Tuesday, August 31 8:20 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
The image that defines TypeCon 2010? Photo by Checko, used with permission.
Update: As noted by Stephen Coles, credit and blame for this photo opportunity goes to TypeCon’s unofficial social director Adam Twardoch. Adam interrupted Doyald’s book signing to coax him into the courtyard where charity event participants were waiting for busses to take them to the Playboy Mansion.
Tuesday, August 24 11:24 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
As demonstrated during his talk Jean François Porchez's fonts, commissioned by AW Paper, are now available for free download. Via Paul Hunt via Typophile.
Monday, August 23 2:01 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
That’s the TypeCon pool on Flickr. Upload those pics and short videos It’s absolutely the best way to make your non-TypeCon attending friends green with envy. Thanks, Si @LAX.
Sunday, August 22 7:01 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
“Friends, aficionados and fellow typophiles. Thanks for attending TypeCon 2010 Los Angeles. You may have noticed a spirit drifting through the lobby and the 14th floor as you retired for the night, or may have experienced a musty cold feeling in the tent. That was me, Ghost of Stewf. I’ll be back next year in New Orleans, and may contribute more guest blog posts. In the interim have a wonderful year and see you next time. Regards, GoS.”
Sunday, August 22 6:08 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Jennifer, Daniela, Sarah, Meggan, Amanda, Brittney, Katri, Jackie and Adrian claim your posters from the right hand table. There are additional free posters on the left hand table in the coffee area.
Sunday, August 22 3:09 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Bob A: Welcome font fans to what promises to be a fantastic TypeCrit 2010
Bob B: That’s right Bob, the venue for this event is awesome and we have a big crowd.
Bob A: Thanks Bob, yes it’s standing room only, people are stood on chairs, and there’s a real sense of anticipation.
Bob B: Well it looks like the competitors are lining up, and things are about to get underway.
Bob A: Thanks Bob, that's right, we have a strong field of competitors and the judges look ready to get started.
Bob B: The lead judge checks his watch, he looks at the competitors and blows his whistle.
Bob A: The first competitor Lucas Sharp steps up to the plate.
Bob A: And they’re off....
Sunday, August 22 11:28 am/ Posted by Grant /Permalink
Craig Eliason’s “Type History in Transition: The Emergence of the Transitional Label” switches with “Design Q & A: Now & Then’ panel discussion this morning.
Sunday, August 22 3:28 am/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Paul Hunt of Adobe beat out Stephen Coles to be the 2010 winner of the Typophile of the Year award. Both completed the tricky quiz with 22 points out of a total of 33, and it took three tie-breakers to separate them. Coming in third Kris Sowersby, with cheeky cockney barrow boy Si Daniels picking up 4th place honors.
Saturday, August 21 11:18 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Details from Juliet Shen "The SOTA Catalyst Award, which recognizes a person 30 years of age or younger who shows both achievement and future promise in the field of typography, was presented at TypeCon to Satya Rajpurohit of Ahmedabad, India, who gave a presentation about his work for the Indian Type Foundry, of which he is co-founder. The award included travel and lodging for TypeCon and a custom letterpress print made by Richard Kegler for the occasion. For the first year of the competition, SOTA received entries from 20 different countries in Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa and the South Pacific. The award was made possible through an anonymous gift from a member of the SOTA Board of Directors." Congratualtions Satya.
Saturday, August 21 9:26 pm/ Posted by Grant /Permalink
Have you been eyeing the movie posters displayed along the back wall of the SOTA Gallery? How would you like to take one of them home?
Well, we’re giving all of them away. Each poster has a number attached. Write the number of the poster you are interested in on the back of your business card (or other suitable means of identification which includes an email address). Deposit your entry into the official “TypeCon Movie Poster Grab” box located at the back of the gallery area. Winners will be drawn and notified sometime after noon on Sunday.
Please note: we will not be able to ship the posters to the winners. They must be claimed while at TypeCon.
