Fonts, Window Salad, and Humble Pie. Mmm.

This morning, I’m eating a big ole’ slice of humble pie and having some coffee.  Mmmm!

It all started this week when I released a font that had 2 P’s and no Q.  In the introductory email, I bragged about how amazing my work is.

Mmmm. 

I was at a work conference with my husband in Texas.  I had pushed the release date back on this new font a few times, and I was determined to finish it this week, no matter what.  I was in the room working on it when I had a thought.  I need to check on that flight info again…

The globe would explode if I didn’t debut the font that very day.  A friend had rented a jeep and we were going to have coffee in a bit. Did I bring those other jeans?

My husband sent a text.  A false fire alarm had been pulled and the conference center was being evacuated onto the streets of San Antonio.  I have to fix the P that I see there in the Q spot.

How did it get there?  I would have such a hard time explaining that process to you.  There’s nothing plausible.  

I replied and asked if he had gotten pics.  Did I check that right-side bearing?

My system started throwing up windows all over my screen.  Window salad.  They wouldn’t close.  I wrote my tech contact who is brilliant, attentive, and quick to help.  Reopened the ticket and told him to never mind.  

I grabbed my credit card and took care of the paid upgrade.  I’ve been needing to do that anyway.  Plugged license key.  Proceeded. 

Now I can get this show on the ROAD!  Zip this file here, boom, and then get this one moved over here, boom, then I upload there…

I forgot about that stinking P until I got an email about it.  I was in flight and almost expired right on the spot, y’all.  I had already sold a handful of licenses.  I hurriedly corrected the font right there in coach, replaced the files online, and sent out updated copies to those few customers.  I made a quip about watching my P’s and Q’s.  But it should have been about humble pie.  My mom would have predicted this had she proofed over that email before I sent it. 

This is what it’s like to be font-obsessive, compulsive, and absent minded at the same time.  If I’m not working on fonts, I am sketching them, noticing them, or chatting up my family about them.  Even after I’ve published my own, they're still ever evolving.  As systems update and technology marches forward, I keep them updated.  Everything stays nice and tidy.   

Shout-out to fellow font designers and typographers, for their contributions will impact the way future generations see the world. I learn from them daily.  They are my tribe and are the ones who really get me.

After I sent replacements one guy replied, “I rarely need the Q anyway.  I don’t even like Q’s.” 

They’re not my favorite, either.