Chapter 7 Reflection - Fernando Pena

Chapter 7 was enlightening on the history of type face technologies. It's quite fascinating to see all of the machines and methods that were utilized back to create our languages and communicate with each other. The images of the machinery used back then were so intricate for the times, seeing them without their aesthetic shells was possibly the best part. It was like peering into a clock's gears, and although they were large in size and possibly loud when used there is a beauty that lives in these machines that can be seen from various perspectives. Reading through the chapter's history brings to life an appreciation for human innovation and how far we've come in such a small amount of time. My favorite machine was probably that of the Linotype with it's complex automation of utilizing matrices of type to create lines of text. I imagined it would be fun to be an operator of one of these machines. As I read further the description of what the first computers used to be brought up a nostalgia in me as I reminisced of the first time that I ever laid my hands on a computer's keyboard. I was intrigued at a young age by this modern computer that sat in the basement of my house and as I was granted permission to mess around with it the one thing I was fascinated with was making type appear on the screen. Naturally my first line of text spelled out my name in a green font upon a black background. The chapter brought a wonderful appreciation for type and even the more dated methods of creating words by hand. If I had the chance I would try my hand at composing lines of type by hand and being in a room that contained shelves of letters that you could take a look at individually and admire all of its intricacies.