Hearing a complaint about the lowering of standards in typography the other day got me thinking about the “good old days”; stories of metal setting, casting-off tables and putting marked-up copy in the post for the typesetter! So has quality gone down? I don’t think so. We are undergoing a period of tremendous change that shows no sign of abating; sure, there are mistakes made (as there have always been), but the technologies we use now allow for much greater control.

What does not change is the need for sensitivity to context and a robust working procedure that allows a proper respect for the work. A lowering of standards in typography may well be a reflection of lowered standards in working practices elsewhere.

www.ilovetypography.com

After a ground-breaking win in the US Presidential Election I went onto YouTube this morning and typed ‘Barack Obama’ into the search facility; 373,000 videos, 1,070 channels and 123,000 playlists; confirmation that to fully engage with your audience, social media is the new channel - traditional media is feeling the heat!