On Fonts... And On Top

The New York Times has a great little article on typefaces in its Arts section today called Acceptance Letters (free registration required). Be sure to click on the Slide Show link at the bottom of the article if you're reading online.

I noodled around with Fontographer back when I worked at the World Bank and again when I moved to Macromedia (which makes the product), but I never really got the hang of type design. Having a decent design sense is not the same as being a designer, and typeface design is an even more specific skill, so it's not surprising that I failed.

In my early days at Macromedia, I worked on the web team with a talented artist and designer named Ardith Ibañez. I remember seeing a poster of a font she designed, called Metro Manila, hanging just off the main lobby at the 600 Townsend office and thinking, wow, I wish I could do that. I still do.

Also in the New York Times Arts section this morning is an article on a totally different subject: Porn aimed at women. The people behind the new Playgirl TV service interviewed a bunch of women about what they'd like to see in porn, added their own observations to the mix, and came up with some pretty interesting conclusions about how to make features that are more appealing to women. Sounds like they're on the right track, though I can't verify personally because the service isn't available in Philadelphia (yet).

Posted by Lori in random at 9:47 AM on August 29, 2004