das font?
03/12/2010
How aware are you of the sheer number of typefaces surrounding you at any given time? They are literally everywhere. On your computer, in your mail, throughout your home, on the metro, at work, at lunch, even in the restroom – literally everywhere! Many refer to them as fonts, but this is often a misuse of the term. Typeface is the precise term when specifying a style of a character set, whereas a font is the particular typeset withing a typeface (such as bold, italic, etc.)
The uses of typefaces may seem trivial to many, but is nothing short of an art form for others. Detail-oriented graphic designers will spend far more time on selecting an appropriate typeface for a logo design than the related graphic. There are literally thousands of typefaces available to choose from, making the selection process that much more time consuming and critical to over-all success of the final design.
A beautiful graphical element can be ruined by the pairing of a poorly selected typeface. Each one has it’s own distinctive characteristics such as serifs, san serifs, rounded, modern, classic and each of these styles also carries varying character widths, curves/angles, height, width and much more. The challenge lies in how to merge your graphical element with the correct style, and font selection to bolster it’s image and impact.
Often is the case where the typace is the logo (no graphic element). These are called typelogos. These are just as effective as ones that include the graphical element. The key to developing an effective typelogo is working the font to render itself in a unique way. One of the most useable features of a well selected typeface and font is how it interacts with the negative space around it (the background). The forms that can appear in this negative space can define the success of the typelogo.
Typefaces are something that we all interact with – consciously or not – every day. The selection of the right typeface and font within a design can compliment and bolster it’s appearance and effectiveness to both the client and its intended audience.
