For all my fellow word nerds out there… If you haven’t discovered Wordle yet, it’s a must, particularly if you also love typography and layout. Nerd heaven.

From wordle.net:
Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

For example, below is a wordle I just created in less than two minutes, using some of my favorite lyrics.

Facebook Fans…Free gift to the first Sproutreach FBF to provide the correct artist and song title (via FB comment).

AUTHOR’S NOTE: If I were forced to restrict this blog to just one post, I think I’d choose this one.

Support Stem Cell Research Bumper Sticker

Available as a bumper sticker (10″ x 3″) or a T-shirt.

As the title of this blog entry suggests, I find type design to be fun. This particular use of typography might also be the most important design I’ve ever created.

A personal connection

Stem cell research has the potential to impact many diseases and injuries, including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, autoimmune disease, blood diseases, leukemia, severe burns, spinal injuries, and many more. In fact, it is estimated that stem cell research has the potential to help over 100 million Americans who suffer from these and other diseases and injuries.

Among those 100 million lives is the one that is at the center of my world. It is the life of Lisa —my beautiful wife and my hero— a life which includes Type 1 diabetes and its many complications. My support for stem cell research is rooted in my love for Lisa and my desire to help others avoid the endless struggles she bravely faces in her fight against this disease.

Want to learn more about stem cell research?

Stem cell research, while a controversial issue, is also one of today’s most misunderstood issues. Regardless of one’s position or beliefs, information, and the sharing of that information, is critical to improving understanding. A great place to start is tellmeaboutstemcells.org.

Above: The front of our fundraising postcard for our participation in this year’s Tour de Cure. (Hey, did you know they typically don’t remove the “old organs” when you receive an organ transplant? And did you know that plural of pancreas is pancreata?)

Background

Since 2000, Lisa and I have been cycling in the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure fund-raising event. We’ve ridden in the MA and NH events, and this year we’re riding in 100 kilometer event in southern Maine for the first time.

We look forward to this annual event because it combines our efforts in the fight against diabetes with our love of cycling (and each other!). Each year, as we humbly request donations to the ADA as part of our participation in the event, we are also reminded of how fortunate we are to have so many supportive and generous friends and family members.

If you’d like to support our efforts this year, you can make a tax-deductible donation via our personal page on the event’s website. Or, just as appreciated, drop us a note via the comment link below with any well-wishes or good vibes. Thanks!

-Rob