Who talks about fonts? Even in my geekiest designer moments I don’t bring up fonts in mixed company. Well, this has been a week when hip fonts were part of the conversation.
One afternoon my teen walked into my office and spotted a business card on my desk and commented in that dismissive way that teens project so well, “Ewwwww, Comic Sans.” (plus, icky face). It’s funny because I hear a similar narrative in my own head when I see Comic Sans used for professional marketing. It’s not hip. It’s not cool. It’s not polished or sophisticated. Why, oh why would someone use Comic Sans for their business card or website? Can’t we all agree?… No more Comic Sans!
Later, it was Jimmy Kimmel who had a font name guessing game– Is It A Font or Is It A DJ? He asked the studio audience and audience at home to guess if a name was a PC font or the name of of a trendy DJ. I was amazed that I did better than Kimmel who admits his knowledge of DJ’s ends with Jazzy Jeff. I knew that Rockwell was a trick question… both a font and a DJ. So the next time you have to choose a font you can muse upon Bauhaus as a font and an 80’s band and wonder if there’s a DJ too.
Comic Sans may only be suitable for birthday party entertainers and Rockwell rocks enough to be used in contemporary design and share its name with a DJ. Fonts elicit emotions. They can make a design dated or look of the moment. A hip font can light up a project while a dud can make a project go unnoticed. Choosing carefully how a font is used in a design can make your project a success.
It’s been a week that delighted my “inner design geek” because I’m still thinking about how much I love fonts– Fonts don’t often enter into conversation, but when they do– fonts are fun.
