Quotation on typography by Gunnlaugur S.E. Briem

Bald Condensed15 February 2009 · 14:42

I hope somebody can help me. I once found a brilliant quote of Gunnlaugur S.E. Briem online which I used in a Dutch language presentation. I translated it to Dutch for that presentation but didn't keep the original. Now I need this quote for an article I'm writing for PSD Magazine and can't find the original English version. Judging from my translation I can assume it should go something like this:

Some people profess that letters solely exist to be read and that's why any factor that influences their legibility should be avoided. This is akin saying that the only purpose of alcoholic beverages is to get drunk.

Now this sounds like crap and I'd like to cite Briem correctly, so I would be very grateful if somebody could point me to the original quote. Many thanks.

typerror15 February 2009 · 14:53

Yves

He has a contact on his site.

Michael

Florian Hardwig15 February 2009 · 15:25

Some people say that letters exist to be read and therefore the things that interfere with legibility should be discouraged. (This is a bit like saying that the purpose of liquor is to get you drunk. If it were right, people would swig metal polish, and the farmers of Cognac, Burgundy, and Champagne grow potatoes.) — briem.ismennt.is

Bald Condensed15 February 2009 · 16:14

Thanks, Michael, but I already sent Briem an e-mail and he hasn't answered (yet).

Thanks, Florian. :^)

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