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Name: Gotham Release Date: 2000 Designers: Tobias Frere-Jones Classification: Geometric sans serif Owned By: Hoefler&Co. Claim to Fame: The typeface that unified Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. The typeface has been described as “contemporary yet distinctly familiar”. It was inspired by architectural signage from the mid-20th Century and it was the face of Obama’s highly successful presidential campaigns that helped unify his messaging across a variety of platforms and mediums, cohesively connecting communication and a nation. Today’s episode is all about Gotham. The Gotham family is large with 66 versions, ranging from Gotham Condensed Thin to Gotham Ultra, with 64 varying widths, weights and styles in between. This typeface is characterized by its broad design, high x-height and wide apertures, which contribute to a high degree of legibility and readability. Although it’s a geometric sans-serif typeface, it doesn’t look like Futura and has lots of humanist influence. The typeface originated as a commission from GQ magazine. The brief stated that they wanted a sans-serif, geometric, masculine, new and versatile typeface, conveying both a fresh and established sentiment. Gotham owner, type foundry Hoefler&Co., describes the face this way: “Every designer has admired the no-nonsense lettering of the American vernacular, those letters of paint, plaster, neon, glass and steel that figure so prominently in the urban landscape. From these humble beginnings came Gotham, a hard-working typeface for the ages.” It has strong roots to New York City. Inspiration was drawn from walking around New York City and taking in the classic typography seemingly everywhere. It was one building in particular that directly inspired Gotham: The Port Authority Bus Terminal signage. Co-designer, Tobias Frere-Jones, has said: "I suppose there's a hidden personal agenda in the design… to preserve those old pieces of New York that could be wiped out before they're appreciated. Having grown up here, I was always fond of the 'old' New York and its lettering." In fact, type geeks call New York City ‘Gotham City’ because of its strong roots and connection with what it represents and where it was designed, with no connection to Batman. The typeface is even featured at MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art) Streaming giant, Netflix, used the typeface up until 2018, when in an effort to reduce its font licensing costs, they created their own custom typeface: Netflix Sans. According to thenextweb.com, Netflix was paying literally millions of dollars each year to license the typeface at such a scale. So they created their own using the talents of an in-house design team at Netflix, in collaboration with Dalton Maag font foundry. Netflix’s brand design lead, Noah Nathan, explained that creating their own typeface provided an opportunity to add an ownable piece that contributes positively to their brand aesthetic. He also noted that many foundries are moving towards an impression-based licensing model for their typefaces in digital spaces. This is similar to pay-per-click advertising that the giants Google and Facebook have pioneered. For example, one of the world’s largest font foundries, Linotype, offers digital font licencing packages for 1, 4, or 10 million ad impressions. In the world of big data and trackable click counts this allows foundries to make extra money when the companies licencing their fonts are (presumably) making more money, while saving companies money whose impressions aren’t as high. Perhaps you already know that typefaces have personality, but did you know that typefaces have political leanings? In a 2020 article for The Conversation entitled Typefaces have personality - and can be political, describes the ways in which research demonstrates that typefaces do, in fact, influence the way we think about politics and political candidates. Assistant Professors of Communication from Virginia Tech, Daniel Tamul and Katherine Haenschen, conducted a study where they showed a person’s name written in a variety of different typefaces. Participants were then asked to rate how conservative or liberal the typeface or the person was. They found that serif faces were rated as more conservative and sans serif more liberal. While these findings aren’t revolutionary (it makes sense that typefaces that look more traditional align with more traditional viewpoints), what I think is more interesting is that the study found that people rated the typefaces they liked as being more aligned with their own political ideologies. Typefaces, in conjunction with other design decisions, can be used to help politicians shape how people will perceive an individual and their message. Gotham Bold was the typeface of choice for Obama’s presidential campaign. Typography and branding was a major part of Obama’s campaign. Frere-Jones had this to say about presidential election campaign branding and design: “In the past, campaigns would have one logo, and then choose a number of typefaces to go with the advertisements and the banners and the website. But the Obama campaign put the same discipline into planning its look that would go into a big corporate identity. The campaign looked the same on election day as it did eighteen months before at the caucuses.” The International Herald Tribune, felt that the adoption of the Gotham typeface was smart for its "potent, if unspoken, combination of contemporary sophistication (a nod to his suits) with nostalgia for America's past and a sense of duty." Who knew a typeface could say so much?! A sense of trustworthiness and getting to the point pours out from each letter of Gotham. Imagine if Obama’s campaign materials were in Comic Sans or Papyrus. How would the message have changed? A poorly chosen typeface is a double whammy of a hit: 1) when the style of the letterforms don’t match the message it distracts from the message, and 2) certain typefaces (especially popular faces that are communally seen as poor choices, like Comic Sans or Papyrus) see viewers questioning the thoughts, actions and choices of what the text represents. In other words, there are individual stylistic opinions judging a typeface choice, as well as what a typeface represents at the societal level. There are subtle and unconscious biases that play into our judgements. The typographical layer underneath everything we see and touch all day long, that’s always around us, communicates subtle, subliminal messages that inform our overall thoughts and judgements. After Obama took office, so did Gotham. It worked its way into a variety of projects in the White House, most notably the 2010 United States Census. Gotham is also featured on and used in a variety of other branding projects. Jonathan Hoefler, of Hoefler&Co., the New York type foundry that owns the face, said that when Gotham was chosen as the typeface used on the Freedom Tower’s cornerstone of One World Trade Center, he felt like the typeface had really made it. What’s really special is that Joe Binden & Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is rooted in two typefaces also designed by Hoefler & Co.: sans serif Decimal (watch the process of designing that typeface unfold in the Netflix Abstract Season 2 documentary) and serif Mercury Text. Here is an incredible PDF document you can check out that details the Biden Harris brand guidelines, including usage of the typefaces, brand colours and logos. The brand colours are particularly interesting, including ‘Joe Navy’, ‘Biden Blue’ and ‘Climate Green’, among others, as well as Jill Biden’s palette that includes ‘Jill Navy’, ‘Lavender’ and ‘Glow Gold’. Kamala Harris’ palette includes ‘True Red’ and ‘Union Blue’, among others. There is a final ‘Truth Over Lies’ palette that has the most creatively named colours of all: ‘Unity Over Division’ (bright red, PMS Warm Red C), ‘Truth Over Lies’ (dark green, PMS 7735 C), ‘Hope Over Fear’ (gold, PMS 124 C) and ‘Science Over Fiction’ (muted mid-range blue, PMS 549 C). The Decimal typeface is less than a year old but the visual communications managers for the Biden Harris campaign felt that it was able to communicate the core message of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. Words of action in the campaign were set in Decimal’s small caps. Longer explanations of words of action are set in Mercury Text. While not to give Trump too much additional airtime, a fitting contrast to democratic campaign typography is explained in an article entitled The (unkerned) typeface of Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ campaign slogan for Medium. Author Martin Silvertant brings light to a perfectly fitting (albeit, not actually a perfect fit) campaign slogan that was the backbone of Trumps presidential campaigns: Make America Great Again! Perhaps Trump’s lack of proper kerning (focus on the relatively enormous gaps between the I and C + C and A in AMERICA, as well as between the A and T in Great) pay homage to his huge gaps in logic, in morals, in decency. For this reason, I think Trump and his bad typography deserve one another. To finish up this exploration of Gotham, an incredible typographic perfect storm happened in September 2007: soon-to-be president Obama appeared on the cover of GQ Magazine. It was the perfect unity: the typeface, the magazine it was designed for and the soon-to-be 44th President of the United States who would go on to win the presidency, in part because of great typography. Barack and his team have got great taste. Finally, In a news release on Hoefler&Co.’s website from January 20, 2017, Jonathan Hoefler revealed that Hoefler&Co.’s long-held relationship with the former first family would continue: “We at Hoefler&Co have had the extraordinary privilege of seeing our typefaces accompany the Obamas on every step of their journey. A typographic chronology appears below, beginning with the moment in 2007 that Congressman Barack Obama announced his campaign for the presidency, with the call for change that resonated so powerfully with the American people… It is therefore especially meaningful to me that our typefaces will continue with the Obamas. The Office of Barack and Michelle Obama, its website designed by Blue State Digital and premiering this morning, will be the first organization to use a new H&Co typeface named Ringside, which will launch later this week. Ringside is our most ambitious typeface to date, our largest and most inclusive family ever, reflecting the handiwork of the entire type design team at Hoefler&Co. I could not be more proud to see it debut here.” And if you’re really feeling like channeling the 44th President of the United States, you can now buy the Barack Obama Hand Lettering typeface. The font’s creator promises a 70% match to Barack Obama handwriting. Thank you, Mr. Frere-Jones, for your important contributions to an incomplete history of type. From the middle ages to the Middle East, from Futura to Freight, thanks for joining us on a journey across the type universe and going where no designer has gone before… next up: feel the weight of FREIGHT. Music: Podington Bear - Squirrel Commotion Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex onUnsplash

Name: Comic Sans Release Date: 1994 Designers: Vincent Connare Classification: Sans serif script Owned By: Microsoft Corporation Claim to Fame: The world’s most loved-to-be-hated typeface. It’s been nearly 500 days since Comic Sans and I had our initial rendezvous in this podcast’s very first episode in 2019... it’s about time we meet again, Comic Sans. I’m going to continue where I left off from in episode 1, filling in the gaps and tracing this typeface’s history, telling the interesting story of how it came to live and breathe and take over the world. Comic Sans was developed inside the walls of Microsoft Corporation. Type designer, Vincent Connare, worked for Microsoft and it was within these walls that Comic Sans (originally called ‘Comic Book’) was born. It started out innocently enough. It was the mid-1990’s. Vincent got his hands on an unreleased trial copy of software called Microsoft Bob. This software was designed to be user-friendly word processing and finance manager. Vincent did not like one specific thing about Bob; namely the typeface used by Rover, the software’s helper dog. His speech text was set in Times New Roman and it felt cold in a space that was designed to feel warm and inviting. Vincent convinced the Bob team to help him revamp the typeface. He worked within software called Macromedia Fontographer and manipulated the letters until he landed on a style that worked. He sent over the type design to the people working on Bob, but he got some bad news… Bob had been designed to fit Times New Roman’s measurements. Comic Sans was slightly larger and it couldn’t be substituted in. Microsoft Bob was canned one year after it’s release. Maybe if they’d used Comic Sans we would all be happily sitting in this cozy library, clunking away on our 1990’s spreadsheets today. But it wasn’t all sad news for Vincent. After all, Comic Sans is now EVERYWHERE. Soon after it’s design, Microsoft adopted Comic Sans for Microsoft Movie Maker and it was a hit. Comic Sans was also included as one of the typefaces in Windows 95 so anyone could now choose to use it. Joint authors of a book about the social history of the sticker, called Peel, Holly and David Combs, met and fell in love over their passion for fonts, and specifically, their distaste for Comic Sans. The two even started a mail-order business with ‘Ban Comic Sans’ mugs, hats and t-shirts. The duo have said this: “When designing a ‘Do Not Enter’ sign, the use of a heavy-stroked, attention-commanding font such as Impact or Arial Black is appropriate. Typesetting such a message in Comic Sans would be ludicrous… analogous to showing up for a black tie event in a clown costume.” In an interview about The Story Behind Comic Sans for fonts.com, type legend Ilene Strizver interviewed Vincent Connare asking him some very important questions to get to the heart of the typeface. When asked about individuals who dislike Comic Sans, Vincent had this to say: “I think most of them secretly like Comic Sans — or at least wish they had made it. Interesting fact: the main designer at Twitter tweeted that the most server space is used by complaints about: first, airlines; second, Comic Sans; and third, Justin Bieber. So not even The Bieber can beat Comic Sans!” One final note about the designer, Vincent Connare. He’s gone on to design other notable typefaces, including Trebuchet. Both Comic Sans and Trebuchet have been regarded as excellent typefaces to use to help individuals who are dyslexic. Both typefaces provide enough unique attributes of each letterform that the d’s and b’s + p’s and q’s are easily distinguishable from one another, making it less likely to flip characters and read them backwards. Comic Sans (dare I say it!) is actually an accessible choice. Vincent has taken all of this fame (primarily that he’s loved to be hated) in a good-spirited way. Here’s what he has to say about preferences to his most famous typeface: “If you love Comic Sans, you don’t know much about typography. If you hate it, you really don’t know much about typography, either, and you should get another hobby.” And finally... Comic Sans walks into a bar and the bartender says, ‘We don’t serve your type’. Thank you Mr. Connare, for your important contributions to an incomplete history of type. From the middle ages to the Middle East, from Futura to Freight, thanks for joining us on a journey across the type universe and going where no designer has gone before… next up: a place where Batman and Barack Obama have a crossover episode - it’s GOTHAM. Music: Podington Bear - Squirrel Commotion Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo byAlex onUnsplash

