Ralf Herrmann:
Wayfinding & Typography

Info graphic: Development of the Major Outline Font Formats

Capital Sharp S explained to Typographers (screencast)

Empirical study about the legibility of typefaces used on signs in public space

The 10 best fonts from the Google Webfonts Directory

The Beauty of Road Signs

How to draw a Capital Sharp S

What makes letters legible?

How do we read words and how should we set them?

The Onion Layer Model of Legibility

Wayfinding in different frames of reference

Capital Sharp S – Germany’s new character

Books on Signage & Wayfinding

OpenType myths explained

Guia – a wayfinding typeface for pedestrian signage

Wayfinding observations: Separation slows down perception

Wayfinding observations: Landmarks and cardinal directions

Designing the ultimate wayfinding typeface

Myths about Helvetica and Mac OS X (since 10.5)

2012/02/18

10 Comments

First there was Fontographer, then FontLab Studio, and now we have Glyphs and RoboFont—two new Mac font editors developed by individual designers/developers. After over 10 years of working with FontLab (Studio) I now switched entirely to Glyphs by Georg Seifert. If you browse the Glyphs website you will find a lot of innovative features—like the combined [...]

2012/02/06

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A while ago I posted a video about the design of the signage system of the new Berlin Airport. I was instantly flooded with emails, stating that the video was filled with wrong claims about who design which part of this complex design system. So I finally took it down at the same day. But [...]

2012/01/31

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Just some days ago, I updated my article Rare Type Specimens at the Open Library. In a comment, a user suggested another great resource: The Silver Buckle Press Collection. Silver Buckle Press is a working museum of letterpress printing dedicated to preserving the craft of fine printing through educational programming, publications, exhibitions and tours. The [...]

2012/01/23

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For years I try to explain to people, what OpenType really means and in which way it differs from TrueType and in which way it doesn’t. And I explain to people that it is safe to use a Windows TrueType font on the Mac in the year 2012 … (See my older article OpenType myths [...]

2012/01/09

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Using webfonts to insert characters or symbols in a website—Or why is Opera screwing up my font stacks? Back in 2008, shortly after Apple started the new webfont revolution with the release of Safari 3.1, I wrote an article about how the webfont technology could be used to insert certain glyphs or vector objects like logos [...]

2012/01/02

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Media Artist Nicholas Hanna built a tricycle that can also paint Chinese characters on the ground as it moves. Water Calligraphy has a long history in China, normally characterized by older Chinese men painting characters on the ground of parks with long brushes and water. But Nicholas’ version is a wee bit more complicated … [...]

2011/12/28

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The Dutch wayfinding experts from Mijksenaar released an app for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, that collects best practices around signage and wayfinding design. The app contains a set of rules-of-thumb and the content of the app is meant to engage in discussion and understanding for wayfinding amongst professionals, designers and novices. Wayfinding and architecture have more [...]