Windows Phone Thoughts: Windows Phone 7, Metro, and Adrian Frutiger

"In the first post of my "Windows Phone 7 Design Notes" series, I tried to provide a general introduction to the Metro design language and share links of text and media resources, which you may find useful if you wish to dive deeper into the design concepts behind Windows Phone 7. This article is going to be a bit lengthy, as it includes my personal impressions on Metro and its type-centric design features plus a recent typography project, which actually sparked the idea to write this series."

Over the past handful of years, basically since just before Windows Vista came to light, I've watched Microsoft become an increasingly design-focused company. It's a slow process, and the culture shift doesn't always go smoothly, but in group after group, I've seen a distinct shift toward design-led software creation. If ever there was an example of this, it's Windows Phone 7. This article talks about some of that design language, Metro, and what sort of roots it has. It you're a typography geek, you'll find it especially fascinating.