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I LOVE TYPOGRAPHY

Sunday type: ampersand type

It Must Be Slanted

Before we get started, I’d just like to announce that on Wednesday I’ll be publishing the long-awaited interview with Jos Buivenga, the man behind type foundry exljbris. Thanks to everyone for their questions for Jos submissions. Is it really Sunday again? Well, it had better be, because today we have a jam-packed-to-bursting roundup of type news, free fonts and lots more.

Let’s start with some nice type treatments in this video, Le Passage:


video link

How well do you know your type?

Think you are pretty good at identifying typefaces? Well, why not test your super-type-identification powers with Kari’s The Rather Difficult Font Game. Kari tells me that he has plans to expand the scope of the game. In the meantime, there are 34 typefaces to identify. Good luck and enjoy:

the rather difficult font game

I do think that this kind of game is more than fun. In attempting to identify type, our sensitivity to type–and our ability to see what distinguishes one typeface from another–is heightened; it’s akin to cultivating a nose for wine. [iLT related: Type Identification]

Inspiration

Two great posters from Words are Pictures:

words are pictures

Via the wonderfully named, Death by Kerning.

A self-‘printing’ calendar from the very talented Oscar Diaz:

oscar diaz self-painting calendar

Via Cati Vaucelle’s Architectradure.

Some beautifully decorated initials in this Tokyo Tsukiji type specimen from a collection at St Bride Library, London.

Decorated Initials from the Tokyo Tsukiji Foundry. St Bride Library, London

Photo credit: ultrasparky. And thanks to Alec for the find.

As a subscriber to Dan Reynolds’ TypeOff blog, I was pleased to read that Slanted magazine is now shipping internationally.

slanted magazine now shipping internationally

That’s the good news. The bad news is that Issue 5 is now AUSVERKAUFT! (sold out). However, be sure to check back for the next issue. If you do want a copy, then get in there quickly before issue 6 is also ausverkauft. If it makes you feel any worse, my copy of #5 is in the post.

Fontstructors

Last Sunday I featured the magnificent Fontstruct, a very easy to use web app for creating typefaces. Here’s Descanso Typewriter by iLT reader, Grayson Scherer:

descano typewriter by Grayson Scherer

Free fonts

First is a very legible screen typeface for small sizes called Silkscreen (regular and bold):

silkscreen pixel font free!

Thanks to Jos for the link.
Rany Outline from Haiku Monkey foundry. I tried using this in sIFR, and it worked surprisingly well.

rany outline free font

Of course you can embed it as a web font too−that goes for most of the free fonts (if you’re not sure, check the license).

Need a good comic-strip font? Look no further than DigitalStrip. You can download for Win or Mac. Free for non-profit use; see license for further information).

New faces

Le Monde Courrier PTF. Gorgeous!

le monde courrier ptf

With all the extras that you’d expect from a quality typeface–OpenType features, good Small Caps, Oldstyle figures, Tabular figures, etc. Be sure to print the PDF. The above shot doesn’t really do it justice. See it in print, and it really is something else.

Next is something fun. Sniplash was originally released as a sinlge weight in 2004. Now it’s also available in bold and light. Takes its cue from cartoons and comics of the ’60s and ’70s:

sniplash from P22 (3 styles)

And then there’s Showcard Stunt from House Industries:

showcard stunt from House

Styling ampersands (&)

Ever wondered how some sites set ampersands (&) in a different typeface? Well, with the typogrify plugin it’s easy. In the typogrify admin, just check the “style ampersands” box, then write a little CSS:

.amp
{ font-family: ‘Hoefler Text’, ‘Palatino Linotype’, ‘Baskerville’, serif;
font-style: italic; }

typogrify plugin and styling ampersands (&)

Name those ampersands. My favorite is Hoefler Text italic.

Type links

63 Grunge fonts
Behind the scenes of exquisite web typography #3
Zeichenpress cards–Swiss Miss
Adventures in Kerning, Part II–H&FJ
If Beavis and Butthead were typographers–fontblog
Logos in a font (free)–thanks to Julian Schrader
101 Typography Resources–via David Airey
City type–via aisleone
Inkthis FACELIFT event–Leicester, UK
Where are the Web 2.0 fonts?–thanks, Dave
Upside-down text with Javascript–Ajaxian
Graphic Design by Elsa Chaves–whywerock
MyFonts newsletter starring Museo and Bree
An interview with Cyrus Highsmith of the Font Bureau–Typographica
Erik Spiekermann’s Stainless Steel Numbers–I want them!
Video Interview with Roger Black on Celebrity Fonts–via Typofonderie

Competition!

There’s a copy of James Felici’s The Complete Manual of Typography up for grabs. Here’s what you need to do to have a chance of winning it:

name the typeface used in today’s header; and name one other typeface by its designer.

Send your answers to me at this address: m{AT}ilovetypography.com, preferably with “Sunday Type” in the subject line. I will ship it anywhere. The last competition winner was Christian in Chile, who won a copy of Bringhurst’s The Elements of Typographic Style for his FontBook in a Movie entry.

Today’s Types

Something distressed: Jaguarundi from TypeTrust:

jaguarundi

Something script: Kugelhopf from JukeBox Type:

kugelhopf

Something for text: Walburn:

walburn

Beautifully drawn italic!

Coming up

On Wednesday I’ll publish the interview with Jos. You’ll get the opportunity to ‘talk’ to Jos through the comments, if there are additional questions you’d like to ask him.
Typeface reviews by Kris Sowersby and Dan Reynolds, an interview with Nadhine Chahine, and the next episode of 15 great Examples of Web Typography.

Thanks to everyone who reads. Have a stupendously fantastic Sunday.

previous: eXtreme Type Terminology

next: An Interview With Jos Buivenga

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