Typographica

A review of typography. Since 2002. Posts by editor @stewf (https://stephencoles.org).

#Fonts #Typefaces #Typography #Lettering #GraphicDesign #fedi22

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Last Notes

2026-10-27 06:09:34 UTC

The Crucible is one of the few places in the world where you can take neon classes. The only other way to learn the craft is the rare apprenticeship.

2026-10-26 18:04:36 UTC

Lots of foundry sites these days are shoving a description of the typeface to the very bottom of the page, after a long glyphs section, licensing info, and other tertiary stuff. I understand putting the main samples/tester first, but beyond that there’s a lot of scrolling to get to the point of the design. Why does it exist? What was the designer inspired by? What problems does it try to solve? What makes it special?
Perhaps this is a sign that descriptions have become meaningless to buyers (and foundries)? I hope not.
Perhaps its simply a default of some of the foundry website tools.

2026-10-22 18:38:05 UTC

RIP Jost Hochuli. His Detail in Typography is still one of the first books I recommend to new typographers. His talk at TYPO Berlin 2011 and meeting him afterwards gave me hope that the people behind the writing I love can be as great as their writing.

2026-10-17 03:24:49 UTC

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Some more Excelsior ads, these credited to Adolf and Hermann Peffer, Hannover.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/454/109/796/860/454/original/5cbeefc7c5cf1d8c.jpeg

2026-10-16 06:35:42 UTC

The delightful lettering of Erich Murcken, Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland).
1. Breslau event poster, 1924 https://www.arthistoricum.net/werkansicht/dlf/157250/33#
2. Showcards for Christian Dierig, Co., 1935 https://www.arthistoricum.net/werkansicht/dlf/158445/40#
#Lettering #ErichMurcken #Blackletter #CasualSans
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/449/198/028/262/233/original/8c16c83367077ed8.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/449/198/070/238/800/original/67bfc87032bccf56.jpeg

2026-10-16 05:50:53 UTC

The G. Franz’sche Buchdruckerei press in action. Wood cut by Hans Pape, München. As shown in Gebrauchsgraphik, April 1924.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/449/021/868/879/031/original/7596d1d9f63467e4.png

2026-10-14 05:49:02 UTC

On last week’s trip to LA we stayed in Boyle Heights. It was my first time in the neighborhood and it reminded me so much of the Mission in SF before gentrification. Predominantly Spanish-speaking. Mostly independent shops with fronts right at the street. So many handmade signs! Here are a few goodies. More: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/albums/72177720336092798/
#SignPainting #BoyleHeights #LosAngeles
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/437/689/899/596/927/original/cf1ab3c1646fca93.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/437/689/911/792/550/original/0fb13ef7ba1b2c0e.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/437/689/934/644/061/original/9aa7fd8769e268f7.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/437/689/925/353/651/original/be462ec60d53d613.jpeg

2026-10-13 15:54:21 UTC

Beautiful example of loosely reviving a typeface with such love that it becomes more useful than the original without losing any of its soul.

2026-10-04 05:51:00 UTC

https://tegaki.ink/

2026-09-20 20:41:37 UTC

Last week the Neon Speaks festvial was held in Reno at the soon-to-open Light Circus Neon Museum hosted in the National Bowling Stadium(!). As soon as we saw the size of the building’s theater screen I knew we had to do a matchbook talk so we could blow these beauties up to ridiculous sizes. What fun!
Photo: Francisco Chavira
More images soon.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/305/304/262/434/236/original/543510404aa6cdce.jpeg

2026-08-30 23:45:07 UTC

Font Proofer 1.8 is out. @nprofile…dxm8 on the changes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QVsegHnDp4
#TypeDesign

2026-08-18 05:18:23 UTC

Smartest thing It’s Nice That has done: hire @nprofile…m56w.
Dumbest thing It’s Nice That has done: take Meta money to do an advertorial puff piece on the IG rebrand.
Anyway, here’s another good Goodspeed article: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/elizabeth-goodspeed-zohran-mamdani-new-york-grocery-store-civic-branding-graphic-design-030826

