Stay updated with the latest from Mark Simonson, renowned type designer behind Proxima Nova and other iconic fonts. Explore his thoughts on typography, vintage design influences, and the art of lettering.https://www.marksimonson.com/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/new-site-design/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/new-site-design/Welcome to the first major redesign of my website since 2013.Fri, 16 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-neotype/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-neotype/Introducing Neotype, a retro-futuristic display family that started as a student project in 1976.Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-heckle/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-heckle/Introducing Heckle, a vintage brush script display family that goes back to a doodle in 2005.Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-day-i-discovered-type-design/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-day-i-discovered-type-design/Fifty years ago this month, March 1976, when I was 20 years old, is when my interest in type design began.Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-hardcover/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-hardcover/Introducing Hardcover, a modern roman display face that goes back to a sketch in 1978.Mon, 10 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mark-simonson-studio-at-25/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mark-simonson-studio-at-25/It didn’t start out as a digital type foundry.Wed, 24 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-nova-turns-20/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-nova-turns-20/The growth and popularity of Proxima Nova in the last twenty years is beyond my wildest, most optimistic expectations when I released it in 2005Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-nova-font-pairing/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-nova-font-pairing/One of the most common questions I get about Proxima Nova is: what pairs well with it?Wed, 11 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/fonts-similar-to-proxima-nova/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/fonts-similar-to-proxima-nova/It’s always nice to hear that Proxima Nova has become a go-to for so many people.Tue, 20 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-synergy/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-synergy/Introducing Synergy, a modern grotesk I’ve been working on since 1981Wed, 05 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-super-nova/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-super-nova/When I decided to sell the rights to my library of fonts to The Type Founders in 2021, one of the big reasons for me was the ever-growing burden of maintaining and developing that library.Tue, 03 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/type-design-like-its-1987/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/type-design-like-its-1987/Last week I did a talk for Type Tuesday in Minneapolis where I did a live demo of early font editors on a real Macintosh Plus.Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/three-new-heavyweights/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/three-new-heavyweights/I took a break from my usual practice of working on larger families to create a trio of heavyweight display typefaces: Cheesecake, Madcap, and Gertie.Mon, 10 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/down-the-rabbit-hole-with-apples-ancient-font-editor-2-0/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/down-the-rabbit-hole-with-apples-ancient-font-editor-2-0/In 1984, I bought one of the original 128K Macs.Fri, 07 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/reintroducing-skin-bones/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/reintroducing-skin-bones/Skin & Bones is an unusual font release for me.Mon, 22 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/interview-douglas-f-jones-designer-of-skin-bones/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/interview-douglas-f-jones-designer-of-skin-bones/Jones with his creation, Skin & Bones, in Industrial Art Methods magazine, 1972.Thu, 04 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-viroqua-kandal-revisited/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-viroqua-kandal-revisited/Viroqua’s ancestor, Excalibur, hand inked.Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/caricatures-wait-what/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/caricatures-wait-what/I’m known as a type designer—and fonts are pretty much what it’s all about here on my website, and in my life in general.Mon, 25 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/pre-digital-font-tech-no-1-formatt/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/pre-digital-font-tech-no-1-formatt/Before digital type and desktop publishing took over the world in the late 1980s, there was metal type and phototype.Tue, 27 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-proxima-nova-wide-extra-wide/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-proxima-nova-wide-extra-wide/One of the ideas on my back burner for a long time has been to add wide styles to Proxima Nova.Fri, 05 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/direct-sales-are-back-plus-live-font-previews/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/direct-sales-are-back-plus-live-font-previews/Party like it’s 2007.Thu, 27 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/1979/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/1979/I’ve been using a Mac for all my design, illustration, lettering, and type design work since the mid-1980s.Tue, 14 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecasting-revisited/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecasting-revisited/It’s been nearly ten years since I last posted an item under the “typecasting” category here.Thu, 19 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-dreamboat/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-dreamboat/I’ve been interested in the classic script style of the early 20th century for as long as I’ve been drawing letters.Fri, 06 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-proxima-sera/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-proxima-sera/Not long after I released Proxima Nova in 2005, people started asking me: “What serif font would work best with Proxima Nova?” It’s very common to combine serif and sans serif typefaces, usually a serif face for text and sans serif for larger sizes or for emphasis or change of tone in text.Mon, 04 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/what-serif-font-should-i-pair-with-proxima-nova/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/what-serif-font-should-i-pair-with-proxima-nova/Have you ever wondered what serif font would work best with Proxima Nova? I’ve often been asked this question, and I never really had a good answer.Fri, 18 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-bookmania-cookbook/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-bookmania-cookbook/Ten years ago, when I first released Bookmania, I mentioned in the specimen book that there would be a user guide showing how to take advantage of the hundreds of swash and alternate characters.Wed, 02 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/ohno-radio-interview/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/ohno-radio-interview/A fellow type designer, the talented James Edmondson (Ohno Type), started doing a podcast recently called Ohno Radio.Fri, 21 May 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-proxima-vara/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-proxima-vara/Well, this has been a long time coming.Mon, 01 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mostra-nuova-in-entertainment-weekly/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mostra-nuova-in-entertainment-weekly/Christmas came early for me this year when I received the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly and saw my Mostra Nuova all over the cover.Wed, 23 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-etna/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-etna/I’m very excited to introduce a brand new typeface family that’s been on my back burner for decades: Etna.Fri, 18 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/acme-gothic-sightings/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/acme-gothic-sightings/For some reason, a high percentage of sightings of Acme Gothic in use have been in science fiction movies and TV shows.Fri, 11 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/studio-tour-update/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/studio-tour-update/I recently had the ceiling in my studio repaired due to some water damage.Sun, 06 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/de-re-atari/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/de-re-atari/In the early ’80s, before I had a Mac, and before I was making fonts, I was an Atari home computer user.Tue, 20 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mostra-nuova-2-0/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mostra-nuova-2-0/I’ve made a big update to one of my most popular type families, Mostra Nuova.Tue, 21 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/goldenbook-2-0-and-refrigerator-deluxe-2-0/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/goldenbook-2-0-and-refrigerator-deluxe-2-0/Goldenbook and Refrigerator Deluxe have become two of my most popular type families in recent years.Wed, 06 Mar 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-hwt-konop/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-hwt-konop/When I was asked in 2014 by Bill Moran, artistic director of the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum, to come up with an original wood type design for The Hamilton Wood Type Legacy Project, I wanted to do something that would take advantage of the unique properties of wood type, but also something that hadn’t been done before.Wed, 07 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/announcing-font-news/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/announcing-font-news/After years without a proper newsletter, I decided it might be a good idea to send out occasional updates.Fri, 31 Aug 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-acme-gothic-and-parkside/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-acme-gothic-and-parkside/At long last, two totally new, original typeface families! The last new one was Bookmania in 2011, which admittedly was a kind of revival, so not totally new and original.Tue, 31 Jul 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-2.0/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-2.0/I first released Coquette in late 2001.Fri, 30 Jun 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-proxima-soft/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-proxima-soft/Proxima Soft is an expanded and remastered version of Proxima Nova Soft (2011).Thu, 19 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/interview-on-the-cedar-cathedral-podcast/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/interview-on-the-cedar-cathedral-podcast/I was interviewed a couple of months ago for a podcast called Cedar Cathedral, which focusses on “artistry, craftsmanship, and the creative life in the Great Lakes” region.Fri, 12 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/that-japanese-woodcut-and-happy-birthday-mac/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/that-japanese-woodcut-and-happy-birthday-mac/A few weeks ago, I went with my family to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (a.Sun, 24 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-nova-2.008/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-nova-2.008/Proxima Nova version 2.Wed, 25 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/adventures-in-roller-calligraphy/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/adventures-in-roller-calligraphy/Most of the calligraphy I’ve done was way back in college when I was studying graphic design, and very little since then.Mon, 25 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette6/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette6/Designer David Nix used Coquette on a promotion created for duty-free shops in Los Angeles and San Francisco airports.Wed, 11 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-quagmire-of-print-think/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-quagmire-of-print-think/In the late seventies, personal computers were starting to emerge and generate interest among some people.Sat, 31 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/renaissance-anomaly/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/renaissance-anomaly/Reader Ivan Filipov sent me this curiosity from the FOX/Starz TV show Da Vinci’s Demons.Fri, 31 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/dexters-mothers-bread/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/dexters-mothers-bread/Seen in Centralia, Washington, on November 8, 2012.Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typekit-the-early-years/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typekit-the-early-years/I ran across this today in my studio while searching for something else.Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/jeff-nelson/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/jeff-nelson/This last Saturday night, I stopped by the annual Saint Paul Art Crawl.Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/whiteface-mt-memorial-highway/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/whiteface-mt-memorial-highway/Seen in an antique store (a former dress factory) in Oneonta, New York, July 7, 2007.Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/letter-sculpture/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/letter-sculpture/Saw this sculpture by an artist named “Peyton” at the Franconia Sculpture Park, Franconia, Minnesota, back in August 2011.Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/free-o-frost/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/free-o-frost/I love this old lettering, c.Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/first-public-use-of-what-became-proxima-nova/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/first-public-use-of-what-became-proxima-nova/Back in 1993, I had just started a job at Rivertown Trading Company as a graphic designer.Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lovely-lingerie/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lovely-lingerie/Some lovely lettering seen on a vintage clothing box.Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/vari-typer-model-160/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/vari-typer-model-160/I was looking through my collection of old printing ephemera and found this lovely 1957 brochure for the Vari-Typer Model 160.Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/industrial-art-methods-december-1972/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/industrial-art-methods-december-1972/I don’t remember the details of how I got hold of this particular issue of Industrial Art Methods (“The Only Magazine Published Exclusively for the In-Plant Artist/Designer”), but it was one of the key things that sparked my interest in type design when I was a teenager.Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/felt-tip-roman-original-art/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/felt-tip-roman-original-art/Here it is: The original artwork for one of my most popular fonts, Felt Tip Roman.Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/shoes/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/shoes/Inlaid tile lettering, seen in Beloit, Wisconsin on November 27, 2004.Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-new-site/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-new-site/I first launched my website in spring of 2000, offering my services for design, illustration, and lettering.Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/poirot-deja-vu/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/poirot-deja-vu/Back in 1991, I designed a series of packages for the American release of London Weekend Television’s Poirot series on VHS.Thu, 15 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-misery-of-edwin-drood/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-misery-of-edwin-drood/Alastair Johnston, who has written some very nice books about type, has posted an item on his blog skewering the period typography of the TV movie The Mystery of Edwin Drood.Wed, 17 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/a-lonely-place-for-dying/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/a-lonely-place-for-dying/I don’t normally plug movies here, but I had a small part to play in this one as a technical advisor.Tue, 03 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/wood-type/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/wood-type/Clark Kellogg, a furniture maker and letter carver in Houston, recently completed a commission for a sign for a friend and fellow cabinetmaker.Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/pangrammer-helper-robofont-style/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/pangrammer-helper-robofont-style/Almost ten years ago, I made a little program called Pangrammer Helper.Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-artist-vs-the-lettering-artist/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-artist-vs-the-lettering-artist/The Artist won this year’s Oscar for Best Picture about a week ago.Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bookmania-baby/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bookmania-baby/I got this birth announcement in the mail (all the way from Belgium!) that features Bookmania prominently.Sat, 03 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/cars/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/cars/There’s something Lee Friedlander-esque about this shot I snapped in a parking lot last September in St.Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/seed/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/seed/Seen in Bellingham, Washington, on June 23, 2011.Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mst3k-tales-part-ii-the-wrath-of-mallon/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mst3k-tales-part-ii-the-wrath-of-mallon/In yesterday’s installment, I got into the unseemly details of my close encounters with the cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000.Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mst3k-tales-part-iii-the-final-installment/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mst3k-tales-part-iii-the-final-installment/I don’t have any more MST3K stories to share, but I thought it would be fun to do “remastered” versions of my mock “redesign” covers that I sent to Best Brains.Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mst3k-tales-part-i-the-fandom-menace/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mst3k-tales-part-i-the-fandom-menace/Joel Hodgson and the bots on KTMA in 1988 I accidentally discovered Mystery Science Theater 3000 during its initial run on local Twin Cities channel KTMA-23 in 1988.Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/up-next-tales-of-mst3k/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/up-next-tales-of-mst3k/After last night’s geeky Star Trek post, fellow type designer Jackson Cavanaugh suggested on Twitter that I share some of my stories about Mystery Science Theater 3000, the cult comedy TV show from the nineties (and slightly earlier).Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/star-trek-the-movies/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/star-trek-the-movies/Warning: If you don’t like or care about Star Trek, I understand.Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/and/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/and/Seen in front of my house in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on June 8, 2011.Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/clock/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/clock/Seen in downtown Seattle, June 18, 2011.Sat, 18 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/hotpoint/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/hotpoint/Seen in Brattleboro, Vermont, on July 12, 2011.Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/nice-numbers/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/nice-numbers/I saw this while on a brain-frying four-hour hike around Atlanta with Paul Shaw to help him scout locations for his upcoming TypeCon Type Tour.Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/nash-metropolitan/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/nash-metropolitan/Seen in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on June 20, 2009.Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/citicar/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/citicar/Spotted this curious little car in an amazing place called M.Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-history-of-my-commute/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-history-of-my-commute/1976: One hour by bus from Osseo (an outer-ring suburb) into downtown Minneapolis.Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/otis/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/otis/Seen on the floor of an elevator in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 21, 2011.Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/my-first-real-computers/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/my-first-real-computers/This entry is probably going to date me quite a bit.Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/spoof/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/spoof/Seen in Galesville, Wisconsin, on July 28, 2011.Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/crazy-g/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/crazy-g/Saw this at Mystic Blue Signs in New Orleans last summer during TypeCon.Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/stage-magazine-february-1938/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/stage-magazine-february-1938/I picked this up in a used book store in Omaha, Nebraska, last year.Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/fine-ice-creams/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/fine-ice-creams/Seen in Santa Crus, California, on April 4, 2008.Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/seeburg/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/seeburg/Seen in an antique store near Burlington, Vermont, on July 13, 2011.Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/more-from-the-hamilton/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/more-from-the-hamilton/On one of the many times I have visited the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum, I got a peek at the hundreds of “cuts” they had stored in the back.Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/framed-at-last/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/framed-at-last/I finally got around to framing the beautiful commemorative print I got from the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum back in 2009.Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/varsity/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/varsity/Seen in Davis, California, on April 5, 2008.Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/rca-ashcraft/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/rca-ashcraft/Seen at the Eastman House, Rochester, New York, July 19, 2008.Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/safari/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/safari/Another cool nameplate, seen on June 20, 2009, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bel-air/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bel-air/We live a few blocks from the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, and every summer the “Back to the Fifties” car show is held there.Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/four-door/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/four-door/Seen in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on March 28, 2009.Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/my-trusty-old-mac-pro/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/my-trusty-old-mac-pro/When I bought this computer in 2006, I did’t expect to still be using it in 2012.Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/x-ray/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/x-ray/Gee, they make it seem like a good thing.Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/casin-o/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/casin-o/Seen in La Crosse, Wisconsin, April 2, 2010.Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/posterity-and-how-we-save-stuff/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/posterity-and-how-we-save-stuff/Earlier today I watched this wonderful presentation by Jeremy Keith that he gave at the Build conference.Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/way-too-tight/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/way-too-tight/Seen in Saint Paul, Minnesota, July 5, 2010.Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/more-from-route-66-barstow/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/more-from-route-66-barstow/Shot in Barstow, California, on August 17, 2010.Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/more-on-uncle-knut-at-the-cca/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/more-on-uncle-knut-at-the-cca/One more follow up on the item I posted last week, in which I mentioned my uncle Knut who worked as a designer at Container Corporation of America….Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/palomino-motel-on-route-66/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/palomino-motel-on-route-66/We actually stayed in this motel along historic Route 66 on our way to TypeCon when it was in Los Angeles in 2010.Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bucket-o-letters/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bucket-o-letters/Seen in an antique store in Mount Vernon, Iowa, October 23, 2010.Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/atf-alphabet-card-boxes/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/atf-alphabet-card-boxes/While looking for some obscure typographical thing this morning, this ad in a 1955 ATF (American Type Founders) catalog caught my eye: I have several boxes like the ones shown in the photo.Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/vinyl-sign-not-aging-well/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/vinyl-sign-not-aging-well/This is either really cool or really sad.Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/flowers/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/flowers/Old neon sign, seen in Seattle, Washington, June 19, 2011.Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/help-stop-sopa-and-pipa/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/help-stop-sopa-and-pipa/PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/a-bit-more-about-cca-calendars-from-uncle-knut/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/a-bit-more-about-cca-calendars-from-uncle-knut/After posting my follow-up on Sunday, my uncle sent me some more details about the CCA calendars: “Most of the calendars during the late sixties and early seventies were designed at the CCA Corporate Design Center, which was located in downtown Chicago.Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/more-on-the-edikit-and-cca-calendars/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/more-on-the-edikit-and-cca-calendars/That “Edikit” image I posted yesterday was just one piece of the whole kit, the only part I still have that’s intact.Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/dumbest-thing-i-ever-did-as-a-designer/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/dumbest-thing-i-ever-did-as-a-designer/I suppose I had an excuse: I had no formal training yet, but I was possessed by the romance of graphic design.Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/big-night/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/big-night/I attended two events tonight.Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/radio/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/radio/Photo taken on July 11, 2011 in Newark Valley, New York.Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/henrys-diner/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/henrys-diner/Photo taken on July 17, 2011 in Burlington, Vermont.Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-coquette-bistro-wine-bar/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-coquette-bistro-wine-bar/I had one of those moments that only a type designer can have last summer during TypeCon 2011 in New Orleans.Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/revolutionary-road/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/revolutionary-road/I’ve heard this movie compared to Mad Men—or maybe it was the other way around.Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/my-first-published-type-related-article/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/my-first-published-type-related-article/I was going through some old papers today and found this: It’s a short article I wrote that appeared in the November 1967 issue of Town Views, the student newspaper at the elementary school I attended.Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/avant-garde-swash/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/avant-garde-swash/While I was visiting Omaha this past summer (I spoke and did a workshop for AIGA Nebraska), I spotted this curious bit of typographic design: Looks like the artist was going for a Lubalin-style solution—Avant Garde with Swashes.Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/not-coming-to-a-theater-near-you/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/not-coming-to-a-theater-near-you/Last year, I did a logo design for Not Coming to A Theater Near You, a website devoted to movies off the beaten path.Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bohemian-cafe/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bohemian-cafe/The Bohemian Cafe in Omaha, Nebraska.Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/dan-picasso/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/dan-picasso/I just discovered today that my old pal, illustrator Dan Picasso, has a new website.Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/2011-hamilton-wayzgoose/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/2011-hamilton-wayzgoose/I’ve attended all three of the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum’s annual “Wayzgoose” events so far.Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/andrew-loomis/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/andrew-loomis/I used to draw a lot more when I was young and got to be pretty good by the time I was in college.Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/popeye/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/popeye/Popeye was my favorite cartoon when I was four or five years old.Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/happy-2012/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/happy-2012/A week or so ago, I had a phone call from a guy from St.Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bookmania-now-available/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bookmania-now-available/My new Bookmania fonts are now available at MyFonts.Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coming-soon-bookmania/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coming-soon-bookmania/For the last four years, I’ve been working on a revival of the classic ATF Bookman Oldstyle and the Bookmans of the 1960s.Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/field-notes-goes-old-school-seventies-style/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/field-notes-goes-old-school-seventies-style/Love this whole idea.Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/virtual-letterpress-for-ipad/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/virtual-letterpress-for-ipad/LetterMPress is a virtual letterpress app for the iPad—at least that’s the idea.Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/curious-about-my-lettering-process/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/curious-about-my-lettering-process/wwword, a website about words, did an interview with me [Update: wwword appears to be no longer operating, unfortunately, but here is a copy of the page on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine], where I talked about some of my favorite lettering pieces and how I did them.Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/superserendipitousness/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/superserendipitousness/One of my favorite bloggers, Jason Kottke, posted an item and link today about a story on the NPR site about “the longest word in the English language”.Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/jibjab-year-in-review-features-mostra/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/jibjab-year-in-review-features-mostra/I was surprised and delighted to see Mostra Nuova playing a supporting role in JibJab’s latest “Year In Review” video.Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lost-worlds-fairs/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lost-worlds-fairs/I know I’ve been lax in posting items to Notebook lately.Sun, 19 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/diane-script-and-filmotype-honey/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/diane-script-and-filmotype-honey/If you pay close attention, you may notice two additions to the list of fonts over on my site: Diane Script and Filmotype Honey.Fri, 21 May 2010 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-daily-pangram/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-daily-pangram/Craig Eliason has been writing a pangram almost every day for over two years on his site The Daily Pangram.Fri, 07 May 2010 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/big-swashy-p/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/big-swashy-p/Large (about 6 inches tall) wood type “P”, seen at the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum, Two Rivers, Wisconsin, on March 31, 2009.Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mis-taken/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mis-taken/Reader Ivan Philipov sent me this still from Steven Spielberg’s 2002 science fiction television series “Taken”.Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/beneath-the-volley-of-the-fonts/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/beneath-the-volley-of-the-fonts/Last Friday, I spent the afternoon frantically trading files with Peter Bruhn (of Fountain type foundry in Sweden) for an exhibition match of Layer Tennis.Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/layer-tennis/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/layer-tennis/Just a note to say, this Friday afternoon, I’ll be pitting my type chops against (with?) fellow type designer Peter Bruhn for a “exhibition” game of Layer Tennis.Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-end-of-2009/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-end-of-2009/Appropriately enough for the end of the year, the Movie Title Stills Collection now has a set of “The End” titles from Warner Bros.Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mad-men-mention/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mad-men-mention/I was quoted and my site was mentioned in an article by Alice Rawsthorn in today’s New York Times.Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/neckties/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/neckties/Seen in an antique store in Osseo, Wisconsin, on August 14, 2009.Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/ars-technica-on-woff/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/ars-technica-on-woff/Chris Foresman, at Ars Technica, has written a nice, informative piece about WOFF (Web Open Font Format).Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/woff-aka-web-fonts/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/woff-aka-web-fonts/Mozilla announced today that it is going to include support for WOFF fonts, a font format designed for use on the Web, in Firefox version 3.Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/anonymous-pro-1-001-released/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/anonymous-pro-1-001-released/I’m pleased to announce the release of Anonymous Pro Version 1.Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typedia-is-here/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typedia-is-here/Typedia, a shared, online encyclopedia of typefaces, just launched today.Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/best-movie-title-site-yet/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/best-movie-title-site-yet/A while back, I posted a link to one of my favorite site’s, Steven Hill’s Movie Title Screens Page, “shillpages” for short.Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-mostra-nuova/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-mostra-nuova/Mostra (2001) was originally conceived as a caps-only font.Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/anonymous-pro-now-available/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/anonymous-pro-now-available/I announced back in April that a new version of my popular free font Anonymous™ would be available soon.Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-making-of-kandal-on-lettercult/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-making-of-kandal-on-lettercult/Probably more than you ever wanted to know, but it was fun rummaging through my old stuff to piece the story together.Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/changeling-cast-in-star-trek/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/changeling-cast-in-star-trek/I saw the new Star Trek movie this last night and was thrilled to spot one of my fonts, Changeling, in a supporting role.Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/veer-premieres-f-is-for-fail/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/veer-premieres-f-is-for-fail/Proxima Nova stars in a new animated short film by Brent Barson, sponsored by Veer: “F is for Fail” (and co-starring Adobe’s Arno Pro).Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lakeside-and-filmotype-zanzibar-favorited/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lakeside-and-filmotype-zanzibar-favorited/I’m really honored to have my Lakeside and Filmotype Zanzibar among the 40 typefaces chosen in Typographica’s “Our Favorite Typefaces of 2008”.Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coming-soon-anonymous-pro/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coming-soon-anonymous-pro/This has been in the works for a while now.Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/you-say-font-i-say-typeface/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/you-say-font-i-say-typeface/The results of a survey on the meanings of the words typeface and font among both “type industry professionals” and graphic designers, conducted by Thomas Phinney.Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/sneak-preview-sketchflow-print/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/sneak-preview-sketchflow-print/I’ve recently been working on a font for Microsoft called SketchFlow Print.Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/interview-on-artbistro-com/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/interview-on-artbistro-com/Sorry for not posting more stuff here lately.Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/rbtl-interview/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/rbtl-interview/I’m the featured guest on episode #6 of the typography and design podcast Read Between the Leading.Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/township-type/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/township-type/On his blog, Shane Durant is sharing his collection of photos of South African township type and signage.Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/art-of-the-title-sequence/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/art-of-the-title-sequence/I purposely exempt titles from my nitpicking about anachronistic type in movies.Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/font-haikus/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/font-haikus/Extensis is having a font love haiku contest (with prizes) to help promote Suitcase Fusion.Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/not-a-font/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/not-a-font/I spend a fair amount of time (too much, probably) helping to identify fonts at Typophile.Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/myfonts-interview/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/myfonts-interview/MyFonts has been doing interviews of typeface designers for the last year or two in their Creative Characters series.Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/adda-slide-show-from-1962/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/adda-slide-show-from-1962/AIGA New Orleans has posted a really cool video on Vimeo: A slide show from 1962 created by the Art Directors and Designers Association of New Orleans (now an AIGA New Orleans).Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-changeling-neo/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-changeling-neo/In 2003, I released my interpretation of China, an old VGC face, which I called Changeling.Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/eric-hanson-has-a-blog/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/eric-hanson-has-a-blog/Long-time friend and colleague Eric Hanson has a blog now (ER-H Blog).Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-refrigerator-deluxe/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-refrigerator-deluxe/Refrigerator dates back to 1988 as one of my earliest PostScript typefaces.Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/r-nails/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/r-nails/At first glance, I thought it said “R & Nails” with some sort of weird ampersand, but a second look reveals that it actually says “Red Nails.Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-diane-script/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-diane-script/I recently partnered with Mark Solsburg of FontHaus, who has lately become fascinated with twentieth century French type foundries and type designers, to create a faithful digital revival of Diane, a typeface designed by Roger Excoffon.Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-end/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-end/A big collection of “End” titles from old movies.Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/yves-peters-gets-in-on-the-fun/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/yves-peters-gets-in-on-the-fun/Fellow type geek Yves Peters gets in on the fun of spotting typographic anachronisms at FontShop’s FontFeed blog today with a post about some odd props on the TV series Dexter.Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/font-sightings-the-next-generation/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/font-sightings-the-next-generation/Ever since I started Notebook, I’ve been occasionally posting “font sightings” and I even have a special category for them.Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/ginkgo-fall-stinko/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/ginkgo-fall-stinko/We have a fair number of ginkgo trees in our neighborhood.Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/brede-building/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/brede-building/It’s hard to believe this still exists.Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/yellow-rectangle-green-square/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/yellow-rectangle-green-square/Photo taken on August 16, 2008, in Zumbrota, Minnesota.Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/illustrator-1-0/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/illustrator-1-0/I happened to be looking at Reuben Miller’s blog today and stopped when I got to the item “Introducing Illustrator 88” in which he embedded a link to a YouTube video showing a portion of the VHS tape that shipped with Illustrator 88.Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mad-men-mad-props/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mad-men-mad-props/I started watching the critically-acclaimed series Mad Men on DVD over the summer, and I am enjoying it a lot.Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-filmotype-ginger/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-filmotype-ginger/Ginger is the most recent Filmotype font I’ve digitized.Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/parkside-candies/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/parkside-candies/While I was off doing type things at TypeCon in Buffalo this last July, my partner was off seeing the city.Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/interview-on-lettercult/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/interview-on-lettercult/Almost forgot to mention: I did an interview with LetterCult, the new website devoted to the art and culture of making letters.Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-lost-art-of-type-specing/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-lost-art-of-type-specing/Here is an example of what designers used to have to do in the days before desktop publishing: All this for a few blocks of text.Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/highly-misleading/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/highly-misleading/My friend David Steinlicht recently posted a time-lapse movie showing the day-to-day progress of his award-winning entry to the seed art competition at the 2008 Minnesota State Fair.Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/little-nemo-title-panel-lettering/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/little-nemo-title-panel-lettering/I’m a long time fan of the work of Winsor McCay, including his hand-lettered titles.Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/back-to-the-fonts-of-the-future/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/back-to-the-fonts-of-the-future/The Back to the Future series is a long-time favorite of mine.Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2008-goodie-bag-postcards/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2008-goodie-bag-postcards/I’ve finally had a chance to settle down after this year’s TypeCon, which was one of the best I’ve attended.Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2008-in-buffalo/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2008-in-buffalo/I’m en route this weekend to TypeCon 2008 which is being held in Buffalo, New York, home of Buffalo Wings, Ani DiFranco and P22 (the type foundry).Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/te-stone-ltd/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/te-stone-ltd/UK reader Aled Williams sent me this photo of a beautiful hand-painted sign on a hardware store in Bristol.Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-golden-age-of-chrome/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-golden-age-of-chrome/A couple of weekends ago, I attended the “Back to the Fifties” car show in St.Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/indiana-jones-and-the-fonts-on-the-maps/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/indiana-jones-and-the-fonts-on-the-maps/In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, there is a funny scene in which Indy’s father breaks a vase over Indy’s head.Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/pangrammer-helper-2-0/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/pangrammer-helper-2-0/Pangrammer Helper 2.Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/font-nerd-x-star-wars-nerd-this/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/font-nerd-x-star-wars-nerd-this/How bold can Darth Vader be? Via Daring Fireball.Fri, 30 May 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/ingento/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/ingento/I dragged my old paper cutter up from the basement to use for something I was working on, and the “Ingento” label fell off it onto the floor.Tue, 27 May 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/new-metallophile-sp8-fonts-released/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/new-metallophile-sp8-fonts-released/I released the Light and Light Italic styles of Metallophile Sp8 in 2003.Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/metallophile-sp8-opentype-coming-soon/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/metallophile-sp8-opentype-coming-soon/When I released Metallophile Sp 8 in 2003, the plan was to add more weights eventually.Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/teenaged-me/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/teenaged-me/Drawn had an item the other day about a meme that’s going around: draw yourself as a teenager.Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/greetings-from-mike-meyer/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/greetings-from-mike-meyer/Mike Meyer is a sign painter based in Mazeppa, Minnesota.Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/my-brain-hurts/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/my-brain-hurts/Today I found a photo on Flickr taken by Joe Pemberton, one of the founders of Typophile.Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/for-posterity/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/for-posterity/Would it surprise you to learn that I am a pack rat? When it comes to things like books and printed material about type, this can be a good thing, as it gives me a rich resource library I can tap whenever the need arises (and it frequently does).Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-filmotype-zanzibar/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-filmotype-zanzibar/Zanzibar is the second Filmotype font I’ve digitized.Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/amazing-old-album-covers/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/amazing-old-album-covers/Ever wondered why albums are called “albums”? At one time, a record album was literally an album that contained records.Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mofi/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mofi/A year or two ago I lettered a logo for a company called Mobile Fidelity — MoFi for short.Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-dating-game-for-fonts/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-dating-game-for-fonts/In honor of Valentine’s Day, Extensis has posted a silly little game called TYPEmatching wherein you attempt to find romantic match ups between common typefaces.Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/adam-top-hats/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/adam-top-hats/Logo on a hat box, seen in an antique store in Oneonta, New York, July 7, 2007.Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-lakeside/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-lakeside/I haven’t been posting much to Notebook lately because I’ve been, well, busy.Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/arial-exam/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/arial-exam/Ever notice how the font name “Arial” looks like a certain other word sometimes? (Via DaughterNumberThree).Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/helvetica-on-the-radio/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/helvetica-on-the-radio/This week, the radio program Studio 360 is airing a short interview with Gary Hustwit, director of the documentary film Helvetica.Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/a-klingon-christmas-carol/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/a-klingon-christmas-carol/What’s more nerdy: Attending a performance of A Christmas Carol performed entirely in Klingon, or appearing in it? Whatever, it was a load of fun, and only three blocks away at the University of Minnesota St.Sun, 09 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/spontaneous-order/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/spontaneous-order/.Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/a-tribute-to-men-and-women-who-design/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/a-tribute-to-men-and-women-who-design/Here is a cool thing that reader “minusf” wrote to me about recently: A half-hour film made by Chevrolet in 1958 called “American Look.Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/new-kid-on-the-block/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/new-kid-on-the-block/I just recently became aware of a new type-related site called I Love Typography.Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/a-little-lotto/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/a-little-lotto/Vintage Lotto game boxes.Tue, 09 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/friends-school-plant-sale-video/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/friends-school-plant-sale-video/My partner, Pat, has been heavily involved with the annual fund-raising plant sale at Friends School of Minnesota ever since our daughter started kindergarten there nearly ten years ago.Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/31-days-of-horror/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/31-days-of-horror/This was a fun one.Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/groan-extra-bold-extended/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/groan-extra-bold-extended/I Rotis for Typophile a few years back… I Meta man once.Sat, 22 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/what-the-sims-eat-for-breakfast/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/what-the-sims-eat-for-breakfast/Seen at the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 28, 2007.Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/PresentingFilmotypeGlenlake/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/PresentingFilmotypeGlenlake/You could say I’m a Tim Burton fan.Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/popcapgames/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/popcapgames/Okay, so I admit it.Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/buildingsskyfont/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/buildingsskyfont/An alphabet made from the negative space between buildings as you look up at them.Sat, 28 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/neon-graveyard/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/neon-graveyard/Outstanding set of photos by Carl Carl from the Neon Graveyard in Las Vegas.Sat, 28 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sighting/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sighting/The cover of this book about George Gershwin is one of the nicer uses of Coquette that I’ve seen.Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/themodern/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/themodern/The “Modern” has seen many incarnations over the years.Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-nova-1-2/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-nova-1-2/Proxima Nova is now up to version 1.Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mst3k-comeback-sort-of/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mst3k-comeback-sort-of/If you were or are a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 like me, this is pretty cool: RiffTrax.Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sign/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sign/Not a font sighting.Thu, 07 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/frutigertalk/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/frutigertalk/This is something I’ve been meaning to post for a while.Tue, 05 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/kinescope-and-snicker-update/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/kinescope-and-snicker-update/Kinescope and Snicker, which were released last month at Font Bros, are now available here at Mark Simonson Studio as well.Fri, 01 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/an-intervie-wmoi/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/an-intervie-wmoi/Jean-Christophe Loubet del Bayle has just posted an interview with me on the French typography webzine, Planet Typography.Mon, 07 May 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/kinescopeandsnickerreleased/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/kinescopeandsnickerreleased/I’m proud to announce the release of two new display fonts: Kinescope and Snicker.Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-and-mostra-sightings/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-and-mostra-sightings/I’ve been seeing more of these two typefaces lately.Fri, 27 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-story-of-mrs-murphy-1949/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-story-of-mrs-murphy-1949/I don’t know or care what this book is about, but the lettering on the cover is incredible.Wed, 21 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/three-new-fonts-update/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/three-new-fonts-update/Well, here it is the beginning of March and those three new fonts I wrote about in December are still not out.Wed, 07 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sighting-1/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sighting-1/A line of meat products in Sweden is sporting Coquette on its packages.Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/twofortheroad/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/twofortheroad/Here’s a fun lettering job I did for the cover of “Two for the Road” by Jane & Michael Stern.Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/comingsoonthreenewfonts/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/comingsoonthreenewfonts/As you may be able to tell by my sporadic Notebook postings of late, I’ve been a very busy guy.Tue, 05 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/boom/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/boom/What are the odds that a guy with a bass drum walks past the Holcomb-Henry-Boom Funeral Home on Snelling Avenue in Saint Paul while I’m stuck at a stop light and happen to have a camera with me? One out of one, apparently.Fri, 08 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/twenty-three/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/twenty-three/Dimensional letters seen on a building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 8, 2006.Thu, 17 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/fontbros/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/fontbros/Fellow font guy Stuart Sandler and his partner, Mike Ibach, have launched a new online font venue called Font Bros.Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/stewardess/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/stewardess/Earlier this year, I completed a lettering assignment for the cover of “Stewardess,” a book by Chronicle Books, which was just published.Tue, 15 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/strange-affinity/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/strange-affinity/Some time in the last year or so, I bought, through Amazon Books, Paula Scher’s book Make It Bigger, a beautiful overview of her outstanding career as a graphic designer.Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon2006bostonpart0/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon2006bostonpart0/Just arrived in Boston yesterday for TypeCon 2006.Sun, 06 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/chessboard/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/chessboard/Lettering on the back of an antique cardboard chess board.Mon, 24 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/AlaskaFishHouse/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/AlaskaFishHouse/I recently completed work on a lettering design for the front of a building in Ketchikan, Alaska.Thu, 20 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/harryandthepotters/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/harryandthepotters/Yesterday afternoon I went to a packed rock concert with my daughter at the new Minneapolis Public Library.Tue, 11 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proximanova/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proximanova/The 42 members of the Proxima Nova family get a real workout in What’s On TV, the best-selling magazine in the UK. Tue, 23 May 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/atcg/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/atcg/Reader Egemen Sentin wrote to point out an odd coincidence he noticed on the “How to Spot Arial” page: “The first four characters (a, t, c and g) that you chose for distinguishing between fonts Arial, Helvetica and Grotesque are also the first letters of the four bases of DNA, adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine – proof that fonts have genes!”.Fri, 12 May 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/daisy-daisy/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/daisy-daisy/Kevin Savetz has just posted MP3 files of the “First Philadelphia Computer Music Festival,” an LP released in 1979 by Creative Computing magazine, on vintagecomputermusic.Mon, 24 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/orange-varsity/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/orange-varsity/Last week I was in upstate New York and discovered this beautiful Art Deco sign on the Syracuse University campus.Mon, 10 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lets-talk-type-1977/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lets-talk-type-1977/Just for fun, I’ve decided to share my first published writing on the subject of typography.Sun, 26 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/LicensetoObscure/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/LicensetoObscure/For the last couple decades or so, automobile license plate design has become increasingly poor.Fri, 24 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/anoscarinthefamily/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/anoscarinthefamily/Well, none of my fonts showed up on the Academy Awards show this year (unlike last year), but my cousin Eric Simonson did.Mon, 06 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/indication-marker-sign/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/indication-marker-sign/After driving past it for years, I suddenly realized what an absurd sign this is.Thu, 02 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/japanesecartoon/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/japanesecartoon/My daughter and her friend asked me to draw a picture of Hello Kitty.Sat, 28 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/four-things/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/four-things/So, there’s this thing going around blogs where you answer this list of questions, four answers each.Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-nova-1-1-released/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-nova-1-1-released/The new release of Proxima Nova features a couple of compatibility fixes and more flexible access to alternate characters.Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/meet-the-fockers/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/meet-the-fockers/I wish I could claim credit for finding this gem, but I haven’t even seen this movie (I hear it’s very funny, though).Fri, 06 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/goodarticleshameaboutgoodnight/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/goodarticleshameaboutgoodnight/I was very happy to be included in a short article in today’s New York Times (Good Film, Shame About the Helvetica) about designers who notice anachronistic font choices in films, but I was a bit taken aback when I received an email first thing this morning from the art director of Good Night, And Good Luck.Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lipmanlettering/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lipmanlettering/One of my recent lettering jobs was this one for the cover of Elinor Lipman’s new book My Latest Grievance, due out next spring.Fri, 16 Dec 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typographic-prop-masters/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typographic-prop-masters/In my Typecasting article and Son of Typecasting here in the Notebook section, I hold films under the spotlight and (sometimes) make fun of their use of type.Fri, 11 Nov 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/ampersandstudio1111/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/ampersandstudio1111/I don’t know what’s in this building, but I like the 1970s-style script lettering on their sign.Thu, 10 Nov 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/ambigram-tattoo/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/ambigram-tattoo/I’ve never designed a tattoo before, and not many ambigrams, either.Mon, 10 Oct 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/you-gotta-keep-em-separated/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/you-gotta-keep-em-separated/My sharp-eyed daughter noticed this when we were doing our yearly apple-picking this morning.Sun, 09 Oct 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-nova-sighting/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-nova-sighting/One of the first prominent uses of my recently released Proxima Nova is at Joyent.Fri, 07 Oct 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/gangsofnewyork/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/gangsofnewyork/I’ve always had a rather vague grasp on the history of New York City.Thu, 06 Oct 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/fill-er-up-with-memories/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/fill-er-up-with-memories/Recently, my family and I paid a visit to West Virginia for my in-laws’ anniversary.Thu, 15 Sep 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2005-report-3/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2005-report-3/Okay, I was originally going to post one or two more detailed reports about the conference.Sat, 20 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sighting-2/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sighting-2/While I was at TypeCon in New York, one of the attendees walked up to me and handed me a copy of this wedding invitation on which he had used Coquette.Thu, 11 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2005-report-2/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2005-report-2/Thursday morning we wandered around mid-town Manhattan and wound up at the New York Public Library where we saw the Declaration of Independence (including some of Jefferson’s drafts, which were surprisingly legible) and one of the few existing Guttenberg bibles.Thu, 28 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2005-report-1/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2005-report-1/It’s been two days since I left New York City and TypeCon2005.Wed, 27 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2005-report-0/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2005-report-0/I’ve just arrived this evening at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City for TypeCon2005 which starts in a few days.Sun, 17 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proximanovareleased/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proximanovareleased/I’ve been working on this font family for almost 25 years.Thu, 30 Jun 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/FakevsTrueItalics/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/FakevsTrueItalics/Back in March, I mentioned that I was in the final stages of developing a new font family, Proxima Nova.Mon, 20 Jun 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/hygardhygienesoap/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/hygardhygienesoap/Vintage soap package seen in an antique store in Hopkins, Minnesota, December 18, 2004.Mon, 23 May 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/this-just-handed-to-me/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/this-just-handed-to-me/I’ve been invited by Addison Hall to participate in this “musical baton” thing that’s being passed from blog to blog.Wed, 18 May 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/pangrammatic-haikus/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/pangrammatic-haikus/Reader Dan Madden is a fan of my Pangrammer Helper, a little Flash application I made that helps in the creation of pangrams.Sat, 14 May 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/kodakretinaiiicbox/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/kodakretinaiiicbox/A Kodak package design from the early 1950s, from the collection of Knut Simonson.Mon, 18 Apr 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/kristian-walker-interview/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/kristian-walker-interview/Kristian Walker interviewed me last Friday for his blog.Mon, 11 Apr 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/HamiltonWoodTypeMuseum/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/HamiltonWoodTypeMuseum/A week ago, my family and I paid a visit to the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.Fri, 08 Apr 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-etc/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-etc/As a long time fan of the books, radio show, TV series, computer game, etc.Tue, 22 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/what-is-an-incorrectly-specified-font/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/what-is-an-incorrectly-specified-font/Eagle-eyed type nerds watching a recent broadcast of the Jeopardy game show will have fallen off their chairs at this font faux pas.Mon, 14 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proximasansgoingnova/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proximasansgoingnova/Yes, I