Lost and Font Flashcards
1
Q
Font History Article
What is the early history of the printing press?
Inventor, what it was, inspiration, calligraphy type
A
- Books were written by hand
- Johannes Gutenberg
- Influenced by the East Asian movable type and screw-type presses used by farmers
- Durable letter blocks are arranged, though it can take an entire day
- Letterforms were based on Blackletter calligraphy matching handwriting
- This limited the amount of text on one page, taking too much time
2
Q
Font History Article
How did fonts evolve for more space and readability?
New typefaces and what they did
A
- Nicolas Jenson created the first Roman typeface, to fit more letters on one page
- Based on Blackletter and Italian Humanist and first to be based on typographic principles
- Aldus Manutius and Francesco Griffo created the first italic typeface, fitting even more words
- William Caslon and John Baskerville both created typefaces with easier readability
- Baskerville’s typeface had very thick strokes so was criticized but then was revived in the 20th century
3
Q
Font History Article
What is the history of serifs?
When did they appear, slab serif, sans serif
A
- Firmir Didot (France)
- Giambattista Bodoni (Italy)
- Created serifs with extreme contrast
- The differences are mainly in appearance and placement of some letterforms
- These are not the most readable typefaces
- Slab serifs lack curvature
- The first was called “Antique” designed by Vincent Figgins
- William Caslon IV developed the first sans serif font
- It was influenced by block lettering used in classical antiquity
4
Q
Font History Article
What is modern typeface history?
20th century, digital typography and what’s next
A
- Frederic Goudy
- Created Copperplate Gothic and Goudy Old Style
- Max Miedinger designed Helvetica
- Futura (developed by Paul Renner) and Optima (developed by Hermann Zapf)
- Digi Grotesk designed by Rudolf Hell
- The first digital typeface
- TrueType and OpenType fonts were invented and revolutionized typing
- The Web Open Font Format (WOFF) paved the way for the widespread adoption of type formats
- Soon, Greek and Cyrillic letters should be added in more fonts
- Color fonts with many colours in one letter have been around, but are not adopted
5
Q
Aptos Article
What is the new Microsoft default font?
Name, what is it, reason
A
- Aptos (Bierstadt)
- Office products fetch almost 24% of revenue
- If core applications look fresh, the company can make a better argument for subscription renewal
- Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel
- Calibri has been the default since before Satya Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer, which is considered a good change
6
Q
Aptos Article
What was the creation process for Aptos?
Creator, name history, creation process
A
- Steve Matteson was working for Monotype
- Did not list his contributors so that his Microsoft connection is not known
- Matteson created the TrueType fonts and the Segoe font
- Bierstadt is a German town name
- Aptos is a small town in Santa Cruz
- Matteson also made a serif version
- Working on symbols and Greek and Cyrillic
- Matteson says he has nothing against Calibri
7
Q
Underground Article
What is the new font used in the London Underground?
Background, new font
A
- Original font was made by Edward Johnston (commissioned by Frank Pick)
- Adapted to create Johnston100
- Transport for London (Tfl) said it changed subtly to fit the modern age
- The original was readable, simple and beutiful, according to Donna Steel
- The new version has retained this charm and added the # and @ signs
- Monotype studied old posters to keep the original feel alive
- Type director Malou Verlomme said letters gradually became a bit uniform
8
Q
Serif
What is the difference between serif and sans-serif fonts?
Basic difference, uses, same in other alphabets?
A
- Serif fonts have decorative lines or tapers
- Sans serif fonts don’t
- Sans-serif fonts are made up of simple, clean lines that are the same width throughout
- Sans-serif is more modern and easy to read, while serif fonts are more elegant and traditional
- Cyrillic and Greek have some sans and serif fonts, while other languages do have different fonts but sans and serif do not apply as distictly
9
Q
Font Mandate Article
What was the recent political font change?
Where, why, background, criticisms
A
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken
- Announced U.S. State Department changed from Times New Roman to sans serif Calibri
- Not the first time: Courier New 12 was replaced by Times New Roman
- Facing pushback and arguments, saying that it is not visually appealing
- It was changed due to accessibility problems for certain employees that find serif fonts challenging
10
Q
Font Detective Article
Who is Thomas Phinney?
Work/education background, dream case
A
- Product manager in Adobe System’s fonts group
- Been an expert witness to numerous court cases
- Got degrees in phsycology, political science, graphic arts publishing
- Pursued Berkley MBA
- Professor Hal Varian influenced him greatly
- Joined FontLab
- Now a proffessional font detective
- His dream case is to expose something that affected many people
11
Q
Font Detective Article
Why does typography matter?
Some basic reasons, example
A
- A selection of typefaces can be very important for a brand
- Even subtle typography differences can influence a reader’s mood
- One example is ScienceGothic.com
- Users can change weight, width, contrast and slant while keeping the fonts in the same family
- This dynamic typeface is being more and more possible.
12
Q
Font Detective Article
What are some cases Thomas Phinney has worked on?
Cases and names where applicable
A
- The Case of the Wicked Will
- A will was forged on an inkjet printer which did not exist at the time the document was supposedly written
- The Case of the Reprehensible Rabbi
- A rabbi faked a document but the font it was printed in did not exist until much later
- Phinney’s Case of the Dastardly Divorce
- A man tried to prevent his wife from getting her fair share of assets by forging debt documents
- These were printed in a font and printer that both did not exist at the time they were dated
- He also handles cases determining if documents meet typographical legal requirements
- These can be difficult since requirements can differ by state
- Closest to a dream case was about memos related to President George W. Bush in the Texas Air National Guard that seemed to prove Bush had disobeyed orders
13
Q
Self-Checkout Article
How are companies rethinking self-checkout?
Companies and changes
A
- Booths, Walmart, Costco, Wegmans and ShopRite
- Booths is removing self-checkout in all but 2 out of 28 stores
- Walmart removed self-checkout in some New Mexico stores
- ShopRite pulled them out of a Delaware store
- Wegmans removed a self-checkout app
- Costco is adding more staff to self-checkout areas
14
Q
Self-Checkout Article
What is the problem with self-checkout?
Origins, problems and some examples
A
- They are slow, unreliable and impersonal
- Alcohol causes problems with age, and produce gets misidentified
- First introduced to lower labour expenses and during COVID, helped with social distancing
- However, can lead to increased shoplifting
- Stores with self-checkout have a loss rate of about 4%, twice the rate of other stores
- Some products have multiple barcodes, produce and meat must be weighed, and some customers can’t hear the “beep”
- There are also many techniques for stealing
15
Q
Bar Code Article
What is the history of the barcode?
Simplified version
A
- Ohio is put on the map of the grocery industry
- The first “shopper” to scan a barcode (on a stick of gum) was Clyde Dawson, served by Sharon Buchanan
- Started with Joe Woodland who drew in on a beach inspired by Morse Code, helped by Bernard Silver who got the idea
- They got a patent, but it was too hard to read, until the laser was invented by Theodore Maiman
- Laser stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
- The Kroger Company wanted a shopping solution, finally landing on the barcode
- The original design was the bull’s-eye, but it caused to many problems
- It had to be universal, but the company thought there were no contenders
- However, IBM with Woodland pitched the rectangle shape and the design through time became popular and is now used universally
- Woodland finally got recognition after a long time
