For the famous Font Conference, still being featured on every blog and its sisters, the The Semicolonial State of San Serriffe is a worthy companion. It was posted on Strange Maps, but it premiered already 1977 in the Guardian:
The Semicolonial State of San Serriffe
Designers and advertising people should notice rather quickly … *giggle*
The Guardian is one cool newspaper. By the way — besides Ben Goldacre, A. C. Grayling, and other excellent columnists I also recommend Marina Hyde. Some of her recent columns should be nominated for best headline ever, like “Which Bits of Michael Jackson Turn 50 Today?” or “The Man Who Became the Zelig of New Labour”, as well as certain paragraphs from her brilliant “The Torch Is Passed, From Beijing Epic to London Bus Queue” about the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing:
At times during this ceremony it felt as if London would have to prise the Olympic torch from China’s cold, dead hands. Come to that, at no point in either the opening or the closing ceremonies would it have seemed particularly surprising if the floor of the stadium had opened and a vast superweapon had risen up, reminding all present that the Bird’s Nest is basically the Death Star with a better percussion section. […]
For a certain little city waiting in the wings, though, the closing ceremony provided something else—a chance to respond to China’s deliciously understated 16-day world domination infomercial.
When, one day, all the media-related zombie industries will have found their final resting place, the Guardian will be one of the very few newspapers I miss.
If you have something valuable to add or some interesting point to discuss, I’ll be looking forward to meeting you at Mastodon!