I like fonts.
filed in Design: Graphic Design, Design: Typography on Nov.17, 2006
I like fonts. Really I do. The thrill I get when I match the perfect typeface with the perfect graphic in the perfect way… truly priceless.
But, sometimes I hate fonts.
One of the things that makes hating fonts so much easier is Font Management Software. Programs such as Suitcase and FontAgent Pro. These program’s sole purpose is to make my life easier by managing the hundreds and hundreds (if not thousands) of fonts on my computer.
Now, too many fonts cause problems. You tend to acquire different versions of the same font, or incomplete font families – such as you have bold and roman, but no italic for some reason – and these conflicts can mess up your computer. Font Management Software seeks out these problems and either alerts you to them so you can do something about it, or fixes them itself, so that you can work more efficiently…
At least, that’s what they do when they work.
The other day I discovered a font that I often use for one of our clients, called TheSans, was not working… yet it had been working the last time I used it. It drove me and our IT guy nuts for the better part of a day. By the end of the day I was cursing the gods of TheSans and their friends, the gods of Font Management Software everywhere.
We finally resolved the issue that evening – putting my project over a day behind schedule.
The next morning, after a long e x h a l e, I decided to investigate where TheSans actually came from. Here’s what I discovered.
TheSans was designed by Luc de Groot from the Netherlands. He studied in the mid-eighties at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague. After school he joined Erik Spiekerman at MetaDesign where he serves as Typographic Director. In 2000, de Groot established his own design and typography studio called FontFabrik, based in Germany.
A contemporary use of TheSans is the new Sprint logo (after the Nextel merger), as seen below.
Luc de Groot, I thank you for your continued contributions to the design world. I apologize for cursing at your wonderful font.
November 17th, 2006 on 6:03 pm
You’ve definitely made me more aware of fonts over our years of marriage. And despite the mention of a certain company which I DO NOT recommend, I still enjoyed this post. =)
November 17th, 2006 on 9:18 pm
I’m really enjoying your forays into the world of graphic design, Kenny. As someone on the fringes of the design world, I get excited when I read something a real professional writes and I actually understand it! Your love/hate relationship with fonts is one of those things. I go through cycles of being obsessed with fonts – finding new ones, organizing those I already have (I use Linotype’s Font Explorer), rethinking design schemes based on type alone. And then, sometimes, all I want to do is slap Frutiger on everything and call it a day.
Three weeks ago, all of my internet browsers started using a funky, elaborate script font as the default for everything, including the address bar. It turned out to be a warning sign for a serious glitch in the computer caused by the deletion of a needed file. So fonts are pretty and they are like little electronic town criers – “The computer is freaking out! The computer is freaking out! Everyone gather at the town square and debug!”