iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Looks like I set a 45 minute timer for something only to find out time’s up some 6300 hours later. Guess it’s too late to try to remember what it was for.

A 45 minute timer that’s 6327:52:33 overdue

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

AI doesn’t understand vanishing points, paper sizes, or lettering. Still easy for typographers to spot AI slop at first glance! Type, on the other hand, has improved somewhat. No reason to be smug, though. It shouldn’t amuse but worry us that people honestly discuss the authenticity of this pic.

Non-copyrightable AI slop picture about a soliciting sheep at some kind of Irish diner with questionable internal logic.

I mean, do they yank the sign out of the drawer, rush to the door, and put it up whenever the sheep shows up? Then they take it down again once the sheep is left? Or are we supposed to believe that the (perfectly symmetrical) sheep hang out on the patio for hours on end, despite the fact that they ostensibly “live on the farm across the road”? And no one has taken care of the situation yet, making sure the animals don’t run onto the road all the time?

If you make the effort to typeset and print such a sign, wouldn’t you rather start with ”If you see a sheep outside, don’t open the door!” instead of “This is Barbara”?

People are way too gullible, that’s why AI undermines all sensible online discourse, guzzling up the fresh water reserves of the entire planet, heating up the atmosphere and generally making life miserable fo all of mankind. It’s easier to click like and repost instead of reflecting.

If you feel smug reading this, stop right there. This applies to all of us. You, too, have fallen into that trap and liked or shared some piece of AI slop. Of course, you didn’t notice. Instead of looking down at boomers that repost ridiculous sharepics like Barbara’s (thus further dividing the community at large), we should unite and stand against AI, together, with compassion, empathy, and purpose.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Would you look at the lettering on this Hieronymus Bosch piece 🤘

“Cutting the Stone”, also called “The Extraction of the Stone of Madness” or “The Cure of Folly”, an oil-on-panel painting completed c.1494 or later by the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I‘m always excited when Floodfonts release a new typeface. But this time in particular, the curves are a delight. Check out the minisite for Corsario and swoon over Felix’s sketchbook: www.floodfonts.com/corsario/ (Or activate the fonts right away for your project if you got an Adobe subscription.)

A typeface specimen graphic for “Corsario“; a mock-up.

A typeface specimen graphic for “Corsario“; four mock-ups in a grid.

A scanned sketchbook page with lowercase letter designs for “Corsario”.

Part of a scanned sketchbook page with lowercase letter designs for “Corsario”.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

MyFonts heavily promotes a new font called ‘Fabric’ right now, released in 2026. I can only talk about myself here, but when I’m tasked with developing a product name, the bare minimum in research I have to deliver is a simple web search to see whether a given font name idea is already taken. 🧵

A marketing graphic from MyFonts for “Fabric Grotesk”. Note: This is none of the actual “Fabric” fonts from Monokrom, released in 2020, but a new release that just appropriates the name, which is likely trademarked, but who cares, it’s free real estate etc. pp.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

So these hackers stole the data of 1,4 million people in Berlin. Obviously, I’m interested in a single question now: What’s this funky “SK” logo/ligature in the monospace font that the news channel keeps showing and what does it mean?

A hand in a camouflage shirt (out of focus) putting down a mobile device in front of a flat screen. On the screen: black background and some lines of type (monospace) with some box-drawing characters.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Aber ist es auch DAS GRÖẞTE ẞ DER WELT?

»DIE GRÖẞTE LIEBESGESCHICHTE DER WELT« auf einer Litfaßsäule.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Slidin’ out of the frame like a smooth criminal

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Ich bin mir ziemlich sicher, diesen Film schon einmal gesehen zu haben

Tagesschaumeldungen vom 30.7.2026 in originaler Zusammenstellung:

Demokratische Republik Kongo Mehr als 1.500 Tote durch Ebola-Ausbruch

In der Demokratischen Republik Kongo sind inzwischen mehr als 1.500 Menschen an Ebola gestorben. Die Infektionszahlen steigen so schnell wie noch nie - Experten warnen vor einer Ausbreitung und einer langen Dauer.

