More Tips To Avoid

Looking Like an 'Amateur' in Print.

Typography

(or more specifically 'appropriate typography')

Appropriate Typography

The choice you make for a typeface or font (fonts are an entire family of a particular typeface) says everything about what you think of the person that's going to read your publication, whether it's printed or on the web.

Let me take the ever-so-popular (and oft-shunned by Graphic Designers) typeface 'Comic-sans' as an example. In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with Comic Sans, however how it is used says volumes about the person who chooses it.

Let me give you a little history on this typeface. It was created by Vincent Connare who at the time worked for Microsoft. Originally, the need arose for a typeface appropriate for software specifically for children. He took his inspiration from some comic books he had lying around his office. Microsoft included this typeface in their Windows 95 operating system. Read more about it on Wikipedia. All about Comic Sans.

As you may have noticed I have made the important words bold. Children who will read it and comic books are the two appropriate uses for this typeface.

When I see a brochure done in Comic Sans designed for a senior citizen, or a newsletter directed to adults, I cringe. I have seen Corporate Newsletters supposedly for business people primarily designed with Comic Sans. Web sites supposedly for adults done in Comic Sans.

This tells me that the person who used it thinks of his readers as something less than mature adults. Maybe it wasn't intentional, but it sends that message to his or her readers.

When asked why that particular typeface was chosen, the usual answer is, "well we wanted something casual and friendly". I will agree it is casual and friendly, but it still screams 'this is mean't for a child' and I find it offensive that they would consider a 60 year old at the same mental and maturity level of a 4 year old.

Comic Books are another matter. It's a very popular pastime for a large group of individuals because it takes them out of the real world and back to a simpler time when they were children. But those individuals expect to see typefaces that reflect their chosen reading material. There is an entire website dedicated to typefaces for the comic book industry and used appropriately, they are very effective in communicating and enhancing the artwork & storyline.

If you are doing a publication that will be read by children, then by all means feel free to use Comic Sans or any of it's counterparts. If you are designing a piece that will be read by adults about children then please choose something more appropriate. Remember who your reader is.

There are many 'childlike' scripts available that can be used appropriately. A flyer for kids at an elementary school, a poster advertising an event 'for' children, a children's book. Those are all good uses for a casual friendly childlike typeface.

Here's an example of typography gone wrong.

I was made aware recently of a non-profit organization in another state that was having a fund-raiser for a children's camp. Please note, that children were not the primary individuals that were being asked to donate to the fund-raiser. It was directed to adults who would be asked to contribute monetarily.

A fund-raiser is an event when you want your prospective donors to feel like your organization is responsible and worthy of their hard-earned dollars. This is a time when you want them to believe that your organization will not use their money in a frivolous manner. Although, the main event would most likely be a party type affair like a gala evening, a lakeside picnic or a sporting event, good sense must still be used in designing the the invitations, the place cards, the brochure, and the donor cards. It's a delicate balance between building excitement for the event and conveying that the money will be spent wisely.

In this case, the committee decided it would be 'fun' to do the brochure themselves instead of leaving it in the capable hands of their Graphic Designer with 12 years experience who had spent the entire past year giving a new professional yet friendly identity to their myriad of publications. The committee choose Comic Sans as their primary typeface conveying the feeling that their fund-raiser was not particularly important. It indicated that the organization was scattered in their approach to marketing (and if their marketing was so disorganized and uneffective, was the rest of the organization also so poorly directed?). In one fell swoop, they negated an entire years worth of intense effort to give the community the perception the organization had indicated they so desparately desired.

As a fund-raiser directed toward adults it spoke volumes about what they thought of their prospective donors. Not much!

Such is the impact of typography. It sends a distinct message. It either says, 'we understand who we are talking to and we value you' or it says 'we don't have a clue'.

Choose wisely.