Typography Tuesdays: The Initial Post

NE of my ideas for this blog when I started it over a year ago (hey, I forgot to do an anniversary post!) was to do weekly posts specifically devoted to things typographical. I'm now implementing this practice, beginning this week, with our very first Typography Tuesday. And what better for my "initial" post than to report on a blog all about drop caps? (Drop caps of course being decorative initials, used as the first letter of the first word of a chapter or paragraph, so named because they usually drop below the baseline of the first line of text – as in the example of this paragraph here!)

I am giddy over finding this project by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische called the Daily Drop Cap. In September she decided that she would illustrate and post a decorative initial every day ("or at least every work day"). That is quite a commitment! From Jessica's site: "The project will continue for approximately twelve alphabets and are available for non-commercial use as drop caps on your personal blog." Wow. I'm so glad I caught onto this when I did! (If I calculate correctly, we're about half-way through the fourth, with seven and a half to go.)

If you have time, also check out her portfolio site – I'm loving her book covers, and she has some great original typefaces on there too.

What the world is up to these days

I've been buried this week in updating my professional web site (not finished yet...I'll post a link again so you can see the "after"!), and playing catch-up on some wedding program orders that I'd fallen behind on because of said web site update.

So this morning I decided to catch up on what the blog world is up to these days. I forgot how much I enjoy sitting with my coffee and Google Reader and just running down my feeds of inspiration. So, I thought I'd share "blog roll" with you guys, and in return, ask you to post your favs in the comments so we can all freshen up our lists.

I'll keep this list short – just the ones that I follow most faithfully, and the ones that I have stumbled upon most recently – so I can write a little bit about each one, and share a pic from this morning of something that inspired me today.

So, here they are, in alphabetical order (because that's how my reader presents them...):

But Does It Float:

This blog is pretty much all pictures (with very strange post titles), and these guys never fail to present you with something you've never seen the likes of before. A lot of it is contemporary art, but often, they manage to dig up something from art history that has a striking relevance to today's aesthetic, which is always a treat. This photograph is by Emmet Gowin, posted here.

Death by Kerning:

I just picked up on this blog recently. I ran across the name in some other blog roll and it just cracked me up, so I had to check it out. I have a feeling it will become part of my regular rotation. This hand-lettering is by Alison Carmichael of oh joy!, posted here.

Design*Sponge:

The stand-by of all stand-bys for any designer, it seems, is Design*Sponge. Grace and her blogging team is so prolific that at times I get overwhelmed... Then, I have to remind myself that it's okay not to ready every post! They cover pretty much all types of design, but if I were to pick I'd say their focus is on domestic interiors. Their before-and-afters and DIY tutorials are particularly easy to love. These numbered stairs from Lois Keenan are from this week's wrap-up post.

Happy Mundane:
I think this might be my favorite blog. The name says it all – Jon has a talent for pulling out the beautiful in the everyday, with just a touch of whimsy. Plus he posts about once a day or two, so there's always a treat but I never feel behind! This masking tape made from old books can be found on Nothing Elegant's Etsy shop, and this post here.

oatmealandcinnamon:
Sarah at oatmealandcinnamon took a break from her blog a little bit ago, and I'm so glad she came back. Her blog focuses on hand-lettering, and I absolutely love every post. Like this one, which shares a fun print from Esther Aarts.

Oh My Golly!:
This is the blog of one of my really good friends Nicole. She's passionate about fashion, and also shares bits of her life. Since she loves reading, cooking, and art, so you can often pick up a good book recommend or a new recipe, in between the beautiful pictures of what's on the runway these days. Like this craziness from Sasha Pivovarova, photographed by Craig McDean, and posted here.

poppytalk:
I may be a little off here, but I sort of think of poppytalk as the Design*Sponge of Canada... Their coverage overlaps some, but there's certainly plenty of different stuff on there to enjoy.

This blog is another one that I sometimes end up with 73 unread articles, and I just have to click the "mark all as read" button, with the niggling feeling I'm missing out on something really good that I'll now never know about... I am glad I tuned in today for this feature on Color Me Katie.

Roe's World:
I feel kinda funny including this one in my list, because it's totally just a family blog that my sister-in-law/BFF keeps up about my little niece Monroe, but it is one of my very favorite reads! And, I like it when I get a little window into the life of a blogger, so, there you have one on me. Plus, this particular post about their latest construction paper crafting is actually very on-topic! (Monroe got a little scissor-happy with the C3P0 so her mom had to make a backpack for Chewbacca to carry his parts in...)

Thrivacious:

My friend Gina just recently started this blog. One of my favorite things about blogging is that everyone has something worth saying, something to bring to the global table. Gina's personal interest is in health of mind and body, and her blog is full of great tips that are relevant to anyone with either of those things... Today's post was on the lighter side of the more informational and practical things she usually shares: a "video break" in celebration of today being Friday!

We Can Cook That:

This blog is a brand new undertaking of my friends Amanda and Romeo, and let me tell you it's got some real potential. The concept is that every week they visit an LA restaurant, and then go home and try to recreate something that they ordered. They take you through the whole process, starting with a mini restaurant review, then an account of their cooking experience, the recipe, and a rating of how they think they did. They've already gotten a write-up in Modern Luxury. The above "theirs/ours" comparison from their post about Bottega Louie. Keep this blog on your radar!

Hope you've found something new on this list that you want to check out. Feel free to share your latest blog discoveries!

I don't remember Art History Survey being so much fun...

Two vids in a row!

Why does it seem like the awesome stuff always gets posted on Vimeo instead of YouTube? I guess that's where all the cool kids and the hipsters hang out or something.

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.

I love how they toy with the 3D/2D space and the textures and everything. It seems like they really took into consideration each artist's point of view and the context of the various "-isms" they represent. Plus they obviously had a blast making this.

Freakin' cool video: The T-Shirt War

Thanks for the link, Melissa!

The T-Shirt War from Ibrahim Nergiz on Vimeo.

I want one of the shirts! (They sold out of the originals but you can get a replica...less sweaty anyway... :-) )

Virtual cramped quarters

So I haven't posted since I got my new camera, which is odd because I thought I'd be clogging your inbox/feed-readers with pictures of everything within my reach that is remotely blog-related. But, one thing about a camera that takes 15-megapixel photos is that you need many more megabytes to hold them all. And since my computer and my external hard drive were both already bursting at the seams, we had to go out and get another hard drive:

Today my task is to figure out how to use it. (I want to partition it so that part of it is for backup of our computer hard drive and part of it is for photo storage...not even sure if that's possible, but it sounds like something I should be able to do, right? Or at least, that "one" should be able to do...)

And after that I can get all my pictures off the camera and up on this blog! I have some fun stuff I want to share, but I've been waiting to be able to showcase everything in full mega-megapixel glory.

(PS: A big thank you to everyone who gave us Target gift cards for Christmas! They all got pooled together to buy us this hard drive. I'm so lucky to have in-laws with an affinity for those little red and white plastic keys to retail heaven...)