This is the New Typography (and the Typefaces that Make it Work)

Gerry will tell a story about typography, and typefaces. In this story, Typography is growing up, entering its sixth era. It is growing as a space shared by many disciplines, gathering readers who see – often for the first time – type, and spatial arrangement, and interaction as decisions that somebody made. In this story we see fundamental assumptions questioned, some thrown out with a “why on earth did we do it like this?”, and others kept with a forced admission that the old guys did get some things right after all. The best part of the story is the bit where typefaces become the looking glass through which all this comes together. There’s no baddie in this story.
[presented at TypoLondon 2012]

Transcript

1. This is the new
   typography
   (and the typefaces
   that make it work)
   Sunday, 21 October 12
   

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2. Gerry Leonidas
   Sunday, 21 October 12
   

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3. Typography &
   Graphic
   Communication
   Sunday, 21 October 12
   

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4. Sunday, 21 October 12
   

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5. MATD
   TDi+
   [MAResTD]
   Sunday, 21 October 12
   

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6. ῥηθῆναι (aor.pass.inf.): see εἴρω2,ἐρῶ
   ῥηίδιος (also ῥῄδιος) ep.Ion.adj.: see ῥᾴδιος
   ῥηίζω Ion.vb.: see ῥᾱίζω
   ῥήιστος, ῥηίτατος, ῥηίτερος (also ῥῄτερος), ῥηίων: see ῥᾴδιος
   ῥηκτός ή όν vbl.adj. [ῥήγνῡμι] (of a person) able to be broken
   or rent (by a weapon or stones), vulnerable Il. AR.
   ῥῆμα ατος n. [εἴρω2; ἐρῶ] 1 something said or spoken,
   statement Hdt. +; saying by a wise person), maxim Pi. Pl. Men.
   2 spoken word, word (usu.pl., sts. w.connot. of advice) Archil. +
   3 spoken word, mere word (opp. actions, reality) Pi. +
   4 (ref. to a word or phrase) expression Ar. +
   5 (gramm.) verb (opp. ὄνομα noun) Pl. Arist.; phrase (opp.
   ὄνομα word) Pl.
   ῥημάτιον ου n. [dimin. ῥῆμα] little phrase Ar.
   ῥηματίσκιον ου n. [dimin. ῥῆμα] sort of little phrase Pl.
   ῥήν ῥηνός m. [reltd. ἀρήν; cf. πολύρρην] | only acc.sg. ῥῆνα, dat.
   pl. ῥήνεσσι | lamb, sheep AR.
   ῥῆξαι (aor.inf.): see ῥήγνῡμι
   ῥηξηνορίη ης ep.Ion.f. [ῥηξήνωρ] strength to break the enemy
   Od.
   ῥηξ-ήνωρ ορος masc.adj. [ῥήγνῡμι, ἀνήρ] breaker of men
   (epith. of Achilles, ref. either to killing of individuals or to
   breaking of enemy ranks) Hom. Hes.
   Demosthenes) Aeschin.
   2 (of a person) practising rhetoric, good at oratory Isoc. Pl.
   Arist.
   ῥητορικῶς adv. in the manner of an orator, rhetorically Pl.
   Aeschin. Arist. Plu.
   ῥητός ή όν vbl.adj. [εἴρω2; ἐρῶ] 1 (of persons) spoken of, famed
   Hes.
   2 (of a payment, a reward, a sum of money) stated, specified
   Il. Th.; (of a time, a day) Hdt. +; ἐπὶ ῥητοῖς on fixed terms Hdt. E. +
   3 (of things) that may be spoken of or said, speakable (opp.
   what must be kept secret or unspoken) Trag. Isoc. D. Men.;
   (ref. to what may be said w. propriety or decency) S. D.;
   ( . ., ref. to what ought not to be spoken of, or cannot
   be adequately described) S. E.; that may be expressed in
   language, expressible Pl.
   4 (of an answer) express, definite Plb.
   (math., of magnitudes and quantities) rational Pl.
   ῥητῶς adv. expressly, distinctly Plb.
   ῥήτρᾱ ᾱς Ion. ῥήτρη ης f. 1 verbal agreement Od. Call.
   2 prescribed code of conduct, ordinance X.
   3 (at Sparta) Rhetra (the unwritten law-code of Lycurgus)
   Plu.; (more gener.) decree, ordinance Tyrt. Plu.
   ῥήτωρ ορος m. 1 public speaker, orator Pl.; proposer ( . .
   burs
   tip o
   thro
   2 bu
   3 re
   ῥησι-
   ῥῆσις
   talk
   2 (co
   3 sp
   4 de
   Ῥῆσο
   Tro
   ῥήσσ
   ῥητέ
   ῥη
   Pl.
   ῥητή
   ῥητῑ
   ΄ν
   ῥητο
   2 (co
   ῥητο
   2 ||
   ῥητο
   the
   Arist
   Dem
   2 (o
   Arist
   ῥη
   Aesc
   ῥητό
   Hes.
   2 (o
   Il. Th
   3 (o
   ὠμέγα
   [types of documents
   that interest me]
   Sunday, 21 October 12
   