Saturday, August 21 9:11 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Be advised, this is not a 10-112 (impersonating an officer) situation. Members of LAPD SWAT, Bomb Squad, Underwater Dive Team and Canine Unit - that’s a 10-12 (visitors or officials present) - will be descending on the hotel this evening for a fundraiser, in the event of a 10-91H (stray horse) please contact the nearest officer. More police codes here.
Saturday, August 21 7:22 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Doyald Young, a resident of Los Angeles since the age of 19, was today awarded the 2010 SOTA award. Doyald was recently awarded the AIGA medal, so conveniently I’m able to cut and paste the Marian Bantjes blurb written for that event… “Recognized for demonstrating the power of a lifelong love of the craft of calligraphy, type and graphic design, for his contributions as an author and for his dedication as an educator.”
Saturday, August 21 6:47 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Our crack researchers have tracked down info on some of the activities taking place at the Hyatt this weekend. Bottom line, it's all in support of the "It's All About the Kids Foundation" charity. This evening guests at the $975 a head (50% tax deductible) Lucky 7 event will be whisked by private limo to the world famous Playboy Mansion. We are looking for volunteers to stow away in the limos and report back from the event. Volunteers should report to Ross for instructions.
Saturday, August 21 1:44 pm/ Posted by Grant /Permalink
This year’s silent auction may be small, but there are still treasures to be found on those tables. Stop by the SOTA Store and place a bid (or six) on some of the fabulous incunabula and other typographic curiosities. The auction closes tonight at 11:00 pm, towards the end of the Adventures in La La Land shindig. Unlike drinking and operating heavy machinery, drinking actually improves your ability to bid successfully.
Saturday, August 21 10:37 am/ Posted by Si /Permalink
The hotel, which was known as the Western White House as it was so frequently frequented by Reagan during the eighties, took on more of a Clinton-era feel as a hastily arranged party, some believe was orchestrated by John Downer, took place after-hours in the X-bar. Cameras were banned from the “21 and over” event, but by all accounts a good time was had by all.
Saturday, August 21 9:39 am/ Posted by Grant /Permalink
After his presentation yesterday, Hrant Papazian offered up his idea of joining other buskers on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. “I'm taking my laptop, putting down a hat, and making fonts until the battery dies.” Joined by Eben Sorkin, type history (and part of font) was made.
Friday, August 20 2:25 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Corey Holms, wasn’t he in The Lost Boys? No! He’s the designer behind the fabulous TypeCon 2010 Babel identity. Check out more of his work on his web site.
Friday, August 20 2:24 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Hrant Papazian invites type designers to join him this evening for a session of type design street performance on LA’s main busking drag. Grab your Mac, a hat for donations, and amaze Angelinos with type design as performance art. It's unlikely this will incorporate belly dancing. Check with Hrant for details.
Friday, August 20 11:25 am/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Missed the CSS font fun on Wednesday? Fear not! John Daggett has posted his slides and in conjunction with Dave Crossland’s detailed notes and commentary it’s almost like being there, minus the element of spending a sunny afternoon in an underground bunker with a bunch of geeky web font geeks. Via typophile.
Friday, August 20 10:57 am/ Posted by Grant /Permalink
I know what you’re thinking … how could one possibly stop thinking about type while attending TypeCon? Well, even the most seasoned typologists need a respite from the lines and splines and such. When you’ve finally reached your fill of fonts, wander across the street from the Hyatt to The Annenberg Space for Photography — currently featuring an exhibit of the very best documentary photography of 2009.
Thursday, August 19 8:32 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Leslie Carbarga I saw some protesters here the other day but they all had blank signs. So I asked them what’s up? “We’re the sign painters union, we’re on strike.”
John Downer Q. What did the zero say to the eight?
A. Nice belt!
Bonus John Downer Joke Q. What did the plough say to the tractor?
