Blog

The news that the online retail pioneer Amazon has opened its own digital-to-physical retail space in Seattle’s University Village has been met with surprise, a hint of suspicion and a lot of speculation.

With the festive season approaching in Europe, it’s a good time to ask if a Kindle or e-book reader will be on your present list this Christmas. I pose the question because Waterstone’s, one of the largest bookstores in the United Kingdom has said that it is taking the device off its shelves this year to stock more copies of printed books.

Converters around the world, take a bow! One of your very own mainstream products – corrugated cardboard – has grabbed some highly coveted high-tech spotlight.

In one of our kitchen cupboards we have at least thirty free plastic carrier bags. They rarely see the light of day, but my wife refuses to throw them away because “they may be needed one day”. We have acquired them over the years from a number of sources including supermarkets, clothes shops and sporting events.

The world of type design lost another great name this year with the announcement of the death of Adrian Frutiger at the age of 87. With Herman Zapf dying earlier in 2015, typography and calligraphy have become eminently poorer for their loss.

If you have been on one of the European beaches this summer you may well have been offered some sunglasses, watches, ladies handbags or branded polo shirts by the bands of itinerant pedlars who flock to resorts in summer time hoping to earn a few euros.

So, you have clicked on the Landanano.com website and started reading my blog. But I suppose, like me, you don’t pay a great deal of attention to the typeface in which the blog is set.

My wife does not have a great regard for my driving, despite my ability to cover over 30,000 miles a year in the past, relatively trouble and accident free. In fact when I have her beside me in the passenger seat I am amazed that I ever reach a destination unscathed given her views on my capability.