Discovering The Ampersand


So, my learning about writing has taken me in the direction of typography today and I am loving it. Having a bit of a background in psychology, I find it very interesting why some fonts are more pleasing, when they should be used and how people react to them. (There's a fun article on fonts causing controversy here).

But one of the most fun things I have found amidst surfing the web today was the ampersand. It's everywhere and it's a fun way through which to experience typography. This website devoted itself entirely to the ampersand and it's tons of fun. From quirky to ugly to tattooed, you can experience the ampersand in every possible way. Apparently there's a poem paying homage to this little character as well:

"But you, ampersand, oh, your voluptuousness,
how your rolling, round curves save me
from a comma splice. Why don’t you
comma little closer"

This beautiful snippet delighted me and I just had to share it. You can find the rest of the poem here (quite worth reading but not as brilliant as this verse) and should definitely check out the poet.

The ampersand truly is a beautiful expression of type and a perfect canvas to illuminate all the intricacies and charm of each font. I hope you have as much fun as I, discovering the &.......


2 comments:

  1. What program did you use to make the "an and is simply an and but an ampersand is much more grand" Ampersand? I love the ampersand and want to incorporate it in a logo and I want to do something similar.

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  2. Hi Melissa,
    Glad you like the ampersands. I found the image on a page that sadly doesn't exist anymore. I searched the website (http://www.fastcodesign.com/) but couldn't find the original article. However, if you take this sample to a graphic designer, I'm sure they could develop something for you. I'd love to see your new logo! :)

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This work by H.E. Saunders is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.