My Favorite Things - Fonts

Okay, I will admit it . . . I am crazy about typefaces. I have more than 10,000 and I add more all the time. For those of you who are having issues managing alot of fonts, look into Suitcase. This entry is about the typefaces that deserve to be in my personal Wall of Fame. Shown above are the all stars (for now - they change all the time). Reading from left to right, top to bottom are in no particular order:

1. Burgues . . . when you need to say it with a flourish. This typeface is just fabulously decadent and extravagant.
Alejandro Paul’s ode to 19th-century American calligrapher Louis Madarasz will sweep you away.

2. Stephanie Marie . . . A lively, brush-style script font, named after a dear friend of the designer. This one is a favorite of Susan's (boss/fearless art director). Created by Jukebox.

3. Bauer Bodoni . . . Based on designs by Giambattista Bodoni (Italy 1740-1813), an Italian punchcutter, typefounder and printer who led in the development of the letterform we call ‘modern or didone, in the last years of the eighteenth century. Jen, my office-mate turned me on to this one again. I love the clean lines and extremes of the thin and thick parts.

4. Helvetica Neue . . . If I had to pick just one, this would be it. My personal faves are 25 and 43. Typography just doesn't get any better than this. I don't know of any other font that has a documentary about it. You can download the whole film to your ipod - go to http://www.helveticafilm.com/ for more information.

5. Ministry Script . . . Alejandro Paul designed Ministry Script to be “A time capsule that marks both the American ad art of the 1920s, and the current new-millennium acrobatics of digital type.” The idea was to make as many possible variants of each letter as he could possibly handle. Ole Alejandro is my hero! I love fonts with alternate characters!

6. Feel Script . . . Current script favorite by Alejandro also. See my previous blog regarding Feel love.

7. Mrs. Eaves . . . Here's a little bit of typography trivia for today (as if this entire entry isn't) - This typeface is named after Sarah Eaves, the woman who became John Baskerville’s wife. As Baskerville was setting up his printing and type business, Mrs. Eaves moved in with him as a live-in housekeeper, eventually becoming his wife after the death of her first husband, Mr. Eaves. Like the widows of Caslon, Bodoni, and the daughters of Fournier, Sarah similarly completed the printing of the unfinished volumes that John Baskerville left upon his death.

8. Engravers Gothic . . . I know I use this one too much but it works so well on invitations. IMO, it MUST BE IN ALL CAPS and typeset rather small to maintain its' elegance.



As I typed the above, I thought of those left behind . . . Bickham Script, Futura (especially light), Fling, Trajan. I'm sure there are more that I haven't remembered but I can only spend so much time on type.



So, if you are still interested in looking at type after all this, here are some of my favorite sites:

http://typographica.org/
http://www.typophile.com/
http://tackorama.net/ - Free 50's, 60's and 70's fonts
http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ - What The Font is the best font identifier I've ever seen. Upload a sample and it will recognize it or send it to a forum of super font freaks (said with love) who generally can tell you what it is and where to find it.
http://www.dafont.com/ - This site will get you into trouble. Fonts are free and I usually walk away with at least half a dozen.
http://ilovetypography.com/ - play the font game if you dare!
http://www.typography.com/ Hoeffler & Frere Jones - beautiful typefaces
http://www.wordsarepictures.co.uk/ - beautiful typesetting artwork

There are more but I am tired. Let me know what your favorite fonts and sites are.