2026-08-17 02:14:49 UTC

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Pretty basic catalog, but the glyph set showings do reveal a couple easter eggs:
1. News Gothic’s alternate monocular ‘g’.
2. Americana’s interrobang. (Perhaps the first typeface to include one? https://oa.letterformarchive.org/item?workID=lfa_type_0416&targPic=lfa_type_0416_003.jpg)
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/108/432/723/409/593/original/141154d36e81e59d.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/108/433/586/105/117/original/bf4d8d0b5183f80e.jpeg

2026-08-17 01:47:49 UTC

Did you know ATF made dry transfer lettering? I did not.
ATF Spectype, 1970. From the @nprofile…k2c8 library.
#AmericanTypeFounders #Typography #DryTransfer #TransferType #Fonts #Letraset
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/108/326/484/721/146/original/e8112f802847886f.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/108/326/779/205/384/original/5e96ab23f7fc577d.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/108/327/438/037/466/original/8020d0d870d4de8d.jpeg

2026-08-08 05:58:19 UTC

@nprofile…t077 https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbwgVkwt_JC/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

2026-08-06 17:52:04 UTC

Some pre-Baby Teeth lettering from 1932: https://picpile.stewf.com/626314/37992776
#BabyTeeth #MiltonGlaser #Lettering #1930s

2026-08-06 15:23:39 UTC

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@nprofile…2lvq overflow: visible; https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/10957634456

2026-07-31 15:07:51 UTC

You should subscribe to @nprofile…t077: https://bl.ag/whats-inside-issue-09-of-blag-better-letters-magazine/
#SignPainting #Lettering #Typography #Calligraphy

2026-07-28 05:50:11 UTC

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And the DVD https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/16044/caslon-antique

2026-07-28 05:48:57 UTC

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@nprofile…ale9 I don’t know were the lowercase comes from, but the caps: https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/2033/mason-serif

2026-07-16 08:32:52 UTC

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@nprofile…e9hc Yeah, this is why house styles exist. No reason to blindly follow Chicago. I do in most cases, but not this one. Quotes only around what is quoted!

2026-07-11 00:09:35 UTC

@nprofile…t077 Thought you'd get a kick out of this Noel Weber job I stumbled into. https://www.ebay.com/itm/267722313109
Fun to imagine the design brief on this one…
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/898/435/680/324/442/original/09a31114b0c550a6.png

2026-07-09 04:45:56 UTC

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On that note, Neon Speaks is traveling to Reno this year to celebrate the opening of the city’s Light Circus Nevada Neon Museum. Join me and a bunch of other sign geeks for three days of screenings, talks, tours. Sep 11–13, 2026. https://neonspeaks.org/
#NeonSigns #Neon #Signs #Reno #NeonSpeaks

2026-07-09 04:25:49 UTC

The biggest neon bending shop in the San Francisco Bay Area also happens to be a dazzling showroom of vintage signs. But it’s only open to the public once a year: at the Neon Speaks Festival. Get tix for the Neon Works Shop Tour before they sell out: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neon-works-shop-tour-920-tickets-1990926218915
#NeonSigns #Neon #Signs #Oakland #SFBA #NeonSpeaks

2026-07-07 19:39:36 UTC

Big fan of @nprofile…e0as’s new Dunbar Design Repository: https://cjtype.com/dunbar-design-repository/ Like other digital type specimens it’s a big long scroll full of samples and motion, but it’s as informational as it is showy.
Nice to see he worked with @nprofile…x549 on the project, who contributed to @nprofile…x4rn online exhibitions (https://exhibitions.letterformarchive.org/).

2026-07-07 16:11:28 UTC

Still a few spots for the class I’m teaching at @nprofile…x4rn on Saturday: https://letterformarchive.org/shop/a-crash-course-in-type-selection-part-1-exploring-and-choosing-type/
Followed by @nprofile…r7zp on Sunday: https://letterformarchive.org/shop/a-crash-course-in-type-selection-part-2-sourcing-licensing-fonts/
#Typography #TypeSelection #Fonts #Workshop

