An ode to the plain
17/02/2010
there’s something special
about black, crisp text
on white
something that makes it feel
that bit more important
I could be reading any old crap
but if the layout is agreeable
and the text is exquisite
I could look at it for hours.
I used to type everything out
on an old typewriter,
bought for $10 at a yard sale 1986,
I would try interesting way
to get the text too look different;
feed the paper diagonally,
sideways, type half the page
and then flip and continue upside down.
interesting spacing,
double, triple, quadruple spacing
words jumbled together
kerning too small to be easily read
challenging the reader
nice heavy paper
with a bit of grit to it
to really hold the impression
of the hammer,
not just the ink
I’d also prefer it if the
ink would sometimes smudge
like it always did on the K and the P
with the advent of desktop publishing
on even the most basic computers
I tried to recreate these idiosyncrasies
document after document
and then the web came along
and website after website
I would try something new
something grungey, dark, hard to read
new, fresh, pushing design to it’s limits
after all these years,
I’m back to plain black text
on a white background,
sometimes slightly off-white,
but never detracting from the text;
simple
plain
black text
