FontShop's Top Ten

FontShop has finally released their Top Ten Typefaces for 2007 list. They've got a good list going, and I'm not really surprised (nor disappointed) to see Meta Serif in the list even though it was just recently released in November. They also have a few distressed typefaces from Rian Hughes' Device studio, of whom I'm a fan despite my reluctance to use any typeface designed as distressed (similar to handwriting fonts, a distressed letter will always look the same when it shouldn't - I prefer to use regular typefaces and distress the design using Machine Wash filters from Mister Retro).

Stefan Hattenbach's Anziano (of MAC Rhino Fonts) got a spot on the list even though it comes in as number eleven (so does it count?). Anziano is a great lookin' typeface (you can download small caps for free) but I prefer his Oxtail set:



I had a brief encounter with Stefan from the Typophile forums a few months ago. He's a nice guy and fairly considerate, which goes a long way. He also has four typefaces available for free at his website. Go wild.

Michael Bierut talks about type

I found this little gem on Quips yesterday, (via Typographica). This is my preferred method for receiving information from someone else, if engaging in a conversation with them is not an option. Printed articles and interviews are fine fodder when that's all one can have, however live action videos are most fantastical.

This is a good time to also look at the Hillman Curtis videos. Great discussions with several notable designers.

I love the internet.

Hubba Hubba, Meta Serif

This is one post that I've been itching to make. I became a very large fan of the FF Meta typeface when doing some extensive research for a recent project. For a sans serif, Meta offers impressive readability for body/text copy. So when I heard that there was work on a serif version, I drooled.

And now, just recently, it's here: FF Meta Serif. The FontFeed is keeping track of some of the reactions across the inter-web regarding the release.

On Slant Six Creative, Armin provides a guest post with his prediction for the trends of 2008. He focuses on sans serif typography and even cites Meta as a popular choice for the coming year. While I enthusiastically agree with him, I think Meta Serif is going to surprise everyone with its surging popularity.

Pulp Typography

A very large—and very menacing—catalog is in production that is taking up a monstrous portion of my time currently. Once that book is out, I'll be making better efforts to update this "blahg" more frequently.

In the meantime, check out this video of the infamous scene of "What does Marsellus Wallace Look Like?" from Pulp Fiction. I don't know if it's my affinity for the scene, the wonderful use of a slab-serif typeface, the harmony of the colors, the rhythm of the living text, or if it's just that everything was put together very well, but I love this.

Credit goes to Jarratt Moody for the Pulp Fiction Typography, but it's spread all over YouTube by at least a dozen folks.

And the award goes to...

I've decied to begin a new tradition with my blog. Each January I will award a particular font as the Most Overused Font of the (previous) Year. The candidates will mostly comprise of stylized fonts and not target certain san-serif fonts (otherwise Helvetica Neue or Gill Sans will always win). Even certain text serif fonts will be excluded (such as any Garammond family, Bodoni family, and yes even Mrs. Eaves). And most definitely all system fonts will be excluded.

So without much further ado, I will announce the winner.

It's Adobe's Rosewood.

"There were many typeface designs based on Clarendon letterforms seen in type catalogs from 1866 to 1875. Adobe’s Rosewood, released in 1994, is modeled after a chromatic design from William Page in 1874. (“Chromatic” or multicolored typefaces were first created by carefully registering and overprinting two or sometimes three versions of each letter in different colors to produce a flamboyant appearance). Rosewood’s Regular version is designed to overlay the Fill version for two-color printing."

If you watch fonts in publications like Donald Trump watches his hairline, you'd have noticed the proliferated use of this slab-sarif typeface in both it's styles throughout the year. (Yes, it's a shame I don't have any examples of the dozen or so examples that I'm referring to but if you paid attention like I said you should, then you know what I'm talking about.)

Have I mentioned how much I love Linotype's FontExplorer X? It's what is used to display Rosewood in my screenshot (in case you were curious).

*Incidentally, if I were doing this award for 2005, Rosewood would have won for that year also.