tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/typography-7578/articlesTypography – The Conversation2024-02-01T13:31:50Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2223272024-02-01T13:31:50Z2024-02-01T13:31:50ZSupreme Court word-count limits for lawyers, explained in 1,026 words<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572440/original/file-20240131-23-oym8mi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C10%2C7030%2C4976&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lawyers write too much. That's why the Supreme Court and other U.S. courts impose word limits on them.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/busy-businessman-working-on-computer-with-royalty-free-illustration/1177158970?phrase=pile+of+paper&adppopup=true">siraanamwong/ iStock / Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The dispute over former President Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on the Colorado ballot will come to a head on Feb. 8, 2024, when the U.S. Supreme Court holds oral arguments in the case. <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/23-719.html">Dozens of individuals and organizations have weighed in</a> by filing what are called “amicus curiae” – friend of the court – briefs. <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/amicus_curiae">These briefs</a> can give judges different perspectives on a case than the litigants’ briefs do. </p>
<p>When each amicus brief – or any other kind of brief – is filed, the court requires that a separate document be filed along with it: a “certificate of word count,” in which the filer promises that the brief does not exceed the word count <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/supct/rule_33">allowed by Supreme Court rule</a>. Depending on the circumstances, the Supreme Court’s limits range from 6,000 to 13,000 words, or about <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frap/rule_32">20 to 50 pages</a>.</p>
<p>Why is compliance with this word-count requirement so important to the Supreme Court and to many other U.S. courts that it must be attested to in a separate, signed certificate?</p>
<p>Maybe because many lawyers, when given the chance, will write as much as they can. </p>
<p>They forget, as Justice Clarence Thomas put it <a href="https://youtu.be/FpR3wfHTMR0?si=ZA4RmJcoI7noYq3y">in a 2007 interview with author Bryan Garner</a>, that judges are “really busy,” and what that particular lawyer wrote is “not the most important thing” their judge will read that day.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FpR3wfHTMR0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Justice Clarence Thomas gives writing advice to lawyers about what a judge wants to read.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a law professor who, for almost two decades, <a href="https://lawweb.colorado.edu/profiles/profile.jsp?id=274">has studied what judges find persuasive</a>, I know that Thomas’ view is widely shared. And I also know that lawyers spend a lot of energy – and words – trying to evade limits. These efforts have even extended to arguing in court, with citations to renowned typographical experts, about the precise definition and measure of what constitutes “double-spaced.”</p>
<h2>‘Too long, too long, too long’</h2>
<p>From the judge’s perspective, the purpose of word limits is to invite lawyers to make their arguments leaner and more focused in order to conserve judges’ attention. </p>
<p>Pennsylvania-based Chief Judge Ruggero J. Aldisert <a href="https://law.olemiss.edu/assets/Aldisert75-3.pdf">summarized the views of dozens of other chief judges</a> by noting that the first problem with briefs is that they’re “too long, too long, too long.” </p>
<p>And in 2012, when a lawyer in a Florida case asked Judge Steven Merryday for permission to submit a brief that would have exceeded his court’s limits, the judge not only rejected the request but <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/8274281/24/belli-v-hedden-enterprises-inc/">line-edited the first paragraph</a> of the proposed filing − paring it down from 176 words to just 46.</p>
<p>But some attorneys instead read word-limit certifications as an effort to constrain the perceived persuasive power of extra-long briefs rather than signaling the outer edge of what judges will read. The number becomes a goal rather than a maximum. </p>
<p>And so, when one side appears to write past that limit, the other side calls foul and files an objection in court.</p>
<p>In these objections, a lawyer usually asks the court two questions: First, to determine that the filing whose length was questioned really did exceed the word or page limit. Despite modern technology and electronic filing, some courts still impose page limits. Second, the court is asked to do something about that violation, such as require the party to refile a shorter version or, sometimes, to instead allow the complaining party extra space as well. Some even ask the court to sanction the first party for their misconduct. </p>
<p>Of course, the other lawyer writes back with arguments and requests of their own.</p>
<p>So, our already busy judge now has even more to read and more decisions to make. California-based Judge Jesus Bernal was so put off by the “sheer audacity” of an attorney complaining about “minor formatting issues” in the other party’s brief that he <a href="https://abovethelaw.com/uploads/2023/11/Sanctions.pdf">sanctioned the complaining attorney</a>, requiring that attorney to pay the other side’s fees and costs.</p>
<h2>Arguing over spaces</h2>
<p>One subset of these conflicts are fights over the meaning of “double-spaced.” The most recent example, from November 2023, arose in Tennessee before U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman.</p>
<p>One side noticed that the other side had filed a brief that seemed to have more lines of text per page than their own briefs contained. It turned out that those lawyers had spaced their lines of text 24 points apart – <a href="https://practicaltypography.com/point-size.html">a “point” is 1/72 of an inch</a> – rather than closer to 28 points, <a href="https://abovethelaw.com/uploads/2023/11/Motion.pdf">which the complaining lawyers asserted</a> was the measure in “all widely-used word processing programs” using the “double-space” setting. </p>