Name: Freight Release Date: 2005 Designers: Joshua Darden and GarageFont Design Classification: Humanist Owned By: Phil’s Fonts Inc. Claim to Fame: A popular typeface designed by the first-known African American type designer. This typeface is part of a huge extended family whose name implies that it's a workhorse of a typeface intended to work in a variety of contexts and large and small sizes, alike. It was named favourite typeface of the year in 2005 by typographica. Today is all about Freight. The designer’s name is Joshua Darden, who Fonts in Use believes is the first known African-American type designer. He designed his first typeface at 15 years old. He spent nearly 10 years helping to create typefaces alongside other professionals in the industry before establishing his own studio. Darden joined the Hoefler&Co. type foundry in the year 2000 as a freelance designer and in 2001 became a full-time employee. If you haven’t watched the Netflix series, Abstract, about the art of design, check out season two where there’s an episode all about Hoefler&Co. type foundry in New York. Lead typographer, Jonathan Hoefler, is considered one of the most iconic type designers in the world. In 2004, at the age of 25, Joshua established his Brooklyn-based design studio called Darden Studio. This studio was founded in the middle of an ugly court battle over, none other than, the typeface Freight. Joshua won the battle. The font was released through Phil’s Fonts (also known as GarageFonts). Since the typeface’s initial release, Phil’s Fonts has released additional families of Freight that were not designed by Joshua. Phil’s Fonts describes Freight as follows: “Fresh yet at the same time projecting a familiar feeling, Freight Text Pro provides the stable foundation on which all other Freight Pro serif families were built. As its name implies it was designed to handle standard text sizes for large and small quantities of copy. Unique enough to catch the eyes but comfortable enough to keep them from bleeding, Freight Text Pro is a workhorse intended for magazines, newspapers, cookbooks, data-intensive technical documents and collateral. What more could you ask for from such a humble family?” The Freight family tree is expansive. Freight, as it currently stands, has five families: text, sans, micro, display and big. Text has serifs and sans doesn’t; both designed for body text. Micro is designed to be used at very small sizes, display for headline type and big for signage and wayfinding (applications larger than headlines). It’s considered a font super family that contains 120 different styles (24 of each of the five families). Yes, 120 styles of characters, so basically 120 fonts! A ‘super family’ is a typeface that contains multiple classifications. Each of these five families within freight are all part of the super family. So imagine your last name is Freight. Let’s say that in your Dad’s family there are five brothers; your uncles Sans, Big, Micro, Display and your father, Serif. Each of the five brothers had, wait for it, 22 children so in each of the families there are 24 people (including each mom and dad) - unique styles in each, like light, italic, light italic, medium, bold, and so on with different widths weights and styles, each one with a bit of a unique personality. When the five families come together, they are considered one big Freight super family. That’s one family reunion! Jan Middendorp described Freight this way, “Shaping Text” from 2012: “With the Freight suite, Joshua Darden took a radical approach to designing for optical size. Letterpress’ subtle difference between the various body sizes have been translated into boldly drawn, hugely different variants with pronounced size-related characteristics. Freight turns the traditional “natural” gradations of contrast and width into a conscious stylistic device.” Freight is a humanist style typeface, which means the typeface looks like it’s been drawn by a human hand. There tends to be a natural expanding and contracting of the strokes. It’s as though they were drawn calligraphically with a pen nib. Humanist faces came after dark, gothic typefaces like Blackletter and they had a lighter, airier feel of the Italian humanist writers sometime in the middle of the 15th century. In addition to his design work, Joshua has also been a guest at such mega events as TypeCon, as well as having taught at the Parsons School of Design and lectured at the University of California, Santa Barbara. And following in Hoefler’s footsteps for presidential typography (who had a hand in designing the typeface Gotham used in Barack Obama’s presidential campaign), Joshua designed the award-winning typeface, Jubilat, that was used in Bernie Sanders 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns. Thank you Mr. Darden, for your important contributions to an incomplete history of type. From the middle ages to the Middle East, from Futura to Freight, thanks for joining us on a journey across the type universe and going where no designer has gone before… next up: we’re crossing the ocean, travelling to the Middle East. Last, but certainly not least, Zapfino Arabic. Music: Podington Bear - Squirrel Commotion Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo byAlex onUnsplash

Name: Zapfino Arabic Release Date: 2014 Designer: Nadine Chahine Classification: Calligraphic Owned By: Linotype Claim to Fame: This typeface was designed by one of the most talented female type designers in the world today, who is helping to bridge the gap between Latin and Arabic letterforms. I am beyond excited for today! Throughout the last nine episodes of Talk Paper Scissors, we’ve been exploring an incomplete history of type; an examination of type’s history through a deep dive into individual typefaces. From historic and classic typeface designers, to more contemporary type visionaries, today’s final episode promises to bring you a unique perspective on global typeface design… from the designer herself! Dr. Nadine Chahine, the incredibly talented and celebrated typeface designer who bridges the gap between Latin and Arabic letterforms, is here with us to discuss her work. She’s won several awards including the Award for Excellence in Type Design from the Type Directors Club in New York in 2008 and 2011. In 2012 she was selected by Fast Company as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business. Her typefaces include Frutiger Arabic, Neue Helvetica Arabic, Univers Next Arabic and Palatino Arabic to name a few. Today’s episode is all about Zapfino Arabic and Nadine’s beautiful Arabic type. To provide some context to today’s discussion, Zapfino Arabic an Arabic version of the calligraphic face, Zapfino, designed by famed typographer and Professor Hermann Zapf. The typeface was developed in the 1980’s and 1990’s, based on a typeface called ‘Zapf’ he penned in the 1950’s (it existed just in a sketchbook and not as a typeface). The Zapfino typeface has numerous alternate characters and lots of ligatures (for example, the letter ‘d’ has 9 versions!). In the 1980’s Zapf was working with a number of other academics and had the idea to produce a font file with a number of glyph variations. The only way these swash characters were going to work was through digital means and not through traditional hot metal type, which he felt was too limiting for this