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The Obscure Art of Typography

April 29, 2009

Do correctly proportioned margins for text pages matter? Should paragraphs be indented? Can they survive if a space is inserted between them? How, exactly, to express points of suspension?

These and other questions will occur if you happen upon a new book on Jan Tschichold, master typographer. You might not have thought to ask them, but they’re there, lurking away. They await only answers.

A Boring City is a Desirable City

April 29, 2009

The Independent brings us news of the world’s most desirable cities. The top three, according to a survey conducted by American management consultancy Mercer (which specialises in helping relocate corporate executives), are:

1. Vienna

2. Zurich

3. Geneva

We’re not sure of the criteria used by Mercer, but being extremely dull must have been high on the list.

The boring vista is courtesy of hansaviertal. They don’t make e’m like this anymore – but they do get close in Vienna, Zurich and Geneva.

FT Readers to Write Leaders. Sort of

April 29, 2009

In times in crisis, there are innovations which help your business to survive, and there are daft ideas which simply create more work for everyone. In which category is the FT’s plan to involve readers in the creation of its Monday leader column?

Here’s the deal. The FT’s new Arena blog is billed as recreating “a virtual editorial conference” by allowing readers to take part in debates which shape next Monday’s leaders. If the venture is successful, it’ll become a regular thing. It all seems rather bold, and if you check out this post from the Press Gazette, you’ll see that the headline writer was sufficiently moved to suggest that the FT was actively asking readers to write the leader column.

Needless to say, this isn’t what is happening. Even the FT’s readers, astute and intelligent as they are, might struggle over the peculiar craft of writing leaders, a skill best left to those who know exactly what they’re doing.

What, then, is the FT up to? Well, a closer look reveals that it’s engaging in a good old fashioned bit of Web 2.0 engagement with its audience, via the simple mechanism of a dedicated blog. Citizen journalism hasn’t taken over Fleet Street just yet. Praise be to those at the FT willing to put in the extra hours entailed by the Arena blog.

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