know.Wed, 09 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mostra-sighting/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mostra-sighting/I’d like to thank the Academy for using my font Mostra on last night’s broadcast of the 77th Academy Awards.Mon, 28 Feb 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sighting-3/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sighting-3/Designer David Nix used Coquette on a promotion created for duty-free shops in Los Angeles and San Francisco airports.Tue, 22 Feb 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/cooperblackoutlineshadowsnowcapped/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/cooperblackoutlineshadowsnowcapped/Close-up of some dimensional letters on a government building in Roseville, Minnesota, January 23, 2005.Mon, 24 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/j-j-newberry-co/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/j-j-newberry-co/I’ve been meaning to get a photo of this sign ever since I first saw it.Mon, 17 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/beau-ties/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/beau-ties/Like it says on the box: “For Niceness In Shoes.Thu, 09 Dec 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lotsofrobotsandrustboy/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lotsofrobotsandrustboy/My day was brightened this morning by an email notice that Lots of Robots, Volume Two is up.Mon, 22 Nov 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/strangecloud1990/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/strangecloud1990/While traveling east through South Dakota in the summer of 1990, I stopped to snap a picture of this strange looking cloud.Fri, 19 Nov 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/a-few-of-my-favorite-links/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/a-few-of-my-favorite-links/I discovered Todd Dominey’s What Do I Know [Update: Sadly, it no longer exists] weblog a while back among the hundreds of sites listed on Movable Type’s old Donors’ page (R.Tue, 16 Nov 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lovingcupcoffee/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lovingcupcoffee/Some nice lettering seen in an antique store in Hixton, Wisconsin on July 29, 2004.Thu, 04 Nov 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lego-the-type-designers-friend/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lego-the-type-designers-friend/One of the font projects I’m working on is the revival of some of Phil Martin’s display typefaces from the 1970s.Thu, 14 Oct 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-grad/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/introducing-grad/For over ten years, Grad has been trapped inside Phil Martin’s old DOS computer.Fri, 08 Oct 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/south-of-the-border/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/south-of-the-border/Some spicy lettering from the cover of “Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass / South of the Border” (released in 1964), a record album I picked up in an antique store.Fri, 01 Oct 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/wallywoodmeetgeorgejetson/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/wallywoodmeetgeorgejetson/Lately, I have been watching the first (and only) season of The Jestons on DVD with my 10-year-old daughter.Wed, 29 Sep 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/magnum-ph-d/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/magnum-ph-d/A brainy looking portrait of Tom Selleck seen on a carnival ride at the Minnesota State Fair on August 26, 2004.Mon, 20 Sep 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mary-grandpre/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mary-grandpre/Last Friday I attended the opening of a show at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design showcasing the work of illustrator Mary GrandPré.Mon, 20 Sep 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the60minutesbushmemothing/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the60minutesbushmemothing/I’ve been getting a number of emails lately from people wanting to know what I think of the recent controversy surrounding some documents shown on 60 Minutes concerning President Bush’s military record which are said to be from around 1972.Tue, 14 Sep 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/game-boxes/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/game-boxes/An assortment of vintage game boxes seen in the toy museum at Lark Toys, Kellogg, Minnesota, on August 21, 2004.Sat, 04 Sep 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/portrait-of-the-artist-in-concrete/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/portrait-of-the-artist-in-concrete/Bust of artist Herman Rusch.Thu, 26 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/grad-nearing-completion/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/grad-nearing-completion/In case anyone’s wondering why I’ve been posting items less frequently lately, it’s because I’ve been working on fonts.Tue, 24 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/stantonshoes/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/stantonshoes/A very-well-maintained vintage metal/neon hand-lettered sign.Mon, 23 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/royal-tenenbaums-world-of-futura/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/royal-tenenbaums-world-of-futura/Quite a few people have written me to ask about the type in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).Wed, 18 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/seabee/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/seabee/Old outboard boat motor seen in an antique store in Hixton, Wisconsin, July 29, 2004.Wed, 11 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/badgercoachco/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/badgercoachco/Vintage hand-painted sign seen in Evansville, Wisconsin on August 7, 2004.Tue, 10 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lessthanperfectfit/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/lessthanperfectfit/A presumably unintentional contradictory message seen on Snelling Avenue in St.Mon, 09 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/motel/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/motel/Vintage sign seen in Wisconsin Dells, July 31, 2003.Sat, 07 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/scottmccloudatmcad/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/scottmccloudatmcad/I spent last evening enjoying a talk by Scott McCloud at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.Fri, 06 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/moretyperelatedlinks/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/moretyperelatedlinks/Cheshire Dave’s Mastication Is Normal is home of the famous Behind the Typeface: Cooper Black, a clever spoof of VH1’s Behind the Music series.Thu, 05 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/table-tennis/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/table-tennis/Packaging label seen in an antique store in Hixton, Wisconsin on July 29, 2004.Thu, 05 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/spongebirdsquarepants/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/spongebirdsquarepants/Bizarre ceramic flower pot seen in an antique store in Wisconsin Dells, July 31, 2004.Wed, 04 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/cocktaillounge/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/cocktaillounge/A rather badly maintained vintage sign seen in Bemidji, Minnesota, June 25, 2002.Tue, 03 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/currentbestsellers/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/currentbestsellers/1.Tue, 03 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/beware-of-imitations/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/beware-of-imitations/As noted on the sample page, Felt Tip Roman has been used in the U.Mon, 02 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/roadside-attractions-strange/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/roadside-attractions-strange/I spent the last few days at a family reunion in Wisconsin Dells (you’ll find it listed in the dictionary definition for “tourist trap”).Sun, 01 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/car-wash/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/car-wash/Vintage sign seen in Puyallup, Washington, June 17, 2001.Sat, 31 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bigtractor/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bigtractor/Part of the sculpture park at New York Mills, Minnesota.Fri, 30 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/b-and-g-cleaners/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/b-and-g-cleaners/Vintage sign seen in St.Wed, 28 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2004-report-4/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2004-report-4/I meant to take more photos than this at the conference, but here are a few.Tue, 27 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon2004report3/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon2004report3/The tag shown above is what I wore around my neck the last four days at TypeCon2004.Mon, 26 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/benguiat-drawings/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/benguiat-drawings/Original (signed) drawings by type and lettering legend Ed Benguiat for his typeface Benguiat Gothic.Sun, 25 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/artists-snack-shop/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/artists-snack-shop/Vintage sign seen in Chicago on March 30, 2004.Sat, 24 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon2004report2/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon2004report2/I’m having too much fun actually doing the conference, so writing about it will have to wait.Sat, 24 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2004-report-1/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecon-2004-report-1/I arrived in San Francisco late yesterday, just in time to register and catch the first presentations.Fri, 23 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/dubious-typeface-ideas/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/dubious-typeface-ideas/Meta Swash Alternates ITC ITC Garamond Avant Garde Oldstyle Comic Serif One Pixel Cooper Black Monospace Neue Helvetica Super Ultra Thin Brush Script Titling Centaur Frisky Snell Commoncase.Thu, 22 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/oldclocks/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/oldclocks/Old clocks seen in an antique store.Thu, 22 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/car-for-sale/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/car-for-sale/Photo taken August 1975, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.Wed, 21 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/preludetotypecon2004/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/preludetotypecon2004/Tomorrow I’ll be flying out to San Francisco for TypeCon2004, an annual gathering of people involved in or interested in the making of fonts.Wed, 21 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/another-bingo-box/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/another-bingo-box/Seen in an antique store in Prescott, Minnesota on July 10, 2004.Tue, 20 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/howtomake3danaglyphs/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/howtomake3danaglyphs/I’ve used the image above to promote Refrigerator, and once in a while I am asked how it was done.Mon, 