10/25/22: Typographic False Flag

On June 2019, Jane invented the Calibrate Serif III font and decided it was a landmark in the field of typography. It had some subtle variations that distinguished it from Calibrate Serif II, in ways that the layman wouldn’t notice. But somehow it was just slightly crisper around the edges, more readable than its predecessor.

It would serve her purposes. She moved the font to an obscure folder in her computer, buried where no one else could find it even if they tried. She worked on a different version of Calibrate Serif III (internally, she called it IIIb), and submitted that to her boss instead. It was slightly inferior version of her original Calibrate Serif IIIa. Nonetheless, on October 2019, Calibrate Serif III(b) shipped, and became a default on all the new Mac computers.

She mailed a floppy disk with Calibrate Serif IIIa to her contact, and waited. And waited. Somewhere out there, she knew, a spouse was hard at work writing a will using her font.

One year later, it was that time of the year again. On June 2020, she updated the Calibrate Serif III font. She pulled out her old file of IIIa, and submitted it to her boss under the pretense that it was an original work, retitling it as Calibrate Serif IV. “Some minor improvements on the old font,” she said. “Nothing that anyone will notice. 

On October 2020, Calibrate Serif IV (what she still thought of as IIIa in her head) shipped on all new Mac computers. No one noticed the change, other than a half-dozen typography nerds across the country.

On October 2021 she saw in the newspaper: “Oil baron dies, leaves fortune to his ex-wife and children, leaving new wife penniless. Lawsuit over contents of will to ensue.” 

She was pleased. She waited.

Eight months later, on June 2022, she read, “Oil baron’s new wife sues rest of family; claims that will was fake.” 

Under cross-examination, it was found that the will was dated July 2019, but was written using Calibrate Serif IV, which hadn’t been released publicly until October 2020, a year later. The wife accused the ex-wife of forging the oil baron’s will and backdating it. 

The jury found this convincing. Here was indisputable proof that the will that the ex-wife had produced (“I found it in his closet!” she shrieked. “I swear I found it there! In 2019 before he died!”) was faked. 

The wife produced her own will, signed and dated by the oil baron’s hand, in which all his worldly possessions were bequeathed to her.

The Jane waited, as the court battle raged for over a year. But the momentum was unstoppable. The wife won, and came away rich beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

Two weeks later, an anonymous letter arrived in the Jane’s mailbox. It contained a key to a safety deposit box. The box contained an unspeakable amount of money. Just as promised. She smiled to herself, as she thumbed the cash. 

“And my parents told me that a career in design couldn’t pay off,” Jane muttered.