Long before Comic Sans mimicked comic-book writing, Gutenberg aped the lettering of handwritten manuscripts with his printing press. Soon enough, millennial middle schoolers could delight in changing the type of every paragraph. Attendees of New Orleans conference TypeCon may be a bit more serious in their pursuit of fine design through typography, but the draw is the same: making text look good and work well. Here's some typeface trivia to keep in mind the next time you're choosing an aesthetic.
Illustration by Kiss Me I'm Polish
A version of this article appeared in the July/August 2011 issue of Fast Company magazine.
