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Random Musings III

Sir, this area is just for waiting

After just having returned from a month researching my family in Italy (we were able to trace our family back to 1200 when previously we couldn’t get past 1860), I noticed the prevalence of the green man over The States’ preference for the red word “Exit”. But I also saw a number of signs that I felt were funny. Here’s one for the “waiting area” of an airport. In a place where iconography is especially important due to so many international speakers around, I initially thought this was a sign for the bathroom.

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Travel Map

TripAdvisor Travel Map

As I wait in jittery, excited anticipation of my big trip back to the old country to see the rustic villa where my grandfather was born in 1909, I have been asking a number of friends about their recommended off-the-beaten-path must-dos in Italy.

I was initially quite proud of this until I visited some of the travel maps of friends, which look like glitteringly decadent Christmas trees. My lowly map, if you notice, has no dots west of the Mississippi—which will change for Todd’s wedding this July—and only sparse locations in Eastern Europe. I’ve been to less than half of the world’s continents and have predominantly traded in dollars, pounds and euros (and pre-euro currencies). And while I’m struggling to become less sedentary, I’m merely posting this pitiful map to show to the friends who’ve asked about my previous travel experiences.

That said, if you find yourself in any of the following locations this June, let’s get a Prosecco and Peroni:

– Rome
– Naples
– Siena
– Florence
– Chianti
– Anywhere in Tuscany
– Anywhere on the Amalfi Coast
– Anywhere on the Ligurian Sea

And, if you’ve been there before, let me know of some things you recommend!

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The Google Job Experiment

Alec Brownstein (copywriter/director) got a job at Y&R New York by playing to the egos of Gerry Graf, David Droga, Tony Granger, Ian Reichenthal and Scott Vitrone. And then he won two pencils and a Clio for doing it.

Brownstein bought Google ad words for the creative directors’ names, which cost him $6. “No one else was bidding on (the names),” he tells us, “so I got the top spot for like 10 cents a click.” This got him interviews with everyone except Granger. Reichenthal and Vitrone are both at Y&R NY and the rest is history.

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Font Shop: Top 100 Fonts of All Time

Below are Font Shop’s Top 100 Fonts of Al Time, as rated by an international jury. If I have time and/or motivation, I’d link each of these. Sadly, at this point in my life, I do not.

