The first weekend in May marks Font Bureau’s annual offsite meeting on Martha’s Vineyard.

It’s when our staff come together to reflect on the previous year, and plan for the year to come. OpenType was very much on the table, as well as upcoming font releases, marketing directions, and website initiatives. Good times and food were also present, even though sunny weather was not.

Quotable quotes:

”Around this time every year I hear from brides and mothers of brides.”
— Mark, when asked about tech support

”You can’t prevent people from doing what they want, but you ...

”Although David Berlow is obviously too young to be counted among the grand old men of American typography, he is certainly one of its most influential figures.”

http://www.myfonts.com/newsletters/cc/200709.html

At the New York Times’s blog Campaign Stops, Steve Heller interviews designers and typographers about the McCain campaign’s use of the typeface, Optima.

“David Berlow has always been a consummate type designer, crafting new faces and new versions of old faces for any number of specific, practical uses.”

—John Berry, April 21st 2008

Arabic calligraphy is the most beautiful calligraphic tradition in the world, in my opinion. The birth of my niece gave me an opportunity to try it myself. Above is a sketch I drew of her name in the kufic style. I liked how it came out until it was very politely pointed out to me that I had spelled it wrong. Back to the old drawing board, as they say.

http://typographica.org/001155.php

“He has been called ‘one of the truly original new voices in American type design’ on account of his vast range of new typefaces, alongside numerous revivalist projects.”

Zahar Yashchin has posted a Russian translation of a version my essay “No, There Are Not Enough Typefaces Already” published in the Type Directors Club winter 2008 publication, Letterspace.

Thanks to Maxim Zhukov for making the connections.

I like how it looks in Cyrillic.

http://eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=130&fid=569

“Type designer Cyrus Highsmith learnt the craft through both study and apprenticeship”

http://www.newsweek.com/id/129573

Fun with Fonts: In this video clip, Newsweek’s Jessica Bennett quizzes Roger Black on what the font you choose says about you.

Just Go to Helvetica: “Or at least to Verdana. Because without a signature font at the moment, you’ll never be letter-perfect.” Matthew Carter and Sam Berlow are quoted.

Metropolis magazine invited various visual artists and writers to contribute to their March issue about local flavor. I was happy to send them an interpretation of my town, the ancient city of Providence, Rhode Island. There are also contributions from fellow letter-drawers Sibylle Hagmann, James Goggin, Elliott Earls, and Village.