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Typeface, a Letterpress DocumentaryNovember 7

I was lucky enough to attend a sneak peak screening this evening, of a new typographic documentary: Typeface. Lucky indeed.

Typeface discusses the changes in the globalization of industry, and the effect of the computer and demand for faster results on the manual printing techniques which came before it. The Hamilton Wood Type Museum plays a central role, which shelters over 1.5 million pieces of wood type in rural Wisconsin. More importantly, it reminds us of the importance of the history of our profession and why we should cherish it. Be sure to check out the film’s about page for some more background.

A photo of just a taste of the Hamilton type collection

I’m sure you’re wondering if it can compare to Helvetica… While the production quality is a little rougher, I enjoyed it just as much (and granted, the editing was not fully complete for the screening). While it doesn’t have influential figures giving testimony, it does have a very humbling cast of passionate people who have lived through the evolution of the industry.

Typetweets NotesSeptember 22

If you’re a Typesites subscriber, or noticed some of the links popping up around the intertubes, you probably have already seen Typetweets. For those of you who haven’t, it’s a quick look at typographic discussions happening across Twitter. If you’re looking for more info on that, check out the launch post.

Since it went live last week, I’ve received some questions about it and thought I’d take the time to answer them here. Feel free to ask more in the comments or share your thoughts as well, feedback is greatly appreciated.

“On which […] keywords did you search twitter?”

As of right now, there are eleven of them. Seems Twitter has a very strange limit for this, unless I’m mistaken. I’m working on creating a way to include more terms in the near future, however. For giggles, here are the current terms:

• Typography
• Typeface
• Serif
• Typographic
• Helvetica
• Verdana
• Ampersand
• Letterpress
• Caslon
• Palatino
• Futura

For the first few days it was live, Typetweets was one of the initial terms. Obviously

I AgreeSeptember 15

“I would say my biggest pet peeve related to the industry would be people focusing on technology instead of design, standards instead of users, and validation rather than innovation.” — Jeff Croft

Took the words out of my mouth.

Anyone else agree?

Depth v. FrequencyAugust 9

Content on the web has become overtly monotonous in format. Top X Lists, X Reasons Why Y is Z, and so on. On rare occasion you come across something useful amongst the plethora of these lists but more often than not you finish reading and realized you’ve learned nothing.

We know why these articles receive Diggs, Stumbles, or what-have-you. The content is typically easy to digest almost mindlessly, the headlines are proven phrases which spark interest – marketing lingo for the news world. They bring in traffic, traffic leads to advertising, advertising leads to monetary returns. Or perhaps people really love watching the little numbers go up in their stats regardless of whether they’re producing something of value.

These posts are easy to write, simply gathering information or regurgitating the thoughts of others, and my aversion to writing pieces such as these is – at least in my mind – a large reason why things have been so silent here.

Rant over.

I believe it’s been just nearly three months since I’ve written here, eclipsing a previous dry spout back in November. It’s not that I don’t have things to say, or that I’m too busy or that I’m burnt out on writing articles. Hardly.

Well, maybe a little. Things are definitely busy.

This is essentially a post to break the streak of silence, because after going so long without writing one feels indebted to show up with some miraculous, enlightening p

What’s Next for Typesites?May 15

Typesites has reviewed sixteen websites with interesting typography so far, and it’s come time to reevaluate what the site is now that its had some time to settle and evolve. Four months may not seem like a terribly long time, but since the idea behind the site was relatively fresh I had no idea how it would be received, or used. Thankfully, the site has proven quite popular, and I’d like to take the chance to thank everyone who has taken the time to stop by. I’m extremely grateful for all the wonderful emails, comments, and guest authors; without you the site wouldn’t be possible. Cliché, I know, but it’s true.

I’m working on some updates to the design, as what exists currently was a bit rushed and doesn’t quite accomplish the goals that it should. To make use of the opportunity, this is a good time to add additional features as well—reviews still being the focal point of the site. As Typesites exists by and large from its readers and guest authors I think it’s only appropriate to ask you what type of content you would like to see on there.

So I’ll keep this short and sweet. What do you love about Typesites? What do you dislike? How would you feel about a side-blog that spotlights web typography techniques? How else can the site be improved? The floor is yours…