Awesome Fonts

Typical LED and LCD screens on watches and clocks use seven segments to create Arabic numerals from 0 to 9. Pekero came up with a design concept for a 38-segment display that can show Chinese and Japanese numbers and some letters as well. At the end, they show how it might look on a watch, and you can check out an SVG file here.

Seven years after Ryan Gosling’s character struggled to comprehend the use of the Papyrus font in Avatar, the troubled graphic designer thought he had finally moved on. Then, in an instant, he was forced to confront his demons again after seeing the logo for the sequel. At least they didn’t use Comic Sans.

After looking at the variety of fonts on his computer, vlogger and documentarian struthless wanted to know more about their origins. But as he started to pull at that thread, he learned so much more – about the history of written language, design, pop culture, and communication.

This four-digit modern clock uses similar mini-display technology to EleksTube’s tube clock. Each of its four IPS LCD screens can display digits in 20 different styles, from nixie tubes to LEGO bricks. It has RGB backlighting, and you can even create custom themes with a Windows PC. Available with a white or black case.

The font Cooper Black dates all the way back to 1922, and over its century in use has appeared everywhere from David Bowie albums to ramen noodles, to signs for neighborhood businesses. Vox digs into the history of this playful, yet legible serif typeface, and why it became so popular.

Taipei-based 22designstudio created these brutalist concrete characters based on a font by designer Haniboi. The 3D letters measure about 2″ h x 1.2″ l x 1.2″ w, and are sold individually so you can make whatever word you want with them. Because of import costs, the price drops substantially if you buy in quantity.

Ceramic artist Stepanka Summer creates unique porcelain tumblers and mugs embossed with lettering that allows light to show through. The creamy white tumblers come with numbers, Xs and Os, or Love lettering, while the mugs simply send a message of love.

Also known as “The Death Generator,” this fun website lets you render classic video game screens with your own custom text. There are over 150 game screens to choose from, including Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, The Oregon Trail, and Metroid, many of which offer configurable backgrounds and characters.

Designer Isaac Moores (aka Izac Less) created this fun animation which provides typographic lyrics to Madeon’s dance masterpiece Pop Culture, using logo graphics based on just that – pop culture. Don’t know where they’re all from? Watch this version of the clip.

The 70s, 80s, and 90s gave us tons of classic arcade games, and along with them came lots of great pixel art. Typeface designer Toshi Omagari’s book catalogs some of the many cool pixelated fonts which were used for displaying scores on arcade machines. ReadOnlyMemory has a limited-edition hardcover version as well.

For the visually impaired, braille is used to read printed documents. However, the raised dots don’t exactly translate to those with full sight. Kosuke Takahashi came up with this concept for English and Japanese typefaces which are readable both with your fingers and your eyes.

Graphic and motion designer Vinicius Araujo envisioned iconic industrial designs from electronics brands as Helvetica letter forms corresponding to their brand names. We’d love to see actual products designed this way. Check out the full alphabet in his Behance portfolio.

Ryan Gosling stars in a hilarious sketch that will be most appreciated by graphic designers, as he portrays a man who just can’t seem to get over the fact that James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar used the Papyrus font for its subtitles and logo.

Artist Xavier Segers aka “The Last Dodo” created these incredible insect images by precisely placing letters from various fonts. See if you can guess what font each one was made from, then head to the bottom of his Behance page for the answers.

It’s the world’s most derided and improperly used typeface, but there’s no denying that Comic Sans is iconic. Great Big Story introduces us to Vincent Connare, the typographer who came up with the casual font while working at Microsoft, and explains its genesis.

During their recent MAX conference, one of the more compelling prototype technologies Adobe showed off allows anyone to design their own custom typefaces in seconds. Simply drag some handles to adjust any of the key attributes of the entire font, or select letters.