Why are you a typophile?

alexfjelldal
17.Sep.2007 7.41am
alexfjelldal's picture

Why do you enjoy working with type?

I’ll answer first:
I love the craft, the small discoveries, the satisfaction of making a layout work, finding the right typeface for the job, the history, the strict limitations of the 29 characters (I’m å nørwegiæn), wanting to use a typeface for years and then suddely finding the right ocassion. Among other things.



akma
17.Sep.2007 5.47pm
akma's picture

I’m a bibliophile who dabbled in calligraphy and hand lettering for a while, and who subsequently worked in computer graphics for three years in the early eighties. During those years, I spent vast amounts of time editing bitmaps of Helvetica and Clarendon, simulating kerning (for a graphics display system that wasn’t anywhere near true kerning), and reveling in the actual typeface choices that my office neighbors in the art department could select at will.

I left the job when 3M bought out the company (I feared there was no stable future in computer graphics), but the experience of type design, umm, left an imprint on me.


Jan
17.Sep.2007 5.57pm
Jan's picture

I just am. I don’t care about why. What makes me a typophile? Looking for beauty in glyphs or typefaces.


fontplayer
17.Sep.2007 6.02pm
fontplayer's picture

I could never write very well. I always feel like I am wrestling with a pen. It is a dream come true to make things that look good to me, even if I had the help of the typeface designer.


Jan
17.Sep.2007 6.24pm
Jan's picture

I have to add here that I’m not very good when it comes to color. I’m into shapes and space. And after reading about Jonathan Hoefler being color-blind it even makes more sense to me.