Through Lines 144

I think I’m just as fascinated by the little robots in the factory as I am by the process of making these Japanese manhole covers themselves. I want to know more about why some are painted as well.

• I can confirm this research because most of my best ideas have come while in the shower, out for a walk, or generally doing something unrelated. I’d never heard of the ‘default mode network’ before which was enough to get me to read on.
• I don’t know what I’d do without Things, so the new addition of extended Shortcuts support is a welcome one for me. Productivity and organization nirvana, here I come!
• “Shifting more work to teleconferencing eliminates commutes and provides schedule flexibility, but, as so many office refugees learned, remote work alone doesn’t really help alleviate most of what made their jobs frantic and exhausting.” Learning the right lessons from the deep history of work.
• Nothing about people being disgruntled at work is surprising to me based on my own experience. The mass tech layoffs haven’t helped either.
• Monotype's 2023 Type Trends report is out in time for some light weekend reading.
• I’m pretty sure if I found out someone I know doesn’t read books that my level of trust in that person would plummet. An an aside, who needs VR when you have books?
• Why yes, I would like to put all my books up in the ceiling like this, why do you ask?
• I have my doubts that Apple gives two s**ts about VR. It’s ultimately all about AR.
• Solid tips and tricks for improving web forms with inputmode attributes, especially for mobile devices from the inimitable Jeremy Keith.
• It’s true. Why we all need subtitles now.
• Collective Nouns for Humans in the Wild by Kathy Fish.
• What could I do? Ah, language…

Notable Type Releases

• Could the deftly paired Oso Sans and Serif variable families by Robert Slimbach become the variable equivalent of the ubiquitous Minion and Myriad? Time will tell.
• Another duo release comes in the form of Riegla and Riegraf from IntervalType. Riegla is a non-neutral grotesk, while Riegraf fuses elements together into a unique and kind of weird high contrast slab-serif companion.
• A mix of classic sensibilities and modern mechanical character, Ra feels like an exercise in contrast between its smooth curves and sharp serifs.
• Designed by Emil Bertell, Fenotype’s new Hello Monday follows the nostalgic trend of 70s Cooper-like reinterpretations but in a warmer, more contemporary package.
• On the more bookish front, we have the comfortable, generous proportions of Marist from Dinamo which carries forward threads of the work of Jensen and Morris.