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[08/24/2007]
This article in the New York Times Magazine was brought to my attention by a self-professed “type wonk.” (Thanks Jeff.)
Why do those guys and gals in the studio care so much about which font to use for a graphic design project? Aren’t letters just letters?
Well, no. As much as images, colours and what the words say, the font used to make the words in any communications piece can set the tone for the entire design.
And from a practical viewpoint, I find it amazing that increasing the x-height of a font can make it 30% more readable at long distances. Fascinating. Not sure what an x-height is? Not sure why you should care? Read on.
Also be sure to visit the "slide show" portion on the left side of the screen for more font creation details. In order to read the article, you will need to register with New York Times online (it's free!).
These are all direct quotes from the article, written by Joshua Yaffe.
Now, as the idea of branding has claimed a central role in American life, so, too, has the importance and understanding of type. Fonts are image, and image is modern America.
“I am just like anybody else who sees a problem with a civic issue and sets out to fix it. I’ve always thought that design can be a form of social activism.”
Type is just as much about psychology as geometry. A letter’s shape, its curves, the way it sits next to other letters — all these factors give a font its personality and in turn create an emotion and connotation for the reader.
“Typography is all about tone of voice. Do I shout at people? Do I whisper at people? Do I scream from the rooftops? Am I talking to a woman? To a man?”
That a typeface originally inspired by a problem with tourist signage in Oregon could one day line the cavernous halls of the Moscow metro is not so much a testament to Clearview’s functional, universal appeal as it is to typography’s strange and enigmatic power of reincarnation.
“The real life of a font is mysterious and unpredictable.”
"The Road to Clarity" by Joshua Yaffe
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