One could say some of the Typographic Dialogues at ATypI were of a rather corporate nature, and some of them even became heated discussions, especially those between representatives of big companies and designers. If you want to dip into the technical aspects first, please read Part 1 of my ATypI review. For a focus on teaching type read Part 2. In Part 3 you will find striking intercultural aspects. With Part 4 we try to understand some corporate issues, by examining history too.

The Typographic Dialogues – initiated by ATypI and continued during the coffee breaks, in the evenings and even on the Barcelona beach – brought together type aficionados from all over the world. You can hardly get any more intercultural than this! If you are the conscientious type and haven’t done already, you might want to read part 1 of my report first (type design tools and technical issues), as well as part 2 (teaching type design). This third part focuses on some striking intercultural aspects of the conference.

These are the final days of 2014, so it is high time to consider which calendar to get for the new year. The tear-off calendar that has become a fixture on any self-respecting typophile’s desk or wall is Typodarium, which makes you discover a new typeface every day. It is the secret weapon against typonotony, a (fortunately) curable form of typographic monotony, frequently manifested through the constant use of always the same font (in most cases Helvetica).

Like every year Christmas springs itself upon us. Those of us who are slightly disorganised are left in a panicked present-buying frenzy when realising we only have a few more shopping days left. But what to buy? What to ask for? Stay cool. FontShop might be able to help …

The voice of reason

Friedrich Bauer was a type designer, typographer and printer, whose legacy includes numerous essays and articles on type and printing technology in the late 19th and early 20th century. Without question his essential contribution to type history is the Chronik der Schriftgießereien in Deutschland und den deutschsprachigen Nachbarländern (chronicle of type foundries in Germany and the German speaking neighboring countries), published in 1928¹. Towards the end of his career, in 1934, Bauer designed a grotesk typeface² that bears his name; a design that never gained much recognition in the era it was released in. Eighty years later Friedrich-Bauer-Grotesk has been rediscovered, carefully digitized and re-released as FF Bauer Grotesk^TM typeface.