Technology is making it so that we’re all connected without the need for the physical-presence kind of being connected. That is strange, fascinating, and has a certain magnetism that is very difficult to resist. What’s at stake is no less than the transformation of centuries of human behaviour, and that’s part of the fascination. But while our existence morphs and we rush headlong into our socially minimalist future, we use our present culture to helplessly signal our nostalgia about our past. We know what our future will be missing, and we’re already full of nostalgia about it, but we know that what little we can do about isn’t going to affect the outcome that much.
So, almost in full hindsight now, the DIY implosion of the past few years must have really been a reaction to our technological dis/connection. In typography, the minimalist future is already here, with something as austere as the sans serif having become the preferred expression of progress and fortune, both part of the connected isolation we are undergoing. But when physical interaction must take place, like coffee shops and gin joints, our organic alphabets ride high and mighty. That sense of human heritage — elegance and exuberance in our writing, the use of flaws to charmingly brand our own individualism — keeps turning up in all kinds of places, most unexpected of which is the digital world. The overall message seems to be that we’re still creative, imaginative, and unique. In the digital world, on blogs where we write about our puny music and fashion preferences, we’re just articulating this individualism of ours, this third domain of existence our future seems eager to dismiss.
These were the thoughts behind Blog Script, the second collaboration between Carolina Marando and Alejandro Paul, after their successful stint with the Distillery set of fonts. This typeface comes in two weights, alternates for most letters, and a strong aesthetic rooted in individuality and freedom of spirit. Use it to be alone together, to tell the world that we’re still human, for now.