Đĩa đầu tay hợp tác với trung tâm Thúy Nga, Đình Bảo nhẹ nhàng đem lại cho người nghe những bài tình ca lãng mạng với giọng ca ấm áp và truyền cảm. Với kinh nghiệm của một thành viên trong nhóm AC&M, Đình Bảo chuyên chở dễ dàng những nhạc phẩm nổi tiếng của Ngô Thụy Miên, Trường Sa, hoặc Lê Uyên Phương. Chỉ cần trình bài một cách chân thật và Đình Bảo đã làm chọn vẹn như thế. Đình Bảo mọc mạc thổi nhẹ một chúc blues vào “Dư Âm” của Nguyễn Văn Tý nghe rất phê. Chỉ đáng tiết là những bài hòa âm không được hay. Như tiếng đàn điện solo trong “Dư Âm” hoặc những bài phối khí qua kỹ thuật điện tử làm mất đi cái hồn nhiên của âm nhạc. Tuy đây là một album rất khá nhưng cũng thiếu sáng tạo. Chỉ mông rằng Đình Bảo không đi theo con đường của Ngoc Anh từ một ca sĩ đầy bản lỉnh trở thành một ngôi sao theo yêu cầu.

Tracy, The Typographic Scene, (p.11):

Typography is a professional activity directed towards a practical, and usually commercial, result.

Tracy defends Tschichold (p.56):

But it was unreasonable to criticise Tschichold as though the new typography had the status of religious doctrine and he had defected from it. He had turned away from the style, not against it.

Tracy on the role of typographer (p.60):

Since most typographic work is done in the hope that it will be read (though there is never any guarantee of that) it is not very sensible of the designer to adopt practices that may repel a potential reader.

The competent typographer serves the one by securing the attention of the other. The really good typographer does something more: he invests his work with such visual quality as to persuade us that (whether or not it is true) the words he is presenting to us are going to be a pleasure to read.

Walter Tracy’s brief collection of essays give a broad history of typographic events in the twentieth century with the focus on symmetrical verses asymmetrical design. Like Letters of Credit, his concise, thoughtful writing makes the argument on both sides clear and balanced. The piece on reading research is also intriguing.

Rogers, Paragraphs on Printing, (p.57):

Uneven leading or extra leading between paragraphs may sometimes be necessary in a reference or other special kind of book, but for ordinary text it throws lines out of register, interrupts the continuity of the text, and offends the eye.

Robert Bringhurst:

Typography history is just that: the study of the relationships between type designs and the rest of human activity—politics, philosophy, the arts, and the history of ideas. It is a lifelong pursuit, but one that is informative and rewarding from the beginning. (p. 112)

Always discovering something interesting with every reread of The Elements of Typographic Style.

Chasing after the kids in the morning. Watching some World Cup matches in the afternoon. Reading some typographic books at night. Listening to Bob Dylan in the wee hours. Eating shit load of food and drinking massive caffeine in between to stay awake. Sleeping is not even an option. Life is too short to sleep and sleep is the sibbling of death.

Bob Dylan and The Band prove that musicians don’t have to be technically flawless to make great pop records. Dylan lets loose on “Odds and Ends,” gets wild on “Million Dollar Bash,” and intoxicated on “Please, Mrs. Henry.” Politically speaking, Dylan never sounds as soulful as he does on “Nothing Was Delivered.” He sang like a bird with a broken wing: “Nothing was delivered / But I can’t say I sympathize / With what your fate is going to be / Yes, for telling all those lies.”

They say an artist makes his best record when his heart is broken. Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks is the result of his failed marriage. Retreating to his acoustic recording, Dylan quietly drowns his soul, sorrow and pain in the heartfelt “If You See Her, Say Hello.” From the starkness “Tangled Up in Blue” to the bitterness “Idiotic Wind,” Dylan’s words remain his killer assets.

James Felici, The Complete Manual of Typography, on digital typesetting (p.5):

Like handset type, digital type must also take into account spaces within and between lines, such as paragraph indents or extra space between a headline and a text below it. Although those area appear blank on the printed page, it’s important to think of them as filled with space rather than as simple voids.

If there is an essential truism in typesetting, it is that a page contains no voids, only spaces between printed elements. The essence of typesetting is regulating the size of those spaces to control the balance and rhythm between black and white. This is the key to a graphically harmonious page—one with good type color—as well as to text that is pleasing and easy to read.

Felici on controlling space (p.21):

Typesetting is a game of controlling spaces, so its tools are all keyed to precise measuring.

Felici on font versus typeface (p.29):

The font is the cookie cutter, and the typeface is the cookie.

A concise yet comprehensive manual on typesetting drawing from over thirty years of experience. Felici’s writing is clear and his examples are easy to study. Set in Monotype Perpetua, the beautiful book is a reference that is never too far from reach.