Dean is Dead

Although I don’t know Dean Allen on the personal level, I am shocked and saddened to learn that he had passed away. Om Malik has written a beautiful remembrance of a man who had profound influence in the web community back in the days.

For me, Dean taught me typography way before I even knew anything about type. I used to marvel the simple, minimal design of Textism. He was also a fine writer with impeccable prose and humor. “Annotated Maunifesto” is one of my favorite pieces he had written.

When I worked at Vassar college in early 2000s, one of my responsibilities was creating homepage banners. When I got stuck, I browsed Dean’s book cover designs for inspiration. I “stole” his simple use of imagery and typography.

Last week, I was thinking of him out of the blue. I tried to revisit his site, but it is no longer available. Today, I found out “Dean is no more.” Thank you and rest in peace.