Do typeface fonts fascinate you the way they do me? Then you’ll enjoy this story from the Financial Times about a HUGE controversy raging now in the typesetting world. Typography expert Mike Parker is promoting a theory that the venerable Times New Roman font was not invented by the man traditional given credit for it. Instead, he contends, it was stolen from the forgotten work of an American naval and aeronautical designer.
…After a lifetime spent in typography, Parker was well aware of the controversy he was getting involved in: typography may present a genteel exterior, but it’s an art form punctuated by bitter rivalries and rampant plagiarism.
The case that Parker makes about the real origins of Times New Roman stands on narrow foundations. The sole piece of surviving evidence for his version of history is a brass pattern plate bearing a large capital letter B. He holds the plate up to show the familiar form of the letter, its characteristic curves and serifs. The point, he says, is that such pattern plates represent a technology that was not used after 1915. The creation of Times New Roman was announced in 1932.
I myself have strong feelings about fonts. In general, I don’t like sans serif fonts (the ones without little tails). My favorite fonts are those in which the capital “J” extends below the baseline.
Tip: Mirabilis.
That’s interesting, and yeah, I’d think “rampant plagiarism” would be a problem with font design b/c everyone is working with the same forms. If your A-a doesn’t look like an A-a, then it isn’t and no one will use it.
Do you like Garamond, Lars?
Yeah, Garamod is nice. A little too eccentric, I think, for use as reading text, but excellent for a headline.
My favorite font ever was one that used to be included with MS Word, but which later disappeared. I can’t even remember its name.
That wasn’t Times New Roman? I thought that was always the basic text font, though it isn’t now.
I mean one of the alternatives. But maybe it was MS Publisher. It was so long ago. I just remember it was a really elegant, readable font.
I like Adobe Garamond Pro … all those lovely choices!
I assume with that mindset that you also really liked the documentary Helvetica, which our entire family entirely enjoyed. So sad, really, to see how being the children of advertising people has influenced the kids. 😀
I’ve never seen the documentary, Helvetica. Partly because I’ve never had the chance, and partly because I consider Helvetica AN ABOMINATION FROM THE PIT!!!!!
Or something like that.
I love the san serif fonts! So crisp and clean. None of the clutter of all those serif markings. Yeah, they aren’t fancy but they’re easy to read. Long live plain old Arial and Verdana.
kinda makes me want to change the blog’s default fonts for a few days . . . (which would be contingent on the reader’s machine)
I care about fonts, but not as passionately as others.
My wife once made me a shirt that merely read “Comic Sans MS” in Comic Sans MS. Seeing font enthuiasts’ reactions was priceless.
Until I had a friend say, without irony, “oh, awesome! I love that font! I use it all the time in my stories!”
Because it looks like handwriting, you see. Comic Sans is just so, just so handwriterish. heh heh
I don’t really understand the hatred for Comic Sans. I suppose it’s overused. But I find it an attractive font that’s perfectly useful in its place. Not as dull as the average sans font.
The problem with Comic Sans is not necessarily the font itself but the way it is used thoughtlessly and in inappropriate contexts. If you look at it closely, you’ll find that Comic Sans suggests not just handwriting but CHILDISH, crayon-like handwriting. I believe it was originally designed as a comic book font. And so it is perfectly fine for use in a child’s book or that sort of thing, but not necessarily for a church bulletin or a vodka label (as it is in this documentary: http://vimeo.com/1994310 ).
Mens sana in SANS sano, I say.
Ha-ha.
How about Book Antiqua? That one has a low J, like you described.
Book Antiqua is OK. It’s a little too clever for my taste, trying to slip over into Sans without anybody’s noticing.
I just remembered the name of the old font I loved. It was called Poppl Laudatio. My spelling may be a little off.
Interesting. That’s a flair font. And you say Book Antiqua slips into sans serif? You cannot be pleased sir. Of course, your memory may be off a bit. Poppl Laudatio is closer to sans serif than Antiqua. Note examples.
My gosh. My memory is like… like something I can’t recall just now.