Science & Technology: Lost and Font Flashcards
updates might be a bit slow!!
Books were only a luxury for high class until…
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press
The printing press was invented in
15th century
What inspired the invention of the printing press?
Screw- Type presses in East Asia
Gutenberg created the first ever font, inspired by Blackletter calligraphy used in manuscripts. What were its downsides?
limited text per page and a single font type constraint.
Nicolas Jenson
created a smaller & easier font based on typographic styles
1470
Aldus Manutius & Francesco Griffo
pioneered the italic typeform
saving space in books.
1501
What is the purpose & limitation of italics?
poor readability, used for emphasis
William Calson
created Old Style
improving letter distinguishability and readability
1734
John Baskerville
developed transitional typefaces with distinct letters
limitations and improvements of transitional typefaces
developments in ink, type, and printing
criticized for darkness and unorthodox (unconventional) appearance
Baskerville’s fonts reviving
it experienced a commercial failure in the 18th century
revived in the 1900’s
Firmin Didot & Giambattista Bodoni
created serif fonts
1780’s
suitable for headlines and titles
Antique - VIncent Figgins
first slab serif template
1815
indents & emphasis details
William Calson IV - “Calson Egyptian”
1816
followed with the sans- serif revolution
influenced by block lettering from classical antiquity
egyptomania (the Western world’s obsession over Egypt) in fonts
supported the font design era inspired by egyptian writing
Fredric Goudy
first full time font developer in 1920’s
created copperplate gothic & goudy old style
fonts from 1957
Helvetica, Futura, Optima
Digi Grotesk
1968
digital age
Vector (smooth) fonts
1974
Truetype fonts
1980’s
easily accessible to computers and printers
CSS in 1997
incorporated the first font styling rules
Internet Explorer in 1997
supported web fonts
The Web Open Font Format (WOFF) in 2009
led to widespread use of Web fonts by 2011
variable fonts in 2016
part of the OpenType standard
more efficient in size
smaller file sizes
challenges in modern fonts
lack of global language fonts
limits in color fonts, despite OpenType SVG format allowing such creativity
Microsoft initial font
Calibri, default for Word and Outlook
Microsoft font change
5 potential candidates tested in 2021
–> original name = Bierstadt
–> fixed name = Aptos
impact of Microsoft’s font change
accompanied the renewal of Microsoft’s 365 subscriptions
shows the company’s commitment to refreshing its appearance
Microsoft font change - reason
survey asking if the public would appreciate the change
core reason = CEO changing from Steve Ballmer to Satya Nadella
Microsoft font change - announce date & manager’s name
2023
Si Daniels
development of Aptos - date
began in 2019
development of Aptos - designer
Steve Matteson
contributed to the creation of Segoe font (used in Microsoft’s logo and marketing)
origin of the name “Bierstadt”
tribute to a mountain in Colorado
initially named “Grotesque No. 2”
origin of the name “Aptos”
tribute to a town in Santa Cruz
inspired by the coastal climate and feelings of California
what details of Aptos did Matteson work on?
adapting for various languages
crafting monetary symbols
incorporating Greek and Cyrillic letters
Aptos’ greatest ability
clear difference between uppercase “I” and lowercase “l”
London Underground - initial font
font by calligrapher Edward Johnston
1916
London Underground - updated font
Johnston100
2016
by Transport for London (TfL)
London Underground - differences
modern symbols such as @ or # introduced
very subtle changes
London Underground in terms of adaptation
new style aims for a 21st century adaptation
contains the “soul of the 2000’s” while being relevant to the modern era
Jon Hunter
Head of TfL design
states that hashtags were a necessary addition due to the rise of social media
US department of state - initial font
Times new roman
US department of state - updated font
Calibri (for better accessibility)
Deadline & communicating method for this change
Feb 6 2023
Secretary of State Antony Blinken communicated this change via email.
what criticism did Calibri receive?
employees thought it was “ugly” -> perhaps shows that people have different opinions on fonts
What was the “previous” change on the US department of State’s official font?
Courier New 12 was used before Times New Roman
Disadvantages of Times new roman
its angular features pose challenges for those with:
- Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tools
- screen readers
- learning impairments
Who is Thomas Phinney?
A font detective
used to work as a product manager of Adobe’s system font groups
What does Thomas Phinney use for his job as a font detective?
Digital microscope
pixel counting
What was Thomas Phinney’s first case?
“The Case of the Wicked Will”
the printer used for the document did not exist for the suggested date
“The Reprehensible Rabbi”
involved uncovering a font mismatch
two categories of forensic cases (Thomas Phinney)
Nefarious (involving ill- intent forgeries)
“Stupidly Tiny”
Which British supermarket has recently removed self-checkout systems?
Booths
(from all but two of their stores)
Nigel Murray’s criticism about self-checkout systems
inefficient and untrustworthy
- slow processing
-misidentification of products
self checkout - creation date & purpose
1980’s
reducing labor costs
major issue of self checkout
shoplifting (“shrink”)
origin of barcodes (place)
Troy, Miami County, Ohio
first shopper to use barcodes
Clyde Dawson
first cashier to use barcodes
Sharon Buchanan
creator of barcodes
Joe Woodland
what inspired barcodes?
Woodland was drawing with his fingers on the sand at Miami Beach
Morse codes
barcode lasers - creation date
1960 (in California)
barcode lasers - creator & initial purpose
Theodore Maiman
welding, cutting, medical surgery
modern barcodes & barcodes back then - differences
old - circular bullseye barcode
modern - rectangular barcode
first automated checkstands - place & date
Kroger Kenwood Plaza, Cincinnati
July 1972
What was created to make barcodes universal?
the Ad Hoc Committee of the Universal Product Identification Code
How many U.S companies submitted systems to the Ad Hoc Committee?
7
what company employed Woodland?
IBM
who created the version used by IBM?
George Laurer
when did the Symbol Selection Committee vote for the rectangular barcode?
1973
what recognition did Woodland receive?
recognition from George HW Bush (1992)
National Medal of Technology
What system does Amazon Go use?
“Just Walk Out” concept
technology inspired by self driving cars and other advanced tech
three features of “Just Walk Out”
computer vision
sensor fusion
deep learning
Anne Thériault’s complains about QR code menus
traditional menus offer unique literary qualities and soulful experiences (texture, weight, etc)
QR code menus lack physicality
rise of QR codes - date and place
1994
Conor Friedersdorf’s argument FOR paper menus
they also serve as historical documents
New York Public Library’s “What’s on the Menu?” project
preserving and organizing over 45,000 menus from the 1840’s.
L. Sasha Gora’s argument FOR paper menus
menus are archival traces of diets and demand
reflects changes in ingredients
-> indicates extinction of a species (such as the passenger pigeon
What did restaurants do despite the extinction of passenger pigeons?
they continued to offer passenger pigeon pies
shows the perception of abundance that contradicts reality
why were the “ladies” menu without prices abolished
a Californian woman threatened the restaurant on discrimination
how do menus reveal societal norms and expectations?
some wordings on the menu may be gender-oriented
(example - Dirty Brunch & Clean Brunch)
