Latest Blogs

Scanning Around With Gene: A Thanksgiving Day Parade of Images

Perhaps more a meal than a real holiday, Thanksgiving is a unique American tradition. And now we all get to sit at the adult table!

Scanning Around with Gene: A Normal Day in Dallas Turns Tragic

It was 45 years ago November 22 that an assassin's bullet brought America to a standstill. For those who lived through that event, the images are both stark and unforgettable.

TypeTalk: Horizontal Alignment

Proper horizontal alignment is key to professional-looking typography. Here's how to get it.

Scanning Around With Gene: Oodles and Oodles of White-House Poodles

The First Family’s search for a hypoallergenic dog could lead to America’s first Poodle-in-Chief. Not a pretty thought.

TypeTalk: Vertical Alignment

When it comes to pleasing vertical alignment, let your eyes be the final judge, not leading numbers.

Scanning Around With Gene: Lasting Love

How does a World War II-era scrapbook relate to present-day California legislation?

TypeTalk: What Makes a Font a Pro?

Some OpenType fonts have the word "Pro" at the end of their names. What in the world does it mean?

Scanning Around With Gene: Vote Like Your Life Depends on It!

Of all the liberties this country is founded on, none have been more contested or more valued than the right to vote. Here’s a quick look back on some images in the struggle for voting rights.

TypeTalk: Email Etiquette

Email is different from print publications. But does that mean all typographic rules fly out the window?

Scanning Around with Gene: And Leave the Driving to Us!

Economic bad times may force some of us to take a second look at traveling by bus, a transportation alternative that once enjoyed a considerably better image than it does today.

TypeTalk: Automatic Leaders to the Rescue

When you need a string of dots between text, such as you see in tables of contents, don't type a bunch of periods. Add the dot leader automatically!

Scanning Around with Gene: Let’s All Pile in the Station Wagon!

Before mini-vans and SUVs, the preferred method of family transportation was the station wagon, complete with folding way-back seats, domed roofs, and cool names.

TypeTalk: Kerning in Action

In Part 2 of this series on kerning, we look at good and bad examples.

Scanning Around With Gene: Kitchen-Table Wisdom

Kitchen tables are the hub of many family homes, especially during tough times. But not only the tables have changed -- so have the discussions around them.

TypeTalk: Kerning Principles

Unravel the mystery of kerning in two parts. This week is Part 1: the Basic Principles.

Scanning Around With Gene: Our Love/Hate Relationship with the Atom

For the generations that grew up in the 1950s and '60s, the threat of nuclear annihilation was tempered by the promise of the atom as a new best friend.

TypeTalk: Axes Aren't Evil

In the world of typefaces, an "axis" refers to the way the round part of a character leans (or doesn't lean).

Get Creative Video: News for the Week of September 29, 2008

Big software news from big players!

Scanning Around With Gene: In Debates, the Tie Makes the Man

Presidential debates are one of the few remaining places where, at least for the men, neckties are not considered optional. Does the choice of tie say anything about a candidate?

TypeTalk: Unplumbed Depths

Are you looking for one particular character in a font that has thousands? A little-known feature of the glyph palette is here to help.