Talking fonts...

Poster for the 2007 film Helvetica

Some people see a word as a word and a letter as a letter, but those who work in typeface design know that a word can be used in many different ways and communicate different feelings and meanings depending on the typeface that it is written in. In the 2007 film Helvetica named for the typeface designed by the Swiss designer Max Meidinger in 1957, shows how this font alone revolutionized graphic design in the 1960's and became the symbol for modernity and the single most popular typeface still used today.  Quite an accomplishment especially considering the methods and tools Meidinger had to work with. Today we can scroll through our computer's font list and choose whatever looks appropriate. By doing exactly that I want to compare and contrast a few fonts to show the way they affect the words they write.

The phrase I'm going to use is a common one with a loaded meaning, written in four different fonts.     I Love You, I Love You, I Love You, I Love You.  Although the phrase is the same every time, looking at them alongside each other, we can almost determine the different ages, genders, and even intentions of the writers based solely on the fonts. For example the first “I Love You” looks very feminine with its curly ends compared to the more masculine squared off and straight forward font next to it. The third “I Love You” seems very sensual with its deeply italicized cursive like the kind that lovers would exchange, while the last one looks young and fun like the kind a child would write to their mommy or daddy.   The fact that this much information can be assumed using the typeface is HUGE for the world of design. It reinforces one of the core goals of good design which is to communicate a lot with very little effort. We want to use design to express ideas, visions, passions, insights , and messages to our market.  With all the resources that we have to do so, it is good to take a minute to appreciate all the hard work and long hours spent at the drawing board typeface designers spent, and how much easier it makes our job.