I just love that type…

That’s right, Typecon is being held in Seattle this year. A nice contract from the New York and Boston venues of the past two years. The conference will be held from August 1-5 and promises to be a very interesting weekend.Typography is one of my very favorite aspects of design and the opportunity to head north to Typecon is an unexpected treat for this summer.

As it looks right now Wednesday and Thursday will be filled with optional workshops, tours Seattle’s typographic hot spots, and educational forums. A nice way to get a little northwest flavor. Friday through Sunday is the main conference and the schedule is still to be announced. They are boasting over 60 speakers and workshop leaders. If you love typography as much as I do this is the event of the summer. Ok, so the HOW design might be the event of the summer but it’s in Atlanta and airfare isn’t cheap. So as far as the Northwest is concerned SOTA’s Typecon is where it’s at! Get more information at Typecon.com

While on the subject of typography and design I thought I would share some of my favorite new typefaces as of late. I do this every now and then to let others who might not pay as close attention know whats out there. In Veer’s latest mail shot I found some very nice new faces I just cant wait to work with.

Softmachine is one of ShinnType’s latest faces. Softmachine makes a rounded face look so good. I am not usually drawn to rounded type faces but this one is a little different. It has a playful attitude that seems like it would work best as a display face. Nick Shinn has developed over 20 different typefaces over the years, Fontesque being one of the most popular. Softmachine seems a little different from most of his work thus far. It has that playful quality that comes with a rounded face. I hope to be able to find a good use for this.

Chevron is one of the latest typefaces offered in the Umbrella line from Veer. The Umbrella collection is a compilation of typefaces hand-picked from small foundries and independent designers around the world. Umbrella features typefaces by talented yet relatively unknown typographers, and typefaces by graphic designers better known for their other creative work. The Umbrella collection brings these deserving faces to a much wider audience in North America, through promotion in Veer catalogs and availability from the Veer web site. Chevron is a sweet art deco inspired face with tight fitting letters and strong verticals. The serifs arn’t too pronounced but give the face a authoritative kind of feeling. Brian Sooy is the typographer behind this strict face that demands attention. Nice work.

There is a lot of good type out right now. Like never before artists have the ability to get their type on the market for designers to find. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. There is more type for us designers to sort through which means more good type and more bad type. A good typeface is indispensable and used often. I have about 15 different faces I turn to before exploring other options. They all have a different feeling and use but on the whole they constitute about 70% of my choices. Maybe this is a little near sighted of me but I believe if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. See ya at Typecon!