@kentlew@typo.social

· 2mo ago

*The Martian Chronicles* is the book that prompted me to start designing an homage to Electra (which remains incomplete still, but may someday get finished).

The penultimate “chronicle” takes place on today’s date.

(Thanks to https://beige.party/@Troggie/117036835050269682)

beige.party

Troggie: "Today is “There Will Come Soft Rains” day. A shor…" - beige.party

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 5mo ago

I was inspired by several posts today to go dig out this old t-shirt that was created for a Font Bureau event that happened to fall on May 1st (2009). It was Font Bureau’s 20th anniversary and Cyrus Highsmith made this characteristic graphic for the event, with a nod to the date.

The t-shirt is too discolored and threadbare to wear anymore, but I still keep it bunched up in my drawer. Classic Highsmith.

(Sorry for all the wrinkles. Couldn’t find our iron.)

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 2mo ago

I swear I spend way too much damn time deep in diminishing-returns territory. I *know* this. And yet… I just can’t seem to be able to help myself. 🫤

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

In particular, I was thinking of George W. Jones’s Georgian — a transitional face in the manner of Wilson, Fry, et al. It’s almost completely unknown over here. And I don’t think it ever saw much use even in Great Britain, despite being favorably reviewed early on by typographers on both sides. Certainly not the widespread adoption of his better-known types — Granjon and Linotype Baskerville. Jones’s Estienne is also less known and somewhat overlooked; but at least it got picked up and offered stateside by MLCo. I’ve never seen Georgian in a Mergenthaler catalog. So I thought I’d share a few samples that I have managed to collect. 2/

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 3mo ago

Despite my many many misgivings about the current political climate and the policies & actions of our current government, I still think this is a remarkable country, with a remarkable history, filled with many remarkably good people doing remarkable things. Happy Birthday, America.

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@Okay@typo.social Well, this will be under copyright for several more decades to come. But hey, at my rate of progress that might work out just right … 😆

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

On the bright side, though: chickadees & warblers were singing, the ferns are coming up, and lots of trilliums are in bloom. 🙂 Nevertheless, Mother Nature persists.

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@letterror @db My wife has taken up keeping worms (indoors) to supplement her composting efforts. Certain conditions do need to be attended to. Her first attempt failed. But the current “herd” seems to be getting along now without too much fussing.

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@nicksherman @JTDType I had similarly pondered a naming scheme that would incidentally fall into alphabetic order. I was trying to use common designations that tend to have some general, relative consensus. Here’s what I had come up with as a potential: Banner Display Heading Subhead Text Tiny XSmall The small end is not entirely satisfactory, but there’s not a lot of alphabet left after “Text”. 🤷‍♂️

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@frankrolf@typo.social @nicksherman@typo.social Just realized that Zapf’s Hunt Roman was cast with a Th ligature. Interesting. I glossed right over it in previous study. Zapf’s seems more convincing than most.Though I would still want this sort of thing in {dlig}.

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@nicksherman @JTDType Yeah, I realize that “Banner” has more limited familiarity beyond the old Font Bureau world. Never occurred to me that newer folk might have a completely different response to “Display” though. Probably all name-based sequences are going to have weaknesses due to different perspectives/interpretations. 🤷‍♂️

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@frankrolf@typo.social Yeah, but I know exactly what they meant. 😉 FWIW, also not a fan. On at least one occasion, I have customized ITC Franklin for a client to remove the default T_h behavior that DB put in there. (So yeah, there’s a non-Adobe example.)

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 6mo ago

@dyana@typo.social Devanāgarī is correct (but spacing/fitting is a little odd, to my eye 🤷‍♂️).

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@typographica@typo.social @djrrb@mastodon.social @SandrineNugue@typo.social @klim@typo.social So glad to be able to see this talk online, Stewf. I was bummed not to be able to make over to Boston when you were out here.

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 12mo ago

Replying to

@Rougeux@vis.social This is an awe-inspiring undertaking. I’m thrilled to see scans of originals, and even more excited to have links to many of the references that Updike wasn’t able to show images of. That makes this so much more than just an online transcription. What a tremendous resource. Thanks for all the research, and for making this available. (And I love that you used Matthew’s revival of Monticello! 🙂 )

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@JTDType @nicksherman I thought Banner would catch on back when, but it never really got beyond the FB families. Never struck me as any less useful or suggestive than, say, “Micro”. Hard to say why one spread and the other didn’t.

