Some articles, tables and random stuff that were helpful during the development of this typeface. Some of it was made up. Combined with Action Condensed headlines. The people mentioned do not endorse, use, support, or even know about Action Grotesque.

Contents: Intro / Stedelijk Museum / Adventure Review / Visit Naoshima / Branding at scale / Ingredients / Caring for your tools / A short list of Pacifics / The North / Yellow Magic Orchestra / Brahms / People just don’t see or read this stuff / A clock! /

Museumjournaal, Serie 18 no.6, 1973
Frank Steenhagen, Jurriaan Schrofer. Exhibition Catalogue

Stedelijk Museum

Source: adapted from the Stedelijk Museum website.

New Schedule starts June 2024

Naoshima

Naoshima was made a village in 1890, and upgraded to a town in 1954.[1] The town is part of Kagawa District.[5] Naoshima is the sister town of Timmins, Ontario, Canada. As of 2010, only three of the town’s 27 islands are inhabited: Naoshima, Byōbujima, and Mukaejima.[6] Ishima is also inhabited, but only in the northern portion which belongs to Okayama Prefecture.

Source: Website for the Naoshima ferry. The displayed times may no longer be correct.

Dark Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter

INGREDIENTS: Organic Peanut Butter, Organic Honey, Organic Nonfat Dry Milk, *Organic Dark Chocolate Organic Cocoa Liquor, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Cocoa Powder, Organic Sunflower Lecithin, Organic Dried Whole Egg, Organic Brown Rice Protein Concentrate, Sea Salt, Organic Flax Seed Oil, Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Sesame Seed Oil, Organic Olive Oil, Organic Pumpkin Seed Oil, Dried Whole Food Powders (Organic Kale, Organic Flax Seed, Organic Rose Hip, Organic Orange Peel, Organic Lemon, Organic Papaya, Organic Tomato, Organic Apple, Organic Alfalfa, Organic Celery, Organic Kelp, Organic Dulse, Organic Carrot, Organic Spinach). *Fair Trade Certified™ by Fair Trade USA ALLERGEN WARNING: CONTAINS PEANUTS, EGGS, AND MILK. PRODUCED ON EQUIPMENT ALSO HANDLING ALMONDS AND OTHER TREE NUTS. MAY CONTAIN OCCASIONAL NUT SHELLS.

Source: A chocolate bar, on my desk. Traditionally this kind of information is printed very small: a lot of data on a limited printable area on the packaging. Maybe you personally do not need to pay attention to these kinds of labels. But for some people there is no choice and must read it. So you might as well give this reading experience some thought.

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9. Ästhetische Qualität

[…] Dabei geht es nicht nur um Eigen­schaften, die ich auf Grund meines subjektiven Geschmacks für wichtig halte, sondern um Eigen­schaften, die ihre bedeutung aus der „Gebrauchs­wirk­lich­keit“ eines Produkts bekommen. Ästhetisch ist das Design eines Industrie­produkts, wenn es ehrlich, aus­gewogen, ein­fach, zurück­haltend-­neutral, sorg­fältig ist. Und dies nicht — oder nicht nur — um das Auge zu erfreuen, …sondern weil zurück­haltende, neutrale ästhetische Qualität eben­falls ein Aspekt der Brauch­barkeit des Produkts ist. Es ist schwer, mühsam, kräfte­zehrend, mit Dingen zu leben, von Dingen umgeben zu sein, die unaus­gewogen auf­dring­lich, verwirrend kompliziert, verlogen sind.

Source: Burkhardt, François. Design: Dieter Rams. Gerhardt Verlag, 1981. Hold on a second on a well designed travel clock! A Dieter Rams quote, in a specimen like this? And this isn’t even a revival of Universoïd or whatever! Haha! You’re combing the captions for juice? Priceless!

Caring for your tools:

Niwaki Ltd. 15 Chaldocott Barns, Semley, SP7 9AW. 01747 445 059

Source: Niwaki mailinglist, summer 2025. High-end Japanese gardening tools.

