Good question!
This is really the first time I think about it, i just love type don't really know why.
Just yesterday I found my self wanting to buy a 6.000€ type cd.
(Wished i had that amount of money to spend on type)
I must say that the form and flow of the typography are the first things I look at... but I love to look at every single detail.

I know I'm not helping much... I'll sleep on this and post back if manage to get a more concrete answer.

i'm wondering if it is ever possible to answer that question. for me it is very much a feeling, therefore i'd be lowering its strength and amplitude by explaining it with words.

dr

http://www.typophile.com/node/29961
http://www.typophile.com/node/4249
http://www.unc.edu/%7Ejbrady/Studio/FamiliarFaces/FamiliarFaces.html

No... i still can´t explain it! Got to agree with David on this one, explain it by words only lowers it's strength.

You can do it, Pedro, that is why we have poetry in life.

Alessandro, this is then for you:

A treat for the eyes does not land on the tastebuds,
A treat for the eyes does not ring a harmony to be heard,
A treat for the eyes has no touch that brings joy,
When the eyes drink in flavors that tingle the soul,
Other senses can't carry that pleasure in word.

ChrisL

Good contribution for our times, Chris, thank you.

who is chris L?

You might be wright, Alessandro! In Portuguese this would be really easy!

Chris you are right on the spot.

"who is chris L?"

I am.

ChrisL

> “who is chris L?”

> I am.

No, I am.

Chris L : El Jugador de Palabras. Y salero. Means : Graceful.

Thanks, Andre!

ChrisL

I am Chris L.

I love type, though I haven't yet finished my first face (and keep coming up with ideas for more).

I am amazed that there are so many ways to express that same glyph—thousands of ways to show f, or i or &. I love the interplay of the light and dark. I love the fact that someone took the time to create a a set of these varying shapes that have the same theme, so they work together. I love the craftsmanship and care that go into a beautiful typeface. And the, that person (or team) goes on the create other weights and versions of that same theme.

I love to look at the details of a typeface. The way the designer decided to have terminals flare a certain way, how the serifs are shaped, if it has long or short ascenders and descenders.

I love Jim Parkinson's translation of hand painted lettering to a typeface. I love H&FJ's studious interpretations of historic faces. I love Hermann Zapf's way of putting a little calligraphy into each typeface.

I love Ron Arnholm for making me love type more than I already did.

I love everyone I've ever had a conversation with about kerning, typefaces, the shape of a letter.

I love it all, because there is art, craftsmanship, care, love and commitment involved in all of it.

I love type, because it made me appreciate my dad that much more. He is not a typographer, designer or art director. He is a pilot, and loves everything to do with flight. When I was about 9, my parents had a cookout, and most of the friends who came were also pilots. A small plane flew over, and the pilots stopped talking, looked up, observing the plane. "It's a Mooney," one said. "His prop is out of pitch," said my dad. "He doesn't have the right prop for that plane," said another. This set off an hour long discussion on props. For years after that, I thought "Who could really care that much about propellers?" When I was bout 35, I was having a lovely discussion with another AD about serifs, and it dawned on me—serifs are my propellers. And it gave me that much more appreciation for my dad, and his love of flight. And now I even kind of care a bit about props. The funny thing is, for the last 9 years, his love has been sailplanes (gliders)—no props!

Now, I am beginning to have an identity crisis :-)

ChrisL

Bruce, what a telling story!
I guess if you follow into your fathers' footsteps, you'll learn to appreciate sans serif as well.
As I do :-)

ahah thanx guys, and bruce thanx alot for that.

i also want to which tyepfaces have been modernized ie. tweaked a little to create a new typeface, but looks pretty similar to the one it was inspired by.
anybody got any good examples?

ahah thanx guys, and bruce thanx alot for that.

i also want to which tyepfaces have been modernized ie. tweaked a little to create a new typeface, but looks pretty similar to the one it was inspired by.
anybody got any good examples?

The things makes me excited about a new typeface is the novelty, legibility and the perfection.

Working with type is like solving a puzzle.
When you make all the bits and pieces just right, everything clicks into place.

I like envisioning type as gigantic walls, and I can wander around the perimeter, peering around corners and sliding along the curves.

What I enjoy most when playing with a new typefaces is making it BIG to the point of abstraction and following it to wherever unexpected it leads me!