A. Pull me closer John Deere.
Thursday, August 19 11:27 am/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Throughout his illustrious career Roger Black has been no stranger to controversy, and as the publication design maestro and his entourage rolls into LA, he leaves a long line of illustrators and publication designers crying in their collective beers. At the ICON conference he reportedly told illustrators that the term illustration should be abandoned. He then rolled out the Ready-Media service, blasted as “blasphemy” by one commentator. And just last night the Webtype.com service went live, with Roger as one of the key partners. Exactly what he has in store for his keynote is a closely guarded secret, but in a recent interview he was asked if he expects any controversy at TypeCon, his response “Sure. Type designers are a scrappy lot.”
Thursday, August 19 11:27 am/ Posted by Si /Permalink
When Rich Kegler needed to raise some extra cash to finish his documentary on the work of the late, great, Jim Rimmer, he avoided the traditional paths of loan sharks and Veer sponsorship. Instead he used the Kickstarter service with the hope of raising the $3,000 he needed to complete the film. The response from friends, colleagues and the typorati was overwhelming, with $12K banked to date. With that in mind many of those attending tonight's world premiere of Making Faces: Metal Type in the 21st Century will not only be viewers but also investors.
Thursday, August 19 9:49 am/ Posted by Si /Permalink
According to the organizers “The Web Font Awards – the first ceremony to celebrate the newfound typographic freedom empowering Web designers across the globe. The Web Font Awards will be a design competition for websites using Web fonts. Aimed at promoting Web font awareness and adoption, the competition will be open to eligible users of any Web font service or technology. Winners earn bragging rights, publicity, and cash and prizes.”
Wednesday, August 18 8:40 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Hit him up for a specimen or check out Tiro.com. According to the blurb “Huronia aims to not only provide basic language support for all American languages, but to extend that across styles and variants when appropriate — ie. matching character support for small capitals, italic and bold and a variety of ways to enter the text… The ‘Standard’ set of fonts for Huronia comprise of Tiro’s Pan-European Latin character set. This character set supports all European languages which use the Latin/Roman script, plus other languages whose orthography coincides.”
Wednesday, August 18 8:36 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
According to our source Webtype.com is launching either today or tomorrow. Webtype describes itself as a collaboration of leaders in type and technology, including Font Bureau, Ascender, Roger Black, Petr Van Blokland, and DevBridge.
Wednesday, August 18 6:04 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
As reported at Webmonkey and elsewhere, the W3C Fonts working group spent all day Tuesday in a reinforced concrete bunker bashing out the final details of the WOFF specification. As an observer, non-versed in standards body procedures, the attention to detail was amazing. Even with all the necessary attention, Tal and Erik report that the specification has undergone few if any substantive changes since they originally proposed it. The good news is that this meeting was another step towards the standardization of the format, and that existing conformant WOFFs are likely to stay conformant.
Wednesday, August 18 4:07 pm/ Posted by Grant /Permalink
The affable and always knowledgeable Paul Shaw is organizing another one of his casual walking type tours for Thursday, August 19th. While the details of this particular adventure are still being finalized, it is looking like the walk will travel between La Brea and Argyle in Hollywood. The exact itinerary won’t be plotted out in detail, but will cover some known aesthetic highlights of the area.
According to Paul, “This will be more of a potluck type tour than those in NYC, Boston, Atlanta, and Buffalo due to my lack of planning and unfamiliarity with Los Angeles as well as the city’s sprawl — but we can still have a good time.”
If you are interested in tagging along with Paul, meet in the lobby of the Hyatt around 12:30 PM on Thursday. At 12:45, the adventure starts with a bus ride, requiring one transfer, totaling around 40 minutes of travel (to the west edge of the walk). It is suggested that you bring exact change for the bus ($1.50 x 2 — transfers should be free), hats, and water.
Wednesday, August 18 3:20 pm/ Posted by Grant /Permalink
The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library is one of UCLA’s major libraries for rare books and manuscripts, with particular strengths in English literature and history (1641-1800), Oscar Wilde, and fine printing.
Head librarian Bruce Whiteman invites you to a sumptuous feast of typographic wonders ranging from a leaf from incunabula to the latest artist’s books. With an emphasis on type design, the books range from the 15th through the 21st century. Books printed by Caxton, Froben, Pynson, and Wynkyn de Worde; examples of Baskerville, Bodoni, Garamond, and Aldo Manuzio; books from the Kemscott, Doves, and Ashedene presses.
