NYT Magazine redesign
Behind the redesign of the New York Times Magazine. Great visual and typographic treatment
Gore’s choice
For his new book, Al Gore wanted some tweaks to the typeface.
“You see, Al is really involved with the project and we spend a lot of time working together in the publisher’s office. When he was reviewing the proofs, he had a comment about the typeface. Basically, he wants you to change the numeral one.”
As a result, there is an updated version of Brioni now available.
First FontFont specimen
5 Dutch Type Designers was the first FontFont specimen, published in 1990. There’s a PDF of the original Dutch version available for download, as well as some commentary and recollections.
Underground type
A Typeface for the Underground takes an in-depth look at the history of the Johnston typeface used by Transport for London. You might also be interested in Ken Garland’s book, Mr Beck’s Underground map, detailing the history of a design icon.
Playboy type
Ministry of Type takes a look at the typography and layouts of Playboy, particularly those from the 50s and 60s. The magazine has put about fifty years of archives online, although the interface is a bit kludgey.
Typographic purists
Mistakes in typography grate the purists from the NYT.
“I think sometimes that being overly type-sensitive is like an allergy,” said Michael Bierut, a partner in the Pentagram design group in New York. “My font nerdiness makes me have bad reactions to things that spoil otherwise pleasant moments.”
I’m not at the anaphylactic stage of typographic allergy yet — more the sniffly, dry and itchy eyes sort of thing.
From the Hellbox
Letters from the Hellbox is an irregular column from Martin McClellan on typographers.
Typographic titles
I was watching My Man Godfrey and was struck by the title sequence and its use of typography. Older films generally have the credits first, this one is no different in that respect, but the integration into the film is quite phenomenal — the camera pans across a cityscape, with the cast, crew and title, displayed as blinking signage. The film is now in the public domain, and available for viewing on Google video or download from the Internet Archive.
On a somewhat related note, I thought the title sequence for Bored to Death was quite well done. Although, it’s more in the vein of typography as illustration.
Update: Added graphics from two title sequences. Also thought I’d take a moment to mention Christian’s Movie Title Stills again, which I linked to earlier.
Comic Serif
Comic Serif is a companion slab serif to the much maligned Comic Sans. It’s available for free from HVD fonts.
Type News
Type News is a new website from Rob Keller, featuring an aggregation of news, photos and tweets related to typography. He and his wife have also unveiled their new foundry, Mota Italic. Help Rob repay his student loans and get some great fonts for your generosity.
Full issues of LIFE
Google Books teamed up with LIFE, to scan full issues of LIFE magazine from the 1930s-1970s and provide them for public viewing.
Update: A Year in Pictures is a particularly interesting artifact for the type nerds out there.
Cheese or font?
Cheese or font? Pretty much what it sounds like, they give you a word, you decide whether it’s a cheese or a font. It’s harder than it sounds.
Subpixel type
The first subpixel typeface has an x-height of just 3px. It can be used to improve the legibility of favicons.
Leaden Army
Goudy Fonts is a tribute site, dedicated to the work Frederic and Bertha Goudy and their impact on American typography. I am type is one of Goudy’s more famous essays on the subject. This quote is a bit dated, but I like it.
I am the leaden army that conquers the world. I am type.
That essay and others can be found in Texts on Type.
Edward Rondthaler dies
Edward Rondthaler has passed away at the age of 104. He was a founder of ITC and one of the early developers of phototypesetting. There’s a more type-centric obituary up at FontFeed.
