on the misidentification of typefaces and the embarrassment, shame, and chagrin associated therewith: a case study in brief

Oh, Trade Gothic, where have you been all my... I-I mean News Gothic... Wait, who are you again?

I hate to lose face, but I dislike not knowing the truth even more, so when Eric Olson was kind enough to email recently and inform me, in the gentlest of ways, that what I thought was Trade Gothic on the pages of the DWR catalog was actually Bitstream’s cut of News Gothic, I smiled and quietly spouted, “Oh. (Sigh, pause). Shit.” A necessary lesson in humility and type ID all in one.

At least it wasn’t nearly as bad as the time, awhile back, I confused (in correspondence with Eric, no less) Process Grotesque with Bureau Grotesque. Oh crikey, God-what-have-I-done, triple-shit-on-a-stick (it’s a Minnesota thing) that was. Thankfully, he bore no grudge and hasn’t even mentioned it since!

Eric is right, of course, about DWR’s main text face, and for the purpose of verification, check the scan here against Trade Gothic and Bitstream News Gothic.

I may have been close, but alas, I smoke no cigar.

25-February 2003