Lee Thomson

Nov TIF ampersand etc
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

Second one of a set for the November TIF challenge – use type as a design element.

I have to admit to a couple of strong opinions concerning type. It has to be black, on white. It has to have thick and thin places. It is nice to have serifs but not necessary.

I worked for a couple years on the Massachusetts State Atlas Project. I was lucky to be there close to the beginning, when we got to think about which type face we liked, and the grid for the pages, and the sizes of maps we would use for different themes. I love type with the same kind of abstracted affection many people feel for maps – I know it carries information, but I like the graphic detail of it as much as the information carried.

When choosing a type, we looked at Ps and Qs, and ampersands. The P showed up enough in regular use that it had to be elegant without being too frilly. Qs because they had to look unified even though they were used infrequently. Ampersands because they could, and did, contain every flourish the type designer could cram into them. They made me laugh, every time.

I still have trouble separating affection for type from affection for the fact that I can read, so I knew I had to use an ampersand as part of my design. The et cetera is because type has to say something, and it pleases me to "yadda yadda" in latin.

I still have two in process, but I did want to demonstrate proper effort before the end of the month.