TriMedia Middle East

08/10/2021

Typeface of the Week - Calibri
Colibri is a humming-bird, not to be confused with the soundalike Calibri typeface that has a different kind of hum. It stinks. Pale, skinny, and anaemic, its 11-point somehow became the default face for MS Outlook. Clearly chosen by an IT person rather than a typographer.
Why? When there’s a far superior alternative in Arial 12? Colibri is also a brand of beach towel, and if the typeface ever ventures to the seaside with one of them, it would very likely get sand kicked in its face. Deservedly.
I keep resetting the default, even deleting Calibri from the Outlook list, but every reboot revives it. Lazarus or Zombie would have been a better name – and avoided insult to the beautiful avian.
Colibri was also a cigarette lighter – maybe still is – before the ubiquitous throwaways replaced the smoking accessory as a symbol of style and status. Pity the same fate did not meet the Outlook almost namesake.
Maybe there’s a flock of fans out there who will come to the defence and accuse me of being biased. Hands up. I am biased. Writing these columns would not be much fun otherwise.

07/08/2021

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth...

I hope I am never required, whether under oath or secular affirmation, to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I would have to refuse, on logical grounds. If 'truth' is to mean anything at all, it can only mean 'that which is', in other words, reality, expressed in language. And there is the first problem. Reality is infinitely more complex and subtle than any human language, which fact in itself makes nonsense of the phrase 'the whole truth'. There are not enough hours in the day to state the whole truth even about something as simple as entering a room. Nope, 'the whole truth' has to go, as a logically unsound concept. That was easy, but what about 'the truth'?

The problem here is human fallibility in both perception and memory. I can say, "She was wearing a purple jumper". But was she? Maybe it was blue. Maybe it was a cardigan. The likelihood of making an untrue statement is high and gets higher with elapsed time and with the complexity of the described event. I can of course say, "I think she was wearing a purple jumper". That is a true statement even if her jumper was scarlet, in fact, even if she wasn't there at all. However, it is only a statement about what I believe, which might be completely false.

It is therefore unreasonable to require someone to swear to tell the truth since no-one is immune from stating accidental falsehoods. It is, however, perfectly in order to require someone to promise not to lie, i.e. to tell no deliberate falsehoods. This is of course the intent behind the third phrase 'nothing but the truth' which is the only justifiable phrase in the oath.

Some may object, saying the most we can ask is for everyone to speak 'their own truth' but that is a very dangerous road to walk. It blurs the necessary distinction between belief and truth. I started this by stating "If 'truth' is to mean anything at all, it can only mean 'that which is', in other words, reality, expressed in language." The minute we allow the concept of 'personal truth' we blow personal accountability out of the water. We can no more own our own truth than we can own our own sun.

In short: Truth anchors language to reality.

28/07/2021

Did we all see the Olympic final tonight? No? I just assumed that that 'softball' rubbish was being shown because the Carrom final was deemed too exciting for late night viewing. Bring on the boric acid!

18/06/2021

https://www.ibc.org/features/uhd-adoption-a-question-of-perception/7647.article # Here's a good overview of what is or will soon be available - 4K UHD HDR TV. You don't need it for watching re-runs of Dad's Army.

With the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament and Summer Olympics both natively captured in 4K, many may have expected a surge in UHD coverage. But six years after the launch of the first 4K channels is the broadcast industry lacking in enthusiasm for UHD?

