Okay, I’ve officially become Crotchety T. McCrustypants…

Shortly after learning about an amazing time-sucking creative aggregation site called notcot, I surfed over and realized if I weren’t careful, it would soon steal weeks of my existence with it’s wide ranging collection of all things design oriented.  I planned to resist poking around in the middle of the day, but then I saw this entry about Letraset…

If you don’t know what Letraset is, you missed an epoch in graphic design when technology badly lagged behind imagination.  In those dark, dreary times, we relied on rub down lettering in a wide variety of fonts (Mistral anyone?).  This lettering peeled, it tore, it broke our collective hearts in a hundred and one ways, and yet it was the only game in town if you wanted type that looked legitimate but didn’t own an offset press.  As a young industrial design student, I would save my meager dollars to buy a sheet of Franklin Gothic and then work ever-so-carefully to stretch that investment as far as possible, inevitably running short of the letter ‘E’ and trying to fashion one out of an ‘F.’

If you remember those days, you’ll enjoy the link.  And if you don’t, well, follow it anyway and gain some new found respect for the pioneering spirit of those that came before you.  You young whippersnappers have no idea how lucky you are.

Okay, I’m gonna go soak my dentures now…

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By Dennis Ryan, CCO, Element 79

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