Typefaces. Do they do anything for you? Well, I find them strangely fascinating – possibly because for many years I worked in the newspaper business and they were part of my everyday life.
But actually, they are part of everyone’s everyday life, even if you don’t realise it. Everything you read – the books, the magazines, the texts, emails, Facebook posts. And the stuff you write too – again, texts, emails, Facebook posts.
They are an intimate, alluring and constant part of how we live our lives.
I was reminded of the power of typefaces by a story in The Guardian. It was about typefaces having personalities. Well, of course they do.
Old English Text conjures up the Knights of the Round Table. While I can’t look at Stencil without seeing the word POISON stamped on a bottle, or a something written on a military backpack.
And, to steal a quote from the comment section of the column in The Guardian, ‘Broadway evokes the Chrysler building, conical cocktail glasses and the Cab Calloway band, couldn’t be used for anything else’.
And that’s what really interested me. The comment section. There weren’t just a few entries… there were more than 180. From people with what some would consider an unhealthy interest in typefaces and fonts.
If you’re still with me, I should point out at this stage that there is a difference. As Hannah Jane Parkinson points out in her article, ‘a font is a specific iteration of a typeface. Bold, italic, size, etc’ – though these days the terms seem to be pretty much interchangeable.
The battle of the typefaces…
So, yes, the comment section. It’s completely fascinating.
Who knew that people turned against Gill Sans after revelations that its creator – the artist and sculptor Eric Gill – after allegations of abuse that included the family dog.
That serif fonts (the ones with the twiddly bits on the end) have their origin in stone inscriptions, made with a chisel.
That so many people have an aversion to Arial, preferring to use the very similar but slightly more elegant Helvetica instead. One writer says: “I’ve always found Arial clumsy and awkward. Helvetica is a million times better.” While another insists Helvetica is so boring it should be banned!
I loved the comment from one contributor who suggested her life was irreparably damaged when the company she was working for changed its corporate templates from Times New Roman to the sans serif Calibri.
Then there’s the gem of a story about Century Gothic which apparently uses 30 per cent less ink than similar typefaces. One American university reacted by switched its default typeface from Arial. However, due to Century Gothic’s wider letters, the savings on ink were offset by an increase in paper costs.
And the final word must go to one clever contributor who disputed the article’s claim that we are ‘wedded to fonts’… He wrote:
‘I’m not… I‘m not ashamed to admit that I’m old style and regular; whereas she was bold, grotesque, sometimes cursive, prone to display and easily leaded. We had to get divorced – she just wasn’t my type.’
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