2026-07-06 08:59:39 UTC

“The promise of generative AI is that it can learn the underlying meta-structures of the training data, so that it can recompose and extrapolate them in ways that are novel or not represented well in the training data. I say that’s the ‘promise’ because in reality you'll find that generative AI actually does a pretty terrible job of producing truly novel outputs. …
This isn't to say that these models can’t interpolate between things represented in their training data; that they’re quite impressive at- this is basically ‘style transfer’ and they do an excellent job at it. But genAI advocates really want us to believe that they are capable of extrapolation, not just interpolation, and I have seen no evidence that they are.” — Qwerasd https://typedrawers.com/discussion/comment/71757/#Comment_71757

2026-07-06 08:40:39 UTC

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… removal of the human from the process of making unmakes or stunts the human, and reduces the made thing to a mere product, which is of course how the tech capitalists view everything.” — @nprofile…8clk https://typedrawers.com/discussion/comment/71575/#Comment_71575

2026-07-06 08:40:12 UTC

Q. Is it enjoyable to have to create multiple weight variations and italics for each font that you create?
“This is the work. Is all of it equally enjoyable? No, but it is what trains skills and shapes us as people who make this particular class of thing. I grew up around artists, and I came to realise — although I only found the words for it recently — that the art, in the sense of a product — a painting, or a sculpture — was only part of what they were making, and not always the important part. They were making themselves as makers, which is what is often lost when expediencies, conveniences, or short cuts are employed. …

2026-07-06 08:31:59 UTC

“One of the many truly offensive things to me about AI-driven artistic processes is that they divorce the ostensible artist from their influences. All art draws on and builds on previous work in one way or another, and an artist had ought to be aware of their influences, and ideally share information about their influences with those who see their art. When you use AI, it obfuscates the sources of the ideas it shows you, and as a result you release things completely severed from their history and context, which is bad for everyone involved.” — qwerasd205 https://typedrawers.com/discussion/comment/71764/#Comment_71764

2026-06-30 11:05:58 UTC

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@nprofile…pajl Small companies run by friends spent time and energy to do something cool. The 100-ton gorilla just submitted a logo.

2026-06-27 17:14:38 UTC

“Without calligraphy, I wouldn’t be able to do this.” — @nprofile…4v9q on the making of his typeface, Place https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/240852/place
#Typographics2026

2026-06-14 05:19:20 UTC

Carlo Bassani, Il Pittore di Caratteri : Alfabeti Artistici in Colore, Milano, 1890
https://archive.org/details/gri_33125016465821/page/n45/mode/2up
#Calligraphy #Lettering #Alphabets #1890s #19thCentury
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/746/771/327/135/868/original/574547bacdae1676.png

2026-06-14 00:52:26 UTC

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@nprofile…edye @nprofile…8kyx Great point! This was also happening at a time of very rapid type development. In late 1927 (https://oa.letterformarchive.org/item?workID=lfa_type_0544&targPic=lfa_type_0544_003.jpg), ATF declared that they would be releasing 12 “modernistic type designs” over the next year. One each month. (Ahem, @nprofile…4neu.) They were then collected in this specimen: https://oa.letterformarchive.org/item?workID=lfa_type_0506&targPic=lfa_type_0506_001.jpg
The trade journals were appalled at the deluge.

2026-06-13 17:33:08 UTC

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@nprofile…d9ds: Will you theoretically sell to Monotype?
SB: I would protest that.

2026-06-13 17:18:11 UTC

Sam Berlow of @nprofile…esxf interviewed by @nprofile…4hsp for type.today journal: https://type.today/en/journal/thetypefounders/. Good questions and fairly transparent answers. This is the most I’ve read about their business.
“When we started this, the designers were thinking: how am I going to stop running this business and still get paid for my intellectual property? And the only real option was to sell to Monotype. So our idea was to come up with a different kind of plan, where you could sell your foundry — but continue to work. Your foundry would still have a place on the internet, its history would be preserved, and it could continue to grow even after the sale. We wanted to reassure designers that their legacy would continue.”
#TypeIndustry #TheTypeFounders #TypeDesign #Fonts

2026-06-11 19:24:23 UTC

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@nprofile…nram Yeah, the caption on the Fanfare spread implies that. Just wasn't sure about the first example of the illustration.

