll tell him to join Typophile for sure.

Satya, you won't go wrong with beer or red wine and Weingart. And outside of class would be more than acceptable. An evening out with enthusiatic students is his idea of heaven.

Mate I'd just shut up and listen!!

Muzz

the morning session was really great. ..I got a chance to had a dinner with him...he is really cool and funny. I'll post the session pictures and my experience of the day with him later tonite.

Good!
Glad you got to see him after class--in his element :-)

ChrisL

sorry all. i was a bit busy in academic issues and thus couldnt reply.

Chris..weingart couldnt recall this crazy Greek guy's name but yeah he told me that he had a short two weeks typography class there.

Linda, i told him abt you and yeah he knows you. he told me to say hi to you :)

Dan, I aslo spoken abt you. He said that he went there at Linotype office but i think it was not one which is in bad hamburger. where did you met him?

While dinner he asked me that how do u I know a lot abt him..as I was the only one who asked maximum questions in the session. I told him that am a member of typophile and we've already discussed you there. and i think he knows abt this forum.

i really liked him what said in the session. he said we dont need much typefaces now. As he said in his book that only four typefaces can address any typographic problem. He discussed his book..I asked him abt his round compositions.

When I asked him abt his experience with hoffmann and ruder, he showed us a picture taken in NID when he, hoffmann and ruder visited NID in early 60s(sorry I couldn't recall the exact year of visit). he was around 20 at that time.

He made me shut by saying that its a different story when i asked what he thinks abt Helvetica. :)

he discussed hot metal, and he showed some of his works.

For now he has no plan to write any other book..But i told him that plz make it lighter this time( he laughed)..its too heavy to hold;)

Thanks for sharing!

> only four typefaces can address any typographic problem.

Ah, that explains the book then.

hhp

yeah but it was a answer of my question when I asked him that y his typefaces palette is so limited and y he thinks that only four typefaces can address all the typographic problems:) he didnt repeated it himself :)

That B&W photo early in this thread is actually taken by me in Iceland.
We had Weingart come and visit us for a day and I managed to trouble him for an interview.

The interview can be found here: (Don't mind the Icelandic introduction, the interview is in English.)
http://www.loremipsum.is/?pid=2441

Ragnar Freyr
www.ragnarfreyr.com

he he, i got that picture from the website you've mensioned only and I had read the interview also. Nice picture. But these are not so good photographs..I clicked without leting him know that am clicking him:)

I clicked without leting him know that am clicking him:)
Satya: you're such a groupie, aren't you? ; )
Nice pics, only maybe you should consider asking permission...just a thought.
Ragnar, great work and thanks for the link!

I clicked without leting him know that am clicking him:)

Satya's bringing Hinglish to Typophile. >^D

Nice photos, Satya. Did your fellow-students enjoy it as much as you did?

And Ragnar, great interview—I'd not seen that one. Very interesting as it seems you got him to talk a bit beyond the usual topics. Thanks.

>
Satya: you’re such a groupie, aren’t you? ; )
yeah lorenza, i am:)

>
Did your fellow-students enjoy it as much as you did?
I don't think so :(

Hey Satya,

You are very lucky man. I am really want to meet Weingart so much.
this is his website http://www.weingartarchive.com/
he does summer school in Basel. IT suppose to be good.

he had some book published too. If you can find in your libary
its called Projekte 1. Its very rare book but its so nice.
and its not thick at all :-)

Someone make a film abt swiss typography as well
you can check this out http://www.nyfilmvideo.com/2006/lamarch2006/typecast/index.htm
its far far away from my expectation. :-(
I am crazy about swiss typography and I wont buy the film