Two tours will be available on Thursday, August 19th at 10:00 am & 2:00 pm.
Sign up for the tours and carpooling at the TypeCon registration desk.
Wednesday, August 18 12:52 pm/ Posted by Si /Permalink
Come join the CSS font fun at 2:00 pm this afternoon in the Westside room.
Details via John Hudson: “The session will begin with a 45 minute presentation on the CSS3 Font Module, covering CSS3 Font specification overview, basic font properties (family name, style matching, size), @font-face mechanism, layout feature support, testing and conformance, font security issues and ideas beyond CSS3 Fonts. Following this, there will be open discussion on these and related topics. If you already have a question you would like to ask or a topic you want to discuss, you can post it here so that John will have some idea what to expect. Also, possible CSS mechanisms for ppem-specific outline selection will also be discussed.”
Tuesday, August 17 11:06 am/ Posted by Tamye /Permalink
If you’re registered for the full TypeCon2010 conference or in town those super special, supremely geeky WebFonts Working Group meetings today and tomorrow, we’ll expect to see you at tonight’s party, sponsored by our pals at Microsoft and OTIS. Check your inbox for details, or flag down Si or Christopher. Get on the bus, Gus.
Tuesday, August 17 11:03 am/ Posted by Grant /Permalink
It’s one of those unavoidable situations that you run into when putting together a conference. Inevitably, there will be items on the agenda that get changed or cancelled altogether due to circumstances beyond our control. Such is the case for Wednesday’s Reciprocity in Typography and Thursday’s BYOP: Bring Your Own Pencil workshops. Unfortunately, we have had to cancel these two previously announced workshops. On the bright side, there’s still room in many of the other fine workshops and you still have time to sign up.
Monday, August 16 4:02 pm/ Posted by Grant /Permalink
Getting your laptop ready for your trip to Los Angeles? What a perfect time to freshen up your wallpaper. Our good friend Corey Holms has put together a selection of “smashing” TypeCon-themed wallpaper for your desktop decorating pleasure. And don’t you worry, there are iPhone and iPad variations as well.
Wednesday, August 11 4:20 pm/ Posted by Grant /Permalink
Now you can take your TypeCon schedule with you, wherever you go. For this year’s conference, we’ve partnered with the good folks at Weightshift and are now able to provide a mobile-optimized program using the SitBy.Us web app. SitBy.Us provides easy-to-use, platform independent scheduling designed to make attending events like TypeCon simpler and more social.
Start using the TypeCon mobile site today! Simply go to m.typecon.com and connect up your Twitter account. Once you’re signed in, browse the daily schedule, “star” the sessions you’re interested in attending, and then view or subscribe to your personal schedule.
You can also view or subscribe to the full TypeCon schedule — including sessions, workshops, and special events — in one fell swoop.
Monday, August 9 5:39 pm/ Posted by Grant /Permalink
The Southern California based Society for Calligraphy has put together a “letter inspired” treasure hunt of Disneyland for TypeCon attendees. This casual, self-guided walking tour of “The Happiest Place on Earth” is intended to be completed at your leisure. Download the PDF, answer as many questions as possible, and then bring your answers and Disneyland ticket stub back to the society’s booth in the SOTA Store during the conference to collect your prize.
“We invite you to discover for yourselves, with a little help from our game, some of the glorious signage and wonderment of Disneyland. May you experience a day of fun and delight!” — Teri Kahan & Wendy Gault, SfC
The PDF contains additional details of this fun and typographically challenging adventure.
Friday, August 6 2:32 pm/ Posted by Grant /Permalink
We are pleased to announce that this year’s incredible main conference program has been posted, featuring more than 100 of the brightest names in type and design, including:
We’ll explore the hot button topic of web fonts; antique type and lettering of the textile trade; the typography of Disneyland; making smart fonts even smarter; the influence of Charles Eames; liquid typography; west coast “Cholo” style graffiti; and so much more.