2026-06-11 18:57:03 UTC

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At first, I thought these illustrations—made entirely with straight lines at 90- and 45-degree angles—may have been made on press with metal rules, rather than drawn and engraved, but Flöckinger’s original piano has the irregularity of a drawing. Sternat’s head, though? Maybe!
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/999/520/715/224/original/2d84747d900edbe9.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/999/763/772/112/original/cf49cdb055864bf0.jpeg

2026-06-11 18:53:23 UTC

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Flöckinger’s piano and Sternat’s head return again in a specimen for Fanfare (https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/8075/fanfare; hi @nprofile…3qcr!), albeit in slightly modified forms.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/984/849/586/633/original/4159b0d4c83b9f29.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/985/101/403/524/original/4290f29130d91741.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/985/340/387/641/original/7d244ad34b55157a.jpeg

2026-06-11 18:40:59 UTC

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Berthold was such a fan of these samples they reprised them in at least two subsequent booklets (unfortunately, without credit). Joseph Tscherkassky (1879–1958), a Ukrainian typefounder who became manager of the Oriental Department at the foundry, copied some spreads nearly wholesale, yet adapted for another script. This is his ca. 1928 catalog of Hebrew typefaces, including Franziska Baruch’s Stam https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/46129/stam.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/935/854/647/284/original/b9c7abee389bb72e.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/936/107/471/333/original/6d7aec9b660934f2.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/936/347/390/031/original/c0a72cc5615caa1b.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/936/587/410/955/original/edf28e0981725116.jpeg

2026-06-11 18:36:52 UTC

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Aside: Back in the States, The Inland Printer’s J. L. Frazier featured Flöckinger’s Ohmen Pianos letterhead in his long-running “Specimen Review” column (see https://fontsinuse.com/uses/78047/superior-typesetting-co-ad-inland-printer-rep), but laments that it represents “an extreme that would not be favored generally in America.”
https://archive.org/details/sim_american-printer_1927-02_78_5/mode/2up?q=%22hans+fl%C3%B6ckinger%22
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/920/369/552/424/original/5bfc277e37d77b41.png

2026-06-11 18:35:08 UTC

When you’re writing a book on type history, and diving into thousands of specimens, stuff starts to stick out that you may never have noticed before. Here’s a little thread about Flöckinger’s piano and Sternat’s head.
In 1925 Berthold ran a competition in Austria for ads using their typefaces. Results were published in the “Wiener Anzeigen Wettbewerb” booklet of 1925.
Winners were 1st: Prize Karl Jenau, Görkau in Bohemia (Odol); 2nd: Hermann Sternat, Innsbruck in Tyrol (Brostene Column); 3rd: Josef Richly, Katharein in Schles (HBW). Hans Flöckinger of Innsbruck also got several honorable mentions.
The samples show typefaces like Wiener Grotesk https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/42287/wiener-grotesk, Block https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/7572/berthold-block & Akzidenz-Grotesk https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/76/akzidenz-grotesk in modernist layouts.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/912/879/904/779/original/d9512cb97cd8c0b7.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/913/121/168/142/original/96eee4a2f65b152e.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/913/362/045/406/original/46d3b7218502c5ea.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/732/913/602/070/574/original/738b0f72e00396b1.jpeg

2026-06-11 16:27:07 UTC

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@nprofile…30r8 @nprofile…nram Good news: @nprofile…3qcr’s FontShop series on round type was archived in the Wayback Machine:
Part 1: https://web.archive.org/web/20151002053546/https://www.fontshop.com/content/a-round-of-applause-for-well-rounded-type-talent-part-1/
Part 2: https://web.archive.org/web/20160722004916/https://www.fontshop.com/content/a-round-of-applause-for-well-rounded-type-talent-part-2/
Part 3: https://web.archive.org/web/20160216065135/https://www.fontshop.com/content/a-round-of-applause-for-well-rounded-type-talent-part-3/
Monotype really fell on their face when they sloppily sucked all the FontShop content into MyFonts. God bless @nprofile…gf9y.

2026-06-10 23:29:43 UTC

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@nprofile…8kyx Yeah, I found it funny that their main point of the exercise was that it’s past time to toss all the "less useful" typefaces, while I’m over here for the last 20 years preaching typographic abundance.
To be fair, type back then actually occupied valuable space.