type of face (remember Zapf was pioneering digital typography at our sister school, RIT, in the US for many years). He worked with an academic by the name of David Siegel who worked with Zapf to create the complicated software necessary to make this happen. They then teamed up with type designer Gino Lee (the ‘ino’ in Zapfino). Interestingly, Zapf received a letter from Siegel during the project that read that his girlfriend had left him and he’d lost all interest in the project. Siegel went on to help bring colour to Macintosh computers, as well as become an Internet design expert. (If Siegel had stayed on board, would the typeface name have been Zapfinos?) The project carried on and Linotype adapted the project and helped to finish it. It was released in 1998. One of the most interesting parts of Zapfino Arabic for me, personally, is that I can’t understand its context. It’s what I imagine my 2 and 4-year-olds see when they’re learning the Latin alphabet for the first time. Because I have no basis for how the letterforms typically look or when they should be used (context, societal norms, expectations), I feel like I’m looking at type through the eyes of a child. I think that this is such an interesting and relatively rare occurrence and I feel very fortunate to be experiencing type through this lens. I am excited for Nadine to help me better understand Arabic typography. We’ve already explored the work of Hermann Zapf (of ITC Zapf Chancery fame) who passed away in 2015. Prior to 2015, he and Nadine worked together to bring Zapfino Arabic to life. In this conversation, Nadine shares incredible insights about the disciplines of design Latin and Arabic typography and I can’t wait for you to hear it. Thank you, Ms. Chahine, for your important contributions to an incomplete history of type. From the middle ages to the Middle East, from Futura to Freight, thanks for joining us on a journey across the type universe and going where no designer has gone before. We’ve made it! Only time will tell who the next faces of type will be and which typefaces they change the world. Nadine's Body of Work: https://arabictype.com/ Music: Podington Bear - Squirrel Commotion Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

In this episode, Diana softly reads Chapter 2: The History of Print from the Introduction to Graphic Communication textbook by Harvey Levenson and John Parsons. This ASMR-inspired (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) episode is perfect for winding down after a long day of studying. Whether you're listening to relax, de-stress or looking for a new way to experience textbook content, this hour-long audio recording is as relaxing as the printing industry gets. Music: Blear Moon - Winter journal Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash Open Books Photo: Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Name: Wingdings Release Date: 1990 Designers: Charles Bigelow & Kris Holmes Classification: Dingbats Owned By: Bigelow & Holmes, Microsoft Typography Claim to Fame: Wingdings allowed personal computer users an easy way to communicate with symbols as represented through letters on the computer keyboard. This typeface was designed in the early 1990’s in a pre-mass Internet era. It was a forerunner to emojis and its purpose was similar: to augment written text with imagery and communicate via symbols, not unlike the very first written communication thousands of years ago in the form of pictograms and ideograms. Today’s episode is all about Wingdings. (Let the bells ring!) The most logical place to start is by taking a look at the ancient history of communication. Researchers have found cave paintings that date back as far as 20,000 BC, however true written communication happened many years later around 3,500 BC by the Sumerians. The Sumerians (the people of southern Mesopotamia - now modern Iraq - whose civilization flourished between 4100 - 1750 BCE) created drawings of everyday objects called pictograms. These pictograms represented actual objects and although they are considered a primitive form of written communication by today’s standards, they were revolutionary at the time. In approximately 3,100 BC, Egyptian hieroglyphics showed symbols representing thoughts and ideas. These more complex drawings are called ideograms. With these new images and ability for individuals to interpret ideograms, more abstract concepts could be communicated. Let’s fast forward to the Wingdings typeface. In the early days of personal computing, it was really tricky (next to impossible) to just copy and paste images from the Internet so this font provided a way to access a whole collection of scalable (read: good quality, not pixelated) symbols that were small in file size (read: wouldn’t clog hard drives!). High quality + small file size = 1990’s winner! As detailed in an article by Vox entitled Why the Wingdings font exists, Wingdings was designed by husband and wife duo Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes of design studio Bigelow & Holmes. An awesome fun fact is that these two designers were proteges of legendary type design Hermann Zapf (of the ITC Zapf Chancery and Zapf Dingbats fame - also a collection of symbols). The couple also designed the popular face Lucida and Wingdings was designed to work within the same proportions as Lucida so the two faces could work together. In 1990, Microsoft bought the rights to Lucida and Wingdings (originally actually three typefaces called Lucida Icons, Lucida arrows and Lucida stars) and made it part of their beta test of Microsoft Windows that year. The typeface got its name by combining two important characteristics: “Wing” = Windows, “dings” = dingbats. Dingbats is an old printer’s term: “In typography, a dingbat (sometimes more formally known as a printer's ornament or printer's character) is an ornament, character, or spacer used in typesetting”. It was too time consuming and costly to create little ornaments, images or flourishes for each publication so printers had a collection of ‘dingbats’ that could be inserted in text, just like Wingdings. When the typeface was introduced into Windows, conspiracy theories began to surface that it contained hidden messages. The Vox article detailed a troubling theory: “Most famously, Wingdings supposedly contained anti-Semitic messages against New York City (when users typed "NYC," the Wingdings for a skull, a star of David, and a thumbs-up appeared).” Yikes! The designers hadn’t considered that people would actually use it to type words and string it together as some sort of code much like pictograms or hieroglyphics. But where did the designers come up with the various symbols? The symbols spanned many eras; some were as old as Medieval times, like the pointing hand or from daily office life in the 1990’s, like the floppy disk. Typographic symbols such as the Wingdings typeface bridge the gap between ancient and historical pictograms, as well as the printer’s dingbats and the modern emoji; all are typographic symbols used to convey meaning and express ideas beyond the written text. Thank you Mr. Bigelow and Ms. Holmes, for your important contributions to an incomplete history of type. From the middle ages to the Middle East, from Futura to Freight, thanks for joining us on a journey across the type universe and going where no designer has gone before… next up: we meet again, COMIC SANS. Music: Podington Bear - Squirrel Commotion Church Bells Sound Effect: InspectorJ (via Freesound.org) Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo byAlex onUnsplash