EU plant bis zu 7 KI-Gigafabriken - Ausschreibung gestartet
Ausschreibung beginnt EU-Milliardenprojekt für sieben KI-Gigafactories

Die EU-Kommission hat den Bau von bis zu sieben Großrechenzentren ausgeschrieben. Diese Gigafactories sollen die Rechenkapazität für die Entwicklung von KI in Europa deutlich steigern.

Streit um humanoide Roboter: Neuer Ärger zwischen China und USA
Zukunftstechnologie China droht USA im Streit um humanoide Roboter

Die USA haben angekündigt, die Einfuhr von humanoiden Robotern aus Sicherheitsgründen zu verbieten. Das trifft vor allem China. Peking droht nun mit Gegenmaßnahmen.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Der Typ, der die URL auf die Briefumschläge vom Finanzamt schreibt, hatte wohl ein Glas Blauer Engel zu viel

»Blauer-Engel«-Siegel auf einem Brief der Finanzverwaltung. Unter dem Siegel in fetter Schrift und eingerahmt die (falsche) URL »www.blauer-engler.de«

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

What a treat to have a nice public garden near the office that you can stop by to smell the flowers after work. When was the last time you spent a few moments in your local park?

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

One of our Golden Cane Palms is growing a new leaf. It always starts as a long, pointy cane that gains its final height quickly, then splits lengthwise over the course of weeks, revealing an array of pinnate leaflets. This one is almost there! It’s inspiring to see the progress every day.

A Dypsis lutescens in a shop window on a sunny day, photo taken from inside.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

The toner for this device is so ridiculously expensive, you can’t even begin to comprehend what an achievement it is for me to obtain a full charge of all 3 colors at once for the first time in 6 years.

Toner fill status of an HP laser printer. The display says “Ready”. Below, Yellow, Cyan, and Magenta are all displayed at 100 %. Black is at 60 % or so but don’t worry, I got two spare cartridges in stock from a good deal some time ago.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Nice, they got a new degree program on Virtual Reality at Teesside University, starting in (checks notes) … October 1994

A clipped magazine article (CTW, issue August 15th 1994) about a new degree course on Virtual reality.

Auto-generated transcript (might contain errors):

Page 8 CTW Monday August 15th 1994
-

New course offers virtual degree
Following news of the
first degree course on
games design, another Lo 1
focusing on Virtual cs
Reality has emerged. . "

This October, the Universi- R ———
ty of Teeside begins its BSc :
(Hons) course in Visualisa- . ;
tion. A four year sandwich oo LL Lb
course, it will teach students . Ni
how to create 3D worlds by A E < a eB
combining virtual reality, al Vu Kall &
computer graphics anima- Gi a LB
tion, movie special effects Ess, WB 7%
and stimulation. cc Se Ff
at the same time as Mid- FE 4
dlesex University kicks offits | ss ay BL
MA in Design and Produc- Ff © 8a

“Careers are opening up FE 8
all the time for those with the a IR
ability to use software for OO OB
creative graphics and scien- . 7
tific visualisation. Students . : i Ii
will actually design virtual | : 3
reality applications, initially i Ti -
on screen using 3D models,” { OD
offered Janice Webster, gp... = L
Vidal lms VR GOES TO COLLEGE: Teeside course in October
phasis on design and welcome. plication could be used in
Webster expects it to take “We are not looking to many different sectors.”
off in a big way — and not specialise .in any particular For more information on
just with computer games areas. The course will teach the degree course in
enthusiasts, although she students to creat…

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

How to annoy every designer visiting your household in 4 easy steps:

An apartment entry with 4 coat hooks permanently attached to the door, but the spacing between all 4 hooks is extremely uneven

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

‘Despite the effect of advertising new releases, and the occasional hot property, fonts are not primarily an impulse purchase, they are a long tail product.’ (1/3)

Nick Shinn interviewing Nick Shinn in front of a well-stocked bookshelf.

