“Type is modern America”

Thanks Zack for reminding me to read an article printed in the New York Times Magazine two weekends ago about highway-sign typefaces. It’s simply one of the best stories I’ve ever read about typography — informative, well researched, and filled with the kind of detail us type geeks crave. The article has the typoblogosphere abuzz. And it’s a great way to get my font juices flowing as I prepare to teach typography again at Humber College this fall. Here’s an excerpt:

Less than a generation ago, fonts were for the specialist, an esoteric pursuit, what Stanley Morison, the English typographer who helped create Times New Roman in the 1930s, called “a minor technicality of civilized life.” Now, as the idea of branding has claimed a central role in American life, so, too, has the importance and understanding of type. Fonts are image, and image is modern America.

(Thanks also to Jerry for giving me a hard copy of the issue — it's perfect!)