Max Kerning may seem like an enigma; but make no mistake, he is a designer of the highest order. In fact, he upholds order, cleanliness and proper letter spacing at all costs. He will not tell you his exact age, but he will tell you it is rude and idiotic to ask. He is currently a Type Organizer and Manager, as well as a Typography Master-at-Large. Max?s origins remain a bit mysterious. Some speculate that he was born and raised in a forgotten province in Central Europe (possibly near a type foundry; some speculate he was orphaned as an infant and subsequently taken in by a kindly typographer). Whatever the case, we know his upbringing groomed him to be a fastidious and unyielding champion of type.
Righting typographic wrongs doesn?t allow Mr. Kerning much spare time to pursue hobbies, although he has admitted to having a penchant for Phillip Johnson?s architecture, hipster sneakers, calisthenics and eating sushi with a fork.
When I look around, I see too much disorder in the world?needless chaos and messes. I sense panic and stress. In fact, I feel it myself. It rattles my soul and gives me an ache of the head and a sourness of the stomach. This is because everywhere I am assaulted by sloppy text that is displeasing to the eye. There is no respect for proper letter spacing and font choice. Letters are squished together, piled up, overlapped and jumbled. They are inappropriately and self-indulgently tracked out. People mix typefaces with incompatible type styles. Or they think, ?Why use a simple, clean typeface to convey an idea when you can use three or five or twelve.? This is wrong. This is sad. This is an affront to a cultured society, and it must be stopped. Immediately, before everything is tossed away to an angry wind. Order must be allowed to thrive, to flourish, to bring us into a tidy harmony.
Download the manifestoImproper letter spacing is a visual assault. Serif or sans serif, all text must be sans chaos. Fulfillment can be found in a clean font.
These are just a few of my thoughts, which you would be wise to follow if you wish to take a stand against bad type and live each day to it?s fullest. I will continue posting these musings on Twitter (although it pains me to be unable to control the type).