Monday, November 9, 2009

typecasting


Typeface has always intrigued me.  Unnaturally so. I remember being upset when Newsweek changed theirs many years ago, and then feeling how silly it was to react in such a fashion. When our local newspaper recently changed its font, it was my Newsweek self all over again.  I guess I am still silly.

In my Visual Design class, our assignment was to research a typeface and design a poster that was artistically suitable to the font -- two colors permitted, one required paragraph, one required single line. I chose a classic symmetrical design and a hue that might hearken to the aged Roman column on which my typeface was first engraved.

It was interesting to see my classmates' choices -- some contemporary, some well-worn typefaces that appealed to their youthful interests. In the telling of the choice, we each revealed something about our own stories.

What would you choose?

2 comments:

Michele said...

Then you'll appreciate this story about IKEA changing the font they've used for the past 50 years.

Oops. I can't leave a url, so just google "IKEA font change"

I 'll take anything sans serif. Don't know why, they just bug me. Unfortunately, most books/newspapers/mags/many websites have them.

Another thing I'll change when I rule the world.

Just kidding

Pamela Price Klebaum said...

Thanks! I had read about that, and empathized with the strong fontfeelings, while not agreeing with the debate itself. From what I understand, serifs make smaller font easier to read. Larger font is easier to read sans serif -- this is why we are taught that since PowerPoint slides end up being on a large screen, it is best to use a sans serif font for them. Interesting little studies, these...

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