Steve Jobs - the little legacies

There are two types of people in the world - Mac users and PC users and both guard their side with zeal. Both sides too would be feeling the wave of sadness pervading the digitally attuned world at the news of Steve Jobs' death at the age of 56.

There will be much written in the coming days and weeks about the life of the man so we won't get into too much of it here, except to say that few global modern business leaders have had the impact, the influence and the chutzpah of Apple's front man.

His battle with cancer was long and largely hidden from the public eye. When images of him were leaked recently and published in the Sunday papers a collective intake of breath occurred around the world at his frail state. We knew it wouldn't be much longer. Pancreatic cancer is a particularly virulent and aggressive disease. That he fought it as long as he did was incredible in itself.

People die every day and it is always sad. When one who galvanised and empowered the commercial creative community in such a way dies, the outpouring of tributes will barely begin to cover the breadth of sentiment that exists for Jobs. Reports are already filtering through of impromptu shrines being set up at Apple stores around the world and online tributes are off the charts.

There was talk at the Yaffa offices this morning as to his title - founder, CEO, marketer, visionary, creative genius... The list is long. I'd like to proffer this little nugget of online goodness that came from Sean Dowling, the graphic designer at La Boite Theatre in Brisbane. It says as much about Jobs' personality as it does the many legacies he has left us with.

"There are going to be a lot posts today about Steve Jobs hailing him as a technological visionary. I don't disagree but I would like to highlight some of his other achievements of which you might not be aware.

Mr Jobs decided, while designing the first Macintosh computers, that they should have a wide variety of fonts to choose from and personally designed numerous examples in the library. Most were named after cities, capturing their mood and character in letter forms - fonts like 'Chicago' and its strong Art Deco influences, Chaucerian 'London', and the uncompromisingly Swiss-styled 'Geneva'.

Steve Jobs is personally responsible for the growth and spread of 'fonts' in the modern age. So from one typographer to another - thank you."

Death, whether close by or distant, frequently becomes a motivator for self reflection and can bring up a vast array of thoughts. One impression on hearing the news was an oldie but a goodie. Even the wealthiest, most influential people on the planet cannot barricade the march of time or disease. Without health, nothing else is possible. Without creativity and creative leaders, the world is a darker place. RIP Mr Jobs.