Benched Week 74: on all fours

I learned a new formula yesterday: 5 X 4 = Newton Falls.  On my way back from a gig in Cleveland, I stopped by this small town in Ohio for one reason only.  Its zip code is a wonderfully monotonous 44444.

Driving there in the early morning, I determined to photograph five fours, find a bench, and think about my love for typography.



The town cooperated nicely.  After the namesake waterfall, there wasn’t much to see, but that made the hunt for fours more of a delightful challenge.  The single-street downtown was nearly deserted, giving me the freedom to snap away without annoying residents and shop owners.



Imagine my happiness in discovering the temperature.  (I only counted this for one of my shots.  But in my inner ear, I could hear Obi Wan say, "The fours are with this one.")



The other shots came quickly, so I soon found my bench, sat in the sunshine and turned my thoughts toward fonts.



Typography fascinates me.  Think of it, we don’t simply have marks that build together into a language that communicates.  Even the way we make the marks – call it the character of the characters – helps to shape the meaning.  Fancy, plain, funky.  Type comes in many flavors.  And each one adds a layer of meaning before we even read the message.

 

And I’m particularly pleased that hand-written type has made a comeback. On events, I collect comments made to me about my scribing and this week a man said, “Your works reminds me of those signs in Chili’s.”  He meant it as a compliment, referencing the popular chalkboard signs used by restaurants – and this coffee shop.



I’ve found, to my frustration, that the speed of scribing precludes many of the nuances of type.  It’s hard enough to capture content.  Not to mention spelling, as the young creator of this poster must have realized too late.



So, playing with type is something I want make a part of my personal art.  I am, after all, a man of letters.  And to that end, I have an idea for a new series I’d like to here on Facebook, which would involve hand-written content that would be crowd-sourced by friends like you.   I’ll spell it out for you in the coming week.

But for today, I’m just playing the numbers game.  In Newton Falls, fun comes in fours.