In 1996, the typography master Matthew Carter designed a new font on commission for Microsoft, specifically engineered to be a clear and open layout. The Georgia typeface (along with Carter's other projects for Microsoft and Apple, including Tahoma and Verdana) was heralded as the elegant heir to the digital era, one of the first fonts specifically designed for use on a computer screen.

But as the internet boom spread like wildfire, it was Verdana who took the world by storm with its stylish readability (aka the "soft modernist successor" to Helvetica), leaving Georgia in the shadows. Yes, the san-serif font was all the rage and remains one of the best fonts to read on the screen at any size.

Meanwhile Georgia was quietly getting noticed in the early 2000s by the independent graphics world, just as fashion houses and fringe media were rummaging through vintage styles for their next big look. Unfortunately fonts created for the print world of the 19th and 20th centuries didn't transition to the screen as cleanly as Georgia. So being a standard and free font distributed by Microsoft (and Apple's eventual adoption), its popularity spread like wildfire.

In a recent article about Georgia's short history in the International Herald Tribune, Matthew Carter commented: "A few designers have mentioned that there seems to be a 'Georgia revival' going on. It seems a bit young to have died and been revived already."

Nevertheless, Georgia is finding its solid (yet quirky) place onto sites from the New York Times, The Week, and New York Magazine to Magnolia, A List Apart, Photojojo, and an endless supply of the bloggerati. The IHT article suggests: "Georgia's popularity also reflects our growing ease with computers. Improvements in screen quality have made it easier to read more sophisticated fonts online... That is why we felt ready to forsake Verdana's clarity for Georgia's quirky serifs - at least until the next newly fashionable typeface comes along."