Professional fonts can cost hundreds of dollars, sometimes thousands.  That may sound like a lot for just a font, but high end magazines, newspapers, and graphic design firms can afford it.  Designing a font is quite a fine art and science, and fonts take months, sometimes years to design; typographers should be compensated for their work.  Did you know it’s possible to make a living designing fonts?  I know a recent Hampshire alum who does just that – what a cool job!

However, we students, amateurs, and hobbyists can’t afford such things, so what do we do if we feel dubious about where our fonts are coming from?

You’ll notice on sites like Dafont (my favorite free font database), many fonts say “free for personal use.”  This generally means any non-commercial project, but the lines are fuzzy.  It’s worth mentioning that some “free” fonts are likely ripoffs, since the software is more accessible these days and it’s easy to change a few strokes on a font and then call it your own.  It is unlikely font foundries are going to hunt you down if you pirate or ripoff their fonts – unless you are a large corporation like NBC, or your project is seen in a wider public sphere.  Font lawsuits have happened a number of times, and the font foundries always win.

Recently I have come across more and more public domain and open source fonts, which is where things get exciting.  One particular group that appears to be at the forefront of this is the League of Movable Type.  An excerpt from their manifesto:

This revolution is not a movement against type foundries and type designers; it’s quite the opposite. The kind of revolution we want is a change in the way people think about doing business. We want type foundries and typographers to start thinking, “Maybe there’s nothing wrong with giving things away sometimes.”  It’s not always about the money, sometimes it’s also about making a contribution to the society, in this case, the design community. Giving one typeface away for free will most likely only boost sales, and it’s a good deed. We want more people to look at it like that: like they have a responsibility to do something good for their peers. We’re not asking type designers and type foundries to sacrifice profit, we’re asking them to contribute to a greater cause, to create a community where we not only have a high design standard for print and web alike, but also a community where we’re able to share our creations, knowledge, and expertise with our peers and the world.

There are many collections now, thanks to Smashing Magazine and others, of high quality professional fonts that have been released under a Creative Commons or some other kind of open source license.  You can even search on Dafont for just fonts that are public domain.  HOWEVER, even these seemingly well-intentioned open source folks are HOTLY DEBATED! in the typography world.

Now that there are so many fonts available (of all license varieties), maybe the real question should be, Do we need more fonts? – This final linked article is very geeky (and of course the conclusion is that we DO need more fonts), but a worthwhile read, I promise! An excerpt:

The most common question I get about being a type designer is this: “Aren’t there enough typefaces already?” The best response I have ever heard to this question is, “You know, I heard the same thing about people!” It is quite funny but probably comes across a bit rude, especially to people you have just met. For a long time, the best response I could come up with was a more diplomatic, although less articulate, “Oh, well you know, ha ha.” And then I would try to change the subject. “Aren’t there enough typefaces already?” isn’t a bad question though. There are a lot of typefaces. Even to a type designer, it can seem like everything has already been done…

• When do fonts matter?
• Does it matter if the cafe sign down the street is in Papyrus?
• Does it matter if the Gaza protest poster or the abortion clinic handout are in Comic Sans?
• Who decides what is good design?
• What is good design?
• What is bad design?
• How is it possible to make a living designing for nonprofits and social causes?
• How have fonts been utilized in political and social movement throughout history?
• What is the price of free fonts?

• RSS feeds are a welcome tool to help navigate the proliferation of awesome things to read on the internet, but at what cost to the integral blog design? Are there any feed readers that preserve the integrity of a site’s design?
• Ralph Hexter’s State of the College presentation reminds me of IKEA, with it’s blue/yellow/white color scheme and use of Futura Bold – how would it have come across differently in Times New Roman? Or Helvetica? Or Curlz MT?
• Throughout human history, opinions have never been so easy to project as they are now, but how many people are really acting on them? Is commentary enough? How many people are really listening?
• Is graphic design art? Where is the line between graphic design and art? Who decides?
• How to teach to design to people who only have 5 fonts and Microsoft Word?
• How can I figure out what emotional and psychological effects posters have on people?
• Why is it important that things are well designed?

