Thomas “my other car is a sans serif” Phinney on fonts, typography & text. Geeky troubleshooting and info for font developers and users. Consulting & expert witness for fonts & typography.« Thomas Phinney joins Extensis
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- I can finally talk about this, now that it’s been announced in this press release. Last week I started my new job at Extensis as Senior Product Manager for Font Solutions.
For those who don’t know Extensis, they are the leading vendor of font management applications, whose product line includes Suitcase Fusion and the Universal Type Server, as well as the broader asset management application Portfolio. Extensis is a division of parent Japanese company, Celartem, which also owns LizardTech.
Folks who know me well professionally may recall that I have a long-standing interest in, and passion for, font management. For example:
- I blogged about how Windows font management has lagged behind its Mac OS counterparts in the fall of 2007 (that piece also explains what font management is and why one might need it).
- I have reviewed and contributed bits to Extensis’ article on best practices for font management in OS X several times over the years.
- Back when I was working on my first master’s degree at RIT I developed a font classification system and database of existing fonts that allowed Font Reserve 1.0 to auto-classify most of a user’s font collection—and I’m pleased to see this still in use today in Extensis Suitcase Fusion, the descendant of Font Reserve.
- I have saved my long-sleeved t-shirt for Symantec Suitcase 3.0 for all these years! That was 10 versions ago, before Extensis acquired the product.
On paper I started part time at Extensis on April 1st, though in fact I’ve been ramping up a little more slowly because of two things:
- I’m in Seattle, and they’re in Portland.
- I just had jaw surgery last Monday, the 30th, so I am still recovering from that.
The first problem will be resolved by me and my family moving to Portland. We’re renting a lovely house and move in on May 1st.
The second issue will be solved by gradual healing. Although I could already talk passably well later the same day of the surgery, it’s a bit uncomfortable. Plus to talk on the phone, I have to either take off my ice pack or wedge part of the phone under it in some awkward way…. (Actually, since I wrote this a few days ago, I have gone off the ice packs as well as prescription painkillers. Tomorrow marks a week since the surgery. Things are still uncomfortable, but I’m doing okay.)
Anyway, I am very excited about this new opportunity. Portland is a great city in a great area (we already love the Pacific Northwest), the people at Extensis have been quite fabulous so far, and the work itself is fun and offers new areas to grow in.
21 commentsto “Thomas Phinney joins Extensis”
Congrats!
We’re glad to have you join us Thomas!
Jim
Happy to read the good news about job and jaw! I hope that you will continue your blog for those of us who so enjoy reading it.
Trez
[Yes, my current expectation is that I will continue this blog, though perhaps a bit less often. I’ll also blog at Extensis, I expect. – T]
Welcome aboard!
What a great addition for Extensis! They are very lucky to have you. Here’s hoping that you can have even more impact on the world of typography from your new post! Let me know if PANOSE fits into those plans in any way.
[Sure will, thanks! – T]
Yay!
A wonderful move for you and Extensis, Thomas.
And speaking of vintage font management paraphernalia, I still have the original floppy for the pre-Symantec, Fifth Generation Systems version of SuitCase II 1.2.11 — beat that with a stick.
Great news, Thomas. Now we can look to great new things in the fonts world from Extensis.
I’ll have to pop this blog into the spot that Typblography used to hold down (sucks when you old company keeps the cool name you came up with).
[Well, to be fair, the name was the result of a name-the-blog contest I held on Typophile, with Adobe-contributed prizes. I think it was kind of my former employer to let me take “The Phinney-us Blogg” subtitle away with me, as well as the “my other car is a sans serif” slogan. Extensis has a corporate blog, which I will doubtless be using as well, but I intend to keep this one going too. – T]
Congrats and extremely good news for the rest of us!
Congratulations Tom! I had a feeling that somehow you were going to end up at Extensis.
Congrats!
Great to hear! 🙂
congrats and all the best with the move and continued healing.
Extensis is very fortunate…good news for rest of us also! Good Luck T!
Congratulations, Thomas! But we’ll miss you in Seattle 🙁
Tom,
This is indeed wonderful news. Maybe not for all those font designers that relied on your steady hand and trusted advice, who are now left hanging out there, but for the rest of us, this is great.
I am sure you will have fun at Extensis, they are nice folks. And I am sure they can certainly use your expertise.
Best wishes,
John
What a great fit! Glad to hear the news and good luck in my hometown.
Scott
Congratulations Thomas! This is a great win for Extensis and the type community!
Congratulations on the new gig, Thomas!
Hi Thomas.
Good luck with the job. I guess we are rivals now 😉
Regards, Darren
[I’m afraid so! Good luck with TypeDNA, old chap!]
Hi Tom!
My business partner is in Seattle and mentioned you spoke at the IDUG event she was at. Great to hear you’re still a hard-core font addict. Had to drop a line and say hello. If you’d like to see what I’ve been up to, check out my folding community, software and resources at foldfactory.com. Best of luck with the new job – sounds fantastic.
Best regards,
Trish
Hello, You may be interested in knowing that my Great Grand Father was a Font designer. His name was Joseph Warren Phinney and his fonts are still used today in New Yorker Magazine. Recently, I purchased 3 of his fonts so I could use them on my father’s birthday card. I do not know if we are related, but I find it hard to believe there are two Phinney’s in leading edge font design… Take care, John
[That would make us distant cousins. I too was struck by the coincidence when I first saw it, around 1994 (though I was already seriously into typography before I knew anything about your great grandfather). I’ve done quite a bit of research on Joseph W. Phinney, since, and given a number of lectures that at least touched on him. Among other things, I’ve seen the original design patents awarded in his name, at Columbia University. We should get in touch…. – T]