I concur with you on point #5. Hopefully, the trend will shift in 2008.

#7 -- wonder why? :^)

#9 would be radical. I would never have to leave my couch. Well, I do have a PC with FontLab hooked up to my LCD TV so I really don't have to leave my couch anyway. ;-)

>#9 would be radical.

Thinking about it, a Wii based font editor would be even cooler - imagine waving that controller thingy around and drawing shapes.

# 10 Adobe/MS announces FAK -- Font Activation Key

Given all the Battlestar Galactica fans around here, maybe "FRAK" would be more likely - "Font Rights Activation Key".

...or TAK -- Typeface Activation Key (so no F word :) )

Getting out my oh so cloudy crystal bs machine....

Trends for 2007 & 2008! The vision comes...

In spring of 2007 Woodtype will join the Script to make a triumphant return and cause readability mavens and purists to moan but extending and the life of the design trend towards embelishment & decoration. Apologists will point to the excellence of the core forms. Colors that dominate are sepia browns, pinks, oranges and dark acid greens to be replaced by light prussian blues, light acid greens, and candy apple red in summer. Overload of the senses is noted by mainstream media as elaborate pen and ink drawings a la 'drummer hoff' are animated in tv ads. Inexpensive laser based paper cutters will proliferate which will give rise to decoration being cut into paper as well. The paper chips or chits will get everywhere. The trend will end with the brief rise of the tophat and spats as fall fashion.

Near the end of the year the the above trend will burn out to bereplaced by severe & nearly sterile neo-swiss modernist code junky style. FontFont and other indie monos will dominate. Editors will try to count chracters to create perfect word squares. Contents suffers accordingly. The prefered photostyle will be cameraphone. Adobe will relase a filter to make regular photos look like cameraphone photos. It and other filters will be sold on itunes in bundles with other media including fonts as Apple takes a swipe at Linotype for grabbing it's UI ideas. A trend towards avoiding printing in black ink will be noted giving the monocode style a modicum of liveliness. This along with a trend towards unbleached paper will soften the otherwise harsh style. By spring of 2008 tshirts with individual mono letters will be popular letting groups of people make graphic statements at will. People with vowels will be popular. People insisting on wearing x & q will be less so. Some people will carry 3 or 4 shirts with them to widen their expressive potential. This fashion trend will be killed in the summer by news coverage during the presidential race in which rival messages spelled out by tshit wearing ad agency paid youth sours hipsters on the formerly popular trend.

Fall will brings back the 80's high contrast letters closely spaced headlines and a faux naive style of layout. Hairline fonts will also be popular. Film sales and use rise as the 'real film' style emerges. Young designers complain about the expense and inconvenience of film. The many new ligatures available for Avant Garde are used. 'Garamonds' are everywhere. Palatino too. Cheap glossy thin paper comes back. Black finally comes back into use. In fact much talk about which black to use is noted. Varnish is popular again. Sepia toned photos with chemical stains are seen by Winter. Blackletter is no longer popular on the backs of trucks and vans. It is replaced by serif and sans font all-swashap expression including the now ubiquitous Comic Sans Flair and Helvetica Flair. This trend evetually makes it all the way into Mexico and Hawaii where popsickle and icecream trucks begin using all flair Comic Sans Flair. Microsoft releases an unusual but much needed patch to Vista a huge file with thousands of lines of code -of course: Contextually sensitive 'Comic Sans Flair Notan Edition'. It is the largest font in terms of sheer data footprint ever in part because it supports the full unicode range - but really because of the exponential possibilities introduced by context sensitivity. PC makers rejoice because the requires upgraded hardware to run. Third world countries continue to use the basic Comic Sans Flair for decades.

The vision fades...

By the end of 2007, over 50% of all fonts licensed will be in OpenType format.

Browsers starting to support raw font downloads and temporary installation for Web page rendering.

Are you hinting that we're finally going to see Microsoft picking up embedded fonts again? I can just imagine the flame wars that will result from a browser that can handle embedded fonts but not CSS tables.

Thinking about it, a Wii based font editor would be even cooler - imagine waving that controller thingy around and drawing shapes.

You're over-estimating the usability of the Wiimote. And an Wii Fontlab would mean the end of fonts as we know it, because the designers would all just sit around playing Twilight Princess and get nothing done.

In spring of 2007 Woodtype will join the Script to make a triumphant return...

Trader Joe's chic!

I predict that not much of substance will happen in 2007, as designers across western civilization keep fiddling with trendy stuff in an attempt to avoid serious thoughts that could remind them that George Bush is still running the United States.

Eben, you made my day, that's hilarious. Be careful what you predict, tho, it may come back to haunt you.

I am just the channel... ;-)

Glad you liked it.

Si, I agree with you wholeheartedly about #7 -- it's gonna be a blast. ;-) We've already got a list of stuff to do in and around SeaTac.

