MADEONEARTH
Lego Type

In the days before digital type, fonts were often dis- Lego fan even devised a clever Lego locking arm tributed on two-inch film reels for use with photo- — it flopped down into the teeth of the gear when typesetting machines like the VGC Photo-Typositor. needed — to keep the film in tension while it was Mark Simonson, a Twin Cities-based type designer, being scanned or cranked. is working to convert some of the film fonts done by His makeshift Photo-Typositor got the job done, prolific type designer Phil Martin to digital formats. but Simonson speculated about automating the

A flatbed scanner and standard filmstrip holder film-scanning process. “If I had the Lego Mind-
were employed in the digitizing process, but storms system, which allows you to add motors,
Simonson needed a spooling mechanism to keep light sensors, etc., I could control the whole thing
the film from flopping about and getting scratched. from my computer.” Simonson’s digital versions of
To solve the problem, he raided the family toy chest Martin’s Fotura and Bagatelle fonts should be out
and built two spooling towers on either side of his sometime early next year.
scanner out of Legos, one for doling out film and —Jason Kottke
^{the other for uptake.} The bulk of the towers was constructed out of a >>^{Read Mark Simonson’s description of his Lego}
_{rainbowed assemblage of regular Lego pieces while} mechanism at marksimonson.com/article/105/lego-the-type-
designers-friend.

the hand-crank reels were comprised of vintage

Lego Technics gears and axles. Simonson scanned the film letter by letter, turning the Technics gear to advance the film to the next frame. The longtime