Doug Wilson

@onpaperwings@typo.social
1,009 Followers
540 Following
3.7K Posts
Creative director, writer, filmmaker, and cyclist living in Denver, CO. Fonts are kinda my thing.
Websitehttps://realdougwilson.com
Book Projecthttps://linotypebook.com
Filmhttps://linotypefilm.com
Archivehttps://printingfilms.com

Maybe you’ve seen this guy on Instagram or maybe not.

Either way, I hope to be able to share my excitement about something—anything, as much as he shares his love of old music: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSKNWLMDFbt/

Mr Cutts on Instagram: "OLD MUSIC FRIDAY!! Back with another passionate appreciation of music. Check out my radio show on my Patreon. Link in bio 😘"

45K likes, 1,412 comments - owencutts on December 12, 2025: "OLD MUSIC FRIDAY!! Back with another passionate appreciation of music. Check out my radio show on my Patreon. Link in bio 😘".

Instagram

And just a few weeks ago, I published about the biggest article I’ve ever written about typography on the biggest typeface release of the past 25 years: GOTHAM.

The Gotham article (on @frerejonestype’s site) was three years in the making and is the definitive story on how Gotham was created and why it is the way it is; based on the designer behind the typeface.

I added to my blog a bit of info and a timeline that didn’t make it into the final post, because I thought it was important for future researchers: https://realdougwilson.com/writing/writing-about-gotham

(5/5)

Writing About Gotham | From the Desk of Doug Wilson

Gotham turns 25 years old and I wrote about its creation

The Website of Doug Wilson

The beauty of having your own blog is you can write as much or as little as you want and you don’t have to care about clicks.

In November, I updated a post about a mysterious printing code that was officially confirmed during research for my Linotype book: https://realdougwilson.com/writing/cracking-the-linotype-printing-code

(4/5)

Cracking the Linotype Printing Code | From the Desk of Doug Wilson

Now that I understand the code, I’m able to date most Linotype ephemera

The Website of Doug Wilson

My next post was not until October; but was a culmination of six months of work digitizing, preserving, and uploading vintage printing and typography films.

One of the things I am most proud of this year is adding to a side-project which has been running for over a decade: https://realdougwilson.com/writing/new-additions-to-printing-films-archive

(3/5)

New Additions to the Printing Films Archive | From the Desk of Doug Wilson

New films, better quality, more to enjoy!

The Website of Doug Wilson

Published in April, I wrote about finding Ottmar Mergenthaler’s death certificate so I could clarify his cause of death, at the young age of 46 years old.

Mergenthaler fits in the pantheon of late-19th-century inventors such as the exceptionally-racist Henry Ford, Henry Firestone, Levi Strauss, Alexander Graham Bell, Nikola Tesla, and the exceptionally-petty Thomas Edison, but yet I bet you’ve never heard of him: https://realdougwilson.com/writing/in-search-of-a-death-certificate

(2/5)

In Search of a Death Certificate | From the Desk of Doug Wilson

I found the official death certificate of Ottmar Mergenthaler in order to understand how he died

The Website of Doug Wilson

I’ve had my personal blog since 2020 (thanks to pal @henry helping out) and I’ve kept track of my writing stats each year in a spreadsheet (because I’m a nerd).

It’s less about how many posts or words I write, and more about making sure that I am posting no matter work/life/kids/family obligations — which isn’t easy.

So here is a 🧵 of my 2025 posts, which you may enjoy reading as your wrap up your year.

(1/5)

The albums and music I loved in 2025.

Making the graphics and collages inspired me more this time, and I dug up an old pixel typeface I made in 2000 for the text in these.

https://nazhamid.com/journal/music-in-2025/

Don't miss the last Metal Type newsletter before Christmas. There's details of your free Christmas gift (a short story) as well as the latest from the Forum and some great eBay selections.

Take a look now: https://metaltype.co.uk/s/y7659

Every year, I listen to a lot of music and think to myself, “Wow, I really like music.”

And then Colly drops this and I only know 1% of the artists and I think to myself, “Wow, Colly *really* likes music.”
https://mastodon.social/@colly/115753055808590160

Here’s my 22nd annual music roundup — bigger and more ridiculously obsessive than ever. https://colly.com/journal/twenty-twentyfive-in-music
2025 in music

Here’s my 22nd annual roundup: sixty short reviews across five categories, plus shows, stats and playlists. It gets more ridiculous every year, but I do it to myself, I do.

Simon Collison