TYPE DESIGN INFORMATION PAGE last updated on
Tue May 22 04:22:16 EDT 2012
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Type scene in Kansas |
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26 Symbols
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A Comparison of Popular Online Fonts: Which is Best and When? | A study in 2007 at Wichita State University (Kansas) by Michael Bernard, Melissa Mills, Michelle Peterson and Kelsey Storrer. These font types were compared: Agency FB (Agency), Arial, Comic Sans, Tahoma, Verdana, Courier New (Courier), Georgia, Goudy Old Style (Goudy), Century Schoolbook (Schoolbook), Times New Roman (Times), Bradley Hand ITC (Bradley), Monotype Corsiva (Corsiva). Conclusion: First, no significant difference in actual legibility between the font types were detected. There were, however, significant differences in reading time, but these differences may not be that meaningful for most online text because these differences were not substantial. It may, on the other hand, be helpful to consider using font types that are perceived as being legible. In this study, the font types that were perceived as being most legible were Courier, Comic, Verdana, Georgia, and Times. Courier and Times were perceived as being the most business-like, whereas Comic was perceived as being the most fun and youthful. [Google] [More] ⦿ |
Graphic designer who works typography into some of her work, such as this Baskerville poster (2010). Behance link. She lives in Kansas City. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Lawrence, KS-based typographer and graphic designer. Creator of Chehuly (2010). [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Baseline Fonts
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Fonts:
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FontStructor in Fort Riley, KS, b. 1974, who made several heavy and severe-looking octagonal faces in 2010 and 2011, including Brakemen CLE, Bullhorn, Commando 2011, Wild Bull, Rudius, Battalion, Goth Spike, Brakeman New, Universitario, Tuff Commando, Saber, Vengeance2, Valley Forge, Griff (loosely based on the NHL 2011 All Star Game font), Assault Vertical, Bullhorn Spike, Universitario Trace, Vengeance, Rails, Assault Hockey, Emerald City, Brigade, Amateur Pacifist (2011, athletic lettering), Paradise, Vengeance 2011, Assault, Brakemen CLE. Some fonts are in the techno / futuristic style, and others are tattoo fonts. | |
Blake Fry studied law at the University of Kansas (BA, 2001) and at Lewis&Clark Law School (JD, 2009). He wrote Why typefaces proliferate without copyright protection. This is a thoroughly interesting paper. The text below are the author's conclusions. This paper has demonstrated how several mechanisms collaborate to create an environment in which an abundance of typefaces are designed, even though typefaces in the United States cannot now, or maybe ever, be copyrighted. Typefaces are functional objects, necessary for literate societies who print words on paper or display them on screens. As such, some typefaces must exist. And as long as some exist, the type design industry will be subject to the mechanisms that allow it to be innovative. Technology is one of those mechanisms. Because different technologies have limitations that affect typefaces, new designs, compensating for the limitations, have to be made when a technology is introduced. New technologies also allow typefaces to have features or benefits that were not previously possible. The market demands, and is willing to pay for, access to these features and benefits. Technology has also lead to the digitization of the type design process. This has caused an explosion in the number of type designers, and typeface designs. Though digitization of the industry has decreased the quality of designs in some cases, it has just as often increased quality. Because the type design industry is relatively small and close-knit, norms within the industry are effective at mitigating plagiarism within it. This phenomenon comports both with general theories of norms, and with observations from other industries in intellectual property law’s open areas that also effectively employ norms to reduce copying. Even when norms fail, typefaces, especially those that require the most time and investment to design, are resistant to plagiarism. Typefaces are also subject to the vagaries of artistic movements and fashion-like cycles. As tastes change, which they do rather quickly, new typefaces have to be made to comport with the new aesthetic. Advertising and the advertising industry is an important cog in this process helping, among other things, to speed the fashion-cycle. Typefaces are also non-rivalrous, almost always existing as digitized computer fonts. They are therefore subject to file-sharing, like any other digital media. However, file-sharing probably has not damaged the type design industry. Among the most likely culprits for the reduction in the price of computer fonts is the practice of bundling computer