Newcomen is a highly versatile titling face that includes 87 OpenType alternates and 38 ligatures. Newcomen titling, in its default form, evokes the Victorian era and is named for the British inventor of a steam engine for pumping water. Newcomen’s flexibility is remarkable; the family includes four weights, and OpenType style sets are included that can alter the appearance of the face to either appear more dark and gothic, classical, include dots in the counters, and swash and "boxy" sets. Individual characters can also be selected and mixed and matched in OpenType capable applications for distinctive custom designs. Please see the .pdf samples to see these features in action and to refer to the proper style sets. A few design ideas are to use the gothic alternates for Halloween, the dots for a steampunk appearance, or the traditional alternates for a unique classical look.
I have been trying out the Microsoft Expression web design program recently. My final verdict: I like it better than Dreamweaver. I’ve been using Dreamweaver for 5 years now, but where Expressions really shines is its handling of CSS, which is, in my mind, quite a bit better than Dreamweaver. My “problem” with CSS as opposed to tables is that with tables you can visualize what you are doing. CSS is a bit more programmatic. Expression helps a bit. If you are looking to save some money, and you use a PC, you should download Visual Web Developer. You can do some very advanced stuff with this program, and the interface is very much like Expressions. The price is right: free! However, Expression is more intuitive in how it handles CSS. It’s very interesting how Microsoft is starting to head into Adobe’s turf. Microsoft is working on equivalents to everything in Adobe’s product line. My long term bet is on Microsoft.
Comments