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Pacifics

4—6—2 Class A4

* introduced 1935. Gresley streamlined design.
†‡ Inside cylinder reduced to 17"
ठNon-corridor tender (remainder corridor)
** Kylchap blast pipe and double chimney

THE CLUB RULE: Members of the Loco­spotters Club will not in any way interfere with railway working or material, nor be a nuisance or hindrance to railway staff, trespass on railway property. No one will be admitted a member of the Club unless they solemnly agree to keep this rule.

Sources: Dan Allan Ltd. London. 1952 The ABC of British Railways Locomotives. Part 4—Nos. 60001—90774. p. 2. Photo: Drive of number 03 131, a DRG Class 03. Really? No. It is a detail of some typesetting machine.

Yellow
Magic
Orchestra

(abbreviated to YMO) was a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals, occasional keyboards) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals).4 The group is considered influential and innovative in the field of popular electronic music.5+6

They were pioneers in their use of synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, drum machines, computers, and digital recording technology,7,8 and effectively anticipated the “electropop boom” of the 1980s.9,10

They are credited with playing a key role in the development of several electronic genres, including synthpop, J-pop, electro, and techno, while exploring subversive sociopolitical themes throughout their career.11,12

Source: Mostly from Wikipedia. Sadly, these footnotes are not linked to anything.

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Brahms’

Francesco Piemontesi, and the Ge­wand­haus­orchester, directed by Manfred Honeck. Recorded in 2025.

From the genuinely soft playing of the opening horn solo, and the flowing and confident playing from both orchestra and soloist, you’ll realise you are in for a quite special performance. Pianist Francesco Piemontesi, unlike so many others performing Brahms, never hammers his instrument, even when there’s the temptation to make an obvious “tempestuous” effect. Yet don’t be deceived-this is not a low-key performance. In the equally important orchestral part, you can hear the Gewandhaus strings effectively convey Brahms’ veiled passion in the theme that follows the piano’s first entry.

Between pianist and the conductor, Manfred Honeck, the drama unfolds smoothly, rising to a steady boil and a climax which readily recalls the burning fury of Brahms’ First Concerto. After this, the horn call’s return appears all the more striking, elegiac after so much storm and fury. Everything is “in character” without any heavy-handedness, making a single, coherent narrative of a movement which so often appears discursive in other hands.

The Op. 117 solo pieces, once described by Brahms as “lullabies of my grief”, are played beautifully—listen in the first piece to how song-like Piemontesi makes the countermelody to the return of the opening theme.

Classical · 2025 · Dolby Atmos · Hi-Res Lossless. Text source: Apple Music.

Source: track notes from Apple Music. A tough call for the editor. “Ge­wand­haus­orchester” does not hyphenate very well when the text is set to English.

File under/
fiction, fantastic
Retrieved October 1971

BOOK SHOP

I had passed that shop many times in this street but had never gone in. On the window, gold and red Tuscan capitals spelled BOOKS.
Vinyl lettering would have been unforgivable but closer inspection revealed brushstrokes, paint, goldleaf. This was clearly the store of a bibliophile, it had to be. I grabbed the door.

A brass bell mounted on a spring jingled and I entered. Tall, wooden bookshelves that reached a distant, nicotine coloured ceiling. Handlettered signs on the shelves, offering structure, categories and direction. Some books were behind locked doors. Very well, very promising!.

A Scandinavian delivery cat looks up from a small desk. Small spectacles, a frown. It stared at me for a moment, then introduced itself as the editor of Speculative Fiction.
It told me we urgently needed to go over some implausible turns, some disturbing, excessive, improper use of adjectives in this story so far, could we meet for coffee, immediately, forthwith? So there was that.

It was ten thousand years later and it had started to rain.

Source: made up story. When using “novel” typography, like inline signage, does it bother you? For me, when I read, I see the words several lines ahead and I already start thinking about them.

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