Hello from the road. Or, more accurately, from the tracks, since this issue was composed mostly on trains as I made my way to and from Düsseldorf for the third stop on the Fine Specimens book tour.

You might be pleased to know that I’m largely going to shut up about Fine Specimens for this issue. But I do just want to say two very quick things: firstly, thanks so much to everyone who’s bought a copy of the book and said such nice words; secondly, a reminder that my book tour is currently happening (next stop: London) and if you’re not yet following along via the pop-up newsletter, you can still sign up to receive the next issue, about my Düsseldorf trip, in the next couple of days. As a reminder, there’ll be a total of five issues, after which that database will be deleted forever (more on this concept on my blog).

Thanks for allowing me that brief promotional indulgence. Now, I have some lovely new courses and typefaces and foundries and events and websites to tell you about:

Got to put this one first because of the deadline: Viktor Baltus is opening enrolment to all of his courses on Type Design Class — but only until tomorrow (1st May), so you’ll need to jump on that quickly. Full transparency: as when I’ve linked to this before, I’ll get a small financial kick-back if you use my affiliate link (including if you buy one of his templates or guides), but I’d happily promote Viktor’s courses anyway because I paid for the original one with my own money.

Here’s a novel idea: to celebrate the release of GT Mechanik, Grilli Type (always ones for a beautiful microsite) have created a system that lets you create a real, physical postcard that then gets posted to a recipient of your choice. I made mine a couple of minutes before writing this so I can’t show you a physical photo of the real thing (yet), but still, how cool is that?

It’s been a while since I’ve shared my current favourite Adobe Fonts, so please enjoy this public library of eight fonts (IYKYK) that you can immediately add to your own collection (if you have a CC subscription).

A new foundry discovery for me: Brooklyn-based Faire Type. I quite like the look of the slightly condensed Print superfamily, especially Print Sans.

Roel has officially taken Wakamai Fondue out of beta and has written a blog post about the v1.0 release. This tool is so handy when you’ve got a font file and want to see what’s included in terms of OpenType features and (if it’s a variable font) the variable axes. Remember: not all fonts are created equal, so it’s especially handy if you’re scratching your head about why that particular stylistic set isn’t working when you were sure it was in there. Plus, it even includes the CSS to enable all of the font’s superpowers if you’re using it online. Bookmark it!

Why license fonts at all? I’m sure you know that it’s a question a lot of people ask. Fontwerk have attempted to answer it with a very thoughtful blog post, which includes a handy list you can give to your client or employer.

Type Network recently published a nice little interview with Petra Dočekalová, who’s behind some beautiful script typefaces (which I’ve linked to before).

It was a great pleasure to chat to Alen (of SilverStag Type Foundry) again on his Captn OffScript podcast. We talked a lot about Fine Specimens, of course, but a bunch of other topics, too. From the show notes:

[…] About joining Adobe full-time after 18 and a half years of freelancing. About the love-hate relationship with Instagram that pretty much every creative professional quietly shares. And about why newsletters, human connection, and getting out into the world might be the most important things a creative can invest in right now.

Yay, newsletters, amirite? And, since my interview, Alen has also interviewed my friend Luis Mendo as well as Marta Cerdà Alimbau, who I had the pleasure of seeing present at Now24. Oh, speaking of which…

At the end of May, I’m heading to Paris to speak on a panel about publishing at TypeParis Now26. It’ll be me, John Waters (of Eye), Alexandre Dimos (of Éditions B42), and Julia Kahl (of Slanted), who I’ve not seen in years and am very much looking forward to hanging out with. Oh, and get this: if you use the promo code “SUPERNOW26”, you’ll get an additional €30 off the ticket price — but only until 8th May. Don’t sleep on it!

Also, this event will be the fifth and final(?) stop of the Fine Specimens book tour (oops, I mentioned it again — sorry), which means that I’ll be selling and signing books during the breaks. Grab yourself a ticket to this wonderful conference and be sure to come and say hi!

My good buddy Ty has launched a redesigned website for Etc Type Co., his collection of free, open source fonts. I know I link to Ty all the time, but he just puts out so many awesome things into the world. Have you seen his latest iOS app, Noision, which is currently free? I also recently contributed some answers to his Q&A series, Tiny Talks. He’s interviewed people who are way more interesting than me, though — go and check all of them out.

And speaking of foundry site redesigns, Blaze Type have a new website, too! The maximalist animations in the homepage video are fun, but I really like their type pairings page.

Totally not new, but I put this in my list of potential newsletter content ages ago and somehow kept missing it. So, here you go: the rather nice but not actually new anymore website for Groteskly Yours Studio, based in Belgrade.

Did you see that Volvo introduced Volvo Centum, designed by Dalton Maag, as “a custom typeface engineered for clarity and safety”? Now if only I could get my XC40 to actually install the software update (or any software update for that matter).

Lastly, I hope I’ll see some more of you out on the book tour trail. I met a bunch of subscribers in Düsseldorf and, honestly, I get a huge kick out of that. The dates we have left are 14th May in London at a soon-to-be-announced event, and — as I mentioned above — 30th May in Paris.

There’s also the possibility of something happening elsewhere, so watch this space. Now it’s time for me to finish editing the latest issue of the pop-up newsletter, covering my adventures to / at / from Düsseldorf. Again, it’s not too late to subscribe if you want to get that issue straight into your inbox.