Friday, August 6 2:18 pm/ Posted by Tamye /Permalink
Cool things are always happening in LA, and the Saturday before TypeCon, the International Printing Museum is hosting a day-long celebration of Wood Type, Saturday, August 14, from 10 am-4 pm.
While this event isn’t “officially” part of TypeCon, it’s a great chance to get in the mood. The Printing Museum will later be a part of TypeCon for our Southland Tales: A Wind Down event on Sunday, August 22nd.
If you have already registered for TypeCon2010, you can add workshops to your current registration. Simply sign into your account on the RegOnline site and click the “Select Events” link.
Saturday, May 22 2:37 pm/ Posted by Grant /Permalink
The SoTA Typography Award is presented each year to an outstanding member of the type community. John Downer recalls the production process and the presentation of the 2003 award this way:
“In early 2003, Richard Kegler and Tamye Riggs approached me, on behalf of SoTA, to ask if I would consider designing and producing the Typography Award. They told me that Professor Hermann Zapf would be the recipient. I asked if a gilt glass piece would be suitable, and SoTA confided that it was exactly what had been discussed. I promptly proposed a design, set in my own typefaces, and the layout was approved.
Next, we agreed on the dimensions of the glass, the colors, and the various grades of gold leaf to be used. In the following weeks, I screen printed the black background on the reverse side of the glass, but not just on one piece of glass: I did two. Experience had taught me not to rely on luck more than on safety, and because the very fragile award that was to be presented to Mr. Zapf might accidentally have gotten broken in transit from my studio in Iowa City to its destination in Chicago, I elected to make a duplicate as a back-up. Fortunately, both pieces stayed intact during their separate journeys. The first piece was carefully crated and shipped to the Newberry Library in Chicago, for safekeeping until the day of the presentation. Once I received word that it had arrived undamaged, I informed SoTA that the duplicate piece could be crated and shipped to the offices of Linotype GmbH, in Germany, where Mr. Zapf visits and works periodically.
In Chicago, the presentation honoring Mr. Zapf was well attended. After he had been given his award, as shown in the photo here, Mr. Zapf delivered a prepared talk about his career, while sipping red wine, which he declared was more to his liking than the local tap water from Lake Michigan. The formalities were followed by an autograph session, at which Mr. Zapf’s many admirers could have their Hermann Zapf keepsakes signed by the master himself.
Later that night, after Hermann and I had discussed the weight, size, and fragility of the award, he decided that it could be more safely transported and better cared for if it were to be donated to the Cary Collection of Hermann Zapf’s material at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Consequently, that is where the award presented in Chicago is housed today. The duplicate is in Germany, prominently displayed, and available for Mr. Zapf to see at the Linotype headquarters whenever he goes there.”
Friday, May 14 12:26 pm/ Posted by Michelle /Permalink
Congratulations to Satya Rajpurohit, the first winner of the SOTA Catalyst Award. The SOTA Catalyst award was created to recognize a person 30 years of age or younger who has shown both achievement and future promise in the field of typography.
The competition was very close, with 55 entries submitted from 20 different countries. Satya’s work was selected by the committee as representing the outstanding quality required by the award, and as meeting the spirit of its purpose as well. He has been notified of the award and has confirmed that he will speak at Typecon in LA.
Satya is co-founder of the The Indian Type Foundry (ITF) in Ahmedabad, India. He studied at the National Institute of Design (NID) in India and interned with Linotype in Germany. He has also worked at Dalton Maag and L2M3 . He now works full time at ITF, creating original fonts in all the major Indian scripts along with their Latin companions.
We’re pleased to announce that photographer Adrian Wilson will be one of the speakers at TypeCon2010. Represented by the Factory311 agency, he specializes in high end architectural and interior photography, but his interests delve into the typographic. Recently featured in Condé Nast Traveller magazine, Adrian will be speaking on the topic of antique Victorian trademarks and his impressive collection of vintage printing blocks.