<p>Thus, to “ensure a level playing field,” they asked Judge Lipman to require the other side to put more space between lines of text in future filings.</p>
<p>The 24-point lawyers responded, marshaling <a href="https://abovethelaw.com/uploads/2023/11/response.pdf">58 pages of argument and exhibits</a> in support of their spacing. </p>
<p>They began by explaining that, in typography, double-spacing “has an objective meaning,” which is “double the size of the typeface font.” To prove that their writing met this standard, they measured it with a <a href="https://www.schaedlerprecision.com/products.htm">specialized typographic ruler</a> called a pica pole.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572240/original/file-20240130-25-ta6jy6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A text excerpt with a measuring pole laid on it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572240/original/file-20240130-25-ta6jy6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572240/original/file-20240130-25-ta6jy6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572240/original/file-20240130-25-ta6jy6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572240/original/file-20240130-25-ta6jy6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572240/original/file-20240130-25-ta6jy6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572240/original/file-20240130-25-ta6jy6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572240/original/file-20240130-25-ta6jy6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An exhibit in a legal filing using a pica pole to make a point about proper double-spacing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://abovethelaw.com/uploads/2023/11/response.pdf">Jessica Jones, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Varsity Brands, LLC, et al</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As for the propriety of using that definition in legal briefs, they cited the <a href="https://typographyforlawyers.com/foreword.html">leading authority in the field</a>: Matthew Butterick, whose book “Typography for Lawyers” <a href="https://typographyforlawyers.com/line-spacing.html">has a whole section on line spacing</a>. </p>
<p>Not yet content, they went further, attaching – after their six exhibits – a written declaration from Butterick himself. In it, he agreed that the complained-about brief was “definitely double-spaced,” while conceding that line spacing is “often a source of confusion for lawyers.”</p>
<p>The source of this confusion? Software defaults. </p>
<p>Counterintuitively, when typing in 12-point font in a program such as Microsoft Word, choosing the “double-spaced” option doesn’t set the lines 24 points apart. Instead, the program chooses to space lines a bit more than that, in an amount that varies both by which version of Word one is using and by which font.</p>
<p>Thus, the typographic definition is not only more accurate but also more reliable. And it doesn’t require a litigant to license a particular word processing program to ensure compliance.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.abajournal.com/files/LipmanDouble-spaceopinion.pdf">Judge Lipman basically agreed</a> and rejected the complaining attorneys’ invitation to forbid 24-point spacing. </p>
<p>But she reminded the lawyers that “the last thing any party needs is more words on a page. The length of an argument is no guarantee of its success, and indeed could result in more confusion, not clarity.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222327/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I know Matthew Butterick, the expert mentioned in the article. I've collaborated with him, served with him on a panel at an academic conference, and nominated him for an award he received in 2012.</span></em></p>Lawyers submitting briefs to the Supreme Court in the Trump Colorado ballot case must file a ‘certificate of word count.’ Why? As one judge put it, lawyers’ briefs are ‘too long, too long, too long.’Derek H. Kiernan-Johnson, Teaching Professor of Law, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2145192023-10-05T12:35:23Z2023-10-05T12:35:23ZWhat today’s labor leaders can learn from the explosive rise and quick fall of the typesetters union<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551502/original/file-20231002-29-eiap6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C5%2C3489%2C2349&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Formerly cutting-edge technology.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/metal-printing-press-letters-royalty-free-image/464946342">iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Can a seemingly robust labor union simply collapse? The news is full of stories about growing union power – but just because a union is strong now doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way. Important unions have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/001979398403700201">put themselves out of business</a> before. The <a href="https://depts.washington.edu/moves/CIO_ITU_locals.shtml">International Typographical Union</a>, or ITU, is one such example. Once it was among the nation’s most significant unions, but it disappeared in just a few decades.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bu.edu/questrom/profile/jay-zagorsky/">I am a business school professor</a> who is fascinated by the lessons of the ITU – first, because <a href="http://businessmacroeconomics.com">I teach courses</a> about unions, and second, because I inadvertently participated in the ITU’s demise. But more on that later.</p>
<h2>More than just a ‘hot labor summer’</h2>
