If you were a printer using the moveable type system developed by Johannes Gutenburg, a letter was referred as a ‘sort’. If you were ‘out of sorts’ you had run out of a letter you needed.
One of the most hated jobs was to distribute, or dis, the type, back into the case. The job was often given to an apprentice compositor.
Historically, blocks of type had to be set upside down and backwards. So a typesetter had to be careful to use the right letter, or receive a nasty surprise when the (at the time, very expensive) paper had to be thrown out because an incorrect letter had been selected.
So next time you have a few too many letter ‘E’s, remember those ems and ens.
An em is the width of an uppercase letter M, an en is the width of the capitol letter N.
When a client asks for a change you think is going to look awful, you can try to talk them out of it. Sometimes, you end up sounding defensive, even if you’re not meaning to.
I’ve kept this magazine article since 1993, and now I know why. On the cover, Jeff Kennett (the Victorian Premier at the time) stood naked, addressing a crowd of people. My eyes were telling me one thing. My brain was telling me it couldn’t be true.
ELMO’s 2024 HR Industry Benchmark report is live. The report surveyed HR professionals across Australia and New Zealand to uncover trends, challenges and opportunities for 2024.
Compare the two artworks in this post. You might recognise the artist as Keith Haring. On the left is his Unfinished Painting, created in 1989.
If you want people to open something you’ve mailed them, use this simple trick. It’s our signature move. And it’s so simple.
For the VIP event, we created invitations, menus, wine list, table numbers, place names and illuminated paper lanterns, which decorated the long tables.
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It’s short and sweet. Estimated reading time < 90 seconds…