Typography

I bought a book for my son for Easter. The book is on Dinosaurs--his favorite subject. The illustrations are colorful and vibrant. The text seems well-written. However, the typography bothers me. Whenever a word is boldfaced for emphasis, the type changes from a serif type to a Courier-like type. Also, the kerning is off, which makes the words really jammed together and a little hard to read (see page on T-rex, line 3, boldfaced Tyrannoasaurus). This problem occurs on every page. I'm sorry the scan is a little hard to read--the pages of the book are quite shiny. Perhaps, I should contact the publisher and offer my editing/design services!

Typography

I have avoided posting this week. I did not think I had anything to say about typography.

I have been told that I have been "designing with type." I spent some time this week looking at the design book and the sample magazines to find other ways to design that do not include "designing with type." However, I need to post this week...

I found this website:

http://www.fontpool.com/

On the site you can type in any word and see the word typeset in numerous different fonts. I spent some time testing it out. There are over 41,558 fonts included on the website.

Words

I like words. I like using words that sound interesting to me. Here is my list. I will have more by Saturday.

discombobulated
hideous
helatious
nincompoop
henchman
burnt sienna (retired Crayola color)
pleather
vicarious
middleman
suspense
galvanize
eeeewwww
hussy
weirdo
bughunt

More to come...

Sketch Pad

I have never had a sketch pad. As I looked at the selection of sketch pads at Plaza Art store a month ago. I was a little intimidated by the selection...big or small, this brand or that brand, etc. I had no idea. I chose one. I did not know what to do with it. I'm not an artist. I like art, but have not drawn much since school days. However, over the past few weeks I have used the pad to sketch out layouts and to brainstorm my ideas for projects. I am beginning to think of my self as an "artist" in the sense that I design layouts, etc. I think that the sketch pad is helping my layouts as I now have a way to figure out what my treatment will be instead of sitting staring at the computer screen and waiting for the inspiration to come. I am saving time by sketching my ideas.

Classification

A classification system well known to all is the Dewey Decimal System for sorting library books. This system divides subjects in to 4 main chapters. Each chapter has 10 main classes. Each class has 10 divisions. Each division has 10 sections. Hence, the use of the title "decimal." Here is the classification by subject:

000 – Computer science, information, and general works
100 – Philosophy and psychology
200 – Religion
300 – Social sciences
400 – Languages
500 – Science
600 – Technology applied science
700 – Arts and recreation
800 – Literature
900 – History and geography

This system has been around for so long that I rarely think about it. Two years ago, I applied for, interviewed for, and was chosen for a job at my local library system as a part-time assistant librarian. In the end I turned down the job partly for reasons of my inability to coordinate my new work schedule with the school bus schedules for two children and preschool schedule for one child and partly because I could not see myself shelfing books all day. I also looked in to getting a master's degree in library science. Now that I am in this program I am glad I did not accept that job.