Photo courtesy of Jeremy Liebman, Jocelyn Miller, and Condé Nast.
Sunday, May 2 1:56 pm/ Posted by Michelle /Permalink
Thank you to everyone who submitted an application for the SOTA Catalyst Award! We received 54 applications from applicants representing 20 different countries. The deadline has passed and we are no longer accepting applications. Our board members will be busy reviewing applications this week and expect to announce a winner on Wednesday, May 12th. We’re very impressed by the quality of the applications and excited to see so much interest in the award! Stay tuned for more information.
Friday, April 30 1:28 pm/ Posted by Michelle /Permalink
So far, “Coming Together”, the Font Aid IV font, has raised approximately $12,000. All of the money raised is being donated to Doctors Without Borders to help with their relief efforts in Haiti. Thank you to everyone for your support!
A beautiful book has been created which showcases all of the submissions. The book can be purchased online through Lulu.com.
Please continue to help us spread the word about this project! We really appreciate the enthusiasm and support we’ve gotten from the entire type community.
Friday, April 9 5:03 pm/ Posted by Michelle /Permalink
Volunteering is a great way to experience TypeCon from behind the scenes. It is also an excellent way to make industry contacts and looks great on a resume. We are looking for mature, enthusiastic and hard-working students and professionals.
Volunteers are primarily needed Tuesday, August 17–Sunday, August 22nd. Volunteers are expected to commit to at least 3 full days of volunteering and in exchange will receive free admission to the conference. Potential volunteers can apply for a position at the registration desk, in the bookstore or in the gallery. Details about each position can be found on the volunteer application.
Thursday, April 8 3:01 am/ Posted by Tamye /Permalink
TypeCon2010: Babel
August 17-22, 2010
Century Plaza Hyatt Regency, Los Angeles
The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA) is now accepting programming proposals for its twelfth annual conference. TypeCon2010 will be held August 17-22, in Los Angeles. We are partnering with many local and international organizations in presenting TypeCon2010, and look forward to offering a variety of affordable programming designed for type makers and type users from all walks of life.
We are currently reviewing proposals for contemporary and historical presentations and panel discussions, focused hands-on workshops in both the digital and non-digital realms, and a variety of programming for the Type and Design Education Forum and other special events.
Topics at TypeCon cover a broad range of interests, including typography, type design, font production, graphic design, new media, printing history, calligraphy and hand lettering, the book arts, advertising, type in motion, literacy, type sales and marketing, legal issues, type and design education, and other related areas.
Standard programming formats are as follows:
Main Conference Program
Friday-Sunday, August 20-22
- Full-length Presentations: 40 minutes, including time for audience Q&A
- Type in 20 Presentations: 20 minutes, including time for audience Q&A (if any)
- Panel Discussions: a minimum of 3 panelists that represent a range of experience and expertise in a given topic. An experienced moderator is required for all panels - programming committee will choose a moderator at its discretion if an appropriate candidate does not emerge. A moderator may also serve as a panelist where appropriate. Panel discussions range from 45-75 minutes, depending on the topic.
Pre-Conference Workshops
Wednesday-Thursday, August 18-19
Workshops should give attendees and opportunity to "get their hands dirty" and expand their creative and/or technological horizons
- Full-day workshop: 7 hours (with break for lunch at midday)
- Half-day workshop: 3.5 hours (no break)
Type and Design Education Forum
Thursday, August 19
- Typographic Assignments
15-minute presentations of effective and stimulating typographic assignments that make use of and generate a passion for type. Topics may include, but are not limited, to the following:
- Basic skill sets/foundations of type/typography
- Basic lettering/letterform design
- Type history/typographic history
- Experimentation with type
- Interactive/new media
- Creative and innovative teaching methodologies
- Ice Breakers
15-minute presentations that demonstrate creative ways to get students hooked on typography
- Education Forum Workshops
One-and-a-half to two-hour experiential workshops devoted to exploring one type-related class exercise or project
- FiveSpot: The Student Sessions
Full and part-time students of typography, type design, and related fields are invited to present their work. The FiveSpot method is: 15 slides, 20 seconds each (with simultaneous oral narration).
