§40: Pumpkin Glyphs 🎃

Directly from Richard Rutter’s latest book, which I’m proud to have been a backer of, comes this generous snippet on A List Apart about typographical numerals, and why they deserve all the attention of designers and web developers alike:

Perhaps the most compelling piece of evidence is an example Richard presents in this article: how not to make your numerals shout as if they were uppercase letters. How? Well, it’s just one of the uses for typefaces with old style numerals in OpenType, for example, as you just saw in the example at the top.

Did you ever notice how different the numerals from Georgia are compared to Times New Roman’s, despite the fact they’re both Serifed typefaces? Georgia contains only a set of old-style numerals, while Times New Roman contains lining numerals. If you’re wondering why you should care, then definitely keep reading the article, which will surely change the way you pick typefaces for the headings of your next articles.

For us Web Developers, Richard also demonstrates how to properly (and I cannot emphasize the world properly enough) test for, and enable, these OpenType features using CSS.

I’ll just leave you with Richard’s own tl;dr regarding one of the best practices for these numerals:

Bethany did a remarkable job dissecting what makes Hercules so interesting as a typeface, both in shape and form. Its numerals are certainly worthy of admiration as an art-piece, especially at big sizes, and she also points us out to fine details in its quirks and eccentricities:

Even if you’re not in the mood for a long read, make sure to browser the beautiful specimens she crafted herself, which are sure to spark some creative inspiration in all of us.

Some fantastic insight into the hidden details of Japanese typography, brought by the essay written by Émilie Rigaud. Focusing on the figure of Motogi Shōzō, these findings by Émilie are pretty valuable as the author notes that there are only few sources in english or in french about the development of japanese typography, I want to share here some of the elements I discovered [on my essay].

The comparisons between Motogi and Gutenberg are inevitable, but here’s the side we don’t often hear: while Europeans have immortalised Gutenberg as the father of the moveable type, the Japanese have done the same for Motogi:

Motogi Shōzō, born in 1824 in the city of Nagasaki (at that time the only real link between Japan and the rest of the world), as the descendant of a long line of interpreters. Immersed into “Dutch learning” he was committed to foreign knowledge, thanks to his studies and to his job as an official interpreter of the bakufu. Dutch learning (rangaku, 蘭学) is the interest of Japanese intellectuals in western techniques that lead to the diffusion of knowledge in a wide range of fields, such as medicine, astronomy, mathematics, biology and chemistry, geography and military strategy.

Therefore, Motogi grows up in an environment rich in links with Western countries, whether it is by reprints of western books, by Dutch people passing by Nagasaki and with who he can talk, or by russian ambassadors that he is in charge of.

But there’s more to this story, which follows into the foundation of the Japanese Tsukiji Foundry in the 19th century:

While this story may be a bit too niche for most of us, it is certainly a breath of fresh air to hear more about the evolution and attempts at type casting from a place that’s, well, not Germany or Italy. Keep reading for more juicy details. 

The last couple of weeks have seen some interesting developments in Hebrew typography, but this one certainly piqued my curiosity as I had asked myself this very same question before: do Hebrew typefaces get serifs? 

Meir Sadan shares so many fantastic little details, such as the Hebrew word commonly used to describe a serif is tag, a term from the Jewish Talmud describing stammered decorations adorning the tops of Hebrew letters in the Torah scroll. Perhaps the most interesting piece of food for thought here is the definition of serif itself; it’s not just the little ornaments around the letters, but it has a history that can’t be comparable to Hebrew typefaces:

Serifs have materialized in the humanist minuscules of the middle ages in the form of short diagonal strokes, from which they found their way into the early types of the 15th century. 

If you’re curious to know what a “serif” in Hebrew looks like, make sure to read the article in its entirety as Meir Sadan illustrates his points as he follows along. On a closing note,

Domaine Display is a refined serif with elegant details for large sizes. It’s about the fourth time I’ve featured a typeface from Klim Type, which is rapidly growing to being one of my absolute favourites ever. Domaine is an elegant workhorse, being perfectly suitable for running text and captions with its stunning Display variation, as seen above.

Notice the little “y” descender detail on Oxygenation. It complements the deliciously crafted “g” curves so well; that is how to achieve a quirky balance without shouting from the rooftops.

As much as we like to boast about our relentless pursuit for the “freshest and purest” coffee beans around the world, I feel like sometimes it’s easy to forget what really goes on in the other end of the spectrum. 

As coffee supplies increases in demand in Uganda, so does the labour force necessities to deliver; leading to, among other things, pulling children out of school so they too can ensure the workforce is maintained. As the  CQI’s Partnership for Gender Equity Report also states, gender inequality in Uganda is also on the rise, given that “Women principally grow, water, harvest and carry the coffee, but only the men are involved in the selling,” leading to women “rarely, if ever, [seeing] any profits from their time growing and harvesting coffee.”

While Fairtrade doesn’t always mean fair-trade, there’s certainly a lot to be changed in our consumerism and the way we look at our usually mindless consumption of whatever comes neatly packaged in a box or in a plastic cup.