Tonsils!

Tomorrow (I guess technically today), I'm getting my tonsils taken out. I'll definitely try to blog ASAP, but it's very possible that I won't feel like it at all. At the very least, there'll be Typography Tuesday. And I really want to get the other photoset from Columbia-Portland up soon, so probably that. But it's probably going to hurt a lot. Just a heads-up.

Typography Tuesdays!

I really like fonts, but I don't know as much about them as I'd like to. To help with that, I'm going to be doing a weekly Typography Tuesday here. Ariel is probably going to help with it here and there, as well.

I suppose my fascination with type started when I read this article about the Obama campaign's graphic design choices. The relevant bits:

"Then the lettering. Obama's identity contrasts a Hillaryesque serif typeface with a squiggle-free sans-serif presumably to imply that he combines gravitas with youthful vigor. Originally the letters were upper and lower case, which designers generally deploy to convey friendliness. As the campaign progressed, they have switched to all-upper case, which looks more authoritative, just what Obama wants. The sans-serif font changed, too: from Gill Sans, created by the British designer Eric Gill in the early 1900s, to a contemporary American one, Gotham.

Great choice. No typeface could seem better suited to a dynamic, yet conscientious, American public servant. Inspired by the handmade signs of 1940s New York, Gotham was designed in 2000 by Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, originally for GQ magazine. It has since appeared on everything from organic food packaging, to the Freedom Tower cornerstone at the World Trade Center site in New York. You don't have to be a typographic historian to get the message. A glance at the lettering on the "Change" banners at Obama's rallies conveys a potent, if unspoken, combination of contemporary sophistication (a nod to his suits) with nostalgia for America's past and a sense of duty."

Now, this blog is written in Verdana -- which is kind pretty much the way your Kindergarten teacher taught you to make letters (I didn't want it to distract from the images). My résumé is written in Georgia, which is very refined and businesslike; it reminds me of a small-town lawyer, like from a John Grisham novel. But I can't really pretend to know anything about "a potent, if unspoken, combination of contemporary sophistication ... with nostalgia of America's past and a sense of duty." So, I'll just be talking about fonts and, hopefully, I'll eventually be able to sound like I know what I'm talking about.

To get things rolling, here's a font made with a car!

iQ font - When driving becomes writing / Full making of from wireless on Vimeo.

There are more pictures on flickr, and the font is available for free download here.

When I was talking to Ariel about this yesterday, she showed me the Jockstrap font, which is just adorable.

That's all I really have for today. If anyone has suggestions on where they'd like to see this segment go, please don't hesitate to comment and let me know. I'm really open to ideas.

Domain Name

I just set up a domain -- www.operationkhaki.com now points here. the old address, somethingsymbolic.blogspot.com, still works. That's all.

Columbia-Portland (Int)

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There's another set on the way, once I get it finished.

Cement

FINALLY made it to Columbia-Portland Cement. It was beautiful and awe-inspiring. Pictures tomorrow (so long as nothing unforeseen happens), but a couple of thoughts now:

- What am I doing wrong? The awesome overcast skies became vague overpowering white (see: above photo). Maybe I need to play with my light metering?

- I hope every tick dies.

- Gasoline is expensive.

- The Sheriff's Dept. uses it for training. There are giant signs at the entrances saying not to trespass, and that there is live fire, and that you'd better hope it kills you, because otherwise you're getting prosecuted. There were quite a few cars over by some outbuildings, and we started to get a little nervous. We heard an approaching car; inside was a policeman who smiled and waved, and then drove off.

- The bridge was so scary.

- Did you know that you can make a ghetto camera flash diffuser by taping part of a white grocery bag to the flash? True fact!

Bonus picture of me being badass/inches from death:

And because Kathleen was so kind as to take that picture, here's one of her being pretty badass herself:

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I figure this is the best place to tell you about a couple of really awesome things I found today

Pictaculous creates a color theme around a picture you upload. I can think of about a million uses for this. It's pretty snazz.

Foundation Cartier por l'art contemporain has a really nifty look at graffiti. I love graffiti, and this is really cool, and you should check it out. I haven't had much time to play with this, because I just found it when I got home, and have been up to my neck in photos, but I really look forward to it.

Alright, guys, I'll see you tomorrow.

EDIT: Oh, I forgot something really cool!

The building we went inside was FULL of cement dust. Over the years, the moisture leaking through the building had caused it to form stalactites and stalagmites. It was awesome. Cement is, what, limestone or something? Or it at least has some in it to account for these? Oh well. It was the best.

Fishface

Did this while trying to sleep last night. Dunno. Whatev. Apparently I never learned to color in the lines. There was also a penguin-Fonzie thing but it wasn't very good.

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In other news, I was reading BOOOOOOOM! yesterday and came across Alison Malone and her wonderful collection of photos about the Daughters of Job, a secret society of some sort or other. Go to her site to check out the full set. They're peachy keen.

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Alright, off to Stan Hywet with Hayley to watch As You Like it.

You And Only You (Orange)

I can't get the colors right in the picture. Sorry. It's, uh, oranger in real life.

Ink and watercolor on paper.

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