Tower

This entry is meant to be in accord with my theme, the same as the others, but I think this one occupies a different realm from a conceptual standpoint. Of the examples of historical type around town, this one is the youngest. In fact it's essentially brand new. It's not historical at all...at least not yet.

We all were able to witness the clock tower being built. Essentially we watch the history as it happens. All history was the present at some point. Today is tomorrow's yesterday. It is likely that thousands more will stand and read the inscription on the tower's edifice for many years to come. Just like my other examples, this typography, as well as the structure, act as a bridge between past, present, and future. While seasons change, and old things pass away, the building and the type remain to preserve the ideal that learning lives forever.

When I consider the applications of type in this manner, I am reminded of one of the essential reasons for developing a written typographic system: to preserve our thoughts and ideas in written tangible form. None of us will be around forever, but what is written can outlast the writer. It is why humanity has copied ancient texts by hand, or why we invented the printing press so all could have access to type, or why we erect monuments and plaques with typographic inscriptions to preserve what will be lost.

Typography can be the rope suspending a bridge through time.

-Dan Gill