We’ve already given Intel props for modernizing their identity with a suitably modern typeface, Sebastian Lester’s Neo® Sans. Data Robotics, Inc. — makers of the Drobo storage device that is sweeping the tech community — have made fine use of another member of the Neo® family, Neo® Tech.

Read more about Neo® in this PDF issued by Monotype® upon its release, and download and print detailed specimens of Neo® Sans and Neo® Tech.

There are various purchase options for the two font families, but we strongly recommend the OpenType Value Packs for efficient access to numerals and alternate glyphs, and, you guessed it, value — getting an OT family all at once costs much less per font.

• Neo® Sans Std
• Neo® Tech Std
• Neo® Sans Pro – support for Central European languages
• Neo® Tech Pro – support for Central European languages

The Pergamon Museum in Berlin is presenting their Babylon exhibition unraveling the deep treasures, myths and truths behind the legendary city of Babylon. For their promotional designs, the exhibit has chosen Achaz Reuss’ FF QType. FF QType’s structural and square-based letterforms are the modern day alternative to the ancient cuneiform of Babylonian tablets. Using strong blocks of type in all capital letters, their bus ads and promotional designs showcase simple yet bold statements to bring Babylonian history back to life.

UK-based designer Andrew Townsend is in charge of Un.titled’s art direction. As Wig-01 he works on self-initiated art and design projects such as the “Graphic Poetry” book and illustrations for various magazines. The typeface of his simple, dynamic website showcasing these projects is Font Bureau’s Hermes. The typeface does an excellent job both in screen and print media.

This is the first in a series of studio profiles featuring those who were published in Print magazine’s Regional Design Annual.The Decoder Ring Design Concern is an Austin, Texas based design partnership founded in 2004 with roots in music and retail identity, design and promotion. They received multiple honors in Print’s annual, twice for their poster work. Our favorite is a promotional poster for the indie pop band The Hold Steady uses the luscious Milk Script from Sudtipos.

The other band poster, appropriately supporting The Decemberists’ album “The Crane Wife”, doubles as a giant origami crane. Arthur Baker’s Visigoth font lends just the right kind of Asian calligraphic tone.

The Decoder Ring does more than poster work. Their logo for this year’s SXSW conference is instantly recognizable. The bold, stencilesque letters look like a simple, but effective reworking of Braggadocio. The bulky slab, Dynamo, supports the logotype well.

One piece that didn’t make it in the Annual is probably the designers’ largest project to date (physically, that is). While employed at McGarrah-Jessee Advertising, members of The Decoder Ring were asked to create the logo for Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Texas. “During the development process, it became apparent that the smart approach was to first create a sign for the field, and then build the logo around it.” The logo is anchored by a sturdy sans serif with a foot in the pre-War past: Cyrus Highsmith’s Stainless.

On May 10, 2008 — Pangea Day — sites in Cairom, Dharamsala, Jerusalem, Kigali, London, New York City, Ramallah, and Rio de Janeiro will be videoconferenced live to produce a 4-hour program of powerful films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music.

Avenue A | Razorfish designed the website for this groundbreaking project using a simple black and teal color scheme and soft shadows and glows to create a cinematic stage for the videos and information. The type is set almost entirely in Benton Sans Condensed Black, a strong, contemporary font that is powerful when set big and tight and surprisingly legible at small sizes on screen.

Benton Sans is Tobias Frere-Jones’ and Cyrus Highsmith’s update of an old American workhorse, News Gothic. Many of News Gothic’s quirks have been regularized and Benton is livelier in the heavy weights, but the original’s sturdy, no-nonsense tone remains. And, as is the Font Bureau way, the family was expanded into a versatile 26-piece set.

The inaugural QBN Sessions, a one-day design lecture series, will kick off on September 7 at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. Names like Shepard Fairey, Joshua Davis, and Michael C. Place are worthy enough of mentioning, but we’re giving the conference props here in the ’Feed simply for the elegant website design featuring FF Info Text and Underware’s Dolly, which sits remarkably well on the same page with HTML Georgia. And what’s that chunky serif type in the QBN logo? Cooper Black, of course.

Every conference website should display speaker and program information this clearly.

We end our three-part newsletter series on packaging design with a look at the scripts so commonly seen at the supermarket and drugstore. This edition features a list of fonts that effectively emulate the hand drawn lettering that appears on dryer sheets, paper towels, and hand soap.

If they somehow slipped into your junk box or trash (for shame!) here are links to the web versions of the FontShop Newsletters featuring the fonts of package design:

• Tasty Type - Fonts on food packages
• Design Outside the Box - More packages, featuring Target® brands
• Pillowy Soft Scripts - Fonts that emulate the hand lettering of product logos

Part two in our series on the typography of packaging is the result of a trip to Target®. Several of the boxes we picked from the shelves happened to be Target brands, and we’re not surprised — the chain is setting new standards for both product design and the overall experience of retail shopping. Also featured in this issue of the newsletter are Gardener’s Therapies™ and Method®, two very different but equally appealing approaches to package design.

See also: Fonts on Food

This week FontShop took a trip to the supermarket in search of the best in current packaging design. Check out our favorites (including Tazo® tea, Izze® juices, and Kettle® chips) in the Tasty Type Newsletter.