How do you choose typography?
By Carrie Whitaker
I have never seen three people so excited about fonts! This session was about analyzing your audience, specifially, history and culture, and then using that to create your font family.
One of the presenters said she often asks papers who are redesigning this question: If your paper were a person and it walked into a cocktail party, what would it be like. How would it dress, what would it say. Then, think about how you want it should act and dress.
There is no type formula, the presenters said. Each formula is different for whatever newspaper you are designing, because the audience is different.
Other helpful tips:
• The font should fit the personality and lives of your audience. Some fonts have a rugged look, used successfully by papers in mountainous areas. Some are more lively and energetic, which work well for a younger audience.
• One presenter said you know it's right when you fall in love with your font. Now, granted this woman seriously loves type faces, but it's true. When you are designing, do you love your font? If you don't should you?
• Be true to who you are — don't mimic others because it looks good in their paper.
• If you have a straight, strong and clean font, it can be forgiving when your design is not fabulous. Pick a font that is forgiving in that manner.
• Let the type reflect the flow of your content. Do you want only your features to pop out? Is this what you normally do? Or are you more dramatic in dressing up all front page stories? Decide and let your font do the chore for you.
I thought this session was very helpful. I had not thought about how the fonts themselves connect to readers, other than the fact that they need to be easy to read and help the audience navigate the page. But to use fonts that reflect their lifestyles — that is pretty cool.
I have never seen three people so excited about fonts! This session was about analyzing your audience, specifially, history and culture, and then using that to create your font family.
One of the presenters said she often asks papers who are redesigning this question: If your paper were a person and it walked into a cocktail party, what would it be like. How would it dress, what would it say. Then, think about how you want it should act and dress.
There is no type formula, the presenters said. Each formula is different for whatever newspaper you are designing, because the audience is different.
Other helpful tips:
• The font should fit the personality and lives of your audience. Some fonts have a rugged look, used successfully by papers in mountainous areas. Some are more lively and energetic, which work well for a younger audience.
• One presenter said you know it's right when you fall in love with your font. Now, granted this woman seriously loves type faces, but it's true. When you are designing, do you love your font? If you don't should you?
• Be true to who you are — don't mimic others because it looks good in their paper.
• If you have a straight, strong and clean font, it can be forgiving when your design is not fabulous. Pick a font that is forgiving in that manner.
• Let the type reflect the flow of your content. Do you want only your features to pop out? Is this what you normally do? Or are you more dramatic in dressing up all front page stories? Decide and let your font do the chore for you.
I thought this session was very helpful. I had not thought about how the fonts themselves connect to readers, other than the fact that they need to be easy to read and help the audience navigate the page. But to use fonts that reflect their lifestyles — that is pretty cool.
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