Cool tools

[Garri]

What a shame embedded fonts are not an everyday feature of HTML/CSS. If they were, everyone would see the original in its full glory. System fonts are all very well but...........

Alan, I'm actually glad they aren't an everyday feature. It forces us to be more creative with what we have. The Coudal site, in my opinion, is an exemplary specimen of the use of great typography on a web site - all done with some very simple, yet effective css using system fonts.

The site is classy, lean and an inspiration. I'm off to find more examples of simple but effective typography - it's one of my pet subjects.

Chalky is still here, just not on this thread.

Chalky posted a response to the embedding fonts issue. It seems that you yourself found the answer in another thread but the post has been deleted. The technique used is on Web Monkey.

[Chalky]

I quoted Alan's earlier posting about embedded fonts, but then re-read the thread and decided my comment wasn't relevant

[Alan Knighting]

Garri,

Alan, I'm actually glad they aren't an everyday feature. It forces us to be more creative with what we have.

This rather reminds me of a quote from Crocodile Dundee when talking about Australian out-back food. "You can live on it, but it tastes like sh*t". I couldn't post the real word because the forum translates it into ****. Censorship rules, even here.

Fluffy fancies free-flowing fantastic font formulation.

Alan

[Garri]

Fluffy fancies free-flowing fantastic font formulation.

Alan, the truth is, you don't need fluffy fancy fonts, you just need some imagination. That's really all it takes.

When I saw that Coudal site I thought "nice font they're using in the headlines, wonder what it is". It's bl**dy Times Roman! Some line height, a bit of negative spacing, a bit of whoosh, a bit of whay - and voila, classy looking piece of typography if you ask me and it was free!

Or, take a font you like, create your headlines and tweak the font in a vector program like Illustrator or Freehand. Bingo! New font in 5 minutes, less if you know how to use shortcuts.

I've seen a lot of fonts, I can tell you, and a lot of them are 'variations' of stuff you already have in your system. If you don't believe me I can prove it on an etch-a-sketch (nod to the late great Bill Hicks)

The biggest scam of course is Arial, a Microsoft 'invention' because they were too tight to pay a license to include Helvetica in their system, so they bootlegged it!

[Alan Knighting]

Garri,

Perhaps I am a rebel. Perhaps I am an anarchist. Definitely I reject people telling me what I can and can't do without justifying it. I always want to know, why?

Alan

[Garri]

Alan, I've always been a rebel and used to be an anarchist (or I at least liked the Sex Pistols - is that the same thing?)

But, I can't explain it any more than I have already. No-one is saying you can or can't do anything, I'm merely trying to illustrate that you don't need fancy fonts to make an impression, and a lot of the free ones are tat - technically as opposed to aesthetically.

And, Photoshop is not the most appropriate tool when it comes to rendering typography, which is why we see some horrendous examples of graphics on the internet.

Perhaps I have been spending far too long visiting sites like Coudal and others, and perhaps I'm too easily impressed by the most simplistic display and use of typography. Maybe I'm a ex-anarchist who is now a pansy, who knows?

I'm sure, although I'd hate to admit it, that Coudal could do something amazing with Comic Sans. If they did I would applaud them and probably think "Comic Sans? I used to loath that font but it's OK really".

Thanks to Coudal I have rediscovered Times Roman - now that really is rebellious, and fairly sad!

[Alan Knighting]

Garri,

To be perfectly honest I am arguing a principle not a fact. I have literally hundreds of fonts on my system and most of them are absolutely diabolical. It's not that I want to use them. It is that I think I should be able to use them if I do want to. I hate being constrained by artificial boundaries in any part of my life.

Alan

[paolo]

I couldn't post the real word because the forum translates it into ****.

Not any more! You can say sh*t to your heart's content now. There are only two words that are censored on this forum, I'm sure I don't need to spell them out.

[mpprh]

Hi

I've been fascinated by this topic.

Here are a few odd things I've found :

http://www.drkeyboard.net
mse.co.jp/ip_domain/index_e.shtml
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchi ... uggestion/
linkpopularity.com
wizlist.com/art-e/
http://forums.searchenginewatch.com
http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sr ... Y&s2=S&s3=
blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com/2005/04/ ... ed-by.html
openoffice.org/
bucarotechelp.com/
http://www.2bone.com/links/linkchecker.shtml

You won't need all of them, but it is worth looking to see what each one has to offer.

Peter

[Alan Knighting]

Anyone interested in logos, buttons, fonts, etc. might have a look at this.

Cooltext.com

I haven't tried it but it might be useful.

Alan

[vrooje]

Teehee, that was fun! I made some unmentionable logos. Thanks, Alan!

[A-two]

I'm looking for the post that explains how to put one of those nifty little symbols in the address bar before the http:// ...know it's here somewhere.....does anyone have the link?

Thanks

[paolo]

I think it's this:

viewtopic.php?t=1571&highlight=icon

It adds an icon to a list of Favourites.

[A-two]

Yes, that's it, thank you! I think it also adds it to the address bar as well.

[TravelPixel]

that plagiarism checker is useful, ive found someone who has completely copied a whole page from our site.....grrrrrrrr....maybe i should take it as a compliment?!

Also the graph showing links is excellent, thanks Paulo.