Completed my @typecon@typo.social presentation on 10 years of Variable Fonts today (yes, it was due earlier this week and I’m the worst) and I *promise* the talk is more positive than this…
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Doug Wilson
@onpaperwings@typo.social
mastodon 4.6.9Creative director, writer, filmmaker, and cyclist living in Denver, CO. Fonts are kinda my thing.
1141 Followers
624 Following
50 Posts
Joined November 07, 2022
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Two birds heading to London. I’ll be on one of them.
Surprisingly anxious about studying typography for the next three weeks.
Periodic reminder to update your (my) résumé and CV because otherwise you (I) will never remember what you’ve (I’ve) done…
DID YOU KNOW THAT ALL CAPS MEANS SHOUTING?
DUH, ISN’T THAT OBVIOUS?
Well, it’s not as obvious or new as you might think…
Announcing publication of my newest article for PRINT Magazine: https://www.printmag.com/type-tuesday/how-all-caps-lost-its-voice/
cc @printmag@bird.makeup @jamieclarketype@bird.makeup @glennf@zeppelin.flights
Rare opportunity to purchase the original Linotype DVD with full booklet *and* a slug of type from a Linotype machine!
These sold out almost 10 years ago and will never be reprinted (current DVDs are a digipak without the booklet or slug).
Not my auction, btw: https://ebay.io/m/JTG6z0
Always a good day at Type Advisor HQ when Rob Roy Kelly’s “American Wood Type: 1828–1900” comes off the shelf for a client!
Evergreen post:
Hey man, we need to update the updater so you can update your software to the most recent update…
That Z is simply *fantastic* — congrats on the release!
@daytonamess@typo.social
Do you know about etaoin shrdlu?
A friend and local Coloradan just wrote a great article about it: https://creativepro.com/do-you-know-etaoin-shrdlu/
Just wrote the word “Sturggling” and, well, yeah, that tracks.
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Here are my four favorite Linotype (obviously) scans:
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Charles Darwin for the “revolutionary” (get it?!) Linoterm: https://archive.org/details/linoterm-brochure/mode/2up
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The slightly-sexist “Turn your typist into a typesetter” advert: https://archive.org/details/linotype-as-easy-as-1-2-3
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The line drawings on this one from the German Linotype company: https://archive.org/details/linotype-systems-brochure/mode/2up
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The harsh green and vibe of this 1960s Linofilm Perforator ad: https://archive.org/details/mergenthaler-linoquick-perforator/mode/2up
I’ve know for a while that the German Linotype headquarters (Mergenthaler Setzmaschinen-Fabrik) building became to be in East Germany, but today I learned that it was *just barely* in East Berlin. By like, only a couple blocks!
See the maps that show the Berlin Wall in yellow and pink, which divided the city.
HISTORY: After WWII, Linotype moved their HQ down to Frankfurt to be next to D. Stempel, who had been making their brass matrices since 1900.
This is why Linotype was eventually in Frankfurt, then Eschborn, and finally Bad Homburg before being acquired by Monotype Imaging in 2006 and moving the HQ back to Berlin in 2019.
To all of the supporters of my book project for the past three years (officially today, in fact) I am *forever* in your debt both financially and emotionally.
You know who you are. Your interest has given me tailwinds when I was feeling tired and overwhelmed by all the information I’ve collected.
Issue No 18 of my newsletter is being prepared with some big news and will be sent out soon.
You can read previous issues here: https://buttondown.com/linotypebook/archive/
For your afternoon, evening, or morning reading: that time I found a whole box of touched-up photographs at a museum in rural Germany: https://realdougwilson.com/writing/the-box-at-the-museum
(I’ve been going back through my research and was documenting these images for possible inclusion in my book)
WEBSITES, man…
Finally (!) FontDue has a proper marketing page: https://www.fontdue.com/
Interesting to note for myself and my Type Advisor clients.
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And again: Didn’t know about the 1976 Denver Winter Olympics? Well, they never actually happened: https://realdougwilson.com/writing/denver-76-part-one-the-story
Great to see @btuttle@typo.social's work for BEEF featured on @itsnicethat@bird.makeup! https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/benjamin-tuttle-netflix-a24-beef-titles-typography-graphic-design-spotlight-060526
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@Luke@typo.social Wow, did not know these existed!
Just this morning, my child asked me, “Do we have any AirPods but with a cord that I can use at school?” and well, I just fossilized right then and there.
Anyone looking for a big ol’ Lanston Monotype (the American branch of the Monotype company) specimen book in good condition at a reasonable price?
There isn’t a date on this one (I already have a copy) but I would guess around 1925–1935?
Give this a look: https://ebay.us/m/2w3FBz
Said by one of my Type Advisor clients today, “It’s not about length, it’s about if I have time to make it shorter.”
This rings true about all sorts of writing, I believe.
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Some weekend reading, perhaps?
This post resonated with me and it might with you too.
I often struggle trying to balance my love of typography when I see my country, actively being destroyed in front of me.
“Trying for something other than this” is what I can do.
Happy new Metric album day to all who celebrate!
https://music.apple.com/us/album/romanticize-the-dive/1861918507
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@DunwichType@typo.social They actually found me due to my blog posts and wanted to learn more about the value. I convinced them to sell it to me *before* they tried to do their own restoration and framing. 😬
Today’s adventure in running my own business: Calling my bank to fight them over fees for them mailing me a physical letter about wire transfers that I already know about because this is the year 2026.
Could it be DNS? (it’s always DNS).
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@petes_bread_eqn_xls@mastodo.neoliber.al @stefan@stefanbohacek.online Ha! But I do have the book on it: https://www.librarything.com/work/339829/book/235507299
Thanks for sharing.
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@jeffjarvis@mastodon.social
I have been lucky enough to read the manuscript of “Hot Type” and I agree with this short review.
His book gets into some of the details that I won’t and I’m especially thrilled (as a child of Missouri, myself) that he goes deep into the fascinating history of the author Mark Twain’s failed attempt to create a compeating machine with the Linotype.
Make sure you pre-order his book as I can personally vouch for his ability to make “old stories of old machines” exceptionally relevant and enjoyable for today.
2/2
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@nicksherman @JTDType I agree with Nick in saying that the more “common” words, the better to keep from confusing your customers.
Personally, I am put off by numbering (ex: what if I want to use Caslon 16pt at 20pt? Am I a bad person?).
I recently saw one of my kids do a Google search on their school Chromebook and I had already forgotten how garbage everything was over at Google — and that is before this week’s announcements…
@kagihq@mastodon.social
Are you looking to build digital products and want to work with good people that do good work?
If so, I cannot more highly suggest Chris and the team at Faculty!
@shiflett@mastodon.social
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@Luke@typo.social Well, technically an “Elder Millennial” (born 1982), which is exceptionally insulting.
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@sean@scoat.es Not sure about availability in Canada, but after years of cheap stuff, I will only purchase from Eley for the rest of my life: https://www.eleyhosereels.com/
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@DunwichType@typo.social 100% agree and I have the same concerns of affordability. I think part of it is proving the concept that we don’t have to give away privacy for basic Internet use.
Sadly, things will not get built if there is not a market to pay for it. Perhaps as Kagi grows, they can figure out a way to make it accessible to others?
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@marian There are several great museums in Germany worth checking out! They may not all have Linotypes, but are worth visiting.
This website lays out five: https://www.pixartprinting.co.uk/blog/printing-museums-germany/
I have only been to the museums in Mainz and Hamburg, but can recommend both. Also Berlin has the Deutsches Technikmuseum which has a printing exhibition.
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