Type Nerds Gone Wild

Posted on | September 1, 2009 | 1 Comment

The moment I discovered the world of hard-core typography was the moment that I unearthed an unrealized dimension of myself. The revelation was a simple, overheard phrase: “Isn’t this descender elegant?”

For the uninitiated, a descender is the part of a letter, such as j or q that drops below the baseline, The a-ha moment however, came not from the aspect of the letter, but from the fact that letters had aspects. It was mind-blowing to find people who made their living studying, creating and celebrating typefaces, and to know that somehow this included me. I haven’t fully worked out my role in the community, but I do know that they are singing my song.

There are more than a few type nerds who fall into the black turtleneck, inaccessibly elitist designer crowd, but there is a much larger group of people who just really dig typography in all of it’s forms, from the pounded into stone original serifs and the monk’s hand-lettered books to 3-D digital typefaces and graffiti. These are my people.

Being a typography expert is no easy task. Have you ever tried to identify fonts? How did you do? It takes years, if not decades to become well-versed in typeface names, distinguishing features, eras, designers and key usages. As you can tell, this is a committed bunch of people. What might not be apparent however, is what a big job they have, keeping a reign on pop-culture, with it’s frequent misuse and abuse of their beloved type.

Mark Simonson wrote about typography errors in movies in his famous Typecasting article. He pointed out Hollywood type blunders such as using a typeface in an era movie twenty years before the typeface was designed, or the fact that signs were generally hand-painted until the 1960s and wouldn’t have been a typeface at all. The article was wildly popular and Mark now posts regularly in his Son of Typecasting series, commenting on popular films and TV shows like Mad Men, Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Gangs of New York and many more.

If you find yourself taking a second look at a vintage sign, or sketching out your own alphabet, check out Mark’s commentaries for a friendly glimpse into the mind and talents of a hard-core typography enthusiast. You will be delighted and amazed at the details and insights he provides into something we look at all the time yet rarely see, the elegance of the letter.

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One Response to “Type Nerds Gone Wild”

Lynn Zephryna
September 1st, 2009 @ 8:30 PM

Typography is a very cool study. And an elegant descender is mind-blowing. Thanks for this, and for helping me delve deeper into typography.

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Type Nerds Gone Wild

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