fonts with operating systems and other software. This is especially true among software geared to graphic design professionals. Adobe, among the largest foundries in the world, primarily creates new typefaces to make its software, which is a much more lucrative business for it, more attractive. Other analyses of industries operating in the open areas of intellectual property law have shown how they, too, can be innovative, creating significant new expressive works. The more interesting question is not how any one industry operates in intellectual property law's open areas, but whether any industry now protected by intellectual property laws would be sufficiently innovative if protection were taken away. The small number of industries that have been examined so far are probably not a large enough sample set from which an answer can be derived. More observations are therefore needed. What might become apparent upon such a cataloging is a general principle. This paper has shown how many mechanisms work together to encourage innovation in the typeface industry. This suggests that other industries could also have several mechanisms that work together, often in unexpected ways that could never be predicted by mere theory, to produce innovation in expressive works without protection from copyright or other intellectual property laws. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
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Codesigner with Nathan Williams at Baseline Fonts in Wichita, KS, of Country Fang (2003). [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Caitlin Workman grew up in Saint Charles, Missouri, close to Saint Louis. She is a visual communication student at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. She designed the ultra-fat round typeface Glee (2011). [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
A legibility study in 2006 at Wichita State University (Kansas) by Barbara S. Chaparro, A. Dawn Shaikh and Alex Chaparro shows that Cambria is more legible than Constantia, and both are far more legible than Times New Roman. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
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Lawrence, KS-based creator of a ghoulish typeface in 2012. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
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Dawn Shaikh | Dawn Shaikh received her PhD in human factors psychology in 2007 from Wichita State University. Throughout graduate school, she worked on a grant from Microsoft's Advanced Reading Technologies group. Her master's thesis focused on line length in news&narrative articles. She worked on the legibility of ClearType fonts, and on that of onscreen fonts. Her dissertation focused on the perception of typeface personality. After graduation, ironically---despite Microsoft scholarships throughout her life---, she joined arch enemy Google, where she worked on Google Web Fonts, Docs, Ebooks, Android, and Internationalization. Speaker at ATypI 2011 in Reykjavik on the topic of typefaces for Android OS (with Steve Matteson). [Google] [More] ⦿ |
Dillon James Sherman is a web and graphic designer in Wichita, KS, who graduated from Kansas State University. Fontsquirrel link. Creator of the free steam-powered Western typeface Sedgwick Co (2012). [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Elemeno
| Elemeno is a foundry in Topeka, Kansas, where one can buy fonts made by graphic designer Alex Grecian (b. Hospital, 1969), who markets his fonts through MyFonts. Partial list of typefaces: Aldersgate, Betabet (2002, a scratchy face), Bindle, Black Bull (2005), Boller, Borealis, Bungalow, Cadence, Camryn, Cerulean, Dragon Drop, Plummet (2006), Handwriting fonts Boller, Benchley (2004), Chalk, Parmesan Serif, Trade Dress, Chockablock (comic book face), Broadway, Classical Drop Caps (2002), Classical Engraved (2002), Chocolate Shop (2005, display face), Christy Marie (curly face), Circus Peanut, Zero Tolerance Block, Zero Tolerance College, Zero Tolerance Serif, Kryptonite, Zap Bats, Extreme Junction, Grecian Empire, Helvetian Times, Platypus, Saint Vitus, Saturday Night, Vibraphone, Xanthippe, Christy Marie (2002, crazy curly font), Zero Tolerance, Kings in Disguise, Peaches, Betabet (2004), Minuitia, Natural Dark, Wittgenstein, Drop Down, Erector Dysfunction, Flaster Platypus, Gorey, High Water, Hypewriter, Iteration Grap, Jejune Bebug, La Brea Typist, Macon Tracks, Merkin, Nicodemus, Orbiculate, Parker<.a> (2004), Parmesan Serif, Pillow talk, Reading Railroad, Orbiculate, Rejoinder, Rock Bottom, Ross (2004: an avant-garde geometric monoline regualr face), Ross Round (2004), Rubric Cuped, Salutation, Saturday Night, Trade Dress, Structure, Salutatorian, Spiroglyph, Tattersall, Tenpenny Dreadful, Times Kangaroo Down, Trivet, Wendigo, Whiffle (2004), Woodcutter, Woollcott, Wordplay, Writers Block, Zap Bats. View Alex Grecian's typefaces at Elemeno. [Google] [MyFonts] [More] ⦿ |
