Comments on: Pour yourself a big ol' glass of typohol

Pour yourself a big ol' glass of typohol

ColdChef — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 17:18:22 -0800

Are you a typoholic? It starts so innocently. One day you're mildly interested in the difference between display and text typefaces. Soon you can distinguish between teardrop and beak terminals. Suddenly you're annoying everyone in the movie theater by yelling out the names of all the fonts used in the credits. What's so scary is that you never saw it coming. You, my friend, are a type freak.

By: y6y6y6

y6y6y6 — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 17:26:37 -0800

I used to work in an ad agency. Casual discussions about fonts took place every day. For years I couldn't look at an ad, logo, commercial, or billboard without pondering the typeface. Which is a sad way to go through life. When you realize you have developed contempt for someone based on their font choices, you need help.

By: Space Coyote

Space Coyote — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 17:27:15 -0800

I once realized I was actually participating in a conversation about kerning. At which point I simply froze and stood there silently hoping I could go back in time to when I was cool*. * hypothetically speaking.

By: wendell

wendell — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 17:37:16 -0800

When I feel over-obsessed about typography I drive North from Loa Angeles to Kern County,

By: sarajflemming

sarajflemming — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 17:52:36 -0800

Damn, wendell; beat me to the punch. (:

By: icetaco

icetaco — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:07:06 -0800

Ah, it's so me. I remember there was a time when I talked about fonts so much that my husband was soon able to point out the difference between a serif and a sans serif face. I think he tuned out any further details...but still, I was so proud!

By: Sidhedevil

Sidhedevil — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:13:55 -0800

I was almost in tears seeing how many of my fellow Mefites were typoholics on the thread about the seekrit Yale font. But, hey--I can quit anytime I want.

By: tepidmonkey

tepidmonkey — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:15:24 -0800

I don't know. Passing the evenings for three years of your life by designing fonts for zero profit indicates a sort of obsession unfathomable by most. Can't say I've ever actually used the word "kerning" out loud, though.

By: c

Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:30:17 -0800

if ive been drinking too much i cant read very well but can still identify all fonts in the known universe and like to loudly name them as i see them. im a big hit at parties. um, also in the above mentioned state of inebriation i do rather embarrassing impersonations of a serif and sans-serif 'T' or 'I'.

By: answergrape

answergrape — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:31:46 -0800

It's also fun explaining to someone that a logo was bad because the font was dated (one of those dreadful oh-so 80's art deco repros).

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:46:05 -0800

When I noticed that I was downloading a font a day...I knew I had a problem.

By: loukas_c

loukas_c — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:57:32 -0800

I used to give my roommate the rage by calling him and identifying typefaces on the street and on products. It got to the point where he stopped picking up the phone when my number came up. I have a problem.

By: fluffycreature

fluffycreature — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 19:20:42 -0800

My moment of self-realization came when I was teaching a class, I pulled out a newspaper and was discussing the fonts on the page of advertizements. Basically the room of students sat amazed so much enthusiasm could be expelled on the typefaces across the page. When you wonder what's wrong with "them" for not being equally excited, you begin to realize there are issues with your font-love.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 19:26:26 -0800

Count me among the typoholics. I'm absolutely in love with everything Bauhaus at the moment.

By: oog

oog — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 19:38:06 -0800

i wouldn't worry too much about it if you're a typoholic. one of the more renowned typoholics was Stanley Kubrick. seems like he had his act together.

By: Hildago

Hildago — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 19:41:01 -0800

You guys are freaks! Weirdos! Perverts!

By: Space Coyote

Space Coyote — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 20:03:30 -0800

seems like he had his act together. Go read about his cats before drawing such a conclusion.

By: headspace

headspace — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 20:07:44 -0800

tepid monkey, I love jr!hand!!

By: carter

carter — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 20:23:07 -0800

Interesting; I thought I was kind of typonerdy, but it seems I still have a long way to go. Not that it's not worth going the distance ...

By: katieinshoes

katieinshoes — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 20:53:28 -0800

Same here, carter. Can anyone suggest some good resources for font nerdifying myself?

By: mtevis

mtevis — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 21:15:32 -0800

We have a cat named Franklin Gothic. Try explaining that one at the vet.

