Type Slugs 2005-03-10

This edition: Vitaly Freidman’s free fontery; Ebay secrets of the Typophiles; Chank are cat people; Arabic for Typographers and Others

Vitaly Friedman Updates

Some time ago, Vitaly Friedman published a list of 20 Free Fonts. Free, of course, is a very good price, and the posting garnered a great deal of hits.

Vitaly has just updated his list, and it’s avaiable here. The list has been upped to 25, and some free fonts that weren’t so free have been purged. It’s still the best quick free list we’ve found so far.

Each font is free to obtain, and some have license restrictions. Each should have license information included, so read it carefully. And while you’re at it, leave Vitaly a donation–this is a truly valuable service he gives us for nothing.

Raiders of the Lost Auction

Even we’ve had the occaision to bid for things on Ebay (and have actually won, as our somewhat-rusty-but-beloved Space:1999 lunchbox will attest). Typeophiles are no exception. But Ebay can be a bit of a meat grinder to the newbie.

A quick primer on the ins, outs, and things to watch out for on Ebay for the typo tyro can be found in a lively and opinoinated discussion on Typophile.com here.

Typefounders for big, pretty kitties

If you’ve not done your good deed for the day/week/month and have some room in your budget for type, check out Chank.com. From thier website:

Personally, we wonder about the sense in acquiring a wild animal as a pet, but ’tis not ours to judge. Regardless, it can’t be denied, we think, that providing this service is a noble thing, so if you need fonts and you want to help the big cats who need it, go to the Chank.com homepage and do yourself a deal.

Arabesque Beauty

We so far cannot find anyone who disagress with the observation that the Arabic cultures have taken calligraphy and related design to heights of expression which, in some cases are not found elsewhere.

If this is the case for you, Mark Batty Publisher has released this month a volume you’ll be wanting. Titled Arabic for Designers. it is a compendium of Arabic design examples and calligraphy and how they have influenced each other and how they have interescted with Latin design.

The examples we’ve seen seem to suggest that this will be a fine reference addition to the designer’s shelf, and certainly one that will promote awareness of the amazing routes calligraphy and design take in the Arabic world. Definitely a must-check-out, and available here.

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