Name: ITC Zapf Chancery Release Date: 1979 Designer: Hermann Zapf Classification: Script Owned By: Linotype Claim to Fame: The first and only calligraphic typeface shipped with the first Apple computers. Steve Jobs hand-picked this typeface to represent calligraphic styling on the first Apple computers in the 1980’s. Designed by a former WWII cartographer turned type designer and professor, this typeface would be seen and used on millions of computers around the world for decades to come. Today we’re talking about ITC Zapf Chancery. ITC Zapf Chancery was designed by contemporary German typographer Hermann Zapf. Hermann was born on November 8, 1918, three days before the official end of World War I. When Herman left school at the age of 15, he wanted to pursue a career in electrical engineering however the newly established Third Reich made it difficult to do so. Hermann had to find a new path for himself in the form of an apprenticeship. His teachers suggested that he become a lithographer because of his drawing skills, however he had trouble getting a job because of political questions that would be asked in interviews and so it was actually the very last company in the telephone directory (who didn't ask any political questions in the interview) that hired him to become a retoucher. And that was the start of his four year apprenticeship. In 1935 Herman bought two books all about calligraphy and taught himself how to write in this classic style. To supplement his self-taught education in calligraphy, he studied examples at the city library where he lived in Nuremberg. During his apprenticeship his skill for calligraphy was noticed and his work shifted to retouching lettering as well as helping his colleagues improve their retouching abilities. I love this example of following your passions and continuous education can lead to something so much more than he could have ever imagined when he picked up those books for the first time. When he paid for the books, I’m certain he didn’t think to himself, “this is the first step to becoming one of the world’s greatest typographers. My calligraphic font will be seen by billions, on every new fangled technological gadget all over the world for possibly hundreds of years!” I love that that’s what sometimes happens when you follow your gut. He was conscripted to war in 1939, but he developed heart trouble after hard labor so in a few weeks he was given a desk job. He moved around a fair bit during the war; each time sent out into the battlefield and each time his weak heart and clumsiness bringing him back to a desk with a pen in his hand. He ended up in the cartography unit (map making) and he was happy there. It's been said that his eyesight was so good that he could write letters that were 1 mm in height without using a magnifying glass. After the war Herman taught calligraphy and began working at a type foundry as artistic head of their print shop. After the war, he also married fellow typographer and teacher, Gudrun Zapf von Hesse, who is also an acclaimed calligrapher, self-taught because she wasn’t satisfied with her calligraphy education. (I bet their wedding invitations were INCREDIBLE.) However, her primary role was not of a calligrapher, but a bookbinder. Although Hermann is one of the world’s best modern typographers, most of his work was actually as a graphic artist designing books. His biggest project in calligraphy (before designing ITC Zapf Chancery) was in 1960 for a library in New York City, for which he received a grand total of… one thousand dollars. Some other typefaces that are famously designed by Hermann include Palatino (designed in 1948) and Optima (designed in 1952). The typeface Optima is a very interesting design because Herman decided to create a happy medium between serif and sans serif font, so Optima is considered a flared sans serif face. It's also designed as a chameleon: to work for both headings as well as passages of text. It was designed as both a display typeface, as well as the text typeface. Hermann was keen to explore computer typography for computer programs starting in the 1960s. In 1976, the Rochester Institute of technology RIT offered Hermann a professorship in typographic computer programming, which was a completely novel role. For 10 years (between 1977 and 1987) Hermann flew between Darmstadt, Germany and Rochester, New York to teach. (What a commute!) It's interesting to note that other influential type designers we're students of Hermann at RIT. For example, Chris Holmes and Charles Bigelow, together created the Lucida type family and Wingdings, which we’ll explore in a future episode. Let’s circle back to our typeface of the day: ITC Zapf Chancery. The typeface was named ITC for International Typeface Corporation (a type manufacturer founded in 1970), Zapf (for obvious reasons) and Chancery was the English name for a Renaissance handwriting style that inspired early printing letterforms. The typeface, shared with the world in 1979, was originally designed as a family of 6: Light, Light Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, Demi, and Bold. It was selected as an Apple Mac OS font in the early 1980’s for the simple reason that Steve Jobs liked it. It was the only calligraphy-inspired typeface he selected. However, he only adopted one of the six family members: Medium Italic. Perhaps he chose it for it’s happy-medium qualities? In the age of digital typography, Hermann grew more concerned about copyright infringements and outright copying of his typefaces. For good reason: enter Monotype’s Corsiva. This wasn't the first time that Monotype knocked off Herman's typefaces. Book Antiqua looks suspiciously similar to Palatino… Interestingly, the Zapf Chancery vs. Corsiva case actually went to trial, but the case concluded that Corsiva was a sufficiently different design. But even years before his design and release of ITC Zapf Chancery, Herman took a break from designing typefaces for about 10 years until the 1970s because he was so frustrated with the knockoff typefaces coming out from competing brands. In 1974 Hermann addressed the Library of Congress Copyright Office in Washington DC and pleaded for greater protection. He argued that in the age of non-digital type it was costly and time-consuming to make copies of letters, but it wasn’t nearly as difficult in the digital age. Designer’s rarely won cases where they tried to protect their design and it was determined that an alphabet cannot be patented. The same still holds true today. In the US, an alphabet can still not be protected… kind of. The only way to protect an original design is to patent each individual character… in every width, weight and style. Some digital alphabets have nearly 600 glyphs (characters, numerals, punctuation marks, alternate characters…) that it would cost so much more to protect a typeface than the possible costs of it being cloned and used without consent. Perhaps, then, it was a well-intentioned slap in the face (if there is such a thing) that to mark his wife’s 100th birthday in January 2018, Monotype Corporation released a typeface in her honour: Hesse-Antiqua. Gudrun designed this typeface in 1947. This typeface was designed to be gold-foil stamped onto leather casebound books. Thank you Mr. Zapf (AND Ms. Zapf-von Hesse), for your important contributions to an incomplete history of type. From the middle ages to the Middle East, from Futura to Freight, thanks for joining us on a journey across the type universe and going where no designer has gone before… next up: parchments and scrolls and tablets, oh my! We’re moving forward into the history of type with PAPYRUS. Music: Podington Bear - Squirrel Commotion Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo byAlex on Unsplash