Rank | Font Name | [Date Designed – Designed By]
1. Helvetica [1957 – Max Miedinger] 2. Garamond [1530 – Claude Garamond] 3. Frutiger [1977 – Adrian Frutiger] 4. Bodoni [1970 – Giambattista Bodoni] 5. Futura [1927 – Paul Renner] 6. Times [1931 – Stanley Morison] 7. Akzidenz Grotesk [1966 – Günter Gerhard Lange] 8. Officina [1990 – Erik Spiekermann] 9. Gill Sans [1930 – Eric Gill] 10. Univers [1954 – Adrian Frutiger] 11. Optima [1954 – Hermann Zapf] 12. Franklin Gothic [1903 – Morris Fuller Benton] 13. Bembo [1496 – Francesco Griffo] 14. Interstate [1993 – Tobias Frere-Jones] 15. Thesis [1994 – Lucas de Groot] 16. Rockwell [1934 – Frank H. Pierpont] 17. Walbaum [1800 – Justus Walbaum] 18. Meta [1991 – Erik Spiekermann] 19. Trinité [1982 – Bram De Does] 20. Din [1926 – Ludwig Goller] 21. Matrix [1986 – Zuzana Licko] 22. OCR [1965 – American Type Founders] 23. Avant Garde [1968 – Herb Lubalin] 24. Lucida [1985 – Chris Holmes / Charles Bigelow] 25. Sabon [1964 – Jan Tschichold] 26. Zapfino [1998 – Hermann Zapf] 27. Letter Gothic [1956 – Roger Roberson] 28. Stone [1987 – Summer Stone] 29. Arnhem [1998 – Fred Smeijers] 30. Minion [1990 – Robert Slimbach] 31. Myriad [1992 – Twombly & Slimbach] 32. Rotis [1988 – Olt Aicher] 33. Eurostile [1962 – Aldo Novarese] 34. Scala [1991 – Martin Majoor] 35. Syntax [1968 – Hans Eduard Meier] 36. Joanna [1930 – Eric Gill] 37. Fleishmann [1997 – Erhard Kaiser] 38. Palatino [1950 – Hermann Zapf] 39. Baskerville [1754 – John Baskerville] 40. Fedra [2002 – Peter Bil’ak] 41. Gotham [2000 – Tobias Frere-Jones] 42. Lexicon [1992 – Bram De Does] 43. Hands [1991 – Letterror] 44. Metro [1929 – W. A. Dwiggins] 45. Didot [1799 – Firmin Didot] 46. Formata [1984 – Bernd Möllenstädt] 47. Caslon [1725 – William Caslon] 48. Cooper Black [1920 – Oswald B. Cooper] 49. Peignot [1937 – A. M. Cassandre] 50. Bell Gothic [1938 – Chauncey H. Griffith] 51. Antique Olive [1962 – Roger Excoffon] 52. Wilhelm Klngspor Gotisch [1926 – Rudolf Koch] 53. Info [1996 – Erik Spiekermann] 54. Dax [1995 – Hans Reichel] 55. Proforma [1988 – Petr van Blokland] 56. Today Sans [1988 – Volker Küster] 57. Prokyon [2002 – Erhard Kaiser] 58. Trade Gothic [1948 – Jackson Burke] 59. Swift [1987 – Gerald Unger] 60. Copperplate Gothic [1901 – Frederic W. Goudy] 61. Blur [1992 – Neville Brody] 62. Base [1995 – Zuzana Licko] 63. Bell Centennial [1978 – Matthew Carter] 64. News Gothic [1908 – Morris Fuller Benton] 65. Avenir [1988 – Adrian Frutiger] 66. Bernhard Modern [1937 – Lucian Bernhard] 67. Amplitude [2003 – Christian Schwartz] 68. Trixie [1991 – Erik van Blokland] 69. Quadraat [1992 – Fred Smeijers] 70. Neutraface [2002 – Christian Schwartz] 71. Nobel [1929 – Sjoerd de Roos] 72. Industria [1990 – Neville Brody] 73. Bickham Script [1997 – Richard Lipton] 74. Bank Gothic [1930 – Morris Fuller Benton] 75. Corporate ASE [1989 – Kurt Weidemann] 76. Fago [2000 – Ole Schafer] 77. Trajan [1989 – Carol Twombly] 78. Kabel [1927 – Rudolf Koch] 79. House Gothic 23 [1995 – Tal Leming] 80. Kosmik [1993 – Letterror] 81. Caecilia [1990 – Peter Matthias Noordzij] 82. Mrs Eaves [1996 – Zuzana Licko] 83. Corpid [1997 – Lucas de Groot] 84. Miller [1997 – Matthew Carter] 85. Souvenir [1914 – Morris Fuller Benton] 86. Instant Types [1992 – Just van Rossum] 87. Clarendon [1845 – Benjamin Fox] 88. Triplex [1989 – Zuzana Licko] 89. Benguiat [1989 – Ed Benguiat] 90. Zapf Renaissance [1984 – Hermann Zapf] 91. Filosofia [1996 – Zuzana Licko] 92. Chalet [1996 – House Industries] 93. Quay Sans [1990 – David Quay] 94. Cézanne [1995 – Michael Want, James Grieshaber] 95. Reporter [1938 – Carlos Winkow] 96. Legacy [1992 – Ronald Arnholm] 97. Agenda [1993 – Greg Thompson] 98. Bello [2004 – Underware] 99. Dalliance [2000 – Frank Heine] 100. Mistral [1953 – Roger Excoffon]