There are 15259 fonts in my library. It’s truly almost too much to manage. But, with a good font management program it’s something that’s almost within reach. Though, what really needs to be done is taking several hours, maybe even days, and organizing everything. Serif, San Serif, Script…Usable and not usable. Really, with some work I could probably condense my collection considerably. Until then, I do what I’m doing this morning…having a smoke, a cup of tea and slowly, one by one, looking for fonts. What am I looking for? I’m never quite sure. I usually count on it coming to me when I see it. That’s really how a lot of my design gets done. I start off looking for the right font and go from there. I know there are those that would disagree with that method, but it works for me. I design from the hip, so I suppose the couple hours that I may spend looking through fonts is just part of my creative process. I’m listening to music while I do it and my mind wanders. Which isn’t always a good thing, but good things tend to come from it. The search continues…
December, 2006
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15,259 fonts
December 8, 2006 by admin
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I guess it’s a European thing
December 7, 2006 by admin
Oh Cannabis Cup. I don’t know that I’ll ever be the same after a trip like this one. I guess that doesn’t surprise me. It was an eye opening experience to say the least. I always knew there was a whole other world out there, but actually going out into it…They all ride bikes. I mean bikes? Really? It was nice not to drive a car for two weeks. Though, I was happy to get back into my truck when we got back. The other surprising thing was the way they smoke. Everyone rolls it up with tobacco. Why you’d go and spoil some really good weed by mixing it with tobacco…I guess it’s a European thing.
I did feel a sense of belonging while I was in Amsterdam. Maybe the liberal atheist in me felt at home. Part of me feels like I could live there for a time. Though I hit my head a lot. The dangers of being tall. The design was better there too. Posters and banners showed graphic restraint. It was beautiful. I think living there would make me a better designer. It’s not even about the fact that you can smoke legally. There’s so much more to the city. I like old things. New things too. It’s quite a conundrum for me. Just being me is a challenge some days. Makes things interesting at least.
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Back from Amsterdam
December 6, 2006 by admin
I didn’t know what to expect. I had never been to Europe before and a couple trips to Mexico have been the extent of my foreign travel. But being in Amsterdam felt quite natural. Everyone there speaks English, the locals are friendly and the food is good. Most of the differences were minor… Coke tastes better in the US, people have bikes instead of cars, and you bring your own bags to the grocery store.
The coffee shops were great. You get to select from different strains of marijuana on their menus. Then you can sit on a couch or at a table and smoke with your friends – just like you normally do, except in public. After being there for 12 days, it feels like I should be able to go into a Starbucks and light up without anyone caring.
There are supposedly limits on how much you can carry with you in Amsterdam and you’re also not supposed to smoke if you’re just out walking around, but those rules don’t seem to be enforced. There’s practically no police presence in Amsterdam, at least from what we saw. Although, they don’t seem to need it… crime is low and people take responsibility for themselves.
The Cannabis Cup wasn’t the organized event I expected it to be. I had imagined all the strains in jars, lined up in a room where you could work your way around and sample everything entered in the competition. In reality, it works more like a coffee shop crawl… it’s your responsibility to go around to the different coffee shops and purchase the strains they entered in order to test and judge them.
But there was a central location for the expo and the voting. This year it was at the wharf in an old warehouse. At least 50 vendors, including 420 Jars and our Gravitron friends, were there. Companies that sell smoking devices were giving out free hits to anyone walking by. Same goes for the seed companies and coffee shops with a booth at the expo.
Most companies were there just to promote their product, but we were there to sell jars. High Times selected 420 Jars to be the Official Stash Jar of the Cannabis Cup. So we did a limited edition commemorative jar featuring the logo from the 19th Annual Cup – a beautiful piece of artwork created by Alex Grey. We had a booth right next to the entrance and the jars proved to be incredibly popular.
After the Cup was over, we spent some time in Amsterdam visiting headshops and meeting with distributors. The trip required a lot of planning and effort, but we had fun, we sold a lot of jars and we made some good contacts in Amsterdam. I’m sure we’ll be going back next year for the 20th Cup. It was wonderful to be in a country that’s open and honest about marijuana.
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