Name: Papyrus Release Date: 1982 Designer: Chris Costello Classification: Fantasy Owned By: Letraset Claim to Fame: Used and abused in personal computing and recently spoofed on SNL. This typeface was hand-drawn over the course of 6 months using a calligraphy pen on textured paper, as designer Chris Costello was trying to achieve the look of writing on papyrus 2000 years ago. Costello was straight out of college, only 23 at the time and this was his first typeface that he just created in his spare time. For all of Papyrus’ haters out there, the typeface shows surprising technique and precision. Today we’re talking about the world’s second most loved-to-be-hated typeface, Papyrus. In a hilarious 3 minute SNL skit watched nearly 15 million times since its release in 2017, Ryan Gosling stars as a Papyrus-obsessed citizen trying to work through his deeply felt issues about the typeface. His wife is concerned. His therapist’s no help. His friend just doesn’t get the obsession. In an internal struggle that sees Gosling stakeout the Papyrus designer’s home, all bets are off with his mind tormented by a typeface. I laugh every time I watch it. I think it’s about high time we meet the 2nd most vilified type designer (next to Comic Sans creator, Vincent Conaire). Chris Costello was born in New York and his father was a professional sign painter, who included him in his work, painting signs for IBM, among many others. Costello studied advertising and design and after graduation he was hired as an entry-level illustrator at an ad agency. It was here, in 1982, that he designed Papyrus in his downtime between other projects. He was fresh out of college (only 23 at the time!) when he designed the typeface, inspired by bible study and mimicking the way the bible would have looked when handwritten in the Middle East. Papyrus’ defining features are as follows: Considered a display typeface rough edges Large counters Irregular curves High horizontal strokes in the capitals In an article by author David Kadavy entitled: In Defense of Papyrus: Avatar Uses the World’s Second-Most-Hated Font to Signal the Downfall of Civilization, he pays mad respect to the typeface. Even though Papyrus is a display typeface and not meant for long blocks of text, Kadavy points out that Papyrus has strong texture; not referring to the literal texture within each letterform, but the overall block of text and good visual consistency throughout. If you want to get a sense of a typeface texture, squint your eyes while looking at it to see if it appears even or not (a good test for any typeface). Kadavy explains that good texture is created when typefaces display consistency throughout their letterforms, which then becomes magnified (either for better or for worse) in blocks of text. Furthermore, he points out that a good typeface should show clear differences between the letterforms (which is what an alphabet is, after all), while maintaining harmony between the letters, which Papyrus successfully achieves. Managing visual weight is crucial and this becomes very apparent where two strokes connect. For example, although Helvetica does not have stroke variation throughout it’s letterforms (the stress, or darkness, of a stroke remains consistent within each letterform), the place where the curved shoulder of the lowercase n meet with the vertical stroke does not create a dark spot. The same can’t be said about Comic Sans and this heavy area contributes to an unevenness of texture throughout a block of text. Papyrus has stroke weight variation within its letterforms, which helps create an even texture throughout. This is just one of the many fundamental technical strengths of Papyrus, others being consistency in shape among letterforms and good kerning tables (the automatic spacing between individual letterforms). But Kadavy didn’t have all the nice things to say about the typeface. Namely, he believes it’s biggest downfall is misrepresenting what it truly is. He uses the term “material dishonesty”, which comes from the world of architecture. “The principle of material honesty states that a material used to build something should be what it looks like it is.” It’s the wood grain on an IKEA Billy bookshelf. It’s the marble texture on a laminate countertop. In other words, it’s a fake. A phony. Papyrus is not the real deal because it wasn’t actually hand-scribed thousands of years ago on actual papyrus. Even if it’s convincing, subconsciously we know it’s deceiving us. After Costello designed Papyrus, he sent out a version of the typeface design to all kinds of big and small type foundries. They all rejected it. Except for one… Letraset. Letraset sold scratch vinyl decals. A sheet you place over a blank page, scratch on top and the letter transfers to the paper underneath. I used to play with these sets when I was a kid and they were also used to mock up typography before desktop publishing. Costello sold the rights to Papyrus to Letraset for $750. But as a FastCompany article explains, “if Costello had earned just 1/10th of a penny in royalties for every copy of Papyrus shipped on Microsoft Office over the last two decades, he would be a millionaire.” Even though Papyrus has been available on both Mac and Microsoft operating systems since the year 2000, he said that he still received very low royalty payments for the font’s use. Now is a good time to talk about the Avatar franchise’s decision to use Papyrus as their primary typeface choice. Papyrus was the typeface chosen to represent the Avatar franchise. It bears repeating. Papyrus was the typeface chosen to represent the Avatar franchise. While a stylized version of the typeface, it was still the typeface. For anyone who defends the multi-million dollar franchising using a standard typeface that can be found on any personal computer dating back the last 20 years, let me say this: It's got some makeup on in the form of glowy filters and drop shadows that make it practically float off the page. Go visit the Avatar logo on a Monday morning after a long weekend and THEN tell me if you still like it. Interestingly, in 2017, 20th Century Fox revealed that Avatar would sport a new logo for the upcoming 4 sequel films. This happened approximately a year after SNL’s Papyrus release and some speculate that could have been the nail in the coffin in the font choice for the highest grossing film of all time that has its own section within the Disney theme parks (for goodness sakes!). In an article entitled Avatar’s new “breaking news” logo is actually two years old by Quartz in 2017, author Anne Quito states: “In reality, there are many sensible reasons for updating a logo: improving legibility, creating distinctiveness from a competitor, signaling a change in creative direction.” So what is this thickened, more condensed mystery font? Experts believe that it’s a custom font, designed specifically for the film franchise. This was likely a wise choice because part of the reason Avatar designers received so much flack for their typeface choice was for its ubiquity. The typeface Papyrus is seen on the sides of coffee shops, churches and funeral homes because of its availability on all computer operating systems, makes it commonplace and subconsciously connected to the businesses and products who use the same typeface to promote themselves. Therefore, deciding to move forward with a custom typeface that looks visually similar enough to the original that old and new don’t appear too disjointed, while at the same time recognizing that there were improvements to be made over the Papyrus version, is a critical and important balance to strike. In my opinion: well done Avatar design team. To finish off our examination of Papyrus, what could be more appropriate for the world’s second most hated typeface than to procreate with the world's most hated typeface. Introducing… Comic Papyrus! The designer's name is Ben Harman: “So stop wasting hours switching back and forth between your two old favorites, and just use your new favorite instead. Comic Papyrus combines the timeless rustic qualities from centuries past with the hilarious fun-loving wit of today’s funny pages. It’ll make you laugh (like a joke) and cry (like a mummy). Simultaneously!” Update: “Comic Papyrus has been renamed, "Comic Parchment." Here's the scoop from creator Ben Harman: SAME GLORIOUS FONT! MORE LEGAL NAME! Comic “Parchment” was mankind’s first genetically-engineered superfont, boasting typographic DNA from the two most revered fonts in existence: Comic Sans and [CENSORED]. In other words, Papyrus was removed from the name for legal reasons. You can purchase your own version of this typeface from Creative Market for a steal: $10! But the more important, big picture matter is clear …the existence of Comic Parchment signals the end of the world is near… And as for Chris Costello’s thoughts about SNL’s parody? 