Good Reads: ‘Never Use Futura’

Book reviews are not something that I usually do on here, but whatever. I got a couple of books for xmas that I really enjoyed and I decided that I may as well pass along my thoughts for any like-minded people who may come across this and are looking for a good read. I had actually not even heard about this book. But B heard some design nerds say some good things about it and naturally thought that I would enjoy. She was right.

The book is a good mix of history, design, opinion, wit, and dry humor. I don’t even hold it against Douglas Thomas (the author) that he has affiliations with Brigham Young University. For those who don’t know me well, it is a pretty big deal for me to be able to overlook that fact, hehe. Futura is a typeface that was originally developed by a guy named Paul Renner and released in the late 1920s by the Bauer type foundry in Germany. In the past couple of decades, it has been popularized by the artist Barbra Kruger, then Shepard Fairey (as a nod to Kruger), and Supreme (as a blatant rip-off of Kruger).

Reading this book was like taking a guided tour through the museum of Futura. The text is pleasantly broken up by visual examples of the subject matter. Whether it is examples from old publications or overlaid examples of modern variations to illustrate distinction, the visual aides are always on point. It is one of those books where I couldn’t help but think the entire time I was reading “I wish that I knew as much about ANYTHING as Thomas does about Futura.”

It is a super easy and fun read, barely 200 pages. I read it in a single sitting, partly because I couldn’t put it down, partly because of its relatively short length. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is into design aesthetic, art and/or history.

2017 Photo Recap

2017 is coming to a close and as such, here is a little video that I put together from the photos on my phone taken this calendar year (not all of which were actually taken with my phone). There were only ~6000 and change this year, down about 50% from the past two years (2016) (2015). I suspect that this is because I had such a busy year in my professional life. Each frame plays for about a quarter of a second.

Upstate Winter Vibes

One of the crazy things about upstate New York is that it is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In the summer it is so green, lush and vibrant. In the winter it is like a dystopian wasteland. Anyway, we were in the Catskils over the weekend doing some research. It was kind of snowing, kind of raining, generally gross weather. We came across some dilapidated mansion/hotel looking structures that I had to pull over to get a couple of snaps of. I also love these awesome little trestle bridges where the highway goes back and forth over the river. Here are a couple of frames from the drive.

Support Paws NY

Dear Jake.News readers, and others who accidentally or otherwise had this post somehow show up in your browser:

As a major departure from my usual shtick, I’m reaching out to encourage donations for a good cause; Paws NY. As an active member of the community, my partner B is constantly looking for ways to get involved, whether it be volunteering at local schools (adorable), or cleaning up after someone else’s dog (ew) while walking Lola. As such, it was a natural fit that she teamed up with Paws NY in connection with the 2018 Half. Paws NY is a local Brooklyn resource for the elderly members of our community who have difficulties taking care of their animal companions. So if you are looking for some warm holiday fuzzies and possibly a deduction on your 2017 taxes, sponsor Britt in the 2018 NYC Half Marathon by donating to Paws NY.

Happy Holidays,

–Jake

[IMG courtesy of Paws NY]

Peep this vid to learn more about the Paws NY organization-

NYC Marathon 2017

The marathon was especially exciting this year because an American woman won for the first time since 1977. It was also cool because I was able to reconnect with a couple of my friends from high school (one is in the last two photos below). For consistency’s sake, we watched the race from the exact same spot as last year. The photo above is almost identical to the one from last year, haha. The whole thing makes me very stoked to run Philly later this month.