September 8 - National Ampersand Day

Posted on September 8, 2020

Wow, this is very cool!

Chaz DeSimone is a graphic designer, a fellow who creates branding for companies. And he just happens to LOVE lettering and typography...and ampersands!

So...you may not know what an ampersand is? It's a symbol that means "and" - like the symbol incorporated in these logos:

H and B
Cloth and Company

Jones and Bowen
DeSimone likes ampersands enough that he decided to create AmperArt, a collection of pictures that include an ampersand. Here is one example:


And he decided to call attention to his AmperArt collection by creating a special day called National Ampersand Day. 

This is the part I find so cool:

DeSimone chose September 8 for National Ampersand Day because, when he carefully chooses fonts, he can sub in ampersands for quite a few of the letters! Check it out: 

The letters "P" and "M" and "R" are actual letters in Optima font, but
all the other letters, and the number 8, are all created with ampersands!

The ampersand began, as so many parts of Western culture did, with the Ancient Romans. The word "and," in Latin, was et, and scribes who were writing by hand everything that was ever written began to run the two letters together. 

Do you ever use ampersands? You should, because (according to DeSimone) they're fabulous & functional & fun!



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