12/05/2021

09/05/2021

Proving that when we say 'weekly series' we mean it, here is John's take on another classic typeface: https://trimediame.com/2021/05/09/typeface-of-the-week-cheltenham/

02/05/2021

The latest in our regular series, Typeface of the week. This time John looks at Bembo, one of the most venerable of faces with a longer pedigree than you'd guess.
https://trimediame.com/2021/05/02/typeface-of-the-week-bembo/

30/04/2021

This is a worthwhile read for everyone in our industry.
https://www.ibc.org/trends/cutting-the-carbon-cost-of-tv-production/7483.article?utm_campaign=352262_Ebull%2030%20april%2021&utm_medium=email&utm_source=IBC%20%28International%20Broadcasting%20Convention%29&dm_i=673U,7JT2,2DKLNW,VJA2,1

With streaming platforms ever hungry for content, demand for TV and film production is set to increase at a phenomenal rate, but in the race to feed our binge-watching, we need to be aware of the impact this activity is having on the planet, writes Michael Burns.

27/04/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-zISnJ-oao

Turning on the subtitles while children are watching television can double the chances of them becoming good at reading. Yes really. Wonderfully simple isn’t...

27/04/2021

A new blog piece from Francesca, our resident typeface collector. https://trimediame.com/2021/04/27/a-simple-collection-on-the-face-of-it/

25/04/2021

TYPEFACE OF THE WEEK - Gill Sans

Gill Sans is a humanist sans-serif typeface. It was designed by Eric Gill and released in 1928 by the British branch of Monotype.

The face itself had humble origins. In 1926, Gill was commissioned to paint a fascia for a new printer-publisher in Bristol. He used large sans-serif capitals, and sketched an alphabet for the owner to use as a guide for future notices and announcements.

Gill was commissioned to develop this fascia alphabet into a full metal type family in the hope that it could be a competitor to a wave of German sans-serif families in a new ‘geometric’ style. These included Erbar, Futura, and Kabel.

Gill Sans not only competed, it was an immediate success, and due to its similarity with Edward Johnston’s Underground Alphabet, the London and North Eastern Railway Company (and latterly the nationalised British Railways) chose Gill Sans for their printed material and signage.

Gill Sans quickly became one of the dominant typefaces in British printing. It was regularly used in British advertising of the mid-20th century – and still remains extremely popular: described as "the British Helvetica" because of its lasting popularity (Helvetica being of continental origin).

23/04/2021

Are we living in the best of all possible worlds? And if we're not, what can we do about it?
https://trimediame.com/2021/04/23/the-best-of-all-possible-worlds/

The best of all possible worlds? ByDave McClurePosted onApril 23, 2021Leave a comment on The best of all possible worlds? the best of all possible worlds? All’s for the best in the best of all possible worlds. (orig: Tout est pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes possibles). This was the maxim...

19/04/2021

At Trimedia, we take an interest in publishing right down to the letter. So, beginning today, we will be bringing our followers a regular column, Typeface of the Week; a brief insight into where the typefaces we use come from, what they are famous for and how they are best used.

First up, Georgia.

Of all the commonly used typefaces out there, Georgia ranks very highly. The serif face was designed in 1993 by Matthew Carter and adapted by Tom Rickner for Microsoft as one that would be easily legible and elegant even on a small and low-resolution screen. This may be less of an issue today in the era of HD, OLED and LCD screens, but Georgia’s simplicity and clarity make it one of the most popular for online publication.

The typeface is inspired by Scotch Roman designs of the 19th century. When asked about his inspiration, Carter said: "I was familiar with Scotch Romans, and was puzzled by the fact that they were once so popular... and then disappeared completely."

So popular was Georgia’s look, feel, and practical application that in 2007 the New York Times switched to it from Times New Roman.

Georgia was jokingly named after a tabloid headline: “Alien heads found in Georgia”, but graphic designers are now happily marching to its tune.

13/04/2021

Digging through his back-issues of Private Eye, our own John MacDonald rediscovered this cartoon which beautifully encapsulates how trite language can be the death of purposeful communication. It has inspired us to explore similar expressions that deserve to join the charge into the valley of death (going forward, of course).

12/04/2021

Join IBC365 on the 14th April at 2pm as they look at a vital aspect – and potential pain point - of the content supply chain: choosing the best codec for mastering and storing your media. If an efficient content supply chain is to be the key to managing c...