
\article{\ukTuG\ meeting}
The next \ukTuG\ meeting, will be held at Aston University,
on October 11th. This meeting is entitled `{\sl 
Fonts: how they are created; how they can be used}' and
will focus
on font design, creation and use. Although it will touch on
\MF\ and \PS, it is intended that the invited speakers
will be able to provide greater width and depth of
experience with typefaces and letterforms than we normally
find in the \TeX-world. 

We have managed to acquire the services of David
Kindersley, who is a genuine full-time creator of
letterforms. There are few in the world, and even fewer
of his skill, genius and sheer ability. In addition, we
have three other representatives from different aspects
of the commercial `type' world, all of whom have some
major interest in the realisation of  typefaces in
electronic form. And then there are the \TeX nical
speakers, who may be able to translate the intent into
something we all can use. In particular, we are fortunate
to have  Andy Trevorrow here, on one of his too
infrequent visits to Britain.


The
problem of design is one which we constantly encounter
with document preparation. We can design our own
documents, adopt previously designed approaches (like
\LaTeX), or perform some subtle modifications to achieve
what it is we think we want. To some extent the same is
true of typefaces: we can adopt what is already there
(e.g.~Computer Modern); adapt it (by modifying the \MF\
code); or even design our own. Whichever route we choose,
it makes sense to try to find out something of the design
process. The \MF\ paradigm is one of emulating a
pen and nib model (which seems quite closely related to the
way that Hermann Zapf, who worked with Knuth for some
time, designs letterforms). Is this the only paradigm?
What do we loose or gain by adopting it?

This meeting promises to be a rare blend of
several of the traditions which permeate the world of
typefaces. A world which we are very lucky to share,
thanks largely to the excellence and flexibility of
Knuth's document preparation tools. 


\section{The Speakers}
\bi{\bf David Kindersley} will be known to readers of both
\TeXline\ and the Observer (cf.~Sunday June 4th, 1989,
p.43). He was apprenticed to
Eric Gill in the 30's, and among his achievements are a
street-name alphabet widely used throughout the
English-speaking world, and a system for letter-spacing.
In fact he may claim that the spaces between letters are
at least as, if not more, important than the form of the
letters themselves. He now works chiefly in stone. The
`archetype' for the classic Roman typeface is the
lettering of Trajan's column -- in stone. Kindersley's
willingness to talk to us is a reflection of the delight
and pleasure he takes in alphabets, and confers a rare
privelege on us.

\bi{\bf Andrew Boag} is one of the `Reading School
of Typography', as it is sometimes called, Andrew is not
simply an academic typographer. He works extensively
outside the academic world, and has, among other things,
designed a typeface specifically for telephone
directories -- an unsung, but very sensitive functional
area. He has written a short history of John Baskerville
(1706--1775),
who is arguably of equivalent stature to
`Transitional/Modern' typography that Knuth is to
computerised typography. 

\bi{\bf Sarah Winthrop} from
Linotype, will be able to give some indication of how one
of  the major corporations handles type. She will also
give some background on the fundamental jargon which is
used. With luck she may `sort' out our `families'.
Linotype UK handles the `exotic' part of Linotype's
extensive library, and are currently producing \PS\
outlines of the exotics. 

\bi{\bf David Harris} is also known to readers of
\TeXline.
He works for Chelgraph (whose IBX imagesetter is one of the
industry's most cost effective {\tt dvi} processors), and
will talk to us today about font encoding. After all,
pixels and B\'ezier curves are not the only answers. David
is currently Chairman of the BCS Electronic Publishing SIG,
and is partly responsible for their extremely successful
Durham meeting, and also their long string of
well-attended and fascinating one-day meetings.  

\bi{\bf Paul Bacsich} is the first token \TeX ie on this
program! Paul has been guiding the Open University to
electronic publishing for some time now. The OU publishes
an amazing amount of material, and more and more of it is
produced through electronic means. But this time Paul will
be talking about the extra typefaces needed for high
quality scientific work, within the context of the OU's
requirements. 

\bi{\bf Philip Taylor} has
been responsible for a great deal of the \TeX\ work which
has been produced on the University of London's Linotron
300. He will describe the joys of ensuring that this
simple aim could be accomplished, without too much loss of
hair.

\bi{\bf Les Carr} (unconfirmed) is one of the small
happy band who have tried to coerce or cajole \MF\ into
revealing something which looks \PS\ acceptable. The relationship
between \MF's outlines and those of \PS\ is one which
sometimes seems obviously close, and then seems
depressingly non-existent.  He will
describe the trials, tribulations and pitfalls.

\bi{\bf Sebastian Rahtz} (unconfirmed) needs no
introduction, since no \ukTuG\ meeting is complete without
a talk from him. Sebastian has rediscovered Computer
Modern, but will discuss, briefly, what can be done to
make the \LaTeX\ fonts more acceptable, either by
abandoning CM entirely to replace them by \PS\ fonts, or
getting the design size right.

\bi{\bf Andrew Trevorrow} should be known to a
large proportion of the \TeX\ world for his extensive
contribution to the public domain. He has written some
very fine drivers for screens, laser printers and
phototypesetters, and more recently has completed a
public domain Macintosh \TeX, `Oz\kern-0.1em\TeX'. He
will discuss the transition from `fonts' to the `marks on
paper' which we eventually read.
\section{Extras}
This meeting will also have a short business meeting,
where a committee and chairman will be elected. Remember
that to vote you will have to be a member of the group.
But all are welcome to attend. Details will be circulated
separately. 
\author{Malcolm Clark}
