Zak Greene

Weird type in southern Italy

It’s about time I start this thing.

I’ve been studying in Rome since January and spent the first month or so customizing WordPress and setting up this blog, with the intention of documenting my experiences here. Yet all the while I’ve been conflicted about — actually, there are few aspects of my life I haven’t been conflicted about since I’ve been here — but one of them pertains to this blog and what its function should be. Should it be completely design focused? Should I talk about my life? Am I in danger of making this the typical study abroad/travel blog? Should I write small, trivial entries or should I only publish lengthy, focused pieces, since that’s what I had in mind when I designed the template? Even though I’ve written and “published” online for years somehow this seems bigger and more public-facing. But I’ve decided I will never write anything if I worry too much about it, so I won’t.

Last week we took a tour of southern Italy — Pompeii/Mt. Vesuvias, Paestum, Matera, Alberobello, and Naples. In what may be subconsciously a desperate attempt to make this post relevant to my career as a graphic designer, here are some photos of weird type and signage I found along the tour.

I've seen this free downloadable font on the Internet, but never actually in use, much less on a sign. Love how the question mark in place of an apostrophe (due to lack of that character in the font file) somehow managed to slip by them.

One of the many examples of hilariously bad Photoshop around here.

Found in Villa Oplontis.

Addresses in Alberobello

Toast type! Burnt in with a magnifying glass by Georgio.