Jan. 13th, 2011

kestrell: (Default)
Kes: Wikipedia has a good article on sans serif
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans-serif_font
which includes some great links re sans serif's long association with blind people and accessibility (I'm including the definition for those who may not be clear on what sans serif means).

block quote start
In typography, a sans-serif or sans serif typeface is one that does not have the small features called 'serifs" [projecting outward] at the end of strokes. The term comes from the Latin word for "sign," via the French word sans meaning "without."

....In 1786, a rounded sans-serif font was developed by
Valentin Haüy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Ha%C3%BCy
[who established the first school for the blind]
first appeared in the book titled "Essai sur l'éducation des aveugles" (An Essay on the Education of the Blind).
The purpose of this font was to be invisible and address accessibility. It was designed to emboss paper and allow the blind to read with their fingers. The design was eventually known as Haüy type.
block quote end

To read more about this first tactile book produced for blind people, go to
http://www.aph.org/museum/first_book.html
and this Web page includes descriptions of a number of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century blind people who developed their own writing systems
http://www.brailler.com/braillehx.htm
For more on personal preference in typography, check out this excellent article which is part of a series on typography
http://www.tomontheweb2.ca/CMX/17109/
For more on sans serif typefaces, go to
http://www.linotype.com/en/795/thesansseriftypefaces.html?PHPSESSID=1786212ba18e51adcb690e2292301f97
kestrell: (Default)
or, 6 Ways of Looking at an elephant

I only made one big resolution for 2011, and it's that this year I will add more art to my life.

The seed of this idea was planted almost a year ago, back in January of 2010, when I helped to organize a tactile tour of the Arisia art show. This annual art show lends itself extremely well to the tactile experience of art, as it includes a wide range of art forms and materials, from jewelry to pottery to fabric to ironmongery, and in 2010 even included a steampunk computer (this last was not available for touching but we all agreed that it deserved a prize for best auditory art).

For me, it was one of the most exciting convention events I had ever participated in. A large part of my enjoyment came from getting to share in the enthusiasm of other visually impaired participants and from having the chance to talk to artists who were obviously very passionate about exploring not just the visual but the tactile aspects of their art.

What took me by surprise, however, was the sense of remembering something which I had so utterly forgotten: my love of art.

For me it was a
madeleine moment
http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/proust.html
an intensely-felt but involuntary sense-memory wich made my hands itch to beholding pencil and drawing paper. More than that, however, I missed the sensation of being in "the zone," that sort of half-dream state during which one is completely immersed in giving form to something which, until that moment, has existed soly within one's imagination. That sensation, in particular, was an experience which I longed to rediscover.

After the art show, I realized how much I had missed having art in my life, and I resolved to do something about that lack.
essay continued below cut )
kestrell: (Default)
Shapeshifter by Charlex, narrated by Gabriel Byrne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAhRTeOwhLo
Thanks to PDK for the link and hey, that Gabriel guy is pretty easy on the ears, isn't he?
Edit: Thanks actually go to PDP at the Inferior4 LiveJournal, sorry about that.

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