just my type x 2

~ jama

#46 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet

Hey there, Font Freaks! Why the long typeface?

I’ve got just the thing to titillate your Times New Roman. That’s right — a double platter of tippy top typography today! (Say that fast five times.)

Those of us in love with the alphabet usually love to play with our fonts — after all, there’s one for every mood, every emotion, every occasion, every whim.

When I first set up this blog two years ago, I changed the standard fonts that came with my template. You’re now looking at Fertigo Pro in the blog title, Adelle for headings,  Slab for general text. They all seemed friendlier somehow.

Lately, I’ve been quite partial to Lucida Bright or Bookman Old Style when drafting new stories in Word. I’m surprised how anti-creative some fonts can be (sorry, Impact). And I still don’t get all the flack about Comic Sans or Courier. Neither has ever stolen my chocolate. 🙂

On to today’s offerings.

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First Bite

Behold the delightful work of art student Pranita Kocharekar of Mumbai, India. She’s studying typography and recently designed this wonderful illustrative typeface called, “Bird Watching,” which earned her a 2013 Typographer of the Year Award. She used upper and lower case A-Z, 0-9, and some punctuation, and she’s thinking of selling bags and vests featuring the design. Yay!

 

 

Pranita also created this delightful story called Lost in Typeland, which features two characters who befriend each other, the famous typeface Bodoni and a little girl. Too cool. Be sure to click here to read the entire story and view Pranita’s portfolio.

 

 

 

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Second Bite

Check out this clever paper-letter animated short, “The History of Typography,” created by Ontario-based graphic designer Ben Barrett-Forrest. It consists of 291 paper letters, 2,454 photographs, and required 140 hours of work! So amazing, Bravo!

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There now, didn’t it feel good to get your Garamond on?

I love me a good font feast.

Ahhhhhh — to serif or not to serif, that is the question. 🙂

♥ More Alphabetica here.

P.S. Take the quiz: “What Font Are You?”

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alphabet iconCertified authentic alphabetica. Handmade just for you with love and 26 of your best friends in natty upper and lower case.

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Copyright © 2013 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

20 thoughts on “just my type x 2”

  1. I love fonts, too, Jama, though I wish I understood typography and design better than I do. More thing to add to my Learn Someday list. 🙂

    By the by, have you ever watched the movie Helvetica? It’s what got me more interested in typography.

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    1. No, I haven’t seen “Helvetica.” Thanks for the heads up. Will look for it.

      I don’t understand much about typography design, only that I’m fascinated by the endless possibilities, and how letters can have personalities with different fonts. it’s truly an art all its own.

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  2. Isn’t it weird to love fonts? Maybe it’s part of our DNA somehow. You know, like the love of peanut butter or cheese… :–) And off now to check out those very cute wooden spoons in the side bar! 🙂

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    1. It could very well be part of our DNA — different people like different fonts for different reasons. It’s just so cool how fonts affect the way we *feel*. 🙂

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  3. Fun post, Jama! I love studying different typefaces as wel. (I’ve always been partial to Copperplate Bold for some reason!) But when it comes to reading scripts, sans serif is the way to go…block letters are much easier to read than their fancier counterparts.

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    1. Nice to hear you also fancy fonts, Matt :). Copperplate Bold seems a very sturdy, decisive font. Knowing a person’s favorite font is *almost* as fun as analyzing their handwriting (something we rarely see anymore since email usurped snail mail).

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  7. I think this is exactly what I needed to read about today. I love playing around with different fonts, especially when I am making my greeting cards. Thank you so much Jama. I hope you had a wonderful day.

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  8. Apparently I’m Times New Roman. Don’t tell TNR, but I dislike that typeface, especially in small sizes. I find it hard to read.

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    1. Hmmmm, I’m kind of neutral when it comes to TNR. Don’t like any font that’s too small, too dark, too “gothic”, too swirly, too skinny . . .

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