The speed of technological change in our industry can make me dizzy. That's why I'm especially fond of new products or ideas that are grounded in the old. One excellent example is
Stern, a new type design available both in metal
and digital. According to P22 Type Foundry, Stern is the first design to be simultaneously released in both media.
In keeping with Stern's dual nature, you can buy related tangible products, such as a printed specimen booklet that includes one metal letter. But there's also a free interactive Flash piece called
Type as Art that lets you combine bits of the Stern font to create your own artwork. And (perhaps because of the success of
Helvetica) there's even a movie in the works that will document the font's creation.
This combination of physical and digital is becoming the norm for all sorts of jobs, not just typefaces. The next time you're in the early stages of planning a project, consider whether you're covering all of the possible media bases.
