Much of design critique is focused on photography and other graphics. It's time to shed light on the most basic element of communication: the type. At Fonts In Use we'll catalog and examine real-world typography wherever it appears — branding, advertising, signage, packaging, publications, in print and online — with an emphasis on the typefaces used.

Our effort begins here, with a regularly updated collection of case studies and trend reports. We've invited experts from various fields to comment on how type is used (and misused) in graphic design today. In our first few installments, magazine designer Marc Oxborrow has an emotional reaction to the redesign of Bloomberg Businessweek, the Font Bureau's Sam Berlow notices that the type specimen has become a design genre, I point to some recent projects in which type — and especially typeface selection — plays a central role, and instructor and historian Indra Kupferschmid reminds us that the real Bauhaus wasn't all geometric and experimental letterforms.

This blog is a prologue of more to come. Behind the scenes, we're building a searchable, shareable archive of typographic design, indexed by typeface, industry, and medium. And you're invited to join us. Stay tuned.