2026-06-10 21:36:52 UTC

Octavio Pardo, type designer and design studio director, announces Forge, a web CMS built for type foundries. https://typedrawers.com/discussion/5604/the-forge-a-cms-built-for-type-foundries
#TypeIndustry #TypeDesign

2026-06-10 20:16:20 UTC

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@nprofile…72pp Also, unrelated, other than the time and the style, here’s proto-psychedelia fantasy artist Gordon Ertz of Chicago trying a similar blocky poster gothic with the PG rough edges (June 1916). https://picpile.stewf.com/381316/37777727

2026-06-10 18:50:20 UTC

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@nprofile…72pp The website of Reiss’ estate is lovely, but certainly not comprehensive. He truly deserves a proper monograph on his graphic design. (There is a lot more coverage of his portraiture and interior design.)

2026-06-10 17:25:48 UTC

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@nprofile…72pp Thanks for introducing me to The Little Review! That logo is very Reiss, like a square version of what became Publicity Gothic. Do they credit the design of it anywhere?
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/726/978/648/847/757/original/1285f4f260d518ca.png

2026-06-08 07:37:52 UTC

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Of course, this extrabold, rough-edged style of lettering was already happening in Germany (Bernhard, Hohlwein, Oppenheim) https://picpile.stewf.com/381316 – but the fattest stuff wasn’t common until the 1920s, and no one had yet snagged the look for a typeface. (Bernhard’s Schwere Block https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/10957630706/in/album-72157637865980384 didn’t arrive until three years after Publicity Gothic.)

2026-06-08 07:16:41 UTC

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M.A.C. was way ahead of most US publications at the time. You’d see some of this kind of stuff in journals like the Inland Printer, but only as an occasional novelty. It was too radical for the establishment. That said, The American Printer did reprint a few modern lettering samples Reiss featured in a later issue of M.A.C.: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015086803130&seq=256&q1=reiss&view=2up
Was Reiss’s sample what inspired Sidney Clyde Gaunt to design Publicity Gothic (https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/26284/publicity-gothic) later that year? Or maybe it was Reiss’s work for Publishers Printing Company? I’m still digging…
#WinoldReiss
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/713/258/229/261/041/original/49a170d637b273f6.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/713/258/636/853/912/original/8c85ee7adba4a2fb.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/713/258/901/972/151/original/e44f72587d901a1c.jpeg

2026-06-08 06:45:23 UTC

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A few of spreads from that issue. (Unfortunately, this is the only one online, and it’s butchered by a Google Books scan. Will be visiting it the library soon.)
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/713/134/098/763/631/original/5a2e3bdadc20af47.png
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/713/134/839/934/682/original/e59ad5da30da2683.png
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/713/135/303/328/012/original/6b5076beee8521dc.png
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/713/135/782/231/959/original/5fe5f433a1446eed.png

2026-06-08 06:10:31 UTC

Just when I thought I knew all the cool stuff about Winold Reiss, I learn about M.A.C. (Modern Art Collector), his 11-issue magazine about commercial art from 1915–1918. In the opening number, two years after he emigrated to New York from Munich, he praises the standard set in Germany (Sachplakat) and Austria (Secession) and calls on Americans to create their own modern design. There is also this good advice:
#WinoldReiss
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/712/998/696/400/451/original/b18bba4c09886392.jpeg

2026-06-05 07:03:48 UTC

Publicity Initials, Barnhart Bros. & Spindler specimen, 1925 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/albums/72177720334048463/
@nprofile…0eqk could rightly reuse this bit of copy to describe their work.
“Not to rest content with the traditional thing, but to improve it if we can. Not to imitate the creations of others, but to originate type designs and decorative materials that will be most effective for progressive advertisers. Striking ideas such as may be expected to come out of the free and virile west are fixed and paramount on the program of this big outwest type foundry.”
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/696/221/012/594/410/original/1aed66d91c118f9c.png
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/696/221/312/890/638/original/3f847c612552835f.png

2026-06-02 15:59:04 UTC

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@nprofile…0hae @nprofile…yk7r I am skeptical, though, about whether this is the most effective way to design a page in a vacuum. Maybe people simply already know how to navigate Amazon after years of familiarity and incremental changes.
It’s like a chaotic, crowded grocery store. The folks who go every day have no trouble, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best way to design the space for newcomers.