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7. Sunday, 21 October 12
   

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8. [we look (and touch)
   original things, ]
   Sunday, 21 October 12
   

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9. [and we look at type
   in use, in detail]
   Sunday, 21 October 12
   

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10. [from Gabiel Bá and
    Fabio Moon’s Daytripper]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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11. [student drawings
    for themed toys]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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12. aaaanyway…
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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13. 1/3 students
    media and
    graphic design
    [the composition of
    TypoLondon’s audience]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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14. typefaces?
    typography?
    [terms that this audience may
    receive with a…]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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15. WTF!
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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16. typo
    graphy
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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17. 117 slides more,
    2 stories,
    1 dedication
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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18. typeface design
    is a mirror
    [to the way people communicate
    with texts, and the people involved]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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19. technology
    modes of reading
    [typography responds to
    changes in these two things]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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20. Six stages of
    typography
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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21. 0
    Me-too documents
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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22. [© image of a manuscript with generous
    use of colour and uniform hierarchy ]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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23. [© image of a manuscript with
    copious marginal annotations]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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24. [marginal inscription at Delphi]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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25. [‘marginal annotation’ in Athens]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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26. 1
    Monochrome
    typography
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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27. [inescapable material properties]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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28. [typography prescribed by…]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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29. [the typesetting (and type-making)
    technologies]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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30. Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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31. [which drive typographic hierarchies
    based on space and type style]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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32. [proccesses that allow immitation]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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33. [preamble to specification]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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34. 2
    Iron, and early
    mechanisation
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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35. Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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36. Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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37. [responses to new readers,
    and new modes of reading]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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38. [still constrained by economies of
    material properties and manual labour]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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39. [19C technologies reaching
    well into the 20th]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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40. The Long
    Nineteenth
    Century: 1789–1914
    [tip o’ the hat to Hobsbawm]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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41. The Really Long
    Nineteenth
    Century: 1789–1957
    [the typographic ‘long century’]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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42. 3
    Mechanical
    typesetting
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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43. Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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44. Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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45. [an industrial process that relies on
    precision, specification, documentation]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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46. [typesetting manufacturers with
    global reach and dominance]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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47. 4
    Photo-electric
    and early digital
    typesetting
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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48. Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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49. Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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50. Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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51. [one of many insightful
    comments of the period:]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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52. Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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53. 4.1
    Platform-
    independent
    digital
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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54. Industry change
    [collapse of major industries, questions
    over IP, career and gender impacts]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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55. Role change
    [designer and draftsperson meld]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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56. 4.2
    Globalisation
    and a rethinking
    of documents
    [longform writing booms; paragraph-
    level typography evolves]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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57. Unicode
    OpenType
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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58. [the backbone of fluid information
    interchange…]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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59. [with the potential for rich typography]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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60. [but still only the beginnings
    of support for global type]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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61. [blogs helped reading on screen,
    but are typographically shallow]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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62. [whereas newspapers and magazines
    demand rich typographic hierarchies]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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63. 5
    Content maturity
    on the web
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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64. [online is the primary location of content,
