In a description of how type is made using the sand casting method, author Rob Roy Kelly quotes the eighteenth century printer Christian Friedrich Gessner as follows: “The ingredients of casting sand are fine sand, to which is added calcinated baking-oven... 

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Ever since director Gary Hustwit invited us to appear in his film Helvetica , life has changed for me and Tobias in two ways. First, we get recognized on the street from time to time (always with the implied aren’t you those type dorks ) — but second,... 

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Photos: Left: Johan de Zoete, Stichting Museum Enschedé; Right: James Mosley Four hundred years after Gutenberg’s death, “metal type” was still being made the way he made it. Using files and gravers, a steel rod was cajoled into the shape of a... 

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An earlier post (March 2008) described the big 16th-century letters that were acquired in the 18th century by Johannes Enschedé, and which were known to him, because they were supposedly derived from punches cut in brass, by the name Chalcographia .... 

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Typeface: Chronicle Deck Bold Italic Is that the sound of a designer waiting for Adobe Updater to complete? Typeface: Chronicle Deck Bold Italic Is that the sound of a designer waiting for Adobe Updater to complete? No, just a brief response to a... 

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The New York Times reports on crippling shortfalls in the nation’s strategic four reserve: ‘With regular gas in New York City at a near-record $4.40 a gallon, station managers are rummaging through their storage closets in search of extra 4s to display... 

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This publicity photo, from the Berthold foundry’s Specimen No. 525B (late 1950s?) shows the foundry type for Arabic Shaded No This publicity photo, from the Berthold foundry’s Specimen No. 525B (late 1950s?) shows the foundry type for Arabic Shaded... 

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Nineteen years of designing typefaces has amply proven H&FJ’s Third Law, which states that for every act of exhaustive research, there is an equal and opposite act of total silliness. This principle extends from typography into other disciplines... 

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Hands-on classes in typeface design are notoriously hard to come by. Hands-on classes in typeface design are notoriously hard to come by. Those interested in learning the craft have either to content themselves with a one-hour workshop at a professional... 

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Taking a break from my top secret Independence Day project that combines typography and patriotism (more about this later ), I came across something marvelous that I had to share. Taking a break from my top secret Independence Day project that combines... 

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