Name That Font

At last, I'm finally done with writing applications and grant forms -- not that waiting to hear results is much fun either, but now I can get back to knitting (I've accepted a commission for a tea cosy for a very large ceramic teapot) and making books after a too-long hiatus.

And more type-spotting, which I've now started taking more pictures of. I love type, whether working with it in longer publications or even the small books that I do, and I'm getting fractionally better at identifying some of the much more common ones.

Granted, after seeing the documentary film Helvetica, I can now relate to what Gary Hustwit (the director) said at the screening here in June: I see it everywhere now. I'm really looking forward to getting my DVD in November.

Oddly enough, however, you don't see much Helvetica here in Calgary, but it's certainly out there, and since I saw the movie, I've made it my default font in TextEdit (the program I use to write this blog in before I cut-and-paste it into Blogger), so without boring the un-typographically inclined, I won't go into excessive details, or rant about some fonts I see far too often.

But if you're interested in what's out there, you can check out Typophile, a rough-and-tumble website with some terrific experts from around the world, including my good friend Yves Peters, who lives in Belgium and writes the Unzipped blog.

And if you're in Calgary or coming here for a visit, a few of us have started up a little local group: once a month, we meet up, do a little show-and-tell of type-related projects, have a bite to eat and the occasional beverage, and talk about type. Email me if you'd like date and location details.