psychic squabble

Ego: ...you know, Indie Fonts – it’s that book featuring the work of independent type foundries. I simply haven’t had the time to scrutinize it like I should. Do you two think you’re up to the task? Now as usual, I’m taking the weekend off. Let’s see what kind of progress you can make by Monday morning...

Id: Independent? Foundry...? Ha! Two great big anachronisms, where type is concerned. Nobody’s independent anymore, and foundries no longer exist. And to feature the work of these so-called independent foundries in a book? Catalogued schmaltz, I say!

Superego: Guided by instinct, as usual, Id. Please explain yourself.

Id: Let’s begin with independent, shall we? Well, everybody and his dog is selling their wares on possessiveadjectivefonts.com or is hooked in through the Creative Whatever, which in turn is arm in arm with the granddaddy of them all. (Singing: Do you know the way to San Jose...?) Besides, you do know that independent is just a euphemism for small, don’t you? That’s right, in this context, independent simply implies secretly wishing one’s enterprise were bigger. Independent – such a noble thing to be in these organic-eatin’, hybrid-drivin’, tree-huggin’ times of ours. And foundry! Sheesh, foundry harkens back to the days of punchcutters and matrices and casters and such. Making type these days means a couple of kids sittin’ around in their underwear playing connect the dots with Bézier curves. And a book to show these types in? Have these Indie people ever heard of the Internet?

Superego: Completely irrational, and not funny in the least. Let me cross-examine you; where were you last Friday afternoon?

Id: Huh? Whaddya mean?

Superego: Were you not along for the ride with Our Master?

Id: Hey, I’m predestined to be unconscious most of the time and you know it. Not fair!

Superego: Let me refresh your apparently nonexistent memory. Master drove over to the Chank Company to pick up the Indie Fonts book. The company is headquartered in the beautiful, old California building in Northeast Minneapolis – a converted warehouse – not in some shiny, sterile office complex in the suburbs. This is independent. Master was then greeted by Chank himself, book in hand, and the two of them had a dandy chat over large lattes. When was the last time John Warnock met Master for coffee and handed over a book? This is what it means to be independent. Chank then proceeded to show Master some of his fonts in said book, fonts whose development and production were dictated neither by the whim of the disinterested wealthy who sit on corporate boards nor by the rising and falling fractions of a share price, but rather, by personal interest and passion. This epitomizes independence! And as for type foundry, did you bother to check the glossary in the back of the Indie Fonts book? No, because you’re illiterate and entirely preoccupied with carnal desire. It says, “Literally, a place for the manufacture of type...in modern terminology, a designer or company that creates and/or distributes digital typefaces may...be called a type foundry.” To your penultimate point, we have no evidence whatsoever that Gutenberg did not set the 42 line bible in his underwear. (You had to mention underwear, didn’t you.) Besides, I don’t care whether Chank drew Chunder in his underwear or Matthew designed Miller completely naked! You’re obsessing on nomenclature and missing the point as a result. Finally, to address your tired, old, screen vs. print argument, try as you might to keep up with the happenings of independent foundries and to stay abreast of their new releases, not to mention marking the appearance of new foundries themselves – well, it’s an undeniably Sisyphean task. Not all independent foundries have websites, and those that do are largely limited to displaying their typefaces as GIF images. Are you really fully satisfied by a collection of GIFs?

Id: Me? I’m never satisfied! Heh heh...

Superego: Get serious! People who use type print. And people who consider purchasing a typeface will scrutinize a sample – far preferably a printed one – before spending the money. There simply is no substitute for high-resolution, printed output. You’ve taken a look at the book; honestly, did you ever see the faces of LettError, Psy/Ops, and Test Pilot Collective look so good?

Id: Um, no. But...

Superego: But nothing! The work of independent type foundries needs and deserves to be celebrated, collected, and catalogued for the simple reason that it is done in a spirit of independence – free from all the constraints that corporations and their trappings can impose. Look around you – type is everywhere. On everything from street signs to cereal boxes, from storefronts to solicitations. And much of the best of that type was produced by independent foundries.

Id: Alright, alright, you’ve convinced me. Shiny gold star for you. But we’ve still got a book to read.

Superego: Indeed we do – let’s get on with it! Now, what did Master say? Oh yes, “Let’s see what kind of progress you can make by Monday morning...”

13-March 2003