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Designers and Fonts

... DTG readers send in their views on fonts

These are some of the reactions from DTG readers in the Fonts Festival survey questions.

Good, bad and ugly

Trish, a design professional in Tobyhanna, PA sends these favorites:

Free and recently designed fonts I love. I find I use the font Beautiful(?) a lot. The upper case alternates are, well, beautiful. The upper case letters are also very readable. I find traditional script fonts have Cs and Ss, predominately, that are hard for average readers to decipher. I could wish there were a medium or bold version.

Another font I often find a use for is Aquaduct Warp(?). It is cross-over font in my mind. It can be used in either formal or informal ways. It has serifs, but they are small. The letters have a bit of an aged look, but not grungy. The shape of the letters is slightly rounded giving the font a laid back look. Well, I guess that is why I love this font, I'm laid back as well.

Another favorite font is Blackjack(?). I only recently read the bio of the designer. She mentioned she loved seeing how others love and use this free font of hers. I like it because it can also be formal or informal. It does not have the extreme slant some script fonts have, and it is bolder than most standard script fonts making it a top choice for logo designs that need a script font.

Lastly, I just recently acquired two fonts that I am dieing to use: Redfive(?) and Rouge. I'm just waiting for the right projects to come along to give these fonts a good workout.

Not so good...

  1. As for fonts I hate, the leader is Brush Script. It really does not have a use outside of the sport industry in my opinion. It will always be associated primarily with baseball because of its historic over use in that area for logos and apparel.
  2. Second is Comic Sans. I'm sure you are getting plenty of mail on why. I do have a use for this font, however, in drafting related areas. I like to use Comic Sans for measurements and small notations in logo guides for construction related projects.
  3. Lastly is Arial. Part of this is because of the old Mac vs PC struggle through the 90s. Helvetica was the Mac san serif font and Arial was the PCs. I was a Mac all-the-way girl back then. Up close there are too many details about this font that don't work with my obsessive personality. The Rs, the Cs, the Os, etc. They just aren't perfect enough for me. I still use Arial as my foremost font for web and multi-media, but only because I feel like I have to.

For me you have to have three things to get all you need font wise:
* www.whatthefont.com when you have to name that unknown font
* www.fontfreak.com huge free font database when you can't afford a font
* The MyFonts newsletters (sign up at www.myfonts.com) love these beautifully designed, highly informative newsletters that come right to your email box.
* Of course I have to add www.dafont.com to the list as a free font provider now after reading this month's newsletter. Thanks Fred! [END QUOTE]

You're welcome, we love it when we help change people's lives.
NOTE THIS Visit Trish at: contemporary-native.com

Typography lessons I didn't learn in school

Mary, a design professional in St. Louis, MO wrote this piece, and we liked it:

[QUOTE] Buy a font. Actually, buy a font family.

When you're designing a new identity for a client, make it a point to look at the type offerings from cutting-edge type foundries like House Industries, FontFont, emigre and others -- including the Adobe Type Library and ITC. Nothing makes a company look as if it understands its market in today's world - even if it's in a traditional business - like using a typeface people haven't seen a thousand times before.

That's true even if the client is in a traditional business -- just use a contemporary refresh of a classic face, or a new take on an old favorite.

Of course, you won't be able to use this great new type family for web text -- so it should look good with one of those Microsoft fonts that do come on almost everyone's computer. (And here's an article to help expand your horizons in that department:
8 Fonts You Probably Don't Use, but should

The bottom line: I've always been amazed how much an investment of $30 to at most $300 on great type, properly set, will improve a mediocre visual -- just as much as lousy type, poorly set, will ruin a shot by the best photographers in New York and Chicago, worth thousands of dollars. [END QUOTE]

Mary is a 21-year Mac user, (MacBook Pro) running the Adobe CS3 Design Premium
NOTE THISCatch up with Mary at: marybaum.com

I love Robin Williams

H.L., a professional in business from St. Louis, MO, wrote in to pass along this word of advice:

[QUOTE] Robin Williams, with her books on design and type, has changed my life. I'm not a very visual person, and am more comfortable with the coding aspects of web work. Her book gave me guidance and confidence to create good-looking pieces and to know and understand why they work. I hope I get to meet her and thank her some day. [END QUOTE]

The next time we see her, we'll thank her for you! Yes, we have to agree, Robin's series is a wonderful beginner's workshop on all things design.
NOTE THIS See George's review of Robin's Non-Designer's Design & Type Books

 

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