Eric Carver (Kanas City, KS) designed the condensed squarish caps face Fong (2011) and the scratchy face Ghetto Palm (2011). [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Flow14
| Kyle Johnston (Flow14) is the Overland Park, KS-based designer of the graffiti font Milk (2002), Bodolive (2003, a mix of Bodoni and Antique Olive), Sporty (college lettering font, free in the Rumpus sub-page), Meteors (free download, click on Rumpus), Midwest (click on Work, then Type; based on Senator Ultra, on commission for Midwest Graphics), and Jellyphant Round (free on the Rumpus page). [Google] [More] ⦿ |
A native of Wichita, Kansas, Frances MacLeod is completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Advertising Art Direction and Graphic Design at Columbia College Chicago. She created Abraham Lincoln (2012, Lost Type). [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Handbell Notation Font
| Fonts for handbell notatioon developed by Paul A. McKlveen (Overland Park, KS): Hbell, Hbellfin, 7USD. [Google] [More] ⦿ |
Graphic design student at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. Creator of the display face Carneval (2011). [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Jim is a designer from Kansas City. Creator of the inline and solid pair of faces called Bender (2012, free at Lost Type). [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Graphic design graduate from the University of Kansas (2011). His Alejandro Blackletter (2010) is a carefully crafted face done at Fachhochschule Trier (Germany) in 2010 under the guidance of Andreas Hogan. Unlike the name suggests, this face is not a blackletter at all, but is rather round. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Graphic designer from Lawrence, KS, whose first font is MJ (2003), a fresh curly modern font. His second font is here (2004). He also made Halloween Haiku (2004), a calligraphic font. His blog. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
KS-based graphic designer. She created some logotypes such as BBQ (2011). [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Justin Bell is a graphic design student at the University of Kansas, 2008-2012. Behance link. In 2010, he created a modified version of Helvetica by using horizontal stripes and filling in the counters. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Student at Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS. He created the mysterious Monastery font in 2010, and the logo font Mason in 2011. Also in 2011, he added Valence and Technik (technical fat stencil). Behance link. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Fonts produced by the University of Kansas, Structure and Tectonics GIS Laboratory, 1998. Only useful with the ESRI Arcview software (Arc/Info). Page maintained by Ross Black. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
License Plate Fonts of the United States, Canada, and Mexico
| Ward Nicholson of Leeward Productions in Wichita, KS, explains many license plate fonts. He also gives a quick rundown of available license plate fonts, as of 2008:
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Graphic design student at the University of Kansas, who lives in Lawrence, KS. Creator of Angst (2011). [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
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Michael T. Henderson | Creator in 1997 of the KuldIPA phonetic font at Kansas University. [Google] [More] ⦿ |
Paul A. McKlveen (Overland Park, KS) made and sells the Handbell Notation Font, in all formats. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
PhotoshopIsland (or: Ridpath Creative Partners)
| Roger Ridpath (b. 1964, Wichita, KS, and located in Kansas City, Missouri) is a photography expert who designed the handprinted Designer Notes (2009). At MyFonts, one can buy Iron Grunge (2010), PSI Leaves (2010, dingbats), Angie Lou (2010, grunge), and Designer Notes Pro (2012, handprinted). Home page. Klingspor link. Dafont link. [Google] [MyFonts] [More] ⦿ |
Lawrence, KS-based creator of the techno face Propel (2011). Rebekah is a student at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
RedEyeType
| RedEyeType offers these fonts by Jay Vidheecharoen (Chicago, IL): AngelaSans (1999: based on Neville Brody's Industria, so Jay says), Imitari (1999: for Imitari magazine), Atmosphere (1999, octagonal: free at Dafont), Memento Mori (1999: wow!), and Van Hooser (1997: a curly font for Hallmark cards based on the lettering style of Hallmark illustrator Donna Van Hooser). Jay worked in the lettering department at Hallmark in 1997. In earlier days, Jay ran Invisible Studio Fonts, but that link is now dead. He also worked at the University of Kansas and for PC Gamer Magazine. Dafont link. Klingspor link. [Google] [More] ⦿ |
Calligrapher, b. Stockton, CA. Art director of Letter Arts Review magazine since 1992. Designer of Nyx (1997-2002, Linotype, Adobe). Rick worked for Hallmark, and lives in Stockton, CA. The TDC site says that he is from Overland Park, Kansas. Nyx won an award at Bukvaraz 2001. [Google] [MyFonts] [More] ⦿ | |
