Type Battle 38 // Man vs Machine
Draw a font for captchas that humans can read and machines can’t.
About captchas: http://www.captcha.net/
Winner take all, no holds barred. May the best designer win.
// REQUIREMENTS
- Image size: 550 width x 400 height. 72 dpi*
- Color: Black and White
- Format: JPG or PNG (make sure there are no spaces in the name)
*Please try to keep your file sizes to a minimum! 50k per file max.
// ABOUT TYPOPHILE TYPE BATTLES
Revised Web Fonts Proposal
Following our proposal for a Web specific OpenType-based font format (which we named OTW), we received a lot of feedback from type designers, web designers and publishers. Most of the feedback was positive. People saw that differentiating web fonts from desktop fonts, and including licensing information in the font file was a step in the right direction.
Moving the plan forward, we felt that with the support of browser makers we could have OTW standardized within two years, and have the majority of installed browsers supporting it within five to six years, based on current browser upgrade rates.
Spiekermann reloaded
I always thought Erik could have sub'd in Kraftwerk. Now confirmed.
Solid as a tank!
Readable Text, New Orleans Style at TypeCon 2009
SUNDAY, 7/19 AT 12:00 NOON
Type in 20
Nancy Sharon Collins talks about FLOOD BOOK and notions of readable text. Audrey Bennett and Ellen Lupton are cited.
http://nancysharoncollinsstationer.com/gd4.php
In 2005 Audrey Bennett spoke on this topic at Typecon in Boston, she and I have exchanged emails about this, infrequently, ever since. I was interested in her talk because I was then teaching graphic design and typography at a university literally down the bayou in south Louisiana where illiteracy rates soar. Recently at an AIGA leadership retreat in Portland, OR, I ran into Audrey who I had not seen since Boston. I was very excited to show her a book I designed and was amazed to discover that she had just purchased a copy.
For shame, Google
This strikes me as typical of the whole “culture should be free” argument…
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/business/media/15illo.html
The comparison between Google and traditional companies like Nickelodeon and Target (about halfway down the article) is good, I think.
I have the feeling that, in the past, it used to be commonplace for large corporation to patronize the arts. By patronize, I mean pay artist, of course. Or, if not for big corporations, at least big, rich industrialists. But Google has more cash than all of these past institutions put together. They don’t want to patronize the arts, but rather speak patronizingly to artists…
Gerald Giampa RIP
Gerald Giampa, letterpress printer extraordinaire, former owner of the Lanston Type Co., pioneer in the conversion of metal to digital type, and contributor to Typophile, has died in Vancouver following a massive stroke. An obituary is expected in the Vancouver newspapers, and a wake is being planned for 31 July (location to be announced).
Getting ready for TypeCon
I’m having fun getting into script lettering. Does anyone know who’s leading the workshop/hands-on talk at TypeCon this year?
Fixing Futura
I’m in the midst of a client project where I’ve been asked to tinker with Futura. Here is a sample that examine the bold and what is needed (IMO) to fix it. I think Lucas DeGroot has redone Futura for VW for many of the same reasons, but I haven’t taken a close look at his results. Not sure what is so satisfying about shooting botox into an aging font, but it sure is fun! (and instructive)
Spot the fixes:
Lost in Translation?
Have you ever wondered what happens when logos are translated to other languages?
After moving back to India, I have been noticing how the company names are translated in local languages on neon signboards. Bangalore requires that the sign boards be displayed in kannada along with English. While the sign boards in English are well thought and designed, when they are translated to Kannada or Hindi they forget to carry forward the visual, specifically the type treatment of the original logo. Very few signboards redesign the structure, form, proportion and font metrics of the local script to match the original.
