Bizarre ceramic flower pot seen in an antique store in Wisconsin Dells, July 31, 2004.
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A rather badly maintained vintage sign seen in Bemidji, Minnesota, June 25, 2002.
2. Mostra
3. Coquette
4. Changeling
5. Proxima Sans
6. Refrigerator
7. Goldenbook
8. Kandal
10. Blakely
As noted on the sample page, Felt Tip Roman has been used in the U.S. editions of the Harry Potter books to represent the handwriting of the character Hagrid. I’ve always thought this was kind of cool, and it makes a nice example when trying to talk about type design with people who have never thought about where fonts come from.
Over the weekend, I was shocked to learn that there is a free font, distributed by many of the Harry Potter fan sites, purporting to be “Hagrid’s handwriting.” After checking it out, I was relieved to discover that it is not a pirated copy of my Felt Tip Roman, but a rather poor imitation.
As you can see, it looks more or less similar, but is clearly not Felt Tip Roman. Looking at it more closely, it appears that the person who did it must have copied the letters with a pen by eye (making up the ones she didn’t have samples of), scanned them in and had the computer autotrace them. (Felt Tip Roman was hand digitized, not autotraced.)
I guess I don’t mind fans using this imitation font. At least they are not passing around bootleg copies of the real thing. But if you do want the real thing, remember: It’s not a free font, and never has been.
I spent the last few days at a family reunion in Wisconsin Dells (you’ll find it listed in the dictionary definition for “tourist trap”). One of the stranger things I saw there was an attraction called “Top Secret,” shown in the photo above. It looks exactly like the White House was dropped from the sky. Upside down.
What it is, I don’t know. We were not quite curious enough to pay the hefty admission fee to find out. Supposedly, you have to promise not to tell anyone what’s inside so as not to spoil the surprise (or the disappointment, possibly). Among the typical themes in the Dells (lumberjacks, pirates, Mount Olympus, the Carribean, etc.) it was disconcertingly Dada-esque, and therefore kind of cool. It almost doesn’t matter what’s inside.
