By Greg Tate

I have been obsessed with Greg Tate’s music criticism since the early 2000s, when I got interested in blogging about music. I can’t remember how I discovered Tate’s writing, but I had a binder full of his essays I printed out from the internet so I could read and reread them.

Tate had a distinctive style of writing and a voice of his own. He went beyond music and pushed as far as he could on the page. I pored over his Village Voice archive as well as his works at various publications, including Rolling Stone, Vibe, Spin, the Wire, and Downbeat. I devoured Flyboy in the Buttermilk again and again. I also savored Flyboy 2 and Midnight Lightning: Jimi Hendrix and the Black Experience.

Even though I didn’t know Tate personally, I was shocked and disheartened when I found out that he passed away on December 7, 2021. Since then I wanted to turn my binder into a tribute website, not only for me to read but for others to enjoy his writing.

By Greg Tate is a straightforward website with the focus on accessibility, readability, usability, and delivery. There are no ads, no trackings, and no third-party scripts. Typography is the priority. NaN Serf, designed Daria Cohen, Fadhl Haqq, Léon Hugues, Jean-Baptiste Morizot, Luke Prowse, and Florian Runge, was selected for its easy-to-read qualities and its striking display characters. NaN Serf Sans was chosen to complement its sibling and to handle complementary text. A full-width photo accompanies each essay for some visual enhancements.

This site is my unofficial tribute to the critic whose writing had inspired me. His legacy lives on. Thank you and rest in peace, Greg Tate.

Read essays written by Greg Tate.

Vietnamese Typography Showcases 100 Typefaces

For book design, the rule for setting a typical book is one to three typefaces. I broke this rule with Vietnamese Typography. Then again, Vietnamese Typography is not a typical book. Unlike a traditional book, my web book continues to be updated with new materials and expanded with new typefaces. Until the past weekend, I haven’t thought of keeping track of how many typefaces are used in the book.

Since all of the fonts on Vietnamese Typography are hosted on the server, I can easily audit the number of the font files. The site uses both static and variable fonts, however, it would be a daunting task to count the number of fonts. On the other hand, the number of typefaces are easier to figure out.

As of today, April 7, 2025, Vietnamese Typography uses 100 typefaces. Since the second edition of this book, the main text is set in Fern, designed by David Jonathan Ross. Headers and captions are set in Adapter, designed by William Montrose and Sláva Jevčinová. Those are the two typefaces that remain constant. Everything else changes.

For the title on the cover, I expand the random pool when I come across a nice display typeface. For type recommendations, I add a new text face when I can license it. For typographic samples, I use both commercial and open source typefaces. Here’s the list of typefaces being used on Vietnamese Typography:

  1. Adapter
  2. Adelle Sans
  3. Albula Pro
  4. Alright
  5. Amica Pro
  6. Aneto
  7. Anton
  8. Atlante
  9. Bahianita
  10. Ballinger
  11. Be Vietnam Pro
  12. Bild
  13. Bona Nova
  14. Bradley DJR
  15. Bree
  16. Bricolage Grotesque
  17. Bungee
  18. Cabin
  19. Calistoga
  20. Canicule
  21. Captura Now
  22. Case
  23. Change
  24. Clavichord
  25. Club Lithographer
  26. Cormorant
  27. Cosima
  28. Crayonette DJR
  29. Dattilo DJR
  30. Loes
  31. Ebony
  32. Euchre
  33. Every
  34. Exchange
  35. Extraordinaire
  36. Fern
  37. Fit
  38. Fjalla One
  39. Forma DJR
  40. Fragen
  41. Frequenz
  42. Fruktur
  43. Gimlet Sans
  44. Glyptic DJR
  45. Halyard
  46. Harriet
  47. Horizona
  48. Herbik
  49. Imbue
  50. Job Clarendon
  51. Kaius
  52. Klooster
  53. Kukka
  54. Kyrios
  55. Lang
  56. Lautsprecher DJR
  57. Lavishe
  58. League Gothic
  59. Lentiform
  60. Loretta
  61. Macan
  62. Map Roman
  63. Mea Culpa
  64. Megabase
  65. Megascope
  66. Megavolt
  67. Megazoid
  68. Montagu Slab
  69. Name Sans
  70. Neue DIN
  71. Nickel Gothic
  72. Oi
  73. Ottavio
  74. Output Sans
  75. Pangea
  76. Phudu
  77. Platypi
  78. Playpen Sans
  79. Playwrite VN
  80. Pliego
  81. Polliwog
  82. Poltawski Nowy
  83. Portada
  84. Queens
  85. Rhody
  86. Roslindale
  87. Rumpus
  88. Schotis
  89. Sequenz
  90. Shantell Sans
  91. Skolar
  92. Skolar Sans
  93. Soprano
  94. Texturina
  95. Thow
  96. Tortellini
  97. Truculenta
  98. Warbler
  99. Water Brush
  100. Xunga

It’s just a coincidence that Vietnamese Typography is using 100 typefaces. It’s definitely worth celebrating, but the site will continue to expand. Keep an eye out.

