Should have done type this week!

I was just checking out my reader while watching a local exterminator, on A&E, kill ants at an gator park. I found three posts on Smashing Magazine dealing with type. They’ve got high quality free fonts, examples of type on the web and fonts of the month. Since I’m on my iPod (I’m not cool enough for tv iPhone). I can’t link to the posts but check them out at www.smashingmagazine.com.

TGIFree – Fonts

I frequent a few sites for those great free fonts.  The newest of the bunch offers all free fonts licensed for personal and commercial use.  Font Squirrel focuses on the fonts that would be most used in commercial print. I C this from their site:

“Free fonts have met their match. We know how hard it is to find quality freeware that is licensed for commercial work. We’ve done the hard work, hand-selecting these typefaces and presenting them in an easy-to-use format.”

It really doesn’t get much simpler than that either.  Check them out and offer up new fonts form them to consider.

I want to end this week of Type with a another freebie that will help keep the Fontdemonium under control.  FontExplorer offers more than FontBook (For Window’s users, i’m not sure if there is any type of font management software. If there is let me now). For me the features that have me using over FontBook:

1. Activation of Fonts – It just makes things easier to have the option to activate fonts that you need as you need them so your not keeping 2000 fonts active all the time.

2. Information feature for each font – this feature allows you to view all the information on the font, including all the characters and the keystrokes that will create the character.

3. Last imported folder – the first thing I want to do when I import a font is place it in the folder(s) it belongs, so in the future it will be with similar fonts when I’m searching for something specific.

Individual Character Information

Because of its growing popularity among the design community as opposed to Suicase (the former biggy in company font management), FontExplorer is moving away from their free version. You can still download the free version of FontExplorer, but please note that the company no longer provides support for the program and it will never have a new upgrade.

And for the sake of thoroughness, I researched their new FontExplorer X Pro.  For $79, you get a number a features including Application Sets that auto-activate when the application is opened, several new tools that allow for easy cleanup of font caches in both the operating system and individual programs and lastly with the addition of their font server, FontExplorer X Pro offers easy integration into a server for managing the vast number of fonts a company may store for several designers to use.

Other great font sites:
DaFont
FontSpace
BittBox
1001 Free Fonts
Urban Fonts

Random sites that I found on google:
Free-Fonts
Simple The Best Free Fonts
1001 Fonts
Font Freak

Feel free to add to the list.

Typography at work…

This week I’ve been working on the Caddo Magnet High Lacrosse Team Program.  In years previous, this program has had that slightly gritty, beaten and bruised feel to it.  The sport itself is just all those things.  I mulled over last year’s design and listened to the customer as to what they wanted which was basically make sure the name of the school was on the cover (last year’s said lacrosse 2008 and that was it). I was excited to have the opportunity to basically have freedom to convey the sport of lacrosse.

I started with the typography.  I wanted something bold, legible, and roughed up.  After searching my FontExplorer, I can across CanCan du Bois.

I have used this font for several projects before. For this project I was really wanting to focus on using type as the key graphic element of the program.  My company has a few subscriptions to stock web sites, but none that has a wealth of great lacrosse imagery. This is why I focused on making the typography dominate.