<p>Right now, union leaders are feeling powerful. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/25/cnbc-daily-open-summer-of-discontent.html">More than 360,000</a> workers have <a href="https://theconversation.com/waves-of-strikes-rippling-across-the-us-seem-big-but-the-total-number-of-americans-walking-off-the-job-remains-historically-low-210673">gone on strike in 2023</a> – nearly <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/wkstp.nr0.htm">three times as many</a> as in all of 2022. The United Auto Workers union is currently <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-autoworkers-launch-historic-strike-3-questions-answered-213518">striking against</a> Detroit’s Big Three and demanding a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/uaw-strike-ford-gm-stellantis-contract-offers-5dd4dee2056b7efe06d2a55433d8d13a">36% pay hike</a>. UPS recently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/business/economy/ups-contract-vote-teamsters.html">agreed to union demands</a> for a generous new contract, under which the most senior drivers will eventually earn about $170,000 a year. Hollywood was shut down by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/actors-are-demanding-that-hollywood-catch-up-with-technological-changes-in-a-sequel-to-a-1960-strike-209829">screenwriters’ and actors’ strikes</a>.</p>
<p>However, union leaders would be wise not to overplay their hands. The typesetters guild boasted more than <a href="https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1970/compendia/statab/91ed/1970-03.pdf">100,000 members at its peak</a>. Today it serves as a cautionary example of how quickly union power can erode.</p>
<h2>A brief digression: What is typesetting, anyway?</h2>
<p>Our story begins <a href="https://www.asme.org/getmedia/4e9d6576-020f-4e74-a00c-27e11a250f09/gutenberg-and-mass-production.pdf">in the 1500s</a> with the invention of the movable-type printing press. Workers called typesetters would take individual blocks of letters and <a href="https://letterpresscommons.com/setting-type-by-hand/">arrange them into lines of text</a>. They would store unused letters in two cases: capital letters in an upper case and smaller letters in the easier-to-access lower case. That practice – which is why English speakers still describe letters as <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know-history/why-it-called-upper-and-lower-case">“uppercase” and “lowercase”</a> – would be ripe for disruption a few centuries later.</p>
<p>A typesetter’s biggest concern was letters falling out when put on the printing press. To prevent this, all lines were made justified, or the same width, so <a href="https://www.oldtreasurybuilding.org.au/lost-jobs/in-print/hand-setting/">text could be locked into a rectangular frame</a>. Being a good typesetter demanded physical skills to move blocks of type quickly. It also took intellect, since typesetters acted as de facto proofreaders and layout designers. </p>
<h2>An early American union</h2>
<p>Fast-forward a few hundred years. <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0113/the-history-of-unions-in-the-united-states.aspx">U.S. labor unions started picking up steam</a> after the Civil War, and typographers were <a href="https://depts.washington.edu/moves/CIO_ITU_locals.shtml">quick to unionize</a>, since their high literacy levels helped with organizing. They formed the International Typographical Union <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1821011">in 1852</a> with more than 1,000 members.</p>
<p>Thirty years after its founding, the ITU faced a major technological shock. In 1886, the inventor <a href="https://www.typeroom.eu/ottmar-mergenthaler-10-things-to-know-about-linotype-inventor">Ottmar Mergenthaler</a> was granted a patent for the Linotype machine. This machine allowed operators to select characters by typing them on a keyboard instead of picking them from a type case. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2022/06/the-linotype-the-machine-that-revolutionized-movable-type/">Linotype’s advantages were quickly evident</a>. A skilled <a href="https://www.prepressure.com/printing/history/1850-1899">operator could set 6,000 characters per hour</a>, many times faster than a hand compositor. The Linotype also didn’t require blocks of letters to be re-sorted into type cases after material was printed. Instead, lines of <a href="https://www.history.uwo.ca/public_history/docs/i2i%20big%20labels.pdf">type could be melted down and reused</a>.</p>
<p>The Linotype and competing machines didn’t hurt the union because it made publishing cheaper, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/1998/02/11/a-history-of-newspaper-gutenbergs-press-started-a-revolution/2e95875c-313e-4b5c-9807-8bcb031257ad/">which resulted in a burst of printing</a>. In fact, ITU membership increased as new newspapers, magazines and book publishers sprang up, all of whom needed skilled workers who could take handwritten copy and transform it into printed text. </p>
<p>By the start of World War I, ITU membership was over 60,000.</p>
<p>The union’s membership peaked in the 1960s, with newspapers being the biggest employers of ITU members. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1950/07/22/archives/publishers-reopen-battle-with-itu-union-is-accused-of-coercion-on.html">Newspaper publishers didn’t like</a> the ITU because it meant they had to pay for two different expensive workforces: the reporters who created the content and the typesetters who made that content readable. While only <a href="https://newsguild.org/history/">some of the reporters were unionized</a>, almost all of the typesetters were.</p>
<h2>The decline of the ITU</h2>
<p>Starting in the 1960s, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/03/archives/paper-using-cold-type-2-main-innovations-how-new-method-works-the.html">other new developments</a> like <a href="https://www.dsource.in/course/digital-typography-1/phototypesetting">phototypesetting</a> and then <a href="https://web.stanford.edu/%7Ebkunde/fb-press/articles/wdprhist.html">word processing</a> threatened typesetters’ jobs. </p>