• When does an amateur become an expert? Where is the line drawn?
• What are the key tenets in the education of a graphic designer?
• When does a message become propaganda?
• When does increased awareness instigate behavioral change?
• What do I want people to think/react to when they see my designs?
• What does it mean for grassroots organizations now that being socially conscious is “hip”?
• What makes a font sustainable (historically, across mediums, across contexts, etc)?
• What is the emotional and psychological difference between UPPERCASE and lowercase letters?
• What would the world look like if all the big brands and corporations had to throw together their advertising last minute in Microsoft Word and all the graphic designers worked for small businesses and local nonprofits?
• What does it mean to be a designer in a community of non-designers?
• What is the role of a graphic designer in political and social movements?
• What is the process of turning citizens into designers?
• What does seeing fine print at the bottom of a poster do to your perception of it? (Adds legitimacy?)
• What is it with nonprofits and condensed gothic all-caps sans serifs lately? Seriously.

These are some of the questions I’m exploring. There are many more questions brewing. Do you have any answers for me? Or just more questions?

(As usual, you can click on the thumbnails to view the images larger.)

**UPDATE JULY 2010: Posters of ALPHABIKE are now for sale on Etsy!**

It started with these two books I found called Graphic Design: the New Basics, a guide to design principles illustrated primarily with student work, and Teaching Graphic Design, a collection of syllabi from undergraduate and graduate design courses all over the country.

I noticed a project being done in a lot of intro to typography classes was creating an alphabet out of random objects, ranging from banana peels, to army men, shoes, food, bodies, some physical, some photographic.  I thought, well, what do I love as much as I love typography and photography?  BIKES!  Hence the birth of the ALPHABIKE.

I spent a couple days taking photos of bikes (and am now intimately familiar with most every bike on Hampshire’s campus).  G, R, K, and F were the most difficult to find.  I had to think a lot about distinguishing letters from shapes, what the essential lines of each letter are, and many of the photos are all about perspective.

People have already been asking me about getting a poster of it, so I think I’m going to sell prints as a fundraiser for my circus troupe’s bicycle tour next summer.  So let me know if you are interested, and I’ll have them available some time in the next few weeks!

But the rest of the week was mostly pretty quiet and peaceful. I had the company of Joe, a British filmmaker who was also doing Help Exchange there, and Andre, a colorful Estonian character who’s working at a local restaurant and living at the hostel. Joe is working on writing a screenplay, and we got to talking and sharing ideas. We ended up collaborating on an animation for a logo sequence for his production company, Dreamscape Pictures. It’s probably the coolest thing I’ve ever animated, I will definitely post it here when it’s finished (it’s about 90% done now). Hooray for unexpected creative collaboration!

Pretty much all I’ve done the last couple days is bake and cook and juggle and animate. I think I have improved ten-fold at juggling in the past two weeks, I can do a bunch of tricks now. And I baked chai shortbread biscuits, cinnamon oat scones, and vanilla almond biscotti. All with no measuring utencils! I have a very good sense for estimating ingredients now. Yummm.

SADLY my camera battery charger dissapeared so I have very little documentation of Scotland. I have a few pictures of a gorgeous hike up Ben Lawers, which I will post as soon as I find a place with wifi (I am on a hostel computer now).

Tomorrow I will explore Edinburgh, and on Monday I fly back to Boston. Farewell to Europe for now, and hello to friends and family back in the states!

-Molly

The other day I happened upon this fantastic video (I highly recommend it) of a panel discussion on the art of the book, with Milton Glaser, Chip Kidd, and Dave Eggers, moderated by Michael Beirut. I’m very familiar with all of their work, and all four of them are some of my top heroes – my idols! The coolest, savviest, most interesting designers I know! And seeing all of them together in the same room talking about book design, it was a real treat. Until the very end during a Q & A, when there was a question about why there were so few female “superstar” graphic designers – “is there a glass ceiling in graphic design?” Milton Glaser’s response:

He said that the reason there are so few female rock star graphic designers is that “women get pregnant, have children, go home and take care of their children. And those essential years that men are building their careers and becoming visible are basically denied to women who choose to be at home.” He continued: “Unless something very dramatic happens to the nature of the human experience then it’s never going to change.” About day care and nannies, he said, “None of them are good solutions.”

