Read a magazine, book or website and you’ll see the product of Matthew Carter’s labors all over it — because he’s the guy who designed hundreds of fonts, including Verdana and Georgia. In this video, he describes the interaction between technology and design in the creation of typefaces.
It’s really interesting stuff. He talks about how he had to transition from analogue to digital; how his work blurs boundaries between artistic and industrial design; and how technology both enables and limits his work. Crucially, he discusses how constraints — be them technological, aesthetic or merely imposed by a client — needn’t necessarily mean compromise. If you’ve ever wondered how difficult it must be to design the best typefaces in the world, this is well worth watching. [TED]