Experimental Typography is at its best when exploring theory and composition, but Digital Type is most interesting for showing ways that theory can be applied to artifacts. In Uncle Buddy's Phantom Funhouse , for example, John McDaid presents the reader with the contents of the hard disk of the late Arthur Newkirk, accompanied by a mysterious letter from a law firm explaining that he appointed us his literary executor. Order a copy of Stop Stealing Sheep . The oscillation between the forms on the page and the concepts they describe is superbly discussed in Richard Lanham's, The Electronic Word . TrueDoc , available for Netscape and Microsoft browsers, lets designers specify fonts in Web pages.
Font information is compressed into small files and downloaded to the user's machine.
The fonts themselves aren't sent and the compressed files are tied to a specific Web site, protecting the rights of font designers while making fonts more useful to Web publishers. Fonts designed for the Web are available free of charge. Electronic type expert Will Harris has created an important compendium on typography and the Web. Subscribe to the Eastgate-List, our moderated electronic mail list for hypertext news and announcements. Inc. All Rights Reserved.