The crowd was silent except for a hiss or two and then Eggers piped up that he and his wife both work from home and share child care responsibilities — but added that maybe New York was different (although we don’t think Eggers really believes this). Then it was clear to everyone in the room that it was time to move on.

In Helvetica (the greatest movie ever) why are only two of the two dozen interviews with women?

Shira asked me once when the first time I was really conscious of my gender was. There are probably some times in my youth that I can’t clearly recall (other kids questioning whether I could play Huck Finn because I was a girl), I think the first time was in a class my freshman year of high school. After completing a month’s worth of assignments for an Intro to Technology class in one day, my parents and teachers realized something should be done. So I was transferred into Visual Communication, where I was the only freshman and the only girl.  I thrived on the material, but I felt really uncomfortable and out of place in that environment.

I’ve take a number of computer and technology oriented classes in both high school and college, and I’ve always been in the minority.  I think it always made me subconsciously want to work harder, to prove that I could be as good or better than the boys.

Graphic Design, Feminism, and Me – Part 2: what I’ve learned from doing design and animation on the documentary film Heretics: Stories from a Feminist Art Collective for the past two years… coming soon.

-Molly

(p.s.  if you read this, you should comment!  the more you comment on our blog, the happier we will be, and the more often we will update.  it’s nice to know when your writing is read.)

SO GOOD.

If you have 20 minutes to kill, I highly recommend heading over to TED (technology, entertainment, design) talks for some über inspiration.  There are dozens and dozens of 18-22 minute talks (I hesitate to call them lectures, because they’re so engaging and dynamic)…

“We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we’re building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other.”

I just watched this one of Larry Lessig, about the remix culture of the internet, democratic creativity, copyright and creative commons.

ALSO: check out the rockin’ website I have been working on for my talented friend Shira, who is currently on a national tour.

Here is a list I started working on a long time ago and just recently finished writing:

30 Things to do Before I’m 30
1. go on a cross country circus tour in a bus powered by veggie oil [check]
2. be published in adbusters
3. explore the grand canyon
4. spend one month entirely off the internet and computers
5. go on a flying trapeze
6. design a font
7. intern with mcsweeney’s
8. spontaneously travel with no plan
9. make a feature length documentary
10. write meaningful letters to all the people I admire
11. culture jam mill creek (my hometown)
12. seattle to portland (STP) bike ride
13. learn to juggle (seriously, with all the time I’ve spent around circus people, you might think I would be able to juggle by now, right?  no.)
14. learn a musical instrument
15. design an 826 publication
16. grow my hair out long enough to braid it
17. learn to swing dance
18. build or help build a treehouse
19. design a playground
20. plan a heist
21. make an elaborate meal using only things I’ve grown myself
22. win a baking contest with my muffins
23. teach graphic design with open source software to a community in need
24. design and publish at least 6 issues of a new magazine
25. go camping in the hoh rainforest, the oregon coast, and the redwoods with my friends
26. learn how to design websites well
27. acquire (and use!) a typewriter and a sewing machine
28. spend time in scotland
29. take beautiful portraits of everyone I know
30. open a café/bookstore/circus space/community media center/letterpress printing studio/bike shop/urban garden in seattle with all my friends!

1.  Write once sentence every day in my journal, about my day, or something I thought about or observed.  I was inspired by a project Shira started last summer where every single day she filled a 1×1 inch square with art, drawings, paintings, or collage.  When I come up with a really good sentence, I might post it here.

2.  Update this blog at least once a week.  This might change a bit when I go traveling in february, because I don’t know quite what my internet situation will be.  But!  I will be traveling with Tara, so we will be able to do true joint updates – exciting!

So here are some New Things I have been into lately:

• Hot Chocolate – I am both a Tea and Coffee person, I drink a few cups of both every day.  But I have never been that excited by hot chocolate.  Tara, on the other hand, is a hot chocolate fiend.  Well, a few days ago I decided to give it a try… and oh MAN, with a drop of vanilla extract and a few pinches of pumpkin pie spice, this stuff is a real winner.

