As I type my blog today I decided for no particular reason to research a bit about the style and design of the letters that are being printed on the sheet. The letters showcased a 'typeface' aptly named during the days of ink printed on paper, is now represented and commonly referred to as the 'font' used in writing. The typeface had to be literally cast from metal in foundries across Europe and used to hammer the inked reverse face on to paper sheets to produce the final result.
Recent bon mot from my favorite comedy writer, the late PGW, crossed my reading glasses - "There's some raw work done at the baptismal font, Jeeves."
Nothing to do with writing but naming of children, this religious article or piece of furniture is named as such perhaps due to the fact that it represents a fountain. A fountain from which the future will flow. Who knows?
The reference to the font minus the digression is what I zoomed in on. The typeface options that this blog software has listed for what is being typed are the usual Arial, Times, Courier, Helvetica, et al.
Throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, one of the most popular typefaces in the western world was Helvetica. It was developed by the Haas Foundry of Switzerland in the 1950s.
But in the late 20th century with the invention of desktop publishing and computer software invasion there was a new font in the making to displace all fonts before it. Enter Arial.
Today most software companies present that as a default if not the dominant types of font for writers to use or choose from. Most typefaces can be classified into one of four basic groups:
those with serifs, those without serifs, scripts and decorative styles.
Fonts are further defined by unique style characteristics like Weight, Ornamentation, Calligraphy etc., attributes that fall in the above four groups.
So now that you the reader has gleaned a bit more about these words that are flowing in front of you, perhaps you can go have some good Times.
To end with another bon mot - two fonts walk into a bar. The barkeep says, "sorry lads, but we don't serve your type."
Recent bon mot from my favorite comedy writer, the late PGW, crossed my reading glasses - "There's some raw work done at the baptismal font, Jeeves."
Nothing to do with writing but naming of children, this religious article or piece of furniture is named as such perhaps due to the fact that it represents a fountain. A fountain from which the future will flow. Who knows?
The reference to the font minus the digression is what I zoomed in on. The typeface options that this blog software has listed for what is being typed are the usual Arial, Times, Courier, Helvetica, et al.
Throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, one of the most popular typefaces in the western world was Helvetica. It was developed by the Haas Foundry of Switzerland in the 1950s.
But in the late 20th century with the invention of desktop publishing and computer software invasion there was a new font in the making to displace all fonts before it. Enter Arial.
Today most software companies present that as a default if not the dominant types of font for writers to use or choose from. Most typefaces can be classified into one of four basic groups:
those with serifs, those without serifs, scripts and decorative styles.
Fonts are further defined by unique style characteristics like Weight, Ornamentation, Calligraphy etc., attributes that fall in the above four groups.
So now that you the reader has gleaned a bit more about these words that are flowing in front of you, perhaps you can go have some good Times.
To end with another bon mot - two fonts walk into a bar. The barkeep says, "sorry lads, but we don't serve your type."
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