<p>The ITU fought against technological changes with a <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/11/1963-newspaper-strike-bertram-powers">massive strike in New York City</a>. When the strike started, New York City had seven daily newspapers. After a 114-day shutdown, only three remained: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/">The New York Times</a>, the <a href="https://nypost.com/">New York Post</a> and the <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/">Daily News</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551499/original/file-20231002-24-94rdfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dozens of protesters with the ITU stand densely packed together on a New York City street, waving signs and placards." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551499/original/file-20231002-24-94rdfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551499/original/file-20231002-24-94rdfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551499/original/file-20231002-24-94rdfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551499/original/file-20231002-24-94rdfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551499/original/file-20231002-24-94rdfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551499/original/file-20231002-24-94rdfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551499/original/file-20231002-24-94rdfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of the International Typographical Union demonstrate outside the offices of The New York Times on Jan. 15, 1963.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/new-york-ny-bertram-powers-president-of-local-six-of-the-news-photo/514907050">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The relatively high pay of typesetters, combined with their ability to shut down production for long periods of time, made newspapers, magazines and other publishers <a href="https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/108858/02996029-MIT.pdf">eager customers</a> for high-tech companies that built computers that automatically determined line breaks, hyphenation and text justification. These computers also saved time by eliminating the need for typing copy twice: first by the author and then by a typesetter.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/j.ctt15jvw33.14">second technological revolution devastated</a> ITU membership. From 1984 to 1987, its membership halved. In 1986, it <a href="https://cwa-union.org/about/cwa-history">merged with the Communications Workers of America</a>, which today <a href="https://cwa-union.org/about">doesn’t even mention typographers</a> on its list of sectors.</p>
<h2>Walking the negotiating tightrope</h2>
<p>Similarly today, unions are pushing for large wage increases at a time when new technologies pose a threat to those workers’ livelihoods. <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/teamsters-tech-firms-tangle-over-self-driving-trucks-bill">Autonomous vehicles threaten</a> Teamsters truckers; robots and simpler-to-build <a href="https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/npr-news/2023-09-20/why-the-uaw-is-fighting-so-hard-for-these-4-key-demands-in-the-auto-strike">electric vehicles threaten</a> United Auto Workers; ChatGPT threatens screenwriters.</p>
<p>Labor leaders walk a fine line: Their job is to advocate for workers, but making aggressive demands can backfire if they prompt employers to more quickly embrace automation. In other words, there’s a risk that militancy today can destroy union jobs tomorrow.</p>
<p>Oh, yes – how did I inadvertently help the ITU’s demise? </p>
<p>After newspapers computerized their news operations, typographers were still needed to create display ads. I joined a <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/10/01/george-white-founded-companies-that-helped-change-newspaper-production/r8oA8ERHMy6siV17BTvOkO/story.html">small high-tech company</a> that built some of the first software and hardware that automated creating display ads. Our systems cost millions of dollars but were eagerly purchased by large newspapers.</p>
<p>The irony was that shortly after my company helped put the final nail in the ITU’s coffin, a new wave of computer companies such as Apple, Adobe and Hewlett-Packard created the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/rr/business/businesshistory/April/apple_testimage.html">desktop publishing revolution</a>. That technological change put the company I worked for out of business.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214519/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jay L. Zagorsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>History suggests that there’s risk of overplaying one’s hand when new technology is lurking.Jay L. Zagorsky, Clinical Associate Professor of Markets, Public Policy and Law, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1034512018-09-30T18:38:39Z2018-09-30T18:38:39ZFrench business school logos: What are they telling us?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236843/original/file-20180918-158225-1l05yx1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C25%2C1200%2C772&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Be inspired!</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adobe Stock</span>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the course of 2018, several major French business schools changed their logos. What were the changes exactly and, more importantly, what do these changes mean? Logos are visual signs that “speak” to us. Through their text and graphic design, they communicate messages about the identity, values or promise of the organisation they represent.</p>
<p>This article presents the results of a content analysis of logos from the 38 French business schools appearing in the 2018 rankings of <a href="https://www.letudiant.fr/palmares/palmares-des-grandes-ecoles-de-commerce/excellence-academique-1.html#indicateurs=902501,902503,902509,902523,902711&criterias">l'Etudiant</a>. It decodes the meanings of the codes in this sector and looks at the current trends and the probable future evolutions.</p>
<h2>The “modern” and the “traditional”</h2>