19 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/sunshineinthehome/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/sunshineinthehome/Detail from the cover of a book of American history and Bible stories published in 1890 in Chicago for Norwegian immigrants.Mon, 19 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/type-designers-who-write/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/type-designers-who-write/Nick Shinn, a talented type designer based in Toronto, regularly posts essays about type and design on his site which have appeared in various design magazines.Mon, 19 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/clocks/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/clocks/Some very laid back hand-painted Friz Quadrata.Sun, 18 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/craftsman-hand-printer/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/craftsman-hand-printer/Seen in an antique store in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota on June 28, 2002.Sat, 17 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/some-old-friends-of-mine/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/some-old-friends-of-mine/David Steinlicht is a graphic designer and illustrator here in St.Fri, 16 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/yeah-but-those-two-guys-looked-just-like-steve-and-bill/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/yeah-but-those-two-guys-looked-just-like-steve-and-bill/The 1999 made-for-TV movie The Pirates of Silicon Valley is a fictionalized account of the rise of Apple and Microsoft in the early days of the personal computer industry.Thu, 15 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/c-and-t-premium/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/c-and-t-premium/Fruit crate label seen in an antique store in Prescott, Minnesota, July 10, 2004.Wed, 14 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sighting-4/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sighting-4/Talk about typecasting: Coquette is used rather coquettishly on the cover of this Jane Green book.Wed, 14 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/tin-cups/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/tin-cups/This vintage sign was destroyed in a fire sparked by lightning over the weekend.Tue, 13 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/wherecarscomefrom/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/wherecarscomefrom/Photo taken July 7, 2003, at the Franconia Sculpture Garden, Franconia, Minnesota.Tue, 13 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coats-engraving/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coats-engraving/Signage seen in Louisville, Kentucky, July 15, 2003.Mon, 12 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/inspiration/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/inspiration/Here are a few of the people and places on the web that inspire me, in no particular order: Not only does Coudal Partners site look great, it’s a goldmine of inspiration due mainly to their vast collection of interesting links (Fresh Signals), and their Museum of Online Museums.Mon, 12 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bingo/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/bingo/Vintage game box.Sun, 11 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/myfirstcomputerfont/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/myfirstcomputerfont/This photo shows my first attempt to create type on a computer screen.Sun, 11 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/pain-99c/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/pain-99c/St.Sat, 10 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-apple-terminator-ii/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-apple-terminator-ii/This one is incredibly nerdy, but I think it fits my standards for anachronistic use of type in a movie.Fri, 09 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/chatterbox/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/chatterbox/Old magazine cover.Thu, 08 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/handytypelinks/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/handytypelinks/Here are a couple of my favorite type-related places on the web: Typophile Forums is where most of the action is taking place these days.Thu, 08 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-sans-sighting/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/proxima-sans-sighting/Nelson & Bainbridge picture framing products have been sporting Proxima Sans on their logo for a while now (with custom diamond-shaped “i” dots).Thu, 08 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/giant-fiberglass-animals/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/giant-fiberglass-animals/F.Wed, 07 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/blakelyandcoquette/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/blakelyandcoquette/Minnesota Eats Out, by Kathryn Strand Koutsky and Linda Koutsky, was published recently by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.Tue, 06 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/republic-cafe/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/republic-cafe/Photo taken June 19, 2001 in Portland, Oregon.Tue, 06 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/sharretts/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/sharretts/Some vintage signage not far from where I live in St.Mon, 05 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/Alastair Johnston alerted me to this one.Mon, 05 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/chicago-type-landmark/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/chicago-type-landmark/On a recent trip to Chicago, I made my way to Printing House Row and snapped this photo of the entrance to the old Mergenthaler Linotype Co.Sun, 04 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/exactly/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/exactly/Photographed October 8, 2003, St.Sun, 04 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/where-i-get-my-ideas/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/where-i-get-my-ideas/Photographed June 30, 2002, Wadena, Minnesota.Sun, 04 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/felt-tip-roman-sighting/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/felt-tip-roman-sighting/Imagine my surprise when I saw my face at the Post Office. Typeface, that is. A very prominent use of Felt Tip Roman.Sat, 03 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/felt-tip-roman-sighting-1/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/felt-tip-roman-sighting-1/Felt Tip Roman is being used very effectively on this series of young adult novels by British writer Louise Rennison.Sat, 03 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/felttiproman1/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/felttiproman1/There must be something very “teen angst” about Felt Tip Roman. It keeps showing up on teen fiction titles like this. Looks good, although I see they didn’t like my cap I.Sat, 03 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/artistsinthefamily/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/artistsinthefamily/My sister Ellen paints and her husband Randall sings.Fri, 02 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/how-did-he-do-it/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/how-did-he-do-it/This item was sent to me by Steven Hill last year, and it’s one of my favorite type/film gaffes.Fri, 02 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/other-type-designers-with-weblogs/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/other-type-designers-with-weblogs/This one was news to me: Jean François Porchez, proprietor of Porchez Typefoundrie in France, has a personal weblog called Chez Porchez.Fri, 02 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/fun-in-ontario/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/fun-in-ontario/Lettering on the cover of a vintage travel guide.Thu, 01 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/SonofTypecasting/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/SonofTypecasting/When I wrote Typecasting: The Use (and Misuse) of Period Typography in Movies over two years ago, I closed it with: “I hope to add more examples in a follow-up article.Thu, 01 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/titanicblunders/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/titanicblunders/Not long after writing and posting Typecasting in December 2001, I learned from a reader that a similar article by Scott Stowell had been published earlier that year in Trace/AIGA Journal of Design, Vol.Thu, 01 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sighting-5/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-sighting-5/I recently noticed Coquette used extensively in the book “Everything for Baby” by Adélaïdé D’Andigné and Alain Gelberger, published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang last year.Wed, 30 Jun 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/grad-update/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/grad-update/One of the fonts I’m getting close to finishing is Grad, the most recent type design of Phil Martin.Wed, 30 Jun 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/refrigerator-in-use/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/refrigerator-in-use/A rather nice use of Refrigerator by Typographica guy Stephen Coles.Wed, 30 Jun 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/whats-notebook/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/whats-notebook/Notebook is a new section of the Mark Simonson Studio site where I can put various items which are of interest me and (I hope) to visitors such as yourself.Wed, 30 Jun 2004 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/pangrammer-helper/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/pangrammer-helper/Flash application featuring Raster Gothic Condensed.Sun, 02 Feb 2003 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecasting-trailer/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecasting-trailer/Typecasting Trailer from Mark Simonson on Vimeo.Wed, 06 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecasting/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/typecasting/Chocolat (2000, Mirimax) wasn’t a bad movie.Wed, 12 Dec 2001 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mostra-toy/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/mostra-toy/Flash animation designed to promote my typeface Mostra.Sun, 02 Dec 2001 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/sharktooth-loupe/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/sharktooth-loupe/Flash animation designed to promote my typeface Sharktooth.Wed, 03 Oct 2001 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-clock/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/coquette-clock/Flash animation designed to promote my typeface Coquette.Tue, 18 Sep 2001 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/how-to-spot-arial/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/how-to-spot-arial/Many of the characters in Helvetica and Arial are very similar to each other, although none are quite identical.Wed, 21 Feb 2001 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/monotypes-other-arials/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/monotypes-other-arials/Interestingly, Monotype created cheap substitutes for not only Helvetica, but all the other proprietary fonts Adobe has included with PostScript.Wed, 21 Feb 2001 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-scourge-of-arial/https://www.marksimonson.com/notebook/view/the-scourge-of-arial/Arial is everywhere.Wed, 21 Feb 2001 00:00:00 GMT