The English language spoken today is Late Modern English. Over the years English has evolved very much so in its vocabulary. Many words have been added to the language because of the Industrial Revolution and as technology has developed. Also, since the British Empire had so many colonies spread throughout the world the language adopted many words from other foreign languages.

It is particularly interesting when looking at how many different varieties of English there are. Some variations include Australian English, Canadian English, South African English and American English.

Although it may be difficult to clearly identify different variations. At the end of the day, it is all English, each with its own unique twist.

As a translation and desktop publishing company, we deal with words every day.  Font is something that we use all the time.  However, typeface is not a topic that people consider much when writing or reading.  Therefore, when we heard about the book Just My Type, it was a wonderful surprise to us.  Font is endearing to us and is very close to the heart of our work and daily life.

When you pick up Monterey County’s most widely read newspaper, The Herald, you cannot help but notice the two words, The Herald.  The two words certainly bring out the paper’s characteristics and make it interesting and lively.  But do you know which font it is?  It is called Blackletter.  Did you also know that it is the same font in which the title of The New York Times is written?

Among the other interesting facts about fonts:

• The credits of all Woody Allen’s movies since Annie Hall are written in Windsor.
• When you open a Word document in a Mac, the default font is Cambria, versus Times New Roman in a PC.
• The Google logo is written in Catull, whereas the font of the Monterey Language Services logo is Calibri.
• The Harry Potter books are set in Adobe Garamond.

Fonts can change the mood of a given text and dress up an idea.  They can make a text look official, surreal, delightful, humorous, or romantic just as much as the actual words can.  Font is part of what makes a language project appealing and fascinating.  When we pay attention to it, we can bring out the language’s full possible potential.  Go for it!