Clarity, personality, simplicity, warmth.

Author William Zinsser, in his 1976 book On Writing Well, identified these as the four indispensable qualities of great writing. Why indispensable? Because the best writing is an expression of the writer’s humanity. These qualities allow that humanity to shine through. As a writer, I find Zinsser’s argument persuasive. ⁂ And as a typographer, I find that his argument analogizes well to design. The designer’s role is to take mundane items and fill them with warmth and humanity. For instance, a font. What is it, really? Just a set of tiny black shapes. Yet, as every reader knows, those little shapes can express a huge range of emotions and possibilities. ⁂ This contrast between constraints and possibilities is what anchors my enduring fascination with typography. Type possesses a strange magic. One reason I embark on new type-design projects is to understand that magic better. ⁂ Another reason is to have some better fonts. Concourse is my first new sans serif design in nearly 20 years. Hopefully, I’ve learned a few things. ⁂ Perhaps most important among them is that drawing letters is the lowest form of type design. The magic inhabits the spaces in between—on the page, but also between us as readers & writers. Type builds a bridge that spans time and space, that connects us through the written word, that lets us share warmth and humanity. There’s nothing else like it. MB