Innovation Is Always Extravagant

Geek alert! If you don't care about words, or never notice how something looks on a page, this post is not for you.

If you are unconcerned with how to innovate in a space as old as writing itself, click away now.

If you think comic sans is a good idea, well, um, I'm not sure how to respond to you...

You may not have heard of Jonathan Hoefler or Tobias Frere-Jones but you've seen their work. Before their recent split, they collectively ran the most successful and well respected type design studio in the world, creating fonts used by everyone from the Wall Street Journal to the President of the United States. Font Men, gives a peek behind the curtain into the world of Jonathan and Tobias. Tracking the history of their personal trajectories, sharing the forces that brought them together and giving an exclusive look at the successful empire they built together. - Presented by AIGA to celebrate H+FJ's 2013 AIGA Medal, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts Directed & Produced by: Dress Code Cinematography by: Andre Andreev Edited by: Dan Covert Music & Sound by: YouTooCanWoo Animation/Design: Evan Anthony, John Custer, Joe Donaldson, Emil Bang Lyngbo, Josh Parker, Eddie Song Principal Cast: Jonathan Hoefler, Tobias Frere-Jones Shot on a Canon 7D

However, if  the fact that every font design starts with the letters H & O fascinates you, or you wonder how people design fonts with (or without) serifs, then this film about "The Font Men" will be wildly satisfying.

Did you catch Hoefler's comment that he used to feel defensive about why the world needed more typefaces; how new designs "felt like an extravagance"?

Isn't innovation ALWAYS an extravagance?

Think about what wouldn't be made if "extravagance" disqualified change?  For example, no one NEEDED a cell phone; landlines were perfectly efficient.  When cell phones came along, the idea of a making them smarter seemed ridiculous.

When Henry Ford reflected on the innovation of the automobile, he famously said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

The opportunity for innovation is something beyond what's in the current marketplace - even in the typography space!