Tours and Special Events
Tuesday-Sunday, August 17-22
All ideas are welcome that showcase typography and design in Los Angeles and the surrounding region
You may submit multiple proposals.
In order to consider your proposal, we will need the following: - you must specify the type of programming spot you are seeking
- presentation/panel/workshop/tour/other event title
- a concise one-paragraph description of your topic (up to 100 words)
- complete supporting materials for review - visuals, theses, articles, abstracts - the more details you provide, the better
- your biography edited for publicity (100 words maximum)
- your CV/resume/long form bio with areas of interest/specialization
- speaking references (if you have not previously presented at TypeCon)
- a statement about why you wish to participate in TypeCon2010
- a print quality headshot in TIFF or JPEG format - must be a minimum of 300 dpi at 2 inches wide
- any other material that supports your proposal
Please use PDF, RTF, or ASCII files for text. Compress all files in a single ZIP archive labeled with your name and the type of program spot you are seeking (example: TC10_Main_LastNameFirstName). If your ZIP archive is larger than 20 mbs, please send a link for downloading instead of transmitting through email.
Email proposals to typecon.program@typesociety.org by May 10, 2010. The programming committee will review all proposals for possible inclusion in the conference schedule.
Tuesday, April 6 12:03 pm/ Posted by James /Permalink
Font Aid IV, sponsored by the The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA), brought together nearly 400 type designers, graphic designers, and other artists from around the world to create a font to benefit the victims of the January 2010 Haiti earthquake. The font consists entirely of ampersands, to represent the idea of people coming together to help one another. This book documents this project and displays all of the glyphs created for the “Coming Together” font.
All money raised by the project is being donated to Doctors Without Borders to help with their relief efforts in Haiti.
Tuesday, March 23 9:17 am/ Posted by James /Permalink
The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA) is pleased to announce a new award for young people who have created original work in type design, type history, or other areas related to typography. The award recognizes a person 30 years of age or younger who shows both achievement and future promise in the field of typography. The recipient will attendTypeCon2010 in Los Angeles and will give a presentation during the conference program.
The SOTA board of directors hopes that this introduction to a large cross-section of the typographic community will serve as a catalyst in advancing the career of the recipient.
The award includes main conference and education forum registration fees plus reimbursement of up to $1500 USD for coach travel to/from Los Angeles and standard lodging in the conference hotel while attending TypeCon. Attending TypeCon2010 and giving a presentation are required to receive the award.
Submission Deadline April 30, 2010
Notification of Award May 12, 2010
Judging Entries will be reviewed by a committee of SOTA board members.
Requirements Recipient must have been born in 1980 or later, and must attend TypeCon2010 in Los Angeles and give a 20-minute presentation during the main conference.
The following materials must be emailed to catalyst@typesociety.org by the submission deadline: 1. A PDF file (may be multiple pages) detailing a specific project or group of related work to be the topic of your presentation
2. A brief description of the presentation with title (100 words or less)
3. A letter explaining your involvement in typography (300 words or less)
4. Optional online links to additional work or background information
Please place all submission files into a folder and compress into a single archive marked with your name. If your submission is larger than 12 MB, please provide a URL for downloading materials. Use the following as the subject line of your email: 2010 SOTA Catalyst (Your First and Last Name).
Contact Information Include your name, date of birth, physical address, organization or university affiliation if applicable, email address, web URL, and phone number with area code. Applicants from outside the U.S. or Canada should include their country dialing code as well.
Thursday, January 21 2:26 pm/ Posted by James /Permalink
It is time once again to become a member, or renew your membership, of the Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA). In addition to receiving the typical benefits like conference discounts and publications, SOTA members have a unique opportunity to get truly involved with the organization and the community we serve.
Members are welcome to propose venues and programming for future TypeCons and other events. Members are also encouraged to generate ideas for public awareness campaigns, educational efforts, fund raising activities, other events and entities to support, broadening cultural diversity, and more. And be on the look-out for more online exclusive members only content coming soon.
