FREE FONTS

Well, it’s that time of the week again. It’s Sunday. Some of you will be working while others will be “chilling”–am I too old to use words like “chilling”? Anyway, today I have something free (several free things, in fact)–but good free, not bad free.

Most things in life that are free are usually useless. But there are exceptions of course. I recently received a copy of FONT through the post–all the way from San Francisco to my sleepy little village in Japan. The free mini magazine from FontShop was quite a pleasant surprise. Not only is it well put together–typographically speaking–but it’s a good read.

So, what’s the catch? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but there isn’t one really. Simply head over to the FontShop account page and create an account (you are not obliged to buy a thing); and then go to your account settings, and set your subscription options. There’s also an interesting piece by Erik Spiekermann introducing the magazine, and explaining why, in this digital age, they decided to publish something for print. And no, I do not work for FontShop.

have you got the bug?

Firebug is THE FireFox browser extension. In addition to offering a whole host of tools for web developers, it can also help you to tweak your type. You can quickly make adjustments to line-height and font-size, letter-spacing, and even change your type on the fly.

Something that I find useful when I want to convert pixels to ems or vice versa, is the Show Computed Styles option. Once selected this will display ems as pixels. Ems are great, of course, but the em is a relative measurement, so it’s sometimes really useful to see those ems as values in pixels.

You can also edit the CSS or the HTML and instantly see the results. A great tool for tweaking your type and layout. Oh, and it’s free.

iLT Wiki

The I Love Typography Wiki is closer to being launched. Ebsen has really put a lot of time and effort into it. We’ve been working together on this project, and it’s really starting to come together. However, we will need some willing volunteers. So, if you’d like to write a type-related article for the Wiki, or you are familiar with how Wikis work and wish to help out as an admin or editor, then let me know.

The whole idea behind the Wiki is summed up in two things: 1. Build community; 2. To educate and share knowledge about type and typography. And the entire contents will be available under a Creative Commons License, so that all the information can be reused, copied, pasted, quoted–completely free of charge. More news to come on this soon.

exljbris

And finally, be sure to check out exljbris and see some of the wonderful free (yes, free) fonts from the very talented Jos Buivenga.

Coming up soon, we have several interviews, a series of five articles on type classification, so that you’ll never again confuse your Humanist with your Transitional; a book review from Cody, a case study from Alec Julien, and lots, lots more. Enjoy your Sunday!

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