Rst N Pc Mtch Pn.
Saya sedang membaca daftar artikel Instapaper dengan mode shuffle, saat tetiba entri Substack bung Mitch Paone muncul di urutan teratas. Sebuah kebetulan yang acak, barangkali. Tetapi, mungkin memang sudah saatnya saya membaca—satu diantara sejumlah simpanan tautan—tulisan beliau, sebab di masa mendatang dapat dipastikan tidak akan ada lagi entri-entri lainnya.
Beberapa hari sebelumnya secara tak sengaja saya mendapati kabar di linimasa Instagram serta LinkedIn bahwa bung Mitch telah berpulang. Seperti halnya kepergian nona Marjane Satrapi tidak lama sebelumnya, belum jelas betul penyebab kematiannya. Yang jelas adalah, bahwa keduanya sama-sama mengejutkan dan terjadi tiba-tiba.
(sumber gambar pertama, kedua, ketiga dan keempat)
Tak lama setelah saya selesai membaca tulisan almarhum yang bertajuk «Brand ≠ Product» tersebut, saya kemudian iseng Googling nama almarhum, lalu menemukan sejumlah daftar tautan artikel yang mengenang almarhum. Tiga diantaranya dari situs ECAL, Fontstand, serta Creative Review.
Sebagai penghormatan terakhir, izinkan saya mengutip beberapa paragraf terbaik dari entri almarhum di atas, sebuah opini pribadi yang tajam namun faktual, dari bagian tulisan yang almarhum beri subjudul «The Bigger Issue - Education Gap.»
Most product designers lack in-depth typographic training, and many brand designers also lack a strong foundation in type design. Product design programs typically offer a surface-level understanding, enough to build wireframes or choose a Google Font, but rarely go deep into spacing, rhythm, or scalable type systems.
Very few university-level graphic design programs include type design in their curriculum, especially in the United States. (There are notable exceptions in places like Switzerland and the Netherlands, where typography is treated as a core part of visual communication education.)
Without that kind of formal grounding, even experienced designers often approach typography with a limited toolkit. Brand designers may be highly skilled in layout and composition, but few have ever drawn a typeface or understand how one performs in complex digital products. This gap leads to superficial, trend-driven font choices, designed to shine in case studies rather than function in live systems.
Compounding the issue, many brand designers have not taken the time to study the rich history of type design, understanding when and why different styles evolved. Without this historical and technical context, it becomes difficult to critique, scale, or enforce typography in a way that supports both brand expression and product functionality.
And without that knowledge, from either side, how can anyone confidently lead a custom type project or select the right typeface for long-term use?
Rest in peace bung Mitch Paone.
(sua)