'I took a look at it and me and my wife were like cracking up, I mean we couldn't stop laughing. It was one of the best things I've seen,' Costello said to CBS News. Thank you Mr. Costello, for your important contributions to an incomplete history of type. From the middle ages to the Middle East, from Futura to Freight, thanks for joining us on a journey across the type universe and going where no designer has gone before… next up: WINGDING-a-ling! Let the bells ring! Music: Podington Bear - Squirrel Commotion Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo byAlex onUnsplash

Name: Helvetica Release Date: 1957 Designer: Max Miedinger, Eduard Hoffmann Classification: Neo-Grotesque Sans Serif Owned By: Haas Type Foundry Claim to Fame: The world’s most ubiquitous typeface. Born out of the need for ‘rational typefaces’ that work in a variety of areas (ex: signage, corporate identity, etc.), it’s legibility is key. It’s interwoven into the very fabric of brands’ identities and of our everyday lives, whether we realize it or not. In fact, it’s probably in your house right now. Let’s start in the bathroom: Oral B. In the kitchen: from Tupperware to Target. In the closet: The North Face, Fendi and Urban Outfitters. In the garage: Jeep, BMW, Toyota, GM. And that’s just scratching the surface. It’s Everywhere. It’s Iconic. It’s Helvetica. Helvetica was born when the Haas type foundry wanted to make a modernized version of Akzidenz Grotesk (pronounced: ‘Accidents’), a classic 19th Century German sans serif. Helvetica’s original (and not so catchy) name was ‘Die Neue Haas Grotesk’. It was later named ‘Helvetica’ (based on the latin word for ‘Switzerland’) so it could be more easily marketed in the US. If you haven’t yet seen Helvetica, the feature-length documentary released in 2007 to coincide with Helvetica’s 50th anniversary, it’s worth a watch. It’s an excellent account of the world’s most ubiquitous typeface, Helvetica, that appears in so many different places in our lives. Helvetica’s success rests on its clarity. Its letterforms are inherently readable and clear. At its core, Helvetica is about the figure-ground relationship (it looks just as good as black text on a white background, as it does in reverse); it has supportive surrounding space. Furthermore, one of the most characteristic things about Helvetica is its horizontal (sliced off) terminals in lowercase a, c, e, g. Typography can be defined as creating order out of letters and Helvetica does just that. It’s a neutral typeface that doesn’t have a lot of meaning in and of itself. It’s kind of like the tofu of typefaces. It soaks up whatever identity it needs to in the context in which it’s placed and the appeal of Helvetica is that it’s open to interpretation. The term ‘typographic voice’ is helpful here, referring to typefaces’ ability to represent the brand. They help with a sort of ‘subliminal prompting’. For example, seeing the same message written in a grunge font vs helvetica is meant to be perceived in different ways. This helps to explain why Helvetica is so popular in representing the identity of major brands and governments. The letterforms seem neutral and efficient, yet their smoothness reads ‘human’ and more accessible, transparent and accountable. For big companies who are constantly fighting the image that they are oppressive, authoritarian, bureaucratic, communicating in Helvetica provides an undercurrent of associated humanness to underlay their messaging. Graphic designer, Lars Mueller, describes the typeface this way: “I think I’m right calling Helvetica the perfume of the city. It is something we just don’t notice usually, but we would very much miss it if it wasn’t there.” Now let’s look at the faces behind the typeface: Max Meidinger and Eduard Hoffmann. Meidinger worked for Hoffmann at Haas type foundry and at this time Haas type foundry was controlled by a German type foundry, Stempel, which was controlled by Linotype. It’s interesting to note that Meidinger wasn’t a designer when he worked for Hoffmann at Haas; he was a salesman. He travelled around Switzerland selling type for the foundry and even though he was a skilled designer, he could make more money selling. In addition to his sales work, Meidinger created the drawings for the Helvetica typeface, however Hoffmann had much more of a role to play in Helvetica’s creation than history books would have us believe (based on type designer, Matthew Carter’s, first hand accounts in the 1950’s and 1960’s). As part of the Helvetica documentary, famous designers were interviewed and they had mixed emotions and feelings about Helvetica. Let's have a look at the good, the bad and the ugly. The Good: Some designers think that Helvetica’s an excellent typeface and find creative constraint with making it speak different voices. It can be what you want it to be. That there’s as much personality in the spacing as there is on in the letters themselves. Helvetica is what you make it. The Bad: Not all type designers believe Helvetica is still a great typeface; instead, that it represents the world 70 years ago and has just become a default typeface today. “It’s air.” It’s there. - Erik Spikermann The Ugly: In the 1970’s, many designers saw Helvetica as oppressive and boring and flat and the face of faceless corporations and decided to change things up. Designer and illustrator, Paula Scher, tied Helvetica to the Vietnam War and wanted to stray far away from it. She began exploring how to use hand-drawn and illustrative typography to give type a personality all of its own for each project. She played a lot with colour and spacing and movement. Furthermore, David Carson who pioneered grunge typography in the 1980’s and 1990’s (he’s been called the ‘the Godfather of Grunge’ and the ‘Kurt Cobain of Typography’), used this expressive type and hand lettering to rebel against Helvetica. As Carson recalls: “The '80s and '90s typography revolution that thrived on messy, heavy type to express every emotion that the wayward generation of the time was feeling.” Carson (very much against Helvetica and what it stands for) goes on to explain: “Don’t confuse legibility with communication and just because something’s legible, doesn’t mean it communicates; And more importantly, doesn’t mean it communicates the right thing… There’s a very thin line between simple and powerful and clean, and simple and powerful and boring.” Whether you’re for or against Helvetica and what it stands for, one thing is for certain, Helvetica’s has a rival, and her name is Arial. While Helvetica was designed in the 1950’s (owned by Linotype) and licenced to Apple for use with their operating systems, Arial was designed by Monotype Corporation in 1982 and used in Microsoft’s OS in 1992. One of the goals of Arial was to compete with Helvetica. As described