2026-06-02 15:53:02 UTC

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@nprofile…cm8h Great! What is it?

2026-06-01 15:32:33 UTC

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@nprofile…uvqd I feel like I’m in an alternative reality.

2026-05-30 23:00:13 UTC

Missing you, @nprofile…4neu #ATypI2026
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/666/008/188/992/673/original/67c58f6d3cc1533b.jpeg

2026-05-24 06:35:22 UTC

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Another from Eugene, Oregon: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/55289707188 #Signs #Neon #NeonSigns #EugeneOR

2026-05-21 15:31:16 UTC

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@nprofile…8kyx @nprofile…nram
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/613/282/049/683/245/original/5504e447afb15c6f.mp4

2026-05-21 15:27:30 UTC

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@nprofile…7asp In the alt text: Bruno Munari’s 1969 “The Circus in the Mist”. Fortunately there was a recent reprint so it’s not too pricey on used market.

2026-05-21 01:35:14 UTC

VOLUMES Design Library opens on June 4! https://mailchi.mp/16874fb48506/we-open-june-4?e=a157b95b07
Congrats to Michael Ellsworth and his team for creating something really special in Portland. @nprofile…256m were lucky to get a preview last week.
#Portland #VolumesDesignLibrary #GraphicDesign #Libraries
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/609/993/828/422/275/original/3ea3416c9c53361d.jpeg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/609/994/106/154/079/original/58f58d9f4a349ced.jpeg
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2026-05-20 23:03:15 UTC

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Curiously, the same line of text was properly set in a booklet four years earlier. Normally, I assume that when a foundry repeated a sample like this they used a stereotype rather than resetting the type, but not in this case.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/609/397/019/693/680/original/e96ab54b1c47c2dd.png

2026-05-20 22:54:45 UTC

Even foundries make typesetting mistakes.
Genzsch Antiqua, Genzsch & Heyse, c.1910.
https://oa.letterformarchive.org/item?workID=lfa_type_0372&targPic=lfa_type_0372_006.jpg
#TypeSpecimens #GenzschAntiqua #GenzschHeyse
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/609/363/631/128/412/original/4392e9dd1aad0006.png

2026-05-19 03:42:17 UTC

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I sent it to Paul Shaw because I figured if anyone would know the 1980s NY calligraphy scene it would be him. We got this reply. Turns out it was Paul himself who did it!
Here’s how it aired on the show: https://www.pbs.org/video/appraisal-world-trade-center-bus-stop-poster-ca-1987-lwgn5l/
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/599/169/577/007/496/original/3eb23dbba8cfaf8c.jpeg

2026-05-19 03:39:45 UTC

Nicho Lowry from Antiques Roadshow knows almost everything there is to know about posters, but once in a while something typographic stumps him and he shoots me a message.
In 2022, he sent me these photos during a Roadshow event in Tennessee and asked if I knew the designer.
#WorldTradeCenter #Calligraphy #Posters
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/599/159/139/093/719/original/d085ff59814d51d7.jpeg
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2026-05-17 23:50:23 UTC

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@nprofile…9xdf Oh, I know it! I get to see the efforts of our local group, San Francisco Neon, in saving a lot of stuff in the Bay Area.

2026-05-17 23:07:00 UTC

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@nprofile…9xdf Sorry I missed it! Thanks for chiming in.

2026-05-17 22:53:18 UTC

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@nprofile…50h6 Newberry was a national chain, so this logo graced many buildings across the country. The could have gone smaller to avoid blocking the window, but yes, love the audacity of filling the entire facade. (BTW, the four-tube letter width might also have been a factor. If the lettering was any smaller they may have had to change the design significantly from their other locations due to the complexity of tube planning.)

2026-05-17 22:35:03 UTC

Just back from a quick trip to Portland. One of the finer signs we saw:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/55275669932/
Four-stroke neon upright script with small caps. The beauty of this letter design is there is a common baseline that can sit on top of those windows – no flat vs. round letters to negotiate (all overshoot). Well, except for the y, but that’s a small price to pay for a stunner of a sign.
#Signs #Neon #NeonSigns #EugeneOR

2026-05-14 03:53:07 UTC

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@nprofile…w44f Just a fact that surprised me.