Image from https://ilovetypography.com/2026/05/13/font-faces-nick-shinn/

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

I had to look this place up. This was the stepped white concrete face of the L.A. Mulholland Dam before it was hidden underneath soil and trees in 1934. 1st picture: what it looked like in the 1920s. 2nd picture: a similar view, but in 1941, trees and all. Cf. www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-l...

Circa 1920s postcard of the Hollywood Reservoir, showing the exposed concrete face of the Mulholland Dam, courtesy of the California State Library.

1941 postcard of the Hollywood Reservoir, showing the landscaped face of the Mulholland Dam, courtesy of the Werner von Boltenstern Postcard Collection, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

This concept looks easy to draw. In fact, it’s pretty hard to pull off a modular, technical, rectangular typeface that’s legible & still looks good in more than a few letters. David Quay & Ramiro did a great job with @retypefoundry.bsky.social’s new ‘Botter’. www.re-type.com/newsletters/...

”Botter” typeset in Botter on top of a double page spread of a type design sketchbook.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

This 1888 oil painting has phone snapshot vibes. “(Infanteriets) Vagtparade” (“Changing of the Guard”) by Danish painter and illustrator Erik Ludvig Henningsen (1855—1930).

Erik Henningsen (1855–1930): “Parade of the Infantry or Changing of the Guard” (1888). Oil on canvas, 90 x 148.5 cm (35.4 x 58.4 in). National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vagtparade_(Henningsen).jpg

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Never seen so many strange, infantile words in a job posting (and I don’t even know what they mean).

NEW YORK HYBRID

New York-based type foundry Sharp are looking for a graphic designer to join their
team and deliver work for brands such as YouTube, Twilio and Dropbox.

Must be proficient in most versions of Loodle Max, with at least a basic

understanding of the Omega Vv.1.2.29 early release Loodle Lite plug in software

release.

A keen sense of Poob workflow and Gumpy implementation.

The ability to adapt to Pheebo-style collaborative spaces.

3+ years of site building experience in Wondee.

Efficient prototyping in Glorp Pro.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

I had to check twice to realize he’s not texting on his phone in this image.

1913 print ad for Michelin. A giant, cigar-smoking Michelin Man sitting on a building and idly towering over a street scene in London

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Weird to see a random Apple-style UI toggle haphazardly placed on a sci-fi mag cover from the 1970s. Also, first time I’ve ever seen a UI toggle tilted.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

I’d totally wear these 1925 knickerbockers. Great fabric, favorable shape, stylish, good for summer (barefoot at the beach) and winter (with combat boots). And they look comfy, too.

American Knickerbockers; c. 1925, from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. Wesley Wallace Tillotson, 1956

From https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Knickerbockers_MET_56.55.10_CP4.jpg

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Got a spam mail trying to sell me the ugliest tech gadget ever.

At the bottom of the picture, a rendering of something that can only be described as a horizontal slice of an ugly silver toy race car with an oversized, gaudy magic crystal at the position of the driver (or codriver, depending on your country). The rest of the slice’o’toycar is crammed with yellow/orange, avocado green, and off-white mechanical keyboard keys in an incomprehensible pattern.

The top of the picture begs: “UP TO 55% OFF — It’s starting — BACK US NOW”

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Book design • UI/UX design • Corporate design

Photo of a Kansas City Chiefs press conference with Andy Reid, Travis Kelce, and Patrick Mahomes. Reid is wearing a gray suit and red tie with a lapel pin. Kelce is wearing a camp-style short-sleeved shirt with a bird print, along with a suede cap, and Mahomes is wearing a white collared shirt, a pink checkered double-breasted vest, and a pale pink tie.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

Never heard of Bandsintown before. Noticed them today because they’ve got the best logo I’ve seen in a while. www.company.bandsintown.com/brand-assets

Bandsintown lockup. Icon: light cyan “Heavy Metal Horns” gesture that also doubles as a “b” with a stylized audio bar visualizer above it, composed entirely of rectangular shapes. Logotype below: “bandsintown”, typeset in a a generic geometric sans.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

If you're overwhelmed as a designer right now, let's break it down to: What can *you* do?