by type author Ilene Stizver in an article for Creative Pro, “Helvetica is a sharper, crisper design with more stylish details and a slightly more rectangular (or, less rounded) appearance. These traits can be seen in the leg of the cap R, the curved diagonal on the numeral 2, more accentuated stroke endings, and blunt horizontal or vertical end strokes on many characters. Arial is the more rounded of the two designs, with softer, fuller curves, and more open counters. It has an overall less elegant, blander appearance that reproduces well in lower resolutions environments. It also has a diagonal terminal on the t as well as the numeral 1, and a curved tail on the cap Q.” Whether you like the look of Helvetica or Arial better (or neither!), both are very popular but Arial is more widely used than Helvetica simply because of its widespread availability on Windows computers. In closing, modern-day type design marvel, Tobias Frere-Jones, likens using the wrong typeface to casting the wrong actor in a role - it will affect your experience. You’ll still follow the plot, but it will be less convincing and/or affected by the production. To further this analogy, a designer choosing typefaces is like a casting director selecting actors for roles, bringing a whole new meaning to the term ‘type cast’. Frere-Jones says this: “If you’re not a designer, use Helvetica Bold in one size and it will look good.” And that’s exactly what my favourite show, The Office, did for their logo. Fitting, no? Thank you Mr. Meidinger and Mr. Hoffmann, for your important contributions to an incomplete history of type. From the middle ages to the Middle East, from Futura to Freight, thanks for joining us on a journey across the type universe and going where no designer has gone before… next up: let’s take a ZAPF CHANCERY on an important figure in type design. Music: Podington Bear - Squirrel Commotion Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

In this episode, Diana turns 248 pages of a textbook, from front to back cover. The gentle, rhythmic sound of hands running over 80# silk book stock is as relaxing as it is familiar. This ASMR-inspired (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) episode is perfect for winding down after a long day of studying. There's nothing like the sound of someone else reading to put you to sleep... Music: Kesta - Better World Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash Book Mark Photo: Photo by Olia Gozha on Unsplash

In this final episode of this 3-part mini-series, Diana uses scissors to cut through different types of paper and plastic. This ASMR-inspired (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) episode is perfect for winding down after a long day of studying. Focusing your mind on the sounds will help you stay as sharp as your scissors. Music: Kesta - Cake Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash Scissors: Photo by Aleksandar Živković on Unsplash

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to write and publish a children’s book. When I was on maternity leave, four years ago with my first daughter, Charlotte, I had all of this unused and untapped creativity that I would normally have poured into my work that was just kind of sitting there, idle. So my thinking about writing a children’s story turned into actually getting it done. Therefore, I wrote this story years ago, but now feels like the right time to share it with the world. And the process was pretty cool. I wrote this first children’s book pretty much in one sitting. Once I started to get going it was really hard to stop. It was exhilarating. There was lots of editing that was done after the fact but it was a whirlwind wave of creativity that I rode for as long as I could. The book is the first in a series called Dogs With Jobs. Who doesn’t love an anthropomorphized canine companion who's got loads of ambition? As you’ll hear in a minute, the very first book in this series is all about Frank, the hog doggingist dachshund entrepreneur who is forced to get creative when competition encroaches upon his hot dog stand; rival business literally popping up on every corner. Target market, the importance of differentiation and clear communication make an appearance. More importantly, it’s fun limerick-style prose is sing-songy and expressive to read. I’ll try to do Frank justice. To set the stage for the opening of this book, Frank the dachshund is being interviewed about his successful hot dog business by local poodle reporter, Clara Suneet. This is part of a series (Dogs with Jobs) in which this local roving rover news team reports on local talent. Let’s get to the good stuff. I’m putting my work out via this podcast and into the universe... so universe, if you’re listening, I’d really love to publish this children’s book. Now on with the show! Presenting Dogs with Jobs: Frank the Entrepreneur. We’re live in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… [Poodle newscaster, Clara Suneet, is reporting live - interviewing Frank, the dachshund] This is Clara Suneet live on the street, reporting for Channel News 4. Let me introduce you to one fine young pooch whose job is anything but a bore. His name is Francesco (it’s ‘Frank’, for short) and you can find him at Newport & Dover. He’s a risk-taking pup who sells hot dogs and such to folks who flock from all over. [picture of seagulls flying in and lining up at Frank’s hot dog stand.] Ever since Frank was a little wee mutt he’s had grand desire. To own his own cart and use his big heart to serve hot dogs right off the fire. And the day finally came when his life would change, his idea was brought to fruition. This rover’s roving business became the manifestation of his hearty ambition. Relish and mustard and ketchup and custard, were all toppings for me and for you. But with all his success others were quick to address, that they should set up shop too. Frank had a dilemma when someone named Gemma opened shop across the street. Then Harry, then Lainey (who’s really quite brainy) opened two other places to eat. [Four hot dog vendors on four corners of the street] “What a disaster! I was the master, but now I’m just one of four plates. There are so many choices, a cacophony of voices… I have to differentiate!” So Frank thought and thought and although distraught he knew that he had to push through. He would preserve and soon he would cheer with a new plan on which he could chew. And what he devised was really quite wise, with excitement he leaped and he twirled. He stepped up his game, stood up and exclaimed: “Come get your hot dogs from around the world!” [Frank balancing on boxes/crates high above the crowd and his hot dog stand.] “Want thai in a hurry, get the dog with green curry!”, he proclaimed from the top of his lungs. “That dog with poutine is anything but routine!” The words spun quickly across his tongue. “Try your luck with some peking duck!” An original dog, that’s for sure. “Sushi and tacos and pizza and nachos!” For his business he’d found the cure. So I’d like to thank this hot dog named Frank who cooked up a master plan. Now tune in for more Channel News 4, back to you in the studio, Dan! Okay Universe, what did you think? You know what, never mind. Time will tell what you think. I had fun writing it, I have fun reading it and my creative bucket is filled coming up with new ideas for the Dogs with Jobs series. (Josie the Labradoodle Cartoonist is in the works as we speak…) Thanks, Universe, for listening and helping me fulfill the dreams of my childhood self. Music: Podington Bear - Racoon Family Robinson Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Dachshund in a Box: Photo by Erda Estremera on Unsplash Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash