Glyphs, allographs, and grapheme

01Jul08

Every second grader with the misfortune of taking a field trip to a site of historical reenactment knows how the terms upper case and lower case became part of the English vocabulary. A certain type of person is able to recognize the Irvin typeface made popular by at a glance. The most diehard font-junkies prefer the designation of graffiti writer to graffiti artist, and may distinguish between the work of various “writers” while barrelling down Interstate 95.

Even if you’ve never heard of the Free Font Movement, you may be interested in exploring a few of the resources available for downloading, designing, and getting creative with typography.

FontStruct is an easy to use font-building tool that offers downloads, cloning, and embedding depending upon the artist’s willingness to share.
Type is Art created an interactive, public tool (flash required) that allows users to abstract letterforms and construct images, by rearranging and resizing common character parts. You’ll learn a thing or two in the process. For instance, did you know that the Spur refers to “the small projection off a main stroke, found on many capital G’s?” I swear upon my very soul that designing new shapes with old letter parts is great fun. Here’s my proof.
I Love Typography is a blog that will make you look at your shampoo bottle differently.

I leave you with an offering from the Font Wall: