Carbon 14 is a direct product of photosynthesis. It is produced when a carbon based life form (like you) absorbs sunshine. As a radioactive isotope of the element carbon, it is used as a tracer in biochemical research because of varying amounts detected in all living things past and present. It is the primary means of time dating archæological specimens such as skeletal remains, plant materials, and paintings found in caves. (When you leave this life your remains are still giving off a Carbon 14 “buzz”.)

The raised emboss set of the carbon 14 Type family is a font set made under pressure. Literally. The Label making guns of the 1960’s were ingenious; layered laminates, the gun pushed hardened metal or plastic characters from a dial up wheel through alternating colored and white layer of thin plastic revealing the raised embossed character. The insuing peel and stick plastic strips were wonderful for lunch boxes, hard hats, text books, and other “things”. So here we are today with a resurrected and digitized version of those images. ---- Expanded Treatise: Carbon 14 is a radioactive isotope of carbon, the element of star dust, of cinders and diamond, of dried blood and of soot. It is formed when plain and simple sunlight strikes organic matter. and traps it in the tissue of plants and animals. Found only in living things or things that once lived. So in essence, the carbon in our tissue glows and indeed emits radiowaves that can be measured as radioactivity. It was discovered that dating material up to 4000 years or older was useful because Carbon 14’s half-life of its ability to emit radiation before it reverts back to inert carbon lasts at least that long.

We are radioactive beings and we are stardust too.

We are walking radios. Our hearts Give off Electro-magnetic impulses. Our brains are virtual beacons. But here we are on an ant farm (if we want to be) . Humanity seems misguided most of the time. This is why I’m happy to visit schools where there is a high degree of hope that new generations will continue to love and have values, and to make new art and music and in many ways remain positive of times yet to arrive.

I felt that digital material, barring electro magnetic destruction would last forever. Talk about sunspots. But for most human beings forever, really IS NOT a long period of time. We would just like to pretend it is. I’ve been forced to accept everything around me is in a constant state of moving decay. Nothing that is new stays new long. I enjoy relishing in what is new, in full knowledge soon it will slip into the inevitable cycle that lets very little escape. It makes me sad sometimes. I feel haunted by many old things around me, so I enjoy being clear of all these moving ghosts that live in objects made by man.

This is why I enjoy keeping stones and rocks in my apartment. They are old pets and welcome guests. A virtual piece of the earth as old as any time we ever wish to keep. It makes me feel close to Nature. Mans hand had nothing to do with it.

I do not take credit for making these alphabet characters. I will take credit for sheparding their integrity and authenticity in a new and lively, usable format. I should take no more credit than Carol Twombly the great talented Adobe genius who rendered a fine example of Trajan off a roman column and made those alphabet characters usable in digital form. That’s all! Nothing more. We are shepards of preservation.

There is something ghostly itself in the inverted form of Carbon 14 Neo, this font can be remembered as time goes by as a quick and hasty semi-permanent form of communication- a literal labeler for display type and blocks of text, This font begs to be found in the distant future. It shouts to remain legible. It hardens as it ages but does not turn brittle. Carbon 14 is a survivor that gives off a buzz.