View a full list of membership levels and benefits here.
Individual Membership Levels $75—1 year Aficionado (regular) membership
$30—1 year Student membership
$250—1 year Champion (sustaining) membership
Corporate Membership Levels $500—Roman (includes 2 memberships for employees)
$1000—Italic (includes 4 memberships for employees)
$2000—Titling (includes 8 memberships for employees)
And you can even add a tax-deductible donation of any amount.
Or renew your membership here, by clicking already joined.
If you would like to pay with a check, please send your Name, Address, City, State, and Zip, Phone Number, and Email Address, and make checks payable to:
Jon Coltz/SOTA Treasurer
3917 York Ave N
Robbinsdale, MN 55422
SOTA is a volunteer-driven non-profit organization. We rely on the support and involvement of our members to accomplish our mission. Your participation is essential to the continued growth and usefulness of SOTA. We want to let you know how much we value your continued support for this vital community organization and how important your support is to its ongoing success.
Monday, July 20 4:12 pm/ Posted by Shu Lai /Permalink
There was an epic panel on Web Fonts at TypeCon2009. We are going to prepare and upload the video online, but for now we have the complete unedited audio for your listening, sharing and embedding enjoyment.
Sunday, July 19 1:28 pm/ Posted by Tamye /Permalink
SOTA is super excited to be bringing TypeCon2010 to the great city of Los Angeles. Conference hotel and headquarters is the Century Plaza Hyatt Regency. Mark your calendars for August 17-22, 2010!
Saturday, July 18 2:07 pm/ Posted by Tamye /Permalink
The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA) has announced that Dutch type designer, author, and educator Gerard Unger has been honored with the 2009 SOTA Typography Award. The presentation took place on Friday, July 17, 2009, at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead, as part of TypeCon2009.
The 67-year-old Unger (of Bussum, The Netherlands) is the designer of such well-known typefaces as Swift, Gulliver, and Capitolium. He is a visiting professor at the University of Reading, UK, Department of Typography and Graphic Communication, and has also taught at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam, and the University of Leiden. In addition to his work in type design, Unger has designed stamps, coins, magazines, newspapers, books, corporate identities, and other projects.
Unger was the unanimous choice of the 2009 jury, which included designers and educators Sam Berlow, Nadine Chahine, John Downer, Hank Richardson, Juliet Shen, and jury chair Shu-Yun Reed Lai.
Unger's tribute took place as part of the TypeCon2009 conference, a week-long celebration of type and lettering in all its forms. He has won several other major prizes for his type design, and has written for magazines and other publications. His book "Terwijl je leest" was published in 1995 and updated in 2006, with a new English edition ("While You're Reading") published in 2006.
Unger was chosen to receive SOTA's seventh annual award due to his outstanding and diverse body of work in type design, his history of teaching and mentoring, his thoughtful authorship, his influence on countless designers, and his standing as a respected leader of the global typographic community.
The SOTA Typography Award is presented each year to an outstanding member of the type community. Past recipients are Hermann Zapf, Ed Benguiat, Matthew Carter, Adrian Frutiger, David Berlow, and Gerrit Noordzij.
SOTA is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, study, and support of type design, typography, and the related arts. For more information about SOTA, please visit http://www.typesociety.org.
Monday, July 14 10:42 pm/ Posted by Stephen Coles /Permalink
Those who Twitter can chime in on the communal chatter of fellow attendees by using the hashtag #TypeCon, and follow the official TypeCon Twitter feed for breaking news throughout the conference. For those who don’t Twitter (or haven’t a clue what I’m muttering about), this blog is still the place to get conference news, but twitters are quick, timely bits that will be sent directly to your mobile phone, iPhone, or other personal communications device as soon as they’re posted. Have a look.
The competition was very close, with 55 entries submitted from 20 different countries. Satya’s work was selected by the committee as representing the outstanding quality required by the award, and as meeting the spirit of its purpose as well. He has been notified of the award and has confirmed that he will speak at Typecon in LA.
