Should you check your email? A flowchart by the brilliant Wendy MacNaughton (previously: I II III) for a Forbes article on how and why to ignore your inbox.
I would buy this if it were a print. And hang it right above my display.
“Type is a thing of constant interest to me.
It is sometimes a serious and useful tool,
employed to deliver a message,
sell a specific article,
or give life to an idea.At other times it is a plaything
that affords personal amusement and recreation.
It is fun to produce fresh designs and spontaneous ideas
with letters and numbers —
by themselves,
or together with other graphic objects.Type is a medium of philosophical enjoyment.
It is interesting to discover typographic rules
containing inconsistencies in logic,
which are in use only because of tradition.
It is also interesting to ponder the origin of these errors,
the practical reasons for their perpetuation,
and to suggest remedies.An interest in type
provides a broader knowledge of history,
including the appreciation of such related arts
as painting, architecture and literature —
and even business and politics.
This affords opportunity for pleasant romantic indulgence.
At the same time,
it develops confidence in one’s practical ability
to specify appropriate typefaces
to accompany creative works of specific periods.In short,
type can be a tool, a toy and a teacher;
it can provide a means of livelihood,
a hobby for relaxation,
an intellectual stimulant,
and a spiritual satisfaction.I believe an avid interest in type
”
necessarily includes a zest for everyday life.
Bradbury Thompson, 1956
I’ve kept a photocopy of this quote with me as I’ve moved from one place to the next, in a stack of other favorite quotes, that seems to have once been typed on my mom’s old typewriter and then photocopied. Perhaps to give copies to students at one time. I found it again today.
Even after all of these years I could not have said this better had I all the time in the world to articulate my own thoughts and feelings accumulated after having had my own handful of years working with type.
My love for Christopher Reeve as Superman will never die.
If you haven’t seen the work of Stanley Chow yet, take a few minutes — warning it will turn into more than a few minutes — and check it out.
In situations that require a word that is unambiguously learned and literary, palimpsest is pretty hard to beat. Its roots mean “scraped again,” but its meaning has developed into something fairly…
