Nearly every year since 1998, the nonprofit group known as the Society of Typographic Aficionados has presented the traveling TypeCon conference. This year's edition in Portland opens on Wednesday with a full lineup of workshops and lectures. TypeCon includes both a full-day course exploring letterpress printing of the Bodoni typeface (now sold out), and sessions to help independent type foundries market their work.
Ahead of the 14th TypeCon, nicknamed "Portl&," we traded emails with organizer Grant Hutchinson about the Emoji workshop, geographic typography, and what makes their type quiz so "infamous."
There's a workshop on the type of Taiwan, another on type in South Africa. Is there a focus on geographic typography this year?
The focus isn't specific to this year's conference. We always try to include linguistic and cross-cultural topics in the program. For example, at TypeCon2012 in Milwaukee we covered topics such as Cherokee syllabary, South American beer labels, and Mayan writing reform. In 2011, there were presentations on Japanese typography, Turkish type design, and the connections between typography, text, and black identity in America.
Is the lecture on Friday the first time TypeCon will feature the Emoji?
We've had presentations cover the topic of symbol fonts and Emoji before, but this is the first time that the new color Emoji technology has been discussed.
You're a member of the Society of Typographic Aficionados, which presents TypeCon every year. Can you tell me a little about what kind of work the Society does?
The primary work that we focus on is producing our annual TypeCon conference. We're a small and very grassroots organization, and the conference reflects that. It's important to us that we keep the conference program jam-packed with relevant and wide-reaching variation of topics. We also focus on typographic education through the Type & Design Education Forum held during the conference, as well as our annual Catalyst award targeted at young designers.
Another ongoing project is our Font Aid fundraising efforts. We have organized six Font Aid projects so far, each bringing together hundreds of designers and typographers to create a typeface which is sold to raise needed funds for disaster relief.
What's one workshop no one should miss?
That's a difficult call. If it was me (and I had the time), I wouldn't miss the two-day, hands-on Brush Roman Majuscules workshop with John Downer & Paul Herrera. Otherwise, this year's special presentation with Alejandro Paul and the keynote by Adrian Shaughnessy should be killer. Of course, I'm biased. This year's entire program is pretty amazing.
What is the "infamous type quiz" all about?
Each year, Allan Haley of Monotype hosts a quick-fire trivia contest featuring some of the toughest typographic questions out there. It's amazing to witness how much geeky type knowledge (and minutia) some of the participants possess. Points are tallied; drinks are poured; prizes are awarded.
TypeCon kicks off Wednesday, August 21 in Portland, OR. All photos are embedded via the TypeCon Flickr Pool.
We'd bet the new Stumptown x Poler coffee travel kit works just as well in an apartment as it does in the field. It's also a useful set for the traveler that stays in hotels and doesn't like to risk a strong coffee in the morning. The full kit includes a grinder, a pound of Stumptown's Holler Mountain roast, the AeroPress brewer, and a specially branded bag and mug set.
Pick one up directly from Stumptown, see the kit in action at Poler. 
On the long list of things New York City claims to do best, the beach is rarely mentioned. While NYC beaches aren't highly regarded for their solitude or white sand, city dwellers still head to waterfronts in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx in droves when the sun gods beckon.
NYC-based photographer Wayne Lawrence grew up in Saint Kitts, an island made almost entirely out of beaches, so his photo series of Orchard Beach dwellers on the only public beach in the Bronx seems like a natural choice. The title "Orchard Beach: the Bronx Riviera," by the way, is a play on the beach's original nickname in the 1930s, New York Riviera. [photos via Agnostica / Courtesy of the Artist]
See more work from Wayne Lawrence.
What's likely the most impressive collection of Braun artifacts in the world isn't found in a design museum or school, but instead in the private home of Dr. Peter Kapos. While not on public view, Kapos has made his collection viewable in an online exhibit he calls Das Programm. In an interview with Fast Company, Kapos explains the sometimes strange position of housing a design museum and raising a young family in the same space, "I have boys of four and seven who have learned not to touch anything made in Germany.”
His Braun collection, which spans nearly every decade of the industrial design giant's history, includes audio equipment, cameras and flashes, and household items such as kitchen appliances and clocks. The collection cuts off roughly around the time the company was purchased by Gillette and subsequently stopped producing audio equipment.
