当你几乎无法控制局面的时候，ITC Don't Panic仿古的形状和粗犷的轮廓不会让你产生恐慌。当你真的失去控制，并且看不到任何希望的时候，ITC Panic的恐慌就会沿着情绪的轨迹进一步蔓延。汤普森说，这些字体的灵感来自于一天的邮件。我收到了一个信封，它看上去像是经历了一次艰难的旅程；上面印着的字体看上去很疲惫，参差不齐。“出乎意料的是，那张残破的信封唤醒了我。我很兴奋，想把这种外观复制为一种字体。”Thompson设计了ITC Don't Panic，然后站在后面看着它，觉得它需要一个焦虑不安的同伴。

ITC Don't Panic催生了一格积极的精神错乱的产物，ITC Panic。这两种设计都是全大写字母设计。事实证明，对汤普森来说，创造一个真正被扰乱的外观是一个挑战。 “我是想设计焦虑不安的字符，但他们看起来像是在演戏。

因此，我尝试了多次影印，但是那没有用。最终，我用激光打印了基本字符，再揉成一团，然后将它们展平并用厚底靴踩在上面。最终的结果被扫描并作为其它设计的基础。“Thompson在网站和多媒体方面的工作影响了他对字体和排印的兴趣，这种兴趣超越了计算机的酷炫、无感情的本质。”

ITC Don't Panic's distressed shapes and craggy outlines evoke the feeling you get when you're just barely in control of a situation. This is type design on the edge. ITC Panic is further down the emotional track, when you've actually lost control and there is no hope in sight. Thompson says the inspiration for these faces arrived one day in the mail. I received an envelope that looked like it had a rough trip; the type that was stamped on it had a tired, ragged appearance. Ironically, the haggard envelope woke me up. I got excited and wanted to replicate the look as a font of type." Thompson designed ITC Don't Panic, then stood back and looked at it and decided it cried out for a more agitated companion. ITC Don't Panic gave birth to the positively psychotic offspring, ITC Panic. Both are all-cap designs with alternate characters in the unshift position. Creating an authentically disturbed appearance proved to be a challenge for Thompson. "I tried to design agitated characters, but they looked staged. So I tried multiple photocopies, but that didn't work. Eventually, I laser-printed the basic characters, wadded up the lasers, then flattened them out and stomped on them with heavy boots. The end result was scanned and used as the basis for the rest of the design." Thompson's work on web sites and multimedia has influenced his interest in type and typography that transcends the cool, unemotional nature of the computer."