Tag: Typography
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Nice symbol
Just noticing a symbol I haven’t seen before. This plan is in a 1948 book published by FHA, providing sample plans and guidance for homebuyers and contractors. Note the little slashed square meaning Square Feet. It’s also a Square Phi, though I doubt that was the origin.
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Samizdat makes sense
Interesting note from a (so far) trustworthy archeology type: Medieval universities had entire underground economies of forbidden books. Alchemy, astrology, banned philosophy, smuggled in and traded among students. The image of the rebellious scholar chasing dangerous knowledge isn’t a modern invention. It’s at least 800 years old. A commenter politely disagreed: Books weren’t widely disseminated…
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Parking constants
Seen on social media: idk what it is about paying for parking that absolutely infuriates me. Even if it’s just $1 at the meter. I will pay for so many other things, but parking? That’s where I draw the line. The Chevrolet newsreels showed the debut of parking meters in 1936, of course featuring pretty…
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Fun with fonts
I’ve been following Daniel, one of the few remaining REAL pressmen. He’s been working with large display fonts to create art with a proof press. Now he’s designed a digital font in the same spirit. I bought it and tried it out in my 1930s Lynwood neighborhood model. The font is suitable for store signs,…
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Lorem Ieepsum
One of my auto history books has a chapter of advertising for Willys variants in other countries. Willys covered more of the world than GM, and its foreign branches often developed totally original cars using their own talents and skills. This 1977 ad was a template provided by AMC during its ownership of Willys, letting…
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Interesting distinction?
Via Nieman, a sharp insight into the current online situation where most of the writing AND reading is done by bots, crowding out the insignificant wetware. I don’t think it’s a technical innovation but it could give us more clarity. = = = = = START QUOTE: The Economist is testing new ways of structuring…
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Tab-ulation
This item was spawned by thinking about Tabs, Tabulations and Tables. I’m leading toward a specific point, but first need to spit out some Graphic Juice that I’ve been holding during this long unimaginative ADA work. = = = = = For several months I’ve been making and testing courseware blind-style, using only the keyboard.…
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Repurposing Ludlow
American Radio Library has added a collection of old RCA magazines aimed at employees. One of them shows how the magazine itself is printed. Most of the steps are familiar; one is an unusual transitional technology. These panels show (1) Photographs (2) Varityping (3) Fototype, the unusual gimmick (4) Offset layout. The Fototype uses a…
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π Day
Keeping up a tradition… π Day again! Since I’m talking typography lately, I’ll hash and rehash a couple items from 2019. = = = = = Thinking about Trump as Pied Piper. When the metaphor first appeared in those DNC emails I didn’t quite understand it. After learning that Trump is Roy Cohn’s protege, I…
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Reconciling Gothic
Another tech history quickie to entertain my brain without spending much time on it. I’ve been thinking about typesetting lately. This recent item on prescription alcohol during prohibition linked to the ‘standard’ web picture of those prescription blanks. The blanks were set in what I call Record Gothic. We used this font for most of…
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LemonADA
This month I’ve been grinding through the mostly annoying** task of adding ADA alt-text to courseware. It’s annoying (as abovementioned) because there are few if any blind students in speech and hearing, and because this material is intrinsically visual, not amenable to verbal description. The guidelines are vague, contradictory, and mandatory. You must obey but…
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Another 400 year sync
History Today’s short features are good this month. The London Gazette is the longest-running continuous newspaper in Britain, and possibly in the world. I think one Dutch paper might be older. The Gazette’s starting point gives us another neat 400 year resonance. = = = = = START QUOTE: The Restoration government needed to manage…
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Prescription font
This item at Substack shows some actual prescriptions for liquor written during Prohibition. It was a nice loophole for wealthier drinkers and a nice source of legal profit for distilleries and doctors. The printed forms were set in Record Gothic, still used for official forms in the 70s when I worked in hot lead. For…
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Not entirely predictable
This is one of the EXTREMELY RARE cases where journalists actually work both ways. Via Nieman, journalists have universally derided Trump’s Napoleonic effort to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. This, of course, is more predictable than gravity. Journalists NEVER go along with anything ordered by Official Wrong Party. Locally, journalists…
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Why is it a mismatch?
Via Verge: Google’s branch in Japan has a habit of releasing annual silliness, more or less an April Fool gag. The latest is interesting from a tech history viewpoint. It’s a computer keyboard with a set of rotary dials. You have to locate the letter on the circle and pull your finger around to the…
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