2026-05-13 19:18:24 UTC

@nprofile…esxf just picked up one of their most important libraries yet with Process Type Foundry. https://hubspot.thetypefounders.com/whats-new-in-type-may-2027
If you missed it, TTF has been purchasing both font and brand IP, while supporting founders to continue making new type on a royalty basis. The current portfolio: https://thetypefounders.com/#foundries

2026-05-13 02:31:24 UTC

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As a book with so many typefaces (330 fonts) by so many people they knew, there were many instances where a family didn’t have all the styles needed, so the designers delivered those styles as they worked on the book.

2026-05-13 02:27:59 UTC

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On designing @nprofile…2khc’ Alphabette Soup. “Amy asked me if jt was the toughest book project I’ve ever done. I told her it wasn’t … but it was.”
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/564/902/648/033/720/original/4f8ffa7ffb5f2965.jpeg
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https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/564/903/559/008/794/original/ad456cee15c22393.jpeg

2026-05-13 02:16:32 UTC

Bea Feitler
Tereza Bettinardi
(Portland State Graphic Design)
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/564/858/549/112/956/original/7f1b07685f77b227.jpeg

2026-05-09 06:06:58 UTC

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@nprofile…w44f I believe it! Always fun to find unintentional connections.

2026-05-08 05:00:00 UTC

@nprofile…uju4 has been posting videos from last year’s conference.
For anyone, like me, who is an Arabic outsider, I can highly recommend this session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_tsAAygfmM
Panels don’t always work well, but this one had such a wide array of perspectives and insights, all from brilliant people. I learned so much!
Excellent moderation, @nprofile…vuz6!
#ArabicType #Typography #TypeDesign #ATypI

2026-05-08 03:08:20 UTC

Last year I was honored to give the 50th Dwiggins Lecture for the Society of Printers in Boston. The recording is now up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4LEnuM0e1U
In the talk I try to capture what gives WAD’s type so much life – warmth and snap – and the contemporary designers whose work also has those attributes. Featuring @nprofile…4neu, Cyrus Highsmith, Sofia Mohr, John Downer, Franziska Weitgruber, @nprofile…c56z, @nprofile…w44f.
#TypeDesign #Fonts #WADwiggins #Typography

2026-05-04 06:28:22 UTC

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Played 4 times. Apparently, I agree with Typotheque's team 66% of the time.

2026-05-03 05:47:59 UTC

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@nprofile…8zun I think it is an ampersand.

2026-05-03 02:26:50 UTC

https://flic.kr/p/2saQWrh
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/508/275/979/038/784/original/340cdbff4fd3b454.png

2026-05-01 23:16:14 UTC

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He truly lived this. https://oa.letterformarchive.org/item?workID=lfa_unitedstates_0002&targPic=lfa_unitedstates_0002_001.jpg

2026-05-01 23:06:34 UTC

Will Bradley’s advice to the young typographer: “Set type as if you wanted to read it afterward. Every day have a little more joy in your work, and be happy and daring.”
Source: Eugene M. Ettenberg, Type for Books and Advertising, 1947
https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.4772/page/109/mode/2up

2026-04-30 23:36:26 UTC

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@nprofile…gcwg Still the best place to organize and share photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/collections/72157721878264417/
They are taking platform-agnostic preservation seriously, too: https://www.flickr.org/programs/content-mobility/data-lifeboat/

2026-04-26 16:58:38 UTC

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@nprofile…pmzd And https://letterformarchive.org/news/milwaukee-transit-passes/

2026-04-26 16:57:28 UTC

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@nprofile…yp44 Perhaps the finest rendition of this genre. Congrats!

2026-04-26 16:21:57 UTC

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@nprofile…nr8a They really shoulda printed more of that one.

2026-04-24 08:09:01 UTC

The origin of Hobo’s name is a mystery. In 2014, Peter Zelchenko proposed a fascinating theory: Morris Fuller Benton was inspired by a Russian poster.
I admire his guess, but I was always a little skeptical. And today, I think I can show it isn’t as probable as Zelchenko hoped: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/55227070881/

2026-04-24 08:08:30 UTC

The origin of Hobo’s name is a mystery. In 2014, Peter Zelchenko proposed a fascinating theory: Morris Fuller Benton was inspired by a Russian poster: https://lplatform.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/the-true-story-behind-the-hobo-font/
I admire his guess, but I was always a little skeptical. And today, I think I can show it wasn’t as probable as Zelchenko hoped: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/55227070881/

2026-04-24 08:07:48 UTC

2026-04-21 16:45:26 UTC

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@nprofile…4neu I also love that they picked a less obvious or freely available typeface! Condor has long been an underappreciated favorite.

