Rod launched his company PSY/OPS 17 years ago under the lordship of a trans-dimensional alien (his words). Over the years, the company has developed their own collection of type and collaborates often with other designers. Rod firmly believes that collaboration produces better work than what can be created by an individual alone.
While most designers and type nerds may be familiar with PSY/OPS from the work they’ve done for clients like EA Sports, KFC and Madonna, Rod and his team particularly enjoy engaging in “labor of love” projects and occasionally creating pointless, yet gorgeous work.
In the spirit of fun, Rod shifted the focus of his talk to the PSY/OPS offshoot Glyfyx. Glyfyx has created a letterbuilding game called Alphabuild, a game that was made primarily for kids, but skill levels can be changed to interest older “kids” as well. As Rod admitted, they play often at PSY/OPS and it gets competitive. And he doesn’t always win.A few other fun projects Glyfyx has graced the world with are
- Plushtype: an alphabet of pushies made out irresistibly tactile fabric
- Bitmap building blocks: because children of the 21st century need to experience the joy of jaggy type
- Sonic Alphabet: Letters broken down into morse code-style forms which results in each letter being its own song. It’s catchy
Rod ended his talk appropriately by demonstrating the Sonic Alphabet with the songs of Erik Spiekermann, LOL, and Neville Brody.
Rod Cavazos
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Rod Cavazos is Principal of PSY/OPS, an independent type studio epicentered located in the heart of San Francisco. Cavazos serves as Adjunct Professor of Type Design at California College of the Arts and as CEO [Chief Ebullience Officer] at Glyfyx Inc. When not working on a font he can be found working on another font.
— posted by Brooke Francesi