River City Rubber Works
| River City Rubber Works (Haysville, KS) is a company that designs and manufactures art rubber stamps and images. The business began in 1994 as a greeting card company called Spirit Works Greetings. River City Rubber Works was created as a division of that company in 1997. MyFonts sells its fonts, such as River City Sandwriting (2009). The designer is Dana De Cicco (b. Oklahoma). She got interested in fonts as a student at Oklahoma State University, where she graduated with a BFA with an emphasis in drawing and painting. In 1994 she and her partners founded Spirit Works Greetings. [Google] [MyFonts] [More] ⦿ |
Graphic designer from Kansas who made several experimental fonts in 2011. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Visual communication student at the University of Kansas. Creator of a hexagonal typeface called Steipe (2012) that was inspired y the architecture in Trier, Germany. Behance link. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Born&raised in Grand Junction Colorado, educated in art&graphic design at Western State College of Colorado, Scott now works as a freelance designer in Wichita, KS. Dafont link. Creator of the handwriting font Scotosaurus (2011) and the blackletter face Cartographer (2011). Ellephont (2011) is handprinted. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
At the Department of Psychology, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, various (mostly Microsoft) fonts were compared for speed of reading, and legibility. Conclusions: "o significant differences in reading efficiency were detected between the font types at any size. There were, however, significant differences in reading time. Generally, Times and Arial were read faster than Courier, Schoolbook, and Georgia. Fonts at the 12-point size were read faster than fonts at the 10-point size. In addition, a font type x size interaction was found for the perception of font legibility. In general, however, Arial, Courier, and Georgia were perceived as the most legible. For font attractiveness, Georgia was perceived as being more attractive than Arial, Courier, and Comic, while Times was perceived as more attractive than Courier. This contrasts with participants' general preference for a particular font type. Overall, Verdana was the most preferred font, while Times was the least preferred. Thus it seems that the Georgia and Times serif fonts are considered more attractive, but they are generally less preferred. Of the fonts studied, Verdana appears to be the best overall font choice. Besides being the most preferred, it was read fairly quickly and was perceived as being legible.". For font legibility, Tahoma 10pt, Courier 12pt and Georgia 10pt came out the winners. Research by Michael Bernard, Bonnie Lida, Shannon Riley, Telia Hackler, and Karen Janzen. Alternate URL [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Born in southeastern Oklahoma, Talor Goad now works as a designer for Gardner Design in Wichita, KS. His typeface Alexis (2011, free at Lost Type) is a take on the Italian woodstyle. It was fontified by Nathan Williams. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
The Effect of Typeface on the Perception of Email
| A study in 2007 at Wichita State University (Kansas) by A. Dawn Shaikh, Doug Fox and Barbara S. Chaparro showed test subjects emails in Calibri, Comic Sans and Gigi. The selection of the three fonts used for the neutral email was based on previous work by Shaikh, Chaparro, and Fox (2006) that examined user perception of how appropriate 20 fonts were for 25 uses (i.e., business documents, web pages, email). The ranking of those 20 fonts: Calibri, Corbel, Candara, Cambria, Verdana, Arial, Times New Roman, Constantia, Georgia, Century Gothic, Comic Sans, Courier New, Consolas, Monotype Corsiva, Kristen ITC, Agency FB, Rage Italic, Gigi, Rockwell Extra Bold, Impact. Interstingly, in questions of ethos, Comic Sans and Colibri are almost equal, well ahead of Gigi. [Google] [More] ⦿ |
The Effect of Website Typeface Appropriateness on the Perception of a Company's Ethos
| A study in 2007 at Wichita State University (Kansas) by A. Dawn Shaikh reveals that among a handful of typefaces, readers of company web sites order them as follows: Calibri, Cambria, Arial, Calisto, Georgia, Courier New (way down), and at the bottom, Monotype Corsiva, Lucida Hand, Informal Roman, Viner Hand and Curlz. [Google] [More] ⦿ |
This web site is dedicated to an e-book on typography and type designers written in 2011 by Lance Schmittling, Jennifer Higerd (from Union, MO), and Dominic Flask (from Wichita, KS). It is more biased towards graphic design, and has few sections on type design. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Kansas-based creator of the handwriting font Feindseligkeit (2000). Alternate URL. [Google] [More] ⦿ | |
Vitatype Digital Fonts
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Klingspor link. [Google] [MyFonts] [More] ⦿ |
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