I was recently reading an interesting design discussion about “typefaces” vs. “fonts”. I can’t find the link at the moment, but the topic should be very interesting to designers because there is a distinction. I won’t get into what the difference is in this post, I just want to expand upon something that I found a bit annoying in the discussion. Some people would refer to those making a distinction between the two words as “nerds”. As in “your just a font nerd”. I’m not sure when knowing what something is, or does became equated with being a “nerd” but I can tell you this, doctors don’t hear this. Mechanics don’t hear it. Plumbers don’t, nor do hairdressers and probably the same for chefs. The next time that you go to the doctor try to tell him that he’s being a “medical nerd” when he tells you that you have an infection and not a “boo boo”. The next time that you go to the mechanic tell them that they’re just a “car nerd” when they tell you that the problem is with your transmission and not the “shifty thingy”. Maybe there is something about design professionals themselves who don’t stand up for things that have actual definitions. This may go to the fact that in general, they, er we, are too laid back in demeanor. This may also have something to do with the fact that more and more people feel that they understand design simply because they can put a picture in a Word doc and use a typeface other than Arial. Regardless of what it is, it’s 2009 and time to end the use of the word “nerd” as having anything to do with a professional.
Of course, the exception is anyone that tries to make you feel like an idiot because you don’t know something that they do. But those people are not nerds either. They’re just jerks.