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 8mo ago

Replying to

@paulvanderlaan @nicksherman Technically, I believe Knockout and Gotham were both released when it was Hoefler Type Foundry (HTF). Gotham was expanded under Hoefler & Frere-Jones (H&FJ). And Forza was Hoefler & Company (H&Co). But it’s all Mono now …

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@dyana I’m not a native reader nor an expert, so take my comments with a grain of salt. Also, this seems to be aiming for a specific tight-not-touching display aesthetic, and I’m not qualified to weigh in on this from a non-Latin perspective. That said, the tightness of the vowel mātrās in ना (nā) and री (rī) leave the wide stance of ग (ga) feeling very unnatural there and pulling the word apart rather than cohering. Spacing aside, the arm of न looks a bit long (or व slightly too narrow?). And the knot on the ग seems heavier than that on न, and I don’t know that it should be. But that’s a lot of second-guessing on my part. Perhaps someone like @matratype would be better qualified to comment, if you’re seeking more feedback.

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@onpaperwings Bon voyage!

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@onpaperwings @erikvorhes 🤯

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 11mo ago

Replying to

@ksmallgallery I believe Brill has them. Technically more Transitional than Old Style, but maybe close enough. Definitely solid book face, of course. @TiroTypeworks

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@onpaperwings Cute. But what about “Ligatures On/Off”? 🫤

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@Okay@typo.social 😿 Hope all works/ed out.

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

@nathansnelgrove @onpaperwings That’s a lot of shelves is what that sounds like. Looks like you’ve got another trip to plan.

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@frerejonestype *Final* Jeopardy, no less! If you make it to NYT crossword, it better be the Sunday edition. 😉

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 11mo ago

Replying to

@ryan Fairmount looks great. Love the badge. Not to get nitpicky, but what was Gretel’s thinking behind that big honking word space in the wordmark, I wonder?

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 17mo ago

Replying to

@tphinney @TiroTypeworks @davidsudweeks @timahrens This discussion got me curious about the encoding of ellipsis as a single entity. I haven’t yet found any evidence of ellipsis cast as a single sort in foundry type, nor among Linotype or Monotype matrices. Plenty of two-dot leaders (cast on em). That seemed common. But not three-dot ellipsis. 🤔

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 12mo ago

Replying to

@letterror Ooh, were there any leftover unused letters and did you get any as a keepsake?

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 12mo ago

Replying to

@letterror Nice! 🤩 Yeah, I can’t imagine they would aim for overshooting the bare requirement. Must have been costly to fabricate. Would’ve been funny, though, if they got to the end and were, like, “How come we have this extra Л over here? Did anybody proofread this?” 😅

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 16mo ago

Replying to

@jenskutilek@typo.social @DunwichType@typo.social In which case, by "scarce" they must mean ominpresent.

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 16mo ago

Replying to

@jenskutilek @jaf 🤒 🙄

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 17mo ago

Replying to

@HEX Haven’t bothered to add up my TIME subscription over the past ten years and compare to the original license. Probably got a few more years left. 😜

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 17mo ago

Replying to

@timahrens Some discussion on Typedrawers from a few months ago: https://typedrawers.com/discussion/comment/68356 (More about fitting than internal spacing, though.)

TypeDrawers

Punctuation education

I can thoroughly recommend this brilliant book, which I recently came across, as having some relevance to type designers—especially in showing instances of how punctuation marks appear in grammatical examples.

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

@JTDType In a word: No. But it sucks that these corps don’t want to take no for an answer. (See also @jasonsantamaria’s experience with Adobe.)

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@nika@typo.social @TiroTypeworks@typo.social Looks like you’re in Mac full-screen mode. Clicking the green button in the upper left should escape and return to window mode.

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 8mo ago

Replying to

@mass_driver Congrats! From a guy whose average typeface gestation is more like ten years. 😆

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 20mo ago

Replying to

@janmaack What does it say about me that I’m equally fascinated by what’s going on in that central square, in particular the wavy patterns being made by that vibratory soil compactor? and that maze of concrete footings? 😳 😆

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

@morningtype According to some previous discussion, the PE investor for TTF is Eagle Private Capital. https://typo.social/@frerejonestype/111155789846702680 Or “was”? I no longer see TTF listed in their portfolio. I do vaguely recall seeing the listing there previously. So I don’t know if that signals any meaningful change. 🤷‍♂️ You should reach out to Sam Berlow if you want to try to get direct answers.

typo.social

Frere-Jones Type: "@litherland You can see TTF on Eagle Private Capi…" - typo.social

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Kent Lew @kentlew@typo.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@nika@typo.social @TiroTypeworks@typo.social Strange. Not sure what else to suggest. 🤷‍♂️

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