Who needs a rhinestone jumpsuit when you have the Opening Ceremony x Elvis collection? In tribute to the life and times of the King, Opening Ceremony has released a 22-piece Fall/Winter 2013 capsule licensed under Elvis Presley Enterprises. The collection includes a range of sweatshirts and T-shirts decked out with song titles, archival images, and other goodies which celebrate the music icon.
The editorial lookbook was shot by UK-based photographer Jamie Hawkesworth, whose work has appeared in Man About Town. He’s also collaborated with J.W. Anderson and Sunspel, and you may remember him as the photographer who gave us a glimpse into the life and studio of dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei early this year.
For the Elvis collection, Hawkesworth turns his eye to the locals of Graceland. Recalling his contemporary portraiture, Hawkesworth shoots Memphis natives modeling the collection to great effect. Check out our favorite shots below.
View the full editorial and shop the collection at Opening Ceremony. 
Earlier this year the designers at Mucho had an assignment: Make a small cardboard box fun. While that might seem like an impossible task in most situations, this specific cardboard box had an inherently fun purpose: it was the prototype for a new disposable cocktail shaker concept called MidNight. The firm borrowed the geometry of the two capital letters in the brand's name to design a system of colorful triangles, and added vintage engravings of fruit for texture and contrast.
MidNight Drinks are available in Spain. Keep an eye on this page for an international launch. 
The pig roast (with 14 pigs on spits) is pretty much the equivalent of the DIY punk show for many grown-ups these days. The music might not be as loud, but the mission of the flyer is the same. Convince a bunch of people to travel to a far-off place with a great poster that promises a unique experience. Organizers of Pig Mountain, a culinary festival billed as a Pig Roast & Veggie Fest, worked with the designers at Mother for a series of print posters loosely inspired by a photocopied punk flyer aesthetic. A zine highlights photos of previous roasts and features useful info, maps, and addresses, while the highlighter-colored tickets and three flyers complete the campaign. [via It's Nice That]
Pig Mountain takes place next week in Upstate New York.
We’re not sure why Reebok is calling these kicks “Italy,” but we do know the shoe is a brilliantly refreshing take on their Classic Leather sneaker. Reebok decks out this retro edition in suede and leather detailing, and rounds out the throwback vibe with a lugged gum outsole and the original woven logo label on the tongue and side. The Classic Leather Retro Italy is available in two colorways—either of which is a great homage to one of its most iconic silhouettes.
Visit End Clothing for more info. The Classic Leather Retro Suede Italys are priced at $75.
Since it launched a little more than three years ago, Kickstarter has established itself as a boon to budding designers, bringing nearly 3,000 often ingenious design concepts to some stage of development or completion. On August 22, Chicago’s MNML design studio, a crowdfunding success in its $1 million-plus campaign for the TikTok+LunaTik Watch Kits, will host a Kickstarter All-Stars night, showcasing a curated collection of some of the platform's biggest success.
The Vers 1Q Speaker
The 25 items on display include the following:
CST-01, Porthole, TidyTilt/JustMount, Pebble, Designing Obama, Vers 1Q, HiddenRadio, Zooka, More/ Real Stylus, Ouya, Lumio, The Glif, TikTok+LunaTik, Cosmonaut, 10-Year Hoodie, Wabi Nabe, Tylt VU, Resketch, Kern & Burn, Pinch, LUNATIK Touch Pen, Sharpener Jar, Piccolo, Biblio, Chromatic, Hex6agon, LUNATIK Taktik, and Facet.
The Kickstarter All-Stars Exhibition will be on display during the MNML Maker Mixer on Thursday, August 22 at 9pm. RSVP to attend at mnml.com then bask in the glory of the latest wave in design.
For the print and digital campaign promoting this year's collecton at the Galería Mexicana de Diseño in Mexico City, designer Tania Alvarez Zaldivar recreated the show's chairs, towels, and lights as all-white laser-cut renderings. Alvarez photographed the laser-cut models against white and black backgrounds and chose a bold sans serif typeface for the copy. Highlights from the collection include chairs from the designers at BD Barcelona and Hay, and lighting design from Mattias Stahlbom at Muuto. For comparison, photos of the original items are on the museum's site.
Find more projects from Tania Alvarez Zalidivar on Behance.
