3 ms·

I hate fonts that have textural imperfections that are repeatedly perfectly on every instance of the same character, destroying the illusion. When I wrote my b

I hate fonts that have textural imperfections that are repeatedly perfectly on every instance of the same character, destroying the illusion. When I wrote my book "Crafting Interpreters", I hand-lettered every single word in every illustration separately so that it would be as imperfect as it appeared.

Dangeranger 5y ago
Your hand lettering is excellent by the way. Thanks for taking the time to do that. It's a lost art. The only works of comparable quality I am aware of are classics like the Moosewood Cookbook[0] (famously completely hand typeset), Allen and Mikes Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book[1], and Anybody's Bike Book[2]. Hand illustrating technical content is so much better than sterile diagrams, and it lends a sense of personalization, especially if the illustrator is also the author, which is a rarity. [0] https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/katzen-mollie/moosewood-cookbook/103736.aspx https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/katzen-mollie/moo... [1] https://skimo.co/allen-mikes-backcountry-ski-book https://skimo.co/allen-mikes-backcountry-ski-book [2] https://archive.org/details/anybodysbikebook00cuth https://archive.org/details/anybodysbikebook00cuth
- munificent 5y ago
  Don't forget the Forrest Mims electronics books that were in every Radio Shack back in the day.
  - Dangeranger 5y ago
    Oh, thanks for that recommendation. I’ll be sure to read them soon.
- Moru 5y ago
  Thanks, that bike repair book is nice!
TameAntelope 5y ago
> I hand-lettered every single word in every illustration separately so that it would be as imperfect as it appeared. Good lord, I'm going to think about this every time I consider dedication to craft. Seriously, wow. That's impressive. I'm sorry this isn't more substantive of a comment, but I really wanted you to know how amazing that is (as you probably already do).
- munificent 5y ago
  There is almost certainly a pathological component to how much effort I sunk into the book but once I started... I kinda just kept doing it. Also, lettering was sort a of a nice peaceful zen break from the harder work of writing prose.
- scott_s 5y ago
  You'll probably enjoy his writeup (and a video) on his process: http://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/2020/04/05/crafting-crafting-interpreters/ http://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/2020/04/05/crafting-crafti...

Dangeranger 5y ago

Your hand lettering is excellent by the way. Thanks for taking the time to do that. It's a lost art. The only works of comparable quality I am aware of are classics like the Moosewood Cookbook[0] (famously completely hand typeset), Allen and Mikes Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book[1], and Anybody's Bike Book[2]. Hand illustrating technical content is so much better than sterile diagrams, and it lends a sense of personalization, especially if the illustrator is also the author, which is a rarity. [0] https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/katzen-mollie/moosewood-cookbook/103736.aspx https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/katzen-mollie/moo... [1] https://skimo.co/allen-mikes-backcountry-ski-book https://skimo.co/allen-mikes-backcountry-ski-book [2] https://archive.org/details/anybodysbikebook00cuth https://archive.org/details/anybodysbikebook00cuth

munificent 5y ago
Don't forget the Forrest Mims electronics books that were in every Radio Shack back in the day.
- Dangeranger 5y ago
  Oh, thanks for that recommendation. I’ll be sure to read them soon.
Moru 5y ago
Thanks, that bike repair book is nice!

TameAntelope 5y ago

> I hand-lettered every single word in every illustration separately so that it would be as imperfect as it appeared. Good lord, I'm going to think about this every time I consider dedication to craft. Seriously, wow. That's impressive. I'm sorry this isn't more substantive of a comment, but I really wanted you to know how amazing that is (as you probably already do).

munificent 5y ago
There is almost certainly a pathological component to how much effort I sunk into the book but once I started... I kinda just kept doing it. Also, lettering was sort a of a nice peaceful zen break from the harder work of writing prose.
scott_s 5y ago
You'll probably enjoy his writeup (and a video) on his process: http://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/2020/04/05/crafting-crafting-interpreters/ http://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/2020/04/05/crafting-crafti...