What's up with TypeDrawers vs. Typophile and Hrant stuff?

Eimantas Paškonis

I'm new, although I'm new everywhere because I don't use any forums much. Why this one was created and what are the dissatisfactions with Typophile? And who's the Hrant character that I saw posting a lot in there? What's the opinion about him and why?
Fill me in please.

Ralf

Other problems with Typophile:
—Search function hardly works
—Spam was not taken care of (seems to work now)
—moderation was missing (e.g. to settle disputes like those frequently happening with Hrant)
—too much TypeID/beginner’s questions (although I don’t agree that this is a good reason to start a new forum. It could be solved in other ways.)

Eimantas Paškonis

It appears "I don't have permission" to open your link.
So what's about Hrant?

West Adams

Haha

Ray Larabie

Hrant would chime in on almost any discussion. It was less a problem with what he was saying and more about the frequency of his posts. If you look at Hrant posts in isolation, they're really not that bad. He seems to want to be helpful, maybe starts arguments for the sake or arguing. Just imagine a decade and a half or watching every interesting thread devolve into Hrant directed discussions. Like a talkative drunk who can't take a hint.

[Deleted User]

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Alex Kaczun

Agreed, he has a way of getting under your skin!

James Puckett

Hrant is a font groupie who gets off on pretending to be more.

Thomas Phinney

I used to have regular debates with Hrant. Not so much in more recent years.

He has an unfortunate (?) online communication style that tends toward the unnecessarily confrontational. He tends to drag discussions toward just a few pet topics (not a reason to ban him, IMO). He is a bright guy, despite occasionally weird or extreme views. The period when he held onto his “bouma” concepts despite the contrary evidence was pretty weird. He is much less offensive in person. His online persona has mellowed over the years, I think. Five or ten years ago I might have been actively happy to see him suppressed. Not so much so, now.

> Hrant is a font groupie who gets off on pretending to be more.

That seems unduly harsh to me.

Michael Clark

@Thomas
Unduly harsh? Give me a break!
How about a myopic, unrelenting demagogue who is the antithesis to an honest dialogue if it is contrary to his beliefs.

If his output was as prolific as his mouth's utterings on the "next wave" of type design I would probably be a bit more understanding. Alas, he is an underachiever. He, without fail, defames the pen and all of its practitioners with vitriol... so he can rot in Typophile for all I care until he allows for multiple approaches to the design of type.

Before you start disliking my comment walk a mile in my shoes. I have been doing what I do for 31 years and he regularly debases what I and others do to earn a living. He refuses to call it by its proper name (just to piss me and others off) and continually derides my profession on Typophile! I jumped ship just to escape his constant BS.

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Michael Clark

James, I think you should look at where the "troll" issues are coming from... :-)

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Paul van der Laan

Small question: why are certain people allowed to mark posts as ‘troll’, and others not?

For instance, my options are only: Flag | Off topic | Insightful | Disagree | Agree | Like.

PabloImpallari

@Paul: Click on "Flag" and you get more options in a small menu --> Spam, Abuse and Troll

John Hudson

On the subject of trolling, my finger has been hovering over the troll flag ever since I read the subject line of this thread. Isn't this a classic troll: the faux disingenuous or naïve question guaranteed to draw people into a contentious discussion? 'What's with that guy over there? Is he, like, Hitler?'

Michael Clark

Very observant John, it is why I handcuffed my typing hand until I saw the "poor pitiful Hrant" post that set me off. :-)

James Puckett

my finger has been hovering over the troll flag ever since I read the subject line of this thread.

That’s why this thread is slowly sinking to the bottom of the list. I’m not going to squelch this, but it’s not especially constructive. So I've closed this thread now that some people have aired their opinions, because attacking Hrant isn't why I started TypeDrawers.