One thing that my mom always tells me is that my dad will get off the couch to look at the computer for two things: photos of my niece and to see my blog. So this post is just for him.
Happy Father's Day Dad! You are the perfect daddy of daughters. The three of us, mom and now Annie are the luckiest girls to be loved by you. I love you.
This Font Friday post is for the design novice. If you already know everything I am about to post, I promise next week, I’ll be back with some fonts features, but this week, I am going to take myself back to when I figured out how fonts worked. At first, I didn't know people purchased fonts, that there was a file on your computer to put them, and well basically anything to do with fonts at all. I knew nothing. Now, working with fonts is so second nature to me, sometimes I forget how oblivious I was and how exciting it was to learn the things that I am going to share with you today. I learned pretty much all that I know from blogs and Google, so maybe this post can help someone skip those weeks/months of scrambling around and cut right to the ‘I can’t believe I didn’t know that’ phase. It’s an awesome phase to be in. Font Files and Folder Paths Fonts are actually files that are located on your hard drive and need to be installed to be able to use them. Whether you purchase fonts at websites (myfonts.com or veer) or you download them for free (font squirrel), you will download a file that you will need to put in the proper folder to use. If you are a PC, the file path is C:/Windows/Fonts. If you are Mac, then you can install them through Font Book, or that file path is System/Library/Fonts. Once you download the font and install it, you will be able to use it.
There are several different types of font files, but there are two that you will see most often. True Type fonts, which end in .ttf, and OpenType fonts, which end in .otf. You can read the technical definitions if you want, but the biggest difference, is that Open Type fonts come with alternate characters, called Glyphs.
Glyphs
The best way to explain glyphs is by showing you what they are. For an example, we will use the lovely, Burgues Script, which many of you will recognize. If you have installed Burgues on your computer, you can open up a program like Word, and you will be able to type in Burgues font. However, there are several alternate characters for each letter that you won’t have access to because you aren't using a professional design program. Enter Adobe Illustrator and you can use the 'Glyph' tool to choose from several variations of the same letter. In order to see the glyphs for any given font, you need to open up the Glyph window. Go to your main toolbar and select Type – Glyphs.
Once it is open, I drag it to my main tool bar so it's always easy to access. (below in green) To use a particular glyph, just double click on the letter of your choice.
The number of alternate glyphs per letter varies. Below, I showed some great examples of different glyphs for 'g' and 'M'.
I like using Burgues for this example, because it is probably mostly known for it's beautiful glyph options and it was the font that I purchased and wondered how the heck do I get those swirly letters. As you can see, glyphs really change the font and turn simple text into something striking and unique.
GLYPH DISCLOSURE: just because you have a glyph option for every letter, does NOT mean you should use it. I like to exercise the advice of Coco Chanel: “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and remove one accessory.” When it comes to glyphs, remember that sometimes less is more!
For more font love, don’t forget to check out the picks of my favorite font friends: Alexandra & Craig from The Aerialist Press, Allison at Allison Owen Design, Jen from Blush Printables, Sophia and Andre at Brancoprata, Steph from Bubblerock, Catherine at Design Editor, Laurel at Go Against the Grain, Jenny from Hank + Hunt, Allie at Honey Bee Invites, Lauren from Lauren Elise Crafted, Jenna and Elizabeth from Little Bit Heart, Kerry from Super Swoon and Wendy at Weswen Design(#fontfriday on twitter)
I know that 99.99999% of people that read my blog, read many others and thus are privy to the wonder that is Pinterest. But if for some reason you have been hiding under a rock, you must. go. there. now. Instead of saving beautiful photos on my hard drive, I just 'pin' it into whatever category I want to create and it's all organized in one place AND linked to the source. It's a great source of inspiration, but a fair warning... it's addicting!
Follow my pins here... and I would recommend following these ladies... Ann, Catie, Kerry and Sarah. I have to keep myself from repinning every image they pin.
I know this probably isn't new information to most, but take a look at what the wonderful people at the USPS have given us. Some really pretty stamps! As one who likes all my letters to look pretty, down to the envelope and stamp, I will be picking some of these up at the post office. They are so cute and fun and would look perfect on some wedding invitations or just a thank you note. Love.
One of my favorite features in magazines (and actually doing in life) is finding ‘the look for less’. Nothing is more fun that snagging an expensive look-a-like for a sweet deal. I am a big fan of shopping and clothes and while I think you definitely get what you pay for (in most cases), at the same time, not everything is worth spending the big bucks. When it comes to clothes, more often than not, you will find me in the more affordable outfit, but when it comes to fonts that is just not the case. I have no self control! If I want a font, I pretty much have to buy it. However, you can almost always find a decent replacement for the best typefaces... and so, for those of you who think spending any money at all for a font is crazy, this post is for you!
One of my favorite fonts of all time is ARCHER. It's just one of those beautiful typefaces that can be used in so many different ways. If you think you aren't familiar with it, think again: do you bank at Wellsfargo? Archer is all over their site and materials. Have you ever read anything Martha Stewart? Archer was originally designed for the magazine. Not to mention, it's what I used in the Palm Papers logo, so you've at least seen it there! For as pretty as it is, it costs about as much. The entire collection will set you back a pretty penny... it's expensive.
I have the perfect substitute though! Check out Museo Slab.
The best part, is that Museo Slab can be downloaded for FREE! Of course, you can only download one weight for free, but all the others are only $16.50 each, or you can purchase the entire family of 12 fonts for $99. Compared to $400, it's a pretty darn good option.
However, if you are still heading over to purchase archer, or are like me and already own it... don't worry. No one is here to judge. You are definitely not alone.
For more font love, don’t forget to check out the picks of my favorite font friends: Alexandra & Craig from The Aerialist Press, Allison at Allison Owen Design, Jen from Blush Printables, Sophia and Andre at Brancoprata, Steph from Bubblerock, Catherine at Design Editor, Laurel at Go Against the Grain, Jenny from Hank + Hunt, Allie at Honey Bee Invites, Lauren from Lauren Elise Crafted, Jenna and Elizabeth from Little Bit Heart, Kerry from Super Swoon and Wendy at Weswen Design (#fontfriday on twitter)
