When I was in high school in Aiken, South Carolina, in the early 1990s, I was in Walmart flipping through the discount CD bin.1 For some reason, maybe I was headed to a football game, I was wearing my “Hornet Hecklers” shirt… a bright yellow shirt with green lettering that all the Aiken High students wore in the student section. Randomly, this guy with a long white beard and overalls walked up to me and told me I was going to hell because of my shirt.
“Pride,” he told me, “will damn you to hell. Repent.”
I’ve never forgotten the experience. I never understood why this guy felt it necessary to confront a teenager he didn’t know in public. Theologically, I’m still not sure what about my shirt offended him. I’m sure he thought he was trying to “save my soul,” but he was really just a sanctimonious fanatic who wanted to demonstrate his perceived moral superiority. And teenage me was an easy target.
There are a lot of sanctimonious fanatics on the internet. People who rush to judge. To pile on. To bully. They believe that they can intimidate others into changing. They believe they can win whatever argument of the day they want to start. These keyboard jockeys are no different than the dude with the long beard and the overalls, convinced of their moral superiority and eager to demonstrate it.
This week, a bunch of people attacked author and lettering artist Jessica Hische on Threads because she was hired to do some lettering and logo work for Meta and their Muse AI product. I’ve never met Jessica, but always admired her work and her commitment to the creative community. These people on Threads bragged about canceling subscriptions to her emails. Some people insulted her work. Others claimed that she’d let down the creative community by supporting a company that supports generative AI. (These people never considered that they were using a Meta platform to attack her. Complete hypocrites.) These attackers are bullies. Sanctimonious fanatics. Desperate to demonstrate their perceived superiority. No different than the dude with the beard and the overalls.
There are many more sanctimonious fanatics who pick meaningless fights on the internet to prove their chosen point.2 These jerks — convinced of their own superiority — undermine their message by delivering it in such a blunt and angry way. Their personal values are so broken, that they don’t understand the hatefulness of their attacks. At the end of the day, maybe they’ve succeeded in demonizing a random person on the internet. In reality, the only reputation they’ve destroyed is their own.
Bob Wertz is a type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.
I can think of a few, who will remain nameless. ↩︎
Over on Threads, lettering artist Jessica Hische is getting attacked because she dared do logo work for Meta and their Muse AI platform. I understand why designers are largely against generative AI – I really do – but this seems like a ridiculous attack.
I think the garnet/burgandy iPhone is going to sell well here in Columbia, South Carolina. Go Gamecocks!
Nineteen! Happy birthday, Jilly!
Got my annual selfie with Cocky at the State of the University Address.
Made it to the beach this weekend.
Monza did not disappoint. What an incredible race!
How much do I dislike both Dabo and Kiffin? I’m pulling for the lightning in the weather delay. ⚡️⚡️⚡️
My son is doing his physics homework in pen and it stresses me out. 🤣
It’s funny how each of my kiddos has added musical genres to my rotation… My oldest helped me rediscover a bunch of 1970s music I’d forgotten about. My middle child introduced me to Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and musicals. And now my youngest is sharing random indie rock that I’ve never heard.
I had to pick up a flash drive at lunch today. The smallest one I could find was 64 GB. That’s a lot of storage for a portable drive that’s likely to get washed when I leave it in my pants pocket.
Back in 2018, I created an angular “happy fish” logo for a podcast I was going to start. I never started the podcast, but the little fish became my logo for my blog. A few months before COVID lockdowns hit, I redrew the fish, but added a bunch of expressions. And when the world ground to a halt in March of 2020, I changed my logo to the “anxious” version. Ever since then, I’ve switched out the logo periodically, based on how I was feeling. Mostly, I’ve used the “meh” and “skeptical” versions. It’s been a weird few years, with kids starting college and a career change. And that’s on top of global political chaos. For summer, I always switch the logo to the “vacation” version with sunglasses, and so each fall when summer ends, I have to pick the one that matches my mood.
This year, I surprised myself I chose the “optimist.” Don’t get me wrong, the world is still chaotic and disappointing in many ways. I could have chosen the “anxious” logo, or honestly, one of several “angry” logos. But in my personal life, the kids are settling into their new realities and my new job is going well. I’m making progress on my dissertation and I can see the end of my graduate studies. I see at least some signs of progress that make me believe that we’ll get through the global chaos and political bullshit. So I’m choosing to be optimistic about the semester. We’ll see how long I stick with this version.
Bob Wertz is a type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008 and contrary to popular belief, he doesn’t own an aquarium.
In South Carolina, there are plenty of N.I.M.B.Y.s. People who understand the need for affordable housing or some other government project and support the project, as long as it’s “Not In My Back Yard.” Opposition is usually centered on property values or traffic congestion.1
I’ve lately seen something a little different. A new type of N.I.M.B.Y. —
“NOTHING In My Back Yard.”
South Carolina is the fastest growing state in the nation and development is coming to the entire state, especially suburban and rural areas. These new developments are being met with intense pushback by MAGA Republicans who want to freeze ALL development. Even responsible development. Two select examples from my county:
The Town of Irmo has approved a large mixed-use development. They’ve taken their time and worked with the developer to address concerns about schools, traffic and services. It’s a mix of premium housing and retail, with a section dedicated to senior living. Pushback has been intense, including several lawsuits. But after a year or so, the town council has approved the development.2
The Town of Chapin is imploding over the development of neighborhood just outside of city limits. There is a contract signed by a previous council to supply water service to this area, but the new mayor is refusing to provide water service to these new developments. The council is trying to limit the mayor’s power, and the county is suing the town for breach of contract. (This is a quick summary. The actual situation is truly insane and more complicated.) These are premium homes by an award winning developer, but from the comments on social media from residents, you’d think they were building a data center.
These are far from the only examples. For these people, NO development would be appropriate. Vacant lots should stay vacant. They are terrified of any change. Even potentially positive change.
I’d classify most conservatives in South Carolina as fiscal conservatives. They want to encourage economic development and build the tax base, so they can continue to lower taxes. But these MAGA conservatives are different. They want all growth to stop. They claim to be ultra capitalists, but then want to control development. In South Carolina at least, the fiscal conservatives seem to be losing patience with the MAGA conservatives and pushing development forward.3
Bob Wertz is a type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008, never writes about politics, and will probably regret this post.
Opposition is often racist in nature. These are just the excuses that are given. ↩︎
I’ve been inundated with texts today, encourgaging me to go to the polls for the Graham/Norman runoff here in SC. I can’t, since I already cast my vote for Annie Andrews in the primary, and will do so again in November regardless of who wins today on the Republican side.
An interesting post on creating AI-friendly brand documents. I think this is a necessary brand management step. People in your organization will use AI to create fliers, presentations and graphics. Building machine readable Markdown files is your best chance to keep them on brand.
I spent today building a task list of everything I need to get done to finish my Ph.D. in Spring 2027.
Great drive by Lando. Nice to see McLaren back up there fighting for podiums every week.
