Pi is a disordered collection of printing type. If a printing form is accidentally dropped and breaks into bits, then it is “pied.” I’ve seen it happen once—a sight worse than accidentally breaking someone’s favorite vase. Then there are Pi Font-Characters not usually included in a font, but which are added for stylistic or expressive impact, like pointing fingers, accents, mathematical signs and other printing effluvia.
In 1941 the legendary type house and design gallery The Composing Room published (as a Christmas gift for its customers) a book called The Devil’s Pi by Eli Cantor, who as far as I can tell, was associated with The Composing Room. It was originally illustrated by Gustav Wolf, but in 1967 it was reillustrated and designed by Milton Glaser and transformed into a gem of devilishness. It might be more fitting to show it at Christmas, but we keep Christmas in our hearts all year round, don’t we?
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