2026-04-18 01:21:29 UTC

got messy fonts? https://www.ebay.com/itm/175767432847

2026-04-15 15:20:28 UTC

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@nprofile…n00n https://fontsinuse.com/uses/49312/thrasher-magazine-1981

2026-04-14 22:34:26 UTC

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@nprofile…4t5m @nprofile…w44f Oh, definitely, many shared on social. But an email has a much higher response rate, and I didn’t see any other foundry share it via email. I may be wrong!

2026-04-14 16:07:03 UTC

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A caveat of this survey is that the respondents are skewed to @nprofile…w44f newsletter subscribers because (from what I can see in my inbox) it may be the only foundry newsletter that shared the survey. Wish others had done the same.
It’s therefore a specific segment of font buyers, but a discerning one!
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/403/917/269/016/186/original/d58ff7977fd09772.jpeg

2026-04-12 19:30:50 UTC

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Thousands of Americans learned to letter with the Speedball pen and text book. @nprofile…x4rn is honored to hold the archive of its inventor, Ross F. George. Learn more: https://letterformarchive.org/collections/#george
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/393/393/955/637/066/original/a4b3adb09770cee0.jpeg

2026-04-12 19:20:35 UTC

A #LetterWest moment: when Noel Weber gifted Letter Queen a vintage #Speedball set.
@nprofile…t077 Skylar (https://www.instagram.com/letter.queen?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==) is worth including in the mag. They have a great collection and understanding of 19th-century ornamental lettering.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/393/348/959/525/078/original/b3dadcb8cc9103f2.mp4

2026-04-12 15:48:19 UTC

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@nprofile…uvqd https://flic.kr/p/4To9PV

2026-04-05 18:07:26 UTC

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… ¶ One of the students asked if she could use the new typeface on her poster. That was the birth of the name. The ’Y’ and Swiss cross at the bottom was done by Armin.”
A scarce, sweet thing with a great story. And it pairs nicely with this: https://ksmallgallery.com/collections/online/products/yale-summer-program-graphic-design-paul-rand.
Size: 8.5 × 23.5 inches
Pages: 1 sheet
Binding: NA
Condition: Folded as issued. Otherwise fine.
Publisher: Yale School of Art, 1987
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2026-04-05 18:02:08 UTC

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… ¶ Armin Hofmann—who was guest teaching at the time—sat at the traditional desk and I sat at the computer table. I chose the letters from one of the Winterhilfe posters at the back of Armin’s 1965 book as a model for new ones. ¶ I would draw the letter with Fontographer, print it out, and Armin would retouch it using black and white Plaka paint. Then I would go through the refinement process and pass it back to Armin. This went on for the better part of the day while the students watched. ¶ The result is what you see on the Brissago poster. The name of the typeface is Norfolk because Armin’s project with the students that year was a poster for the summer music program at the Ellen Battell Stoekel estate in NW Connecticut (owned by Yale). …

2026-04-05 18:01:24 UTC

From today’s @nprofile…chzs email https://mailchi.mp/ksmallgallery/easter-feaster?e=593e4a1f1b
Sometimes it pays to ask a question. Like, we were told that this might be the work of Philip Burton. So we asked him. Here’s what he had to say:
“Here’s the story: I was on the design faculty in the School of Art between 1981 and 1989. I don’t remember the exact year but Steve Jobs gave us 22 computers. (Alvin Eliseman’s charm.) ¶ Each second year student in the graduate program had one at their desk. In fact, we had new tables designed so that the students could sit at their traditional slanted-top desk and swing around and use the computer on the new desk ¶ I had seen one of my colleagues demonstrate the new Fontographer program and I was thrilled with the idea of being able to design my own typeface. …
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/353/406/141/220/394/original/51c39f0d032d1349.jpeg