Analog typeface identification
TypeIdentifer, Centennial Graphics Inc., 1986
“The number of typefaces available to the typesetting industry was expanding rapidly and the impracticality of committing them to memory was becoming increasingly obvious. This TypeIdentifier [TM] was conceived as a way for anyone to quickly identify and determine the name of an unknown typeface, no matter what their level of training or prior experience.”—TypeIdentifier introduction
The TypeIdentifier listed most of the know typefaces and had columns of letters you could scan to find a match for the unidentified sample your client had provided.
Creating the TypeIdentifier must have been a slog. It sounds straightforward: Set the typeface name and character set for all the typefaces. I seem to remember problems setting too many typefaces in one galley because of memory limitations. The TypeIdentifier involved lots of work in paste-up and proofreading, too.
It was such a great tool that I made a photocopy, and brought it with me to every place I worked (with apologies to Bruce Beck and Centennial Graphics).
When Wysiwyg spelled WTF
Advertising spread for Adobe Type Manager, 1989 Font & Function
For years, type on screen was 72ppi pixels, and then, Adobe figured out how to anti-alias and render smooth curves on screen. Hard to imagine that we lived for over five years, glad of our blocky screen type, glad we had transcended pure code!
Now this feature is part of the operating system instead of a pricey extension.
Does your front end talk to your back end?
Once there were mainframes that drove dedicated typesetting systems. Then there were microcomputers, Aldus Pagemaker and Freehand, Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. Halftones, illustrations, and multiple columns of type could be set together.
This advertisement expresses the last dying cries of the great Dynasties of Typesetting. Ironically, the smallest conversation bubble says “Hi Mac.” Soon, “Hi Mac,” and “greetings IBM” would be all any imaging device would need to say.
vjb • scribe 