17 May 2007

Stanley Mows the Lawn



Author/Illustrator: Craig Frazier

This is a wholly unexceptional book. I'm not even going to mention what happens... because I already forgot. That's how unexceptional it was. I found out later that it is critically acclaimed for its "bold" artwork. It even won some awards. Usually, this would make me reconsider my original assessment. But not in this case. My original assessment was that book sucks and I'm sticking to it.

What was notable was that the author's biography mentioned that Frazier was the "designer of the Adobe Typeface Critter." Now that is interesting. No one ever really thinks about the face behind the font. For instance, who was the genius that invented the universally accepted Times New Roman? What tortured soul that came up with Showcard Gothic? And most importantly, what the heck is up with Wingdings?!

4 comments:

Chau Dang said...

lol, ya that wingdings one has had me puzzled for years.

Unknown said...

wingdings is in fact very useful for making checkboxes.

for real.

Minh said...

More font fun:

http://www.slate.com/id/2166947/

Anonymous said...

Actually I loved this book; it's hilarious and the illlustrations are wonderful. (Yes, I admit it, I'm a book designer myself as well as children's book collector, so does that mean I'm prejudiced?) Don't think much of "Critters" though.