Regarding Si's #8;
I would add that "JobsType" would be followed by a competing type format springing out of a deal between type designers in northern Canada, Alaska, Siberia, and Finland which would be founded upon recently rediscovered coldtype libraries from the 60s. To avoid copyright infringement on both the the names "Coldtype" and "JobsType", the new competing format would be called "SnowJobs". The two type formats would do battle in type wars which would legally be called the "Cold War" because that name was never copyrighted.

ChrisL

PS: Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski thought about joining the battle but the name they chose for their font format was banned from public disclosure due to a gag rule. When asked about the nondisclosure, Monica was reported to say that she still gets all choked up thinking about it.

We’ve already got a list of stuff to do in and around SeaTac.

I hope so. I'm already starting to plan a summer vacation in Seattle for this thing.

I'm becoming such a design nerd it's scary...I just left a party that people would kill to get into so I could come home and read, and of course I had to stop here first.

more Euro Trash
http://www.spreadshirt.net/shop.php?article_id=4110825&view_id=162

and Euro chavs hoodies
http://www.spreadshirt.net/shop.php?sid=200098

>more Euro Trash

So Vinnie, how are sales going? When will you be sending us our first royalty check? ;-)

> To avoid copyright infringement on both the the names “Coldtype” and “JobsType”, the new competing format would be called “SnowJobs”.

The thought sends a chill down my spine!

>Are you hinting that we’re finally going to see Microsoft picking up embedded fonts again?

I didn't say that, and if I had that would have been cheating ;-) But it wouldn't surprise me if something happens in 2007 given the 2006 movement by the W3C and Opera regarding this.

I think that humanist sans will have a sudden rush in popularity, and we'll have much harder time identifying them in the forum :)

Ooh, TypeCon Seattle. This one I must go!

I predict the triumphant return and dominance of the mimeograph machine!
DB~

Friend of mine still publishes his 'zine on a Gestetner. ;-)

>Friend of mine still publishes his ‘zine on a Gestetner. ;-)

Hooked on those solvent fumes? :-)

It could explain his fanaticism with the fifties.... ;-)

DeKine - how I miss the aroma of the mimeograph machine, Mum in the kitchen turning away as political flyers were reproduced for a larger portion of the population. Even in Manhattan in the 1950s -- your mimeograph had to be registered!

Meanwhile, I have two hopes for a new trend for 2007. Here goes - and please no laughing...

1. The return of proper punctuation. Damn you - it's a quote mark, not a inch mark!
2. Readability. Of all my years in typography professionally, we strove for legibility. Now, I feel the age of grunge is behind us, may we please get back to reading materials again. I thank the Dutch Type Foundry -- I found them recently, and believe they have some of the cleanest type designs I have seen since Berthold's Formata.

Really, sometimes history is good - and okay to repeat itself. That's my hope, we go back to "clean" type. Not to inhibit design, mind you -- but...to be able to communicate to the general public. (Hey wait -- that's what good typography was always about....)

Slab serifs will be even more popular in 2007. They won't die!!!
We have Paul Simon to thank. You know...

Caecilia, you’re breaking my heart,
You’re shaking my confidence daily.
Oh caecilia, I’m down on my knees,
I’m begging you please to come home.

Well, actually we have Peter Matthias Noordzij for that one!

Everything comes full circle: by year's end, CMYK is the new RGB.

Cashing in on the trend are Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, and Monotype - the powerhouse quartet will collaborate on a new suite of apps that will properly display paper onscreen and emit an authentic aroma of wood pulp and freshly baked ink.

Oh yeah - the beta will be unleashed at TypeCon2007 in Seattle.

Of all my years in typography professionally, we strove for legibility. Now, I feel the age of grunge is behind us, may we please get back to reading materials again.

We should be so lucky. I'll do my part, and continue on with my mordant critiques of fellow students who rely on this awful fad they don't even understand, no matter how many times my professor demands I do otherwise. Even if he continues to do so in writing.

I predict 2007 will be The Year that popular film poster/DVD cover logo artists stop (ab)using Trajan (and close variants) so much.

To the artists: Barnum & Bailey called; they want their safety net back.

Too many of the logos look the same when I hit the stores. There needs to be more individuality between films again, use different typefaces that suit the film or better yet do something custom.

Don't get the wrong idea here, I love Trajan, it's an inarguable classic, but there's just too much of it right now.

In late 3Q or early 4Q '007 (The Year of Bond), Microsoft will buy a major font foundry. Getty will follow suit in late 2Q or early 3Q '08.

If Getty does buy a huge foundry then perhaps this is also the year of rights managed font licensing ... heaven help us!

