Everyone loves free fonts. There is one major problem with free fonts though. Suppose you’ve created a nice looking design using a free font like say, the Adorable. Nice font right? But after your client approved the design he sends you the actual text and suddenly you know why the font was free… Read more

The Belgian company known as Fontshop has been kind enough to put in writing exactly what every designer needs to know about fonts: Erik Spiekermann’s Type Tips, 
Seven Rules for Better Typography, 
Type Anatomy, 
A Primer of Typographic Terms 
and The Right Font for the Job, 
Type Selection: Beyond the Look of the Letter. This is great stuff you really need to know. Check out the PDF-files right here. And, as if that wasn’t enough, check out the 52 page PDF-book called Meet your Type. Pure gold. (Via Rufus). Dutch designers, please forgive him for being a supporter for the German soccer team. No one’s perfect…

The InDesign User Group Amsterdam has another great gig coming up for everyone that’s interested in typography. A totally free all-day event with type designers and InDesign experts. Details in Dutch after the ‘read more’. Read more

MyFonts latest newsletter discusses Dutch Type Designer Jos Buivenga. In case you missed it back then I’ve interviewed Jos some time ago for my Dutch site MacMojo. We discussed how he designed his font ‘Fontin’ and what software he uses to create the final typefaces. Jos was also kind enough to show his early sketches for the ‘Fontin’.

A few years later Jos his creations are even more popular! MyFonts tells us what happened in the two years after the first interview:

The way Dutchman Jos Buivenga rose to prominence on the type scene is quite remarkable. For years, his online friends and fans could follow the development of his typefaces via his website, and download the results at no cost. When his one-man foundry exljbris began selling his first commercial typeface Museo through MyFonts last year, several weights were offered for free. The generosity paid off: Museo became a meteoric bestseller. Eighteen months, five typefaces and one bankrupt employer later, he finds himself a full time type designer — and doing very well, thank you. Meet Jos Buivenga, going with the flow on the river of life.
Read the entire interview on the MyFonts website.

This is cool. A community website to classify typefaces:

The site is called “Typedia”. Basically, Typedia will be an always-growing, community-based website for the categorization of typefaces. It will be populated by its community of users (since it’s truly a gigantic task), but will be regulated by its editors, a group of trusted type aficionados and enthusiasts (this will eventually be a large group of people). By categorizing fonts based on a standardized set of criteria (which Mark is formulating), we will allow users to add font listing to the site. […] This is where it becomes powerful: because each font will have this associated criteria attached to it, we can put every font into context with one another by comparing and grouping that information. In short, you would be able to find fonts based on information about them (besides just their name) and also be able to find related fonts based on that same information. Over time, this could become a massive resource for font research, inspiration, and learning. The site will be run like a “Wiki”. […] Hence, the community-based aspect.

(Tip of the hat to Wim P.)