Tim Brown

SUPERTYPE! - Comic Book Mastheads

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 01:57:08 -0400

Subtle Patterns | Free textures for your next web project

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 22:13:38 -0400

Subtle Patterns | Free textures for your next web project:

“Subtle Patterns is a collection of 88 high quality design patterns for you to use freely. New patterns added weekly. A project by Atle Mo.”

Luc Devroye's history of type

Sun, 22 May 2011 16:54:36 -0400

Luc Devroye's history of type:

Tons of links.

WhatFont Bookmarklet

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:22:07 -0400

WhatFont Bookmarklet:

Hover on text, see the font being used. From Chengyin Liu.

A Richer Canvas

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 01:05:06 -0400

A Richer Canvas:

Mark Boulton: “If […] layouts are based on a system that defines its ratios from the content, then there is connectedness on two levels: connectedness to the device, and connectedness to the…

TrueType Hinting and Font Rendering

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 02:15:29 -0500

TrueType Hinting and Font Rendering:

Tom Rickner for FontsLive: “It is a significant challenge to produce a font which renders the same pixels in multiple environments.”

New Bulletproof Font-Face Syntax

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 16:38:30 -0500

New Bulletproof Font-Face Syntax:

Ethan Dunham: “The hack that makes this work is the ‘#’ following the EOT filename. Seriously.”

Composing and note-taking

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:14:29 -0500

I used to keep all of my notes in Backpack. Then I got an iPhone, and began using Simplenote and Notational Velocity for their excellent sync capabilities. Jot some notes at my desk, close the laptop, step outside for a walk, and the notes I just typed are already in my hand. It’s like magic. I still savor the experience of using Backpack, but these other two apps are faster and easier for day-to-day stuff like notes, to-do lists, random ideas, and groups of links/thoughts on a particular topic.

Then, there’s writing. Composing text.

When I used to use Backpack, integrated Writeboards were where I not only kept versions of a text but *composed* text (a strategy not without its problems; more than once, browser/OS crashes robbed me of a morning’s work). When I switched to Simplenote/NV, I wrote whole texts within those apps. I would just create a new note, collect relevant ideas from their random places in my collection of notes, and compose. This strategy also had problems — some sync actions, and some app crashes, have erased notes on me. (Because I point Simplenote/NV to a Dropbox folder, everything’s versioned and backed up, so I haven’t lost anything. But it’s annoying.)

In addition, there were subtleties about the Simplenote/NV strategy that didn’t suit my preferences for composing text. For one thing, NV doesn’t have a full-screen mode. So when I’m writing on my Mac, I can see the menu bar, desktop icons, dock, etc. Simplenote, on my iPhone and my wife’s iPad, only does black text on a white background, which is too bright when I’m trying to write in the dark. I appreciate these constraints, mind you — I wouldn’t want these options in those apps, because the strengths of Simplenote/NV are their simplicity.

But for composing text, I have a new strategy, including new apps. Ommwriter on my Mac, and Elements on the iPhone/iPad. I’m using the free Ommwriter Dana I right now, but considering upgrading to Dana II just so that I’m aware of updates via the Mac App Store. It’s a super-simple, full-screen editor that blocks Growl notifications and hides its own interface when I’m typing. And I love the keystroke sound effects. The app’s typesetting preferences could use some help.

Elements has been great, too. Very straightforward, and I haven’t had the syncing problems I’ve experienced with Simplenote. I think Simplenote gets wonky with notes full of very long texts.

So now, when I’m ready to write, I gather related notes from Simplenote/NV and move them to a new text file in my Dropbox/Elements directory. Both Ommwriter and Elements look there, so I’m synced, solid, and writing comfortably.

Font Remix Tools

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 05:35:54 -0500

Font Remix Tools:

A set of plugins by Tim Ahrens that help type designers harmonize glyph shapes, tune letters, and create different versions of glyphs for condenseds, extendeds, small caps, etc.

Fontscape

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 18:42:54 -0500

Fontscape:

“An independent directory of typefaces organized into categories.”

Remove unused CSS - CSS Optimizer

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:15:54 -0500

Remove unused CSS - CSS Optimizer:

“Our tool explores the pages of your site automatically, find the unused CSS selectors and creates new clean CSS files you can download.”

The non-typographer’s guide to practical typeface selection

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 10:12:43 -0500

The non-typographer’s guide to practical typeface selection:

Like it says, by Cameron Moll. From 2005, but the advice is timeless. Shame about all of the link rot.

CssUserAgent (cssua.js)

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:12:51 -0500

CssUserAgent (cssua.js):

Script that adds UA-specific CSS classes to the tag.

A web standards holiday card from Typekit

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:18:44 -0500

A web standards holiday card from Typekit:

Sean McBride explains the snowy CSS3 and JS details that went into this effort of his, Mandy Brown’s, and Jason Santa Maria’s.

TEFF Ruse designed by Gerrit Noordzij

Sat, 18 Dec 2010 17:35:11 -0500

TEFF Ruse designed by Gerrit Noordzij:

Side-scrolling to view the character set is surprisingly nice.

Hardboiled Web Design

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 04:58:50 -0500

Hardboiled Web Design:

Video of Andy Clark’s talk at DIBI 2010.

I wrote you a short letter / from a working library

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 08:18:55 -0500

I wrote you a short letter / from a working library:

Mandy Brown: “I believe our growing preference towards short form is not only the result of our famously declining attention spans, but also of our increasing desire to read: the longer the reading…

Sass - Syntactically Awesome Stylesheets

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 03:12:45 -0500

Sass - Syntactically Awesome Stylesheets:

“Sass is an extension of CSS3, adding nested rules, variables, mixins, selector inheritance, and more. It’s translated to well-formatted, standard CSS using the command line tool or a web-framework…

LukeW | Touch-based App Design for Toddlers

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 10:55:02 -0500

LukeW | Touch-based App Design for Toddlers:

“Kids are an enthusiastic bunch. If they see something they like, one tap won’t do. Tap, tap, and tap again is often the norm.”

Pro Git by Scott Chacon

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 05:16:39 -0500

Pro Git by Scott Chacon:

“Here you can find the full content of the book, a blog with tips and updates about Git and the book and open source projects related to Git or referenced in the book.”