Sunday, May 1, 2011

Journal no 8

Two fonts similar to Futura are Avenir and Neutraface.

Avenir:

From design-daily.com
"This, in my opinion, is true because it maintains Futura’s geometric construction, normalizes its quirks and expands its width offering."

Avenir seems like Futura at a quick glance, however the apexes are less... aggressive (?) which can make the font more usable in signage and kind of takes away from that 1950s look

Neutraface:

Design Daily states that this typeface comes in more variety making it a better choice, especially since the readability is a little better. Can it be used as body text? Probably not, however that's typical with most sans serif typefaces. However, it makes a kick ass headliner font.

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Typeface

1. Because it works
2. Because you like its history
3. Because you like its name (eff that)
4. Because of who designed it
5. Because it was there (why the hell not?)
6. Because they made you
7. Because it reminds you of something
8. Because it's beautiful
9. Because it's ugly (rock on)
10. Because it's boring
11. Because it's special
12. Because you believe in it (viva la revolucion)
13. Because you can't not (Helvetica anyone?)

I find a lot of these reasons interesting and I wrote comments on the ones I found the most intriguing.

"Because you like the name"

I wrote "eff that" because if I find typeface ugly, I don't care what the name is. It's just like if I find a hideous shirt in my roommates closet and if she exclaims "Well, it's Gucci!" I'm most likely going to say she should get her money back if it's completely heinous.

"Because it was there"

As there are certain typefaces universally agreed to be superior from all the hundred thousand fonts, you do need explore other options. If you find a great typeface that WORKS and it happens to be out of the list of approved fonts (no offense to you, Andrea) then freaking use it!

"Because it's ugly"

I found this reason interesting as this is the epitome of punk design. However, it still has to work of course or not work for the right reasons. Feel me?

"Because you believe in it"

The best example of this I find is the use of Papyrus. I really HATE Papyrus, as do most graphic designers. I think it's hideous, has absolutely no function, and is just a cop out of doing your own handwritten type. HOWEVER, I find people who will defend this font until death. And hell, it worked. Avatar anyone?

"Because you can't not"

In human nature, there is this thing we emphasize called tradition. As there are holiday traditions, there are fonts used because of tradition. For example, Helvetica is something most, if not all designers will use in their lifetime. Sometimes you don't even know why you find yourself using it, you just do.


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