Flickr, the photo-sharing community, is a wealth of real-world type specimens. Spend a few minutes browsing through these links and you’ll find at least a few amazing shots:
Groups: Great Signs, One Letter, Ransom Note Helper, S!gns, Typœgraphy,
Tags: Font, Graffiti, Sign, Signage, Type
Shameless plug: my photos
“Motel Sign” was taken by dotpolka.
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Later this week we’ll be taking an exhaustive and eye-straining look at the world of bitmap fonts, those tiny pixel-based typefaces that were all the rage a couple years ago. (Oh, and also back before computers had things like vector fonts, GUIs and USB-powered coffee mug heaters). But before you leech everyone else’s fonts, you might want to check out BitFontMaker. The web application allows you to design your own bitmap font pixel by pixel, then download your creation in .ttf format.
Designing your own typeface, even in simple bitmap form, is a good introduction to the frustrating creative realities of type design. Once you’ve struggled with maintaining a consistent look and feel with your little pixel font, you might appreciate the work of those designers whose fonts you’re hoarding just a little bit more.