Speaking @ Portland IDUG, visiting TypeCon Atlanta »

Just a quick note here. As posted on the Extensis blog in more detail:

1. I’m speaking this Thursday (July 9th) at the InDesign User Group right here in Portland, Oregon.
2. I’ll be at the TypeCon conference in Atlanta late next week, and happy to meet people there and answer questions.

Cheers,

T

Speaking at InDesign User Group Seattle, May 12th »

I’m only a week back from Vancouver BC and the “Justified West” conference, where I spoke on forensic typography (detecting forged documents by means of fonts and print tech). I’ve also just finished moving from Seattle to Portland (everything is still in boxes), but I thought I’d drop a quick note on the blog.

On the evening of Tuesday May 12th, I’ll be speaking at the InDesign User Group here in Seattle, right at Adobe Seattle HQ (where I worked for many years) in the Fremont neighborhood. It will be a somewhat multi-faceted talk, more of a set of talks really, covering various things group members requested. Admission is free (but registration required or at least strongly desired), and there’s free food, too! So come on out, or let your Seattle-area designer friends, clients and colleagues know, okay?

IDUG meeting details link for registration, directions and such.

SCHEDULE

6.30-6.45 Meet, greet, and eat (usually they have pizza)

6.45-7.30 Part I of my talk

7.45-8.30 Part II of my talk

8.30 Raffle, Wrap-up, and Au Revoirs

Here’s what I’ll be talking about (subject to minor modifications):


PART I
6.45-7.30

• A brief rant on legibility in design (15 min)
  • including choosing fonts for print and screen
• How fonts are made (10 min)
• Tips and Tricks (15 min, list subject to change)
  • How to know if a font is corrupt (with two tools you shouldn’t use and why)
  • Recognizing system fonts
  • Which system fonts you can remove and why
  • Windows Type 1 fonts on Mac OS
  • Fonts vs transparency in InDesign
  • Character styles
• Font management (5 min)

PART II
7.45-8.30

• A Brief History of Type (20 minutes)
• OpenType demo (20 minutes)

Spring/summer 2009 speaking »

I have a few talks coming up in the next little while. Currently planned:

WorldWare Conference, 17-19 March 2009, Santa Clara, CA
Font Handling in Multilingual Software
Um, well, yes, this talk is today. Fonts are a critical part of making software world-ready, and applications must test with the right fonts. Various font formats take different paths to dealing (or not dealing) with the needs of the world’s languages. Operating systems offer varying levels of support for the different formats. Learn how to navigate and escape this maze!
45 min

Justified West Conference, 25 April 2009, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Justified West 2009 Conference poster image—click for higher-res version

To register, phone 604-323-5322. Email Dr Shelley Gruendler for more info
Forensic Typography
Thomas Phinney discusses and shows cases of forged documents and other typographic investigations he’s been asked to investigate, from a
father’s will to the NFL’s Pro Football Hall of Fame, to the US
presidency. Learn how choices of fonts, typography and output devices
have ruined perfectly good forgeries.
30 min

HOW Design Conference, 24-27 June 2009, Austin, Texas
10 Things You Didn’t Know Fonts Could Do
Join type guru Thomas Phinney on a whirlwind tour of advanced typography using OpenType, from the incredibly useful to the bizarre. You’ll learn how advanced typographic effects formerly only available to experts can now be automated, and see how cutting-edge fonts can do everything from emulate realistic handwriting to translate languages. You’ll get plenty of tips and tricks (including tips for more legible type in print and onscreen), and there will be time set aside for Q&A—so be sure to bring your burning type questions.
75 min