I've always loved type. My love affair with letterforms began back in college with the study of type as part of my journalism and design courses. While others bitched and moaned about the hand-rendering of type forms, I was fascinated by the difficult assignments (Don't even bother submitting your assignment with graphite smears!). Getting new type catalogs in the mail is as exciting to me as the joy expressed by Steve Martin's character Navin R. Johnson, in the film The Jerk, with the arrival on the new telephone directory when he exclaimed, "The new phone book's here! The new phone book's here!"
Typographica: A Journal of Typography recently published the first half of their annual list of Favorite Fonts of 2005 and I've really enjoyed reviewing their selections. In the Typographica recap of the best releases during the first half of 2005, the editors note the trends of the year: Independent font foundries are putting out some great type offerings - two-thirds of the 15 fonts featured are the work of one-man design studios. OpenType is an option in nearly all the fonts named, even though the design software industry is slow to support the format. Designer Xavier Dupré, creator of the font Zingha illustrating this blog entry, has three designs among the 15 recognized offerings.
Each featured font is presented with a visual "tease," a review from an industry expert and links to where you may find the type for your own use. In addition to the top 15, the editors single out nearly four dozen other notable font releases from early 2005. If you are looking for a great distraction from that frustrating project, grab yourself an espresso drink, sit back, relax and be prepared for some incredible visual stimulation. (I'll post a link to Part II of the Typographica list when it goes live later this month.)
© 2006 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives
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