I for one am surprised that neither Getty or Corbis has started acquiring libraries - they need only look at the huge profits Veer is raking in to see that it's a wise business move... may even make the streets of Calgary safer if it forces Grant to trade in his Lamborghini.

Good point, Simon. I just worry about rights managed font licensing. I really think it could cause problems in the industry. Well, cause more than it would solve anyway.

And Corbis is owned by who? C'mon, you know the answer...

Given the particularly recent success of Veer, I suspect that the likes of Getty would want to wait for several more years. Waiting for the industry to mature a little bit, perhaps?

“I just worry about rights managed font licensing. I really think it could cause problems in the industry. Well, cause more than it would solve anyway.”

It would cause problems, but nothing people wouldn't get used to. The publishing, PR, and advertising industries pay royalties to illustrators and photographers without much trouble—aside from when the try to avoid paying altogether—so I think that they would eventually get used to paying royalties for type.

>And Corbis is owned by who? C’mon, you know the answer…

I suppose recent events have shown that the owner is more interested in commissioning new fonts (the ClearType Collection) than acquiring legacy fonts. The lower level Corbis folks I know didn't seem that interested either. But who knows?

> "... they need only look at the huge profits Veer is
> raking in to see that it’s a wise business move…"

Gosh, Si ... do you have some insider information that I don't know about? Veer’s a private gig, you know. Heh.

> "... may even make the streets of Calgary safer if it forces
> Grant to trade in his Lamborghini ..."

Lamborghini? Not with the unpredictable weather and gravel-strewn streets we have around here. And there's no way you're getting your hands on my Volvo, baby.

> "Given the particularly recent success of Veer, I suspect
> that the likes of Getty would want to wait for several more
> years. Waiting for the industry to mature a little bit, perhaps?"

In the "been there, done that" department ... Getty had their chance when they bought EyeWire back in 1999. They cut their losses after realizing that selling type requires a level of aesthetic and technical understanding that a group of JPEG pixel-flingers couldn't possibly wrap their densitometers around.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

As for MS buying a foundry ... for some reason that makes infinitely more sense.

Nicely put, Mr. Grant. I guess I never looked at it that way. Thanks for englightening.

Speaking of MS and foundry, sii, is Vista going to include new typefaces besides Segoe UI and the usual (which might include the ClearType collection)?

As for MS buying a foundry … for some reason that makes infinitely more sense.

Given Microsoft's track record outside of operating systems and productivity software, it makes a very little sense to me.

Although I bet that Balmer would do it if Google started releasing F/OSS typefaces.

For some reason, I think that there is more plausibility in MS buying a foundry than in Google releasing Open Source types.

This is waaay off topic :-)

Like that ever stopped anyone from commenting? :-)

Darn! I was wondering who owns the Lambo that shows up at the Heartland frequently on weekends-- y'mean it's not yours Grant? ;-) Geez, it's only just up the block from us....

Alas, it's not mine.

I'm more of a Unimog kind of guy, actually.

>This is waaay off topic :-)

Not really, maybe it's a trend or prediction for 07? If so I'd wager a TypeCon pint that it doesn't happen. ;-)

We'll find out soon enough, sii ;-)

Unless there's a last minute announcement regarding Helvetica Flair it looks like the results are in. I give myself 2.5 out of 9 - but how about Bruce - he wasn't right but he was pretty darn close.

There's a few hours to go yet. Hold on tight!

I'm not speaking for Google (I work on spam, not Android), but it's my understanding that the Android fonts will be released under an open source license, possibly the Apache 2 license of the rest of the Android platform.

Not sure what that does to point #5 above, but as far as my Spiro stuff is concerned, it's sadly almost certainly true. Between family and other personal commitments, I have approximately zero time left over for fonts, and I don't see that changing any time soon. Ah well. Happy New Year everyone!

We want stuff, you know to look more like this (throws type designer the Guardian). I won't mind. And hey presto, doesn't Meta Serif look ready to fit the bill. I know I will force feed at least one client with it this year.
Happy new to all of you.

f

I'm bumping this to the surface again. Quite a few of Sii's original prophecies have been fullfilled by now. Web type and Comic Sans "Flair" might be the most obvious ones.

> By the end of 2007, over 50% of all fonts licensed will be in OpenType format.

I'm sorry to say that the adoption rate was a little slower that I hoped. According to FontShop's figures, OpenType didn't hit 50% until late in 2009. But I can tell you that the curve continues its sharp upward trend. OT is well above 50% in 2010. Maybe 75% by the end of the year.

That number is helped by the font manufacturers. Since 2008, nearly all new fonts were released in OpenType.

9. is slowly becoming more and more possible/awesome! A student at Carnegie Mellon programmed the kinect to follow hand traces and create your own font based on drawing each letter for 10 seconds in the air. It was quite beautiful.

Ahh, my alma mater ;-)

Is there a link to see this? Thanks!!