Craig Eliason has been writing a pangram almost every day for over two years on his site The Daily Pangram. For the last week, they’ve been about me or my fonts, which is quite an honor.
Pangrams are tricky enough to write without having to keep track of all the letters, so Craig uses my Pangrammer Helper so he can focus on the creative part of the task. He’s gotten quite good at it.
Craig and I both work in St. Paul, so we see each other from time to time, traveling in similar circles (he teaches art history at the University of St. Thomas and is learning to design type).
I should really just end this with a pangram, except I can’t quite think of any words that fit that have a z. Hmm…
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In honor of Valentine’s Day, Extensis has posted a silly little game called TYPEmatching wherein you attempt to find romantic match ups between common typefaces.
Alastair Johnston, who has written some very nice books about type, has posted an item on his blog skewering the period typography of the TV movie The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
I’ve been invited by Addison Hall to participate in this “musical baton” thing that’s being passed from blog to blog. I’m a good sport, so here goes:
Total volume of music on my computer: 10.09GB, 2,572 songs, 6.5 days worth.
The last CD I bought was: Escondida, by Jolie Holland. Already among my favorite albums.
Song playing right now: None. I actually don’t usually listen to music while I work (this is working?). On the other hand, I do like to listen to stuff from the Fresh Air archives while I work.
Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:
Well, these don’t all necessarilly mean a lot to me, but they are a few of my favorites…
Cheminant A La Ville, by Kate & Anna McGarrigle. I know some french so I can almost understand this song. Plus, it’s beautiful.
Communication Breakdown, by Led Zeppelin. Best played very loud.
Jealous Guy, by John Lennon. My favorite Lennon song.
Free Money, by Patti Smith. I love her early stuff.
You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, by Madeleine Peyroux. Great cover of an old Bob Dylan song.
Five People to Whom I am Passing the Baton:
Typographica (either Stephen or Josh)
Mark Friesen
On his blog, Shane Durant is sharing his collection of photos of South African township type and signage. (Update: Link seems to be dead.)
Nick Shinn, a talented type designer based in Toronto, regularly posts essays about type and design on his site which have appeared in various design magazines. My favorite is “The Golden Age of Lettering” (big surprise).
Peter Bilak, creator of the extensive Fedra family and based in The Hague, has a large collection of critical essays and articles on his foundry’s website, many written by him. He also co-founded dot-dot-dot magazine. When does this guy have time to design type?
Los Angeles-based illustrator, lettering artist and type designer Leslie Cabarga is also a prolific writer. His first book, which he started writing as a teenager, is still the definitive history of the Fleischer Brothers animation studio. In his latest book, Logo, Font, and Lettering Bible, he seems to reveal all the tricks in his bag. Highly recommended.