Hi.
Welcome to my blog. I document my adventures in travel, style, and food. Hope you have a nice stay!
Welcome to my blog. I document my adventures in travel, style, and food. Hope you have a nice stay!
Proof&Co. is a research and curation media outfit taking a data-driven approach to observing, documenting, and mapping the current and ever-changing landscape of independent typography. It’s data, analytics, critique, discussion, and storytelling for type, all in service of a healthier, more colorful industry. Proof&Co. started in 2018, formally launched a newsletter in 2020, and kicked off a site in 2022 with a mission of continually drawing and updating the map of the typographic landscape.
So what’s the hook? Time. We believe the best map of the type industry exists in the context of time. We’re interested in more than just the what and the how of the type business, but in the when too.
When a typeface or family was released matters: It matters to graphic, brand, and web designers who are looking to use the latest typographic styles to stay on top of the cultural curve. It matters to type designers and foundries who work for months, if not years, on type families and rely on timely discussion and knowledge to market their products. It also matters to students, scholars, archivists, and critics of typography who help us shape our view of the world of design. We hope the serioes of newsletters, blogs and podcasts we create help illuminate this idea, and act as a sound reference point as the arrow of time hurtles forward ever-faster!
One of the largest motivations for Proof&Co. is to gain a view on the world of typography through the lens of time. We aim to chronicle independent releases as they happen in the form of our weekly newsletter. Subscribers learn of the latest releases from independent type foundries, creating a compendium or ledger that can then be referenced to illuminate a new story of type through time.
Sleepers are a place of celebration, discovery, applause, and exhibition of the incredible feats of type design that have perhaps not received their due attention, are worthy of a brighter spotlight, important to the cultural evolution of type, or might have otherwise gone overlooked.
This is our space to take a more in depth look at exemplary types, publishing bi-weekly for now.
Nothing better than a good list, right? Many type design blogs are successful in featuring fonts being used out in the world, but few are helpful in putting all of those headlines in context. Our goal of being a helpful resource for understanding and discovery in the world of typography finds its footing in the Lists section, where the world of type is curated and grouped together by common themes, ideas, or genres. The best part, these lists are living things, and are constantly added to over time. So, if you’re curious about a specific corner of the type world, we aim to have a list for that.
Follow along on twitter to learn when new lists debut and old lists are added to. Have an idea for a list you’d like to see? Shoot us an email!
What is a bubble? At Proof&Co, we’re not that jazzed about the “T-word”: trends. We find them to be a bit problematic for a number of reasons. With that said, it is important to talk about how type is viewed over time, that’s why we prefer the term ‘bubble’.
Bubbles are little collections of ideas that we observe bubbling up in the world of independent type design. 3-4 examples of ideas that are not quite enough to be a full list, but happen often enough to be noted. Our efforts lie in looking at the landscape of type, and identifying where and when these bubbles pop up, what they mean for the world of type, and how you can benefit from them. It’s a new way of looking at typography together that we think can be helpful to everyone.
Our surveys are built to examine our two major audiences: Foundries & Type Makers and Type Buyers & Users. Surveys for Foundries & Type Makers aim to get to know what it’s like to start, run, build, and grow an independent type foundry, seeking answers from the folks who run and drive foundries and design and build typefaces. Surveys for Type Buyers & Users are built to understand how graphic designers, type designers, agency creatives, educators, students, and even the passing type fan experience typography on all levels. We’re interested in getting to know each of these audiences for the unique discoveries and insights they have to offer each other, and to help improve this rapidly growing industry we love.
We’ve been a fly on the wall in the world of type for a few years now, and wow are we seeing a lot! We’re applying our statistical approach to the type world by publishing annual reports and insightful deep-dives for everyone to benefit from. We’re curious about the economics of the type business, the cultural shifts in type-buying audiences, and the bigger picture story of how the type world is really growing year-over-year. Stay tuned!
We’ve found that type people are cut from a different cloth, and most everyone has an inner archivist or collector. We think there should be an easier way to find what you want to know about typography, so we’re building our Resources page to serve as a hub of lists and links to those already established collections and resources. Ultimately, the goal is to create more and easier access to the richness of the craft, and to lift up under-heard voices and folks far more knowledgeable than us.
hello [at] proofco [dot] xyz
@proof_and_co