New Vietnamese Sample Page: Idioms (Thành ngữ)

This sample features a collection of English idioms translated into Vietnamese. I selected these idioms from Tiếng Anh Tèo and Người Việt Mình Nói. The page is typeset in Cosima and Kukka, designed by Anita Jürgeleit. Check out Idioms: Thành ngữ.

Kristin Bair Has a New Book

Kristin Bair’s fourth novel, Clementine Crane Prefers Not To, will be published on October 14, 2025. I gave her website a new coat of paints to reflect the new book. I have the pleasure of working with Kristin since 2009. I read all of her previous novels and couldn’t wait to read her latest. Congratulations, Kristin.

Visualgui 2025: Lang Gothic

Welcome to the 2025 rendition of Visualgui. The change is in the typography. Back in February, I set the blog in AT Lang, designed by Stephen Nixon, and AT Lang Gothic, but the Gothic sibling did not support Vietnamese at that time.

I typically don’t set my body text in a sans serif typeface; therefore, I wanted to change it up. AT Lang Gothic is the main text face complemented by AT Lang for headers and Recursive, also designed by Nixon, for dates and codes.

This redesign has lots of white space, especially on the right of the screen, which is similar to the thumb space in a book. I want this blog to have a book feel to it, but a modern book, instead of traditional long books that are set in a serif text face. I hope you will enjoy reading the new version.

Scalia Law’s Homepage History

I joined George Mason University in October 2011. I designed, developed, and maintained the law school website from 2011 to present. Take a look at the evolution of the law school homepage from Mason Law to Scalia Law from 2012 to 2024.

A Brand New Site for Liên Đoàn Hùng Vương 612

In the past few months, I volunteered to design a brand new site for Liên Đoàn Hùng Vương 612. Check out the new site or read about the case study on my portfolio site.

Web Design Archive

A couple of days ago, I scrolled through screenshots of websites I had designed more than a decade ago. Many of these sites are now defunct. Nevertheless, I want to keep an archive of my past work on my portfolio.

I wish I had kept my early projects back in 2000. I graduated from La Salle University in 2001. That means I have been creating websites for at least 23 years.

There were times I wanted to do something else, but I have no other talent. The only thing I am decent at is web design. It pays the bill and helps me raise my family. I am grateful for that.

I don’t know what the future will hold. I hope I can continue to survive until my retirement.

badòngthơ is Free to Read

In June, I helped brought badòngthơ (tercets) by Physician-Poet Cao Nguyên online. At the time, the site only featured 15 selected poems. Today, the entire book, which features 119 poems, is available on the website.

When Cao Nguyên decided to publish all 119 poems, I made some changes. I added the alphabet listing as a way to navigate between the poems. I also added the poem numbers for permanent links. Readers can now share a particular poem they like.

If you can read Vietnamese or want to learn Vietnamese, you will enjoy the delightful poems in badòngthơ. Many thanks to the author for making this book available on the web. If you want to support his work, you can still purchase a print copy.

Bringing the Book of Buddha to the Web

As my wife and I headed toward the exit doors at a Great Wall supermarket, we spotted a table with free books. Most of them were about Buddhism. What caught my wife’s attention was a tiny book that could fit into her palm titled Heart of a Buddha.

She handed the book over to me because she knew I liked to read. As I flipped through the pages, I found many words of wisdom such as “Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love,” “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection,” and “Overcome …greed with generosity, …anger with lovingkindness, …ignorance with understanding.”

After reading a few quotes I posted online, friends and family members would like to read the book as well. That sparked my interest to turn it into a web book. According to the book copyright, reprinting is allowed for non-profit use.

As much as I loved the content from the book, I was not too crazy about the type choice. The entire book was set in Papyrus. For the web version, I set the body in Rosarivo, designed by Pablo Ugerman. For the title, I selected Arizonia, designed by Robert Leuschke.

What took the most time was not only copying, pasting, and writing the HTML, but also styling the text to match the pages in the book. Each piece of text in the book was set to create a dynamic rhythm and I would like to retain that for the web version with CSS styling.

I invite you to give it a read. A Heart of Buddha is not a religious book and I guarantee you will find happiness, wisdom, and serenity. Spread the love.

For more enlightening reading, check out a collection of web books I designed.

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