About Bob
Bob Wertz is a designer, researcher, trainer and Ph.D. student living in Columbia, South Carolina. I made a career change in late 2025. After 30 years in design and brand leadership, I took a position as the director of research training at the University of South Carolina. I’m finishing up my Ph.D. in Mass Communications, currently working on my dissertation. I plan to finish that up in Spring 2027. I design typefaces and distribute them through my other site, SbBFonts.
🟢 Active Websites and Profiles
bobwertz.com / This site, hosted on Micro.Blog.
SbBFonts.com / The online home of all of my typeface designs.
sketchbookb.com / My original blog, now hosting a placeholder site to direct people to my current projects.
Google Scholar / My academic writing.
Fontstruct / Download experimental modular type.
MyFonts / Purchase some of my typefaces.
Cotton Bureau / Purchase some fun merch, mostly just random designs that I like.
💚 Most Active Social
Micro.Blog / My primary “open” social home. This feed can also be followed on Mastodon at @bobwertz@bobwertz.com and is crossposted to Threads and Bluesky.
Bluesky / The community has really started to grow and I know more and more people on the service. Currently crossposting from Micro.Blog and checking in regularly.
Threads / I like Threads, but I’m trying to minimize my use of Meta software. Crossposted from Micro.Blog.
💛 Less Active Social
LinkedIn / It exists.
Mastodon / Crossposted from Micro.Blog to bobwertz@typo.social.
💔 Not Updated Social
Instagram / I’ve stopped posting on Instagram and deleted the app off my phone. Not sure that I’ll be coming back.
Pokemon Go / Every so often, I start playing around with Pokemon Go. And then I quit. Currently not updating.
Twitter / After 15 years, it’s no longer the service I loved. I finally deleted my account.
Facebook / I check in very rarely, mostly to see Memories.
Dribbble / I tried, but never got into it. Finally deleted my account.
Flickr / I abandoned Flickr a long time ago. The account still exists, though, never to be updated again.
🐠 What’s with the fish?
I drew this little guy for a personal project that never came together, but I loved him so much, he became my logo. I’ve got many different expressions — both with and without glasses — and switch them out based on how I’m feeling. I haven’t used the current fish – “The Optimist” – since 2022. Not sure why, but I feel like I’m about to turn a corner.
⚡️ Where is bobwertz.com hosted?
This site is hosted by Micro.Blog. I’ve had an account ever since I backed the Kickstarter, even if I haven’t always been an active user. This current iteration of bobwertz.com was created in 2022. If you are interested in the other gear and services that I use to produce bobwertz.com and sbbfonts.com, visit my Things I Use page.
🤖 What is your stance on AI?
I do not use large language models (LLMs) to write posts on bobwertz.com or any of my sites. I’m also strongly opposed to using generative AI imagery. I believe that LLMs were largely trained on creative materials without permission, and as such, they are remixing stolen intellectual property. Also, in general, AI imagery sucks. I’m an artist and I can draw it myself. I use an AI feature of Micro.Blog to add alt descriptions to my pictures. The computer is better at describing the image than I am, and I feel like having alt tags on my website is important. I also use the ChatGPT service my university provides to assist with simple coding and troubleshooting.