    and an interconnected state is assumed]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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65. [live, typographically rich,
    accessible, on a global scale]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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66. [as familiar document
    structures give way to…]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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67. [opaque structures that disguise
    nature and length of content]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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68. [which focus design challenges
    at the level of section access]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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69. [and whether a paper
    edition exists or nor]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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70. [discovery and navigation on smaller
    screens are the key design challenge]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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71. [where familiar typographic structures
    and document metaphors persist ]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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72. [and fundamental typographic para-
    meters survive across techologies]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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73. [such as the stroke-counter
    rhythm, and line spacing]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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74. [looking beyond typeface
    details, Didot and…]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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75. […Emigre share textural
    and spacing decisions]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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76. [where tablets are and extension
    of octavo-scale typography]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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77. 6
    Designed for users,
    and purpose
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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78. [the personal, edited, annotated, connected
    trajectory through texts is the futture]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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79. [new publishing models rely on
    this extended typography…]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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80. [for consistency of use, and
    identity across screen scales]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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81. [publication-level navigation,
    and customisation]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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82. [where complex distinctions rely on
    type and colour for differentiation]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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83. [reviving solutions with roots
    in the manuscript era]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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84. dedication
    [interlude for a special friend removed]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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85. typefaces!
    [typeface commentary withheld]
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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86. All must quit talking
    while Fred plays
    jazz vibes
    Times
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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87. All must quit
    talking while Fred
    plays jazz vibes
    Georgia
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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88. All must quit
    talking while Fred
    plays jazz vibes
    Arial
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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89. All must quit
    talking while
    Fred plays
    jazz vibes
    Verdana
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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90. All  must  quit  
    talking  while  Fred  
    plays  jazz  vibes  
    Cambria
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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91. All  must  quit  
    talking  while  Fred  
    plays  jazz  vibes  
    Calibri
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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92. All  must  quit  
    talking  while  Fred  
    plays  jazz  vibes  
    Candara
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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93. All must quit
    talking while Fred
    plays jazz vibes
    Skolar
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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94. namides
    bonuper
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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95. namides
    bonuper
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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96. All must quit
    talking while Fred
    plays jazz vibes
    FF Tisa
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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97. namides
    bonuper
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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98. All must quit
    talking while Fred
    plays jazz vibes
    Elena
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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99. namides
    bonuper
    Sunday, 21 October 12
    

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100. All must quit
     talking while Fred
     plays jazz vibes
     Katari
     Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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101. All must quit
     talking while Fred
     plays jazz vibes
     Capucine
     Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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102. All must quit
     talking while Fred
     plays jazz vibes
     Fenland
     Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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103. Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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104. All must quit
     talking while Fred
     plays jazz vibes
     Ideal Sans
     Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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105. All must quit
     talking while Fred
     plays jazz vibes
     (enough already!)
     Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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106. 100 Ultra Light only > 60 mm
     200 Light pullquotes
     300 Light-ish nothing
     400 Regular Body text
     500 Medium Subheadings
     Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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107. Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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108. Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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109. [moving towards being able to have very
     complex typography live, everywhere]
     Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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110. [where reading may primarily
     happen on a small screen]
     Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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111. Industry change,
     again
     [type globalisation is local: world-class
     designers working locally, not in the NW]
     Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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112. So, now what?
     [questions for the design
     students in the audience]
     Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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113. a grounded
     opinion,
     on top of
     an impulse
     [creativity becomes worthwhile when it
     is supported by research and reflection]
     Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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114. thank you
     @gerryleonidas
     @typefacedesign
     Sunday, 21 October 12
     

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