By: O9scar

O9scar — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 21:45:26 -0800

kateinshoes: It's been mentioned before here, but Typophile is the messageboard to go to. Typographica(a weblog) is also good, but updates are sporadic. As for Kubrick, apparently he was nuts about Futura Extra Bold and other sans faces.

By: bradlands

bradlands — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 22:23:40 -0800

If, like me, one of your pet peeves is people who incorrectly use the words "typeface" and "font" interchangeably, you might be a typoholic.

By: thecaddy

thecaddy — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 23:17:46 -0800

Back when I worked at the alt-weekly here at the Uni, I was the most exacting when it came to fonts. I would spend hours picking the exact font I wanted for an article. I would fiddle with kerning to make things fit. Everyone else just wanted to finish before 3. Then, fortunately, I got fired for putting out a horrible layout after we switched from Quark (which I'd been using for six years) to inDesign (which I'd never heard of until it was on the computers). Nowadays I've forgotten just about everything, except that (a) I still hate Comic Sans and (b) occasionally will stare at ads on the bus for minutes at timestops, trying to figure out just what it is. Now if I could just quit smoking, I'd be totally free.

By: chrismear

chrismear — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 00:26:04 -0800

y6y6y6: When you realize you have developed contempt for someone based on their font choices, you need help. Well, I dunno. It annoys me when people (i.e. my brother) spend ages doing really nice graphic design, and then slap the text on in Tahoma or something. Your choice of letterforms is just as much a part of the design and aesthetic of your work as anything else is. Not bothering to look beyond the fonts installed with Internet Explorer is like using PowerPoint clipart in professional design work -- it's lazy and shows a poor understanding of quality. My brother calls me a 'font nazi'. Also, I'd like to recommend The Elements of Typographic Style as a beautiful, comprehensive book on typography, which is both understandable to the beginner and useful for the experienced.

By: calwatch

calwatch — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 00:44:24 -0800

FontPlay is a game on the newsgroup alt.binaries.fonts that might be interesting. While the stated goal is to promote freeware fonts, the game includes fonts from almost every source you can think of.

By: LeLiLo

LeLiLo — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 00:49:40 -0800

I like to think I care about fonts, but maybe not. I can't work up a good hate for Comic Sans.

By: Pericles

Pericles — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 02:13:00 -0800

people who incorrectly use the words "typeface" and "font" I'm one of them. what's the difference?

By: bonaldi

bonaldi — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 03:50:08 -0800

I'm reading this great book right now, but it's really hard going because it's set in really badly kerned and tracked Times New Roman. Yeuuuuuch. Nothing screams "written in Word" as loudly as that.

By: fvw

fvw — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 05:25:37 -0800

Typeface is the generally family, font is the specific instance. Arial is a typeface, Arial bold 12pt is a font. And I do hate Comic Sans, but apart from that typography does absolutely nothing for me. Really.

By: fvw

fvw — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 05:26:22 -0800

"Typeface is the general family" preview, preview, preview

By: mimi

mimi — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 05:45:06 -0800

I used to give my roommate the rage by calling him and identifying typefaces on the street and on products. I first scanned that as "calling him typefaces." Comic Sans is my new insult of choice! I spent three hours downloading fonts yesterday, and I do know the difference between Arial and Helvetica. (Do You?)

By: Gnatcho

Gnatcho — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 08:11:07 -0800

I'm a type nerd, but not that far gone, and not that knowledgeable. Because I work on a school tabloid, kerning does come up, because one needs to have space made for screaming headlines.

By: clavdivs

clavdivs — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 08:51:16 -0800

{....HI CLAVDIVS} "I ah, I knew I had a problem when i switched my communication device of choice to something else and began sneaking it into the office"

By: tedruxpin

tedruxpin — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 09:05:40 -0800

http://www.typorganism.com Thought some here might appreciate the link. I poked around the site for a few minutes, but I'm not really too typoholic myself

By: thomcatspike

thomcatspike — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 09:44:23 -0800

Arial and Helvetica. (Do You?) I scored better than average on that test. But I have no clue how I had the ability distinguishing the two. HElp.

By: luriete

luriete — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 10:23:11 -0800

Updates to Typographica are not sporadic. I try to post 1 or 2 articles a week, and with all the other people Stephen and I have given posting access to, there's usually something new at least once a day. Yes, I am a huge font nerd.