• Sewing is fun, constructive, and not really as hard as I thought it would be.  For Christmas I made a scarf with pockets for my mom, and I’m making one for my self too.  Maybe I’ll post pictures soon when I finish it!

• Wearing matching socks - This comes as a surprise to anyone who knows me.  I have not really worn matching socks since I could dress myself.  In high school, I conducted a study called Karma Socks, in which for six months I recorded  which sock I was wearing on which foot and a 1-10 rating of my morning, afternoon, and evening and average for the day, in order to figure out which socks gave me the best Karma.

Lately, though, this weird thing started happening.  It began in late October, when Sarah and I took our lunch break to go to the surplus store and get wool socks.  It was incredible, I didn’t take them until they started to smell two weeks later.  These socks saved my feet from stupidly cold Massachusetts weather.  I had no idea socks could be so warm.  Obviously I could not pair these with my threadbare, holey, colorful socks from high school.  Thus, I have opted for practical.  But, come summer, I will revitalize my sock collection and things will get back to normal.

First there was the cross country circus tour…

Our school bus was not only converted to run on veggie oil, but the inside was gutted and replaced with futon beds and storage. Every day was different from the next. With the exception of the five days we spent getting our feet off the ground at Jacob’s house in Boston, we were never in a place for more than two or three days tops.

Constantly traveling, never knowing when we would be able to shower next, where we would find a bathroom next, when we would be able to cook meals… Whenever we did cook it was a tricky ordeal, cooking for 11 people on two coleman stoves is not easy. A number of times we drove through the night, jamming all of us on the four or five beds (depending on if the food table was clean) built into the bus.

Collecting and filtering grease was a pretty ridiculous endeavor. And then of course, there was the circus aspect – performing in parks, on makeshift stages, community centers, night clubs – each time performing a different version of our ever-evolving show. We met many amazing and interesting people, and saw some pretty incredible areas of the country. It was all quite a whirlwind.

____________

Now, I’m working full time doing motion graphics for a documentary film about a feminist art collective, the Heretics. I wake up at 7 am everyday, have a nice breakfast of granola and coffee while I read the Seattle P-I online, then bike 10 miles to work… spend six hours working on, like, five or six seconds of animation, then bike 10 miles home. Biking is both my reward and punishment for sitting in front of the computer all day. When I get home I can relax (!?), make dinner, read, watch movies, do art projects, and hang out with my housemates.

It’s so weird for me to only have one thing I need to focus on. I’m so used to multi-tasking to the extreme, having at least a dozen different projects, meetings, jobs to do all at once. My boss is a Hampshire professor, so it feels sort of like having a full time one-on-one animation class. Except I’m getting paid. And, Joan doesn’t know anything about how to do animation, she just has a vague idea of what she wants things to look like.

How did a 21-year-old girl, still in school, get a job doing special effects on a feature film, having no prior experience, or even training? I’m basically incredibly lucky. Last summer I did a internship there two days a week, and randomly did one little animation. They loved it, and I kept working through the school year once every week or two, and now I’m back full time. I already know After Effects a thousand times better than I did last week, and I’m learning more about it every day.

I’m not sure which of these lifestyles I prefer. I mean, they’re both pretty much all I could ever hope for…

-Molly

p.s. If you are an unfortunate troglodyte who has not yet seen Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, stop what you are doing, close the ten other firefox windows you have open, and watch it right now. It’s probably going to change your life.

When I got home I made a list of all the fonts I can recognize and identify instantaneously.

48. And there are about two dozen more I can name with a little thought.

The List:
helvetica
comic sans
arial
garamond
baskerville
myriad
century gothic
futura
gill sans
bodoni
chapparal
rockwell
footlight
papayrus
copperplate
georgia
verdana
zapfino
optima
trajan
trebuchet
colona
gotham
courier
beyond wonderland
good dog cool
bleeding cowboys
bleeding freaks
brush script
circus
chalkboard
cooper black
curlz mt
lucinda handwriting
herculanum
hobo
impact
gadget
kino
matura
mistral
monaco
playbill
santa fe
fedora
stencil
times new roman

The answer: yeah, I’m a HUGE typography geek. Or rather, a typographic aficionado.