Lotte Jacobse's slide on what you can do as an individual designer (from her KRUPA design conference keynote):

1. Start from an open and new perspective
2. Know your lens, and your blind spots
3. Center the impact on people
4. Vision with hope, design with realism

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Gosh, I’d certainly like to do some rad layout work with my 1993 selection of classic fonts like “Palamino”, “Minstrel”, “Hobby”, or—who doesn’t love it?—“Soutane”.

A 1993 screenshot of a font menu in three colums displaying 21 knockoff typefaces with hilarious names trying to stick close to the original trademark names, e. g., "Palamino" for "Palatino", or "Minstrel" for "Mistral".

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

OH no Type Co. announce their “new winner for least legible typeface”—Swear Smoke: ohnotype.co/drawer#swear...

A specimen of the OHno Type Co. typeface Swear Smoke showing the words "SHORT WORDS". It's an elaborate connected design that is intentionally hard to read with very high contrast, a noticeable backslant, and some bizarre forms.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Notebook must be the most impressive working document I‘ve ever seen—carefully cut, pasted, perforated, reinforced, highlighted, underlined, annotated and commented all by himself in what must have been an endless, meditative venture. archive.org/details/fran...

A screenshot from a clip of Francis Ford Coppola presenting his Godfather Notebook, a massive, completely handmade tome collecting all (and I mean all) his thoughts and notes about the production of the movie. He used this instead of the much less detailed screenplay to direct the movie.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

“Rudolf Koch began drawing the Offenbach typeface in 1928 … The type was published posthumously by Gebr. Klingspor foundry in 1935 … pairing wide roman capitals with narrow gothic minuscules … Poem publishes a faithful revival … under the CC BY-ND 4.0 license” www.poem-editions.com/products/off...

"Gestaltung" set several times in Offenbach with different stylistic alternates used per line.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

I love I Love Typography’s typography. There’s a whole inspo moodboard if you didn’t know yet. And it’s just been expanded. → ilovetypography.com/font-inspira... via @ilovetypography.bsky.social

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

There’s a whole category for “19th century glasses” on Wikimedia Commons, though—for the accomplished fashionista: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Categor...

Count Alexander Kuschelew-Besborodko, portrait painted by Franz Krüger in 1850

Benjamin Henry Latrobe, portrait by Rembrandt Peale, USA 1815

Josef Abel (1764–1818): young man (probably Franz Schubert, aged 17), portrait from c. 1817

Sir Edwin Landseer (1802–1873): author Dr. John Allen, portrait from 1836

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

I demand a comeback for 1830s eyewear fashion.

“Nathaniel Olds”, portrait painted by Jeptha Homer Wade in 1837

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

It’s not a bug, it’s a feature: “Ringi is a sans serif design whose horizontal as well as vertical strokes have the same width – a true monolinear design … Ringi’s (very) slanted styles are truly just slanted without any correction of the curves” www.futurefonts.xyz/inga-plonnig...

Ringi typeface specimen: 100 Units (Almost) Everywhere

Ringi typeface specimen: Truly Slanted, No Correction of the Curve

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

It’s a Calypso apple! Calypso (1958) by Roger Excoffon: fontsinuse.com/typefaces/31...

“Tout le monde connait Roger Excoffon”, exhibition poster typeset in calypso and Antique Olive Nord, designed in 2011 by Extrafine.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

Movie/art trivia: a knockoff version of Brâncuși’s ‘Bird in Space’ has been used as a prop for the set of ‘Padme's quarters on Coruscant‘ in ‘Star Wars: Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones’ (2002). (Image source: www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetai...)

A knockoff of Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși's ‘Bird in Space' sculptures as seen in ‘Padme’s quarters on Coruscant’, a set design from the film ‘Star Wars: Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones’ from 2002. Sculpture/prop circled red so it’s clearly identifiable against the busy backdrop.

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Johannes López Ayala @typographer.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

‘Something else caught his eye …: an obscure variant of a logo Mr. Lubalin designed for Mother & Child magazine in the 1960s. … “It’s genius … He’s using type as a metaphor. He’s distilling an idea into a word. That’s what it’s about: You have to think about how the letters can represent something.”

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