colophon

This site has been in continuous operation since 2003. It has moved platforms several times.

Current platform

This site is currently built on the Ghost platform using the Tuuli theme from Biron themes. I mostly inherit typographic and layout design choices from the theme, although I have customized it, uninformed by any very well-developed design knowledge.

However, I have certainly enjoyed swapping fonts in and out and I have become more interested in fonts and font choices – in a very non-initiate way – since moving to Ghost (see my discussion of Ghost and of fonts). Of course, I am not doing anything very elaborate with them, as I am staying within the design canvas of the reasonably simple blog structure.

Current fonts

I have adapted the theme to more easily cycle through different font combinations of the following fonts.

Favorite serifs are the very smooth Sharf, the sharper Nan Serf, or the stylish Aeroplan. I love the spiky Messer, although it is not production grade yet. Recently I have been using Pennyroyal DJR from the great DJR Font of the Month offer and the quirky and stylish Cucina.

Favorite sans serifs are the rather classic ABC Diatype and the functional Nan Metrify. I also like ABC Whyte (without inktraps) and the useful ABC Oracle. I really like Zetkin from Future Fonts, although it is a little heavy in some of its weights at the moment. Bay Sans, Sharf's companion, is useful and I use Nan Serf Sans where a humanist font works. I have used the geometric Phantom on occasion. I used Nan Holo early on, but less so recently. I like Gramatika from The Temporary State although it comes in only two weights.

I sometimes use Marjoree, from ShowMeFonts, a variable font with mono and weight axes. Unfortunately, it doesn't (yet) have an italic. It has a lovely backstory and has two intriguing patterned font options based on the mathematical work of Marjorie Rice, after whom the font is named.

And from a rather different direction I like sometimes to go with the IBM Plex family.

This may seem a little undirected; I have just come to like changing things up. And benefited from being in an educational setting for a while from a budget point of view!

Platform history

This blog began in 2003 on Typepad. It was eventually moved to an internal instance of WordPress at OCLC where I worked, and then to a hosted WordPress at Libchalk. It now has over 1900 entries together with associated material. With the heroic assistance of Brian Pichman of Libchalk, I moved it to Ghost in 2021. There are occasional glitches in older entries, with some images, and unfortunately we lost the comments.

Coda

I write about the font ecosystem with some example references to choices made by National Libraries here:

Font choices, value and ecosystem. National Library examples

Typefaces and fonts are functional. However they also contribute in other ways - to brand, to atmosphere, to feeling. This is a brief introduction to aspects of the typeface ecosystem. I combine this with some commentary about how typefaces are used in national libraries to provide context.

LorcanDempsey.netLorcan

Here is a rather long and ponderous review of Ghost written a while after I moved to it. I should do another, now that I have more experience.

Working with the Ghost blogging platform: a review

This site is built with Ghost and the Krabi template. I use it for blogging and as a professional home on the web. Why Ghost? Here are some initial thoughts. Ask me again in a year’s time .

LorcanDempsey.netLorcan

Updated: 19 November 2025.