Latest ten days of posting

Weblog | I don't like the word blog, it's ugly. Anyway, new content happens here. (Swedish dito)

About me and the site | Twenty-something male who likes text. Obsessed with things such as books, reality, communication, and one or two tv-shows.

Archives | Things written here since... well, 2001. Some of it is good, some is utter shait.

Books | Books read, not books written. So far I've struggled to maintain unpublished.

Photo | I like my camera and it likes me.

Links | Outwards, away, flee.

e-mail | J. Nicklas Andersson

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2001-09-18

I am poor and the cd Gift has been released today. Yes, it is by Curve and yes, I’m a fan. For those of you who by any chance don’t know of them at all — poor, sad, misguided people — well, you’re in luck. For a short while, they have a non-album track for download. It’s not a typical Curve-song but anyway you should run, don’t walk, there with your browser and download. Listen. Enjoy. Embrace the music.

What is the matter with all these crappy guidelines — wrong word to use since you’re required to follow it to the letter — for essays? Sure, it’s good that they exist and all, but some of these things they say is just plain wrong. Take this one for example: “Everything should be set in Times New Roman.” (Except, perhaps, for the Macies. But I didn’t ask as I do my work under Windows. Yes, I know. Bad me.)

The thing is this that I don’t like Times New Roman. I can’t leave aside my pet peeves with the typeface, such that in wide columns it lumps together, it isn’t clear enough for good readability. Aside from this, it has its uses. In multi-column newspaper-like environment it’s rather good. But I just don’t like it anyway. Stanley Morison had some good thoughts behind it, but I think he failed with what he set out to do.

I feel that it is inferior to other, much clearer typefaces that actually look good no matter where it is used. But never mind that. As always, the lowest common denominator rules and the minorities are punished for the faults of the masses. To use a metaphor: instead of closing a shotgun wound properly, they hand out bandaid — preferably with Donald Duck-images. Or in these days, the Power Rangers, but that is not important.

I realise that educating the masses about typographic importance might be dead on arrival. Still, that doesn’t explain why we who actually care and know the whys-and-whynots shouldn’t chose for ourselves. Not all people believe that MS Comic Sans is a good font.

A standard with no choices to be made is not good at all, it leaves no place for personal thoughts, growth and expression. Give the masses some fonts to choose from, and the rest of us to our own devices.

(Oh boy, do I come off as an elitist bastard or what?)