<p>The first thing that jumps out at us when we look at the logos of these French business schools is that most of them (71%) prefer sans serif typefaces. This distinction is not trivial.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237131/original/file-20180919-158246-1lsg0ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237131/original/file-20180919-158246-1lsg0ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237131/original/file-20180919-158246-1lsg0ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237131/original/file-20180919-158246-1lsg0ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237131/original/file-20180919-158246-1lsg0ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237131/original/file-20180919-158246-1lsg0ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237131/original/file-20180919-158246-1lsg0ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237131/original/file-20180919-158246-1lsg0ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sans serif typefaces are more recent than the serif typefaces. They grew out of twentieth century styles like the <a href="http://www.designhistory.org/Avant_Garde_pages/DieNeueType.html">new typography movement</a> or the <a href="http://www.designishistory.com/home/swiss/">International style</a>. These logos using sans serif typefaces therefore usually communicate an image of modernity as opposed to logos with serifs, which communicate a <a href="https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/creative-professional/meaning-behind-chosen-typeface">traditional</a> image.</p>
<p>Sans serif typefaces are also simpler than those with serifs. The stroke modulation is generally less marked. In this sense, they seem more functional and less sophisticated. Often used or developed for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_(typeface)">signage purposes</a>, they appear more utilitarian than scholarly and intellectual.</p>
<p>It is interesting to note that this choice of typeface family seems to be a French specificity. In other countries, several large business schools like Stanford, Berkeley, Oxford or the Bocconi favour serif typefaces, thus emphasising years of existence, tradition, and scholarship.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237135/original/file-20180919-158246-elo8rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237135/original/file-20180919-158246-elo8rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237135/original/file-20180919-158246-elo8rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=151&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237135/original/file-20180919-158246-elo8rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=151&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237135/original/file-20180919-158246-elo8rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=151&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237135/original/file-20180919-158246-elo8rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=190&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237135/original/file-20180919-158246-elo8rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=190&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237135/original/file-20180919-158246-elo8rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=190&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 1: Logo using a sans serif typeface (Kedge) versus logo using a serif typeface (Stanford).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet this choice seems consistent for institutions that provide practical knowledge and position themselves on the theme of innovation. In fact, only two schools (Montpellier Business School and ESC Clermont) mention their year of creation in their logo, further indicating that most of the schools emphasise modernity rather than brand heritage.</p>
<p>Also with regard to typography, most business schools (76%) opt for a logo in all capital letters. The use of uppercase (vs. lowercase) letters in a logo is generally meant to signal the <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2051570716685524">GREATNESS</a> and prestige of the organisation. Thus, it seems to be a logical choice for institutions that are usually referred to as “GRANDES ECOLES”.</p>
<p>However, if we restrain the population to the schools that have changed logos recently, we see that many of them (Toulouse Business School, EM Lyon, Montpellier Business School, ICN Business School) have switched to lowercase letters. This trend undoubtedly indicates the desire of these schools to appear more accessible, closer to students and less daunting or domineering. This change in form is in line with a change in content at a time when the teaching style is shifting from strict lecturing to greater student participation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237141/original/file-20180919-158222-rg5w42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237141/original/file-20180919-158222-rg5w42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237141/original/file-20180919-158222-rg5w42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=193&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237141/original/file-20180919-158222-rg5w42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=193&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237141/original/file-20180919-158222-rg5w42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=193&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237141/original/file-20180919-158222-rg5w42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237141/original/file-20180919-158222-rg5w42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237141/original/file-20180919-158222-rg5w42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 2: Toward less overbearing visual identities.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another indication that seems to point in the same direction is the appearance of fast script typefaces for the slogans and digital campaigns of several schools (e.g., the recent “make an impact” of EDHEC or the “never stop daring” of Audencia). These typefaces also indicate the decision to appear more spontaneous and less formal.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237142/original/file-20180919-158213-1u538f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237142/original/file-20180919-158213-1u538f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237142/original/file-20180919-158213-1u538f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237142/original/file-20180919-158213-1u538f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237142/original/file-20180919-158213-1u538f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237142/original/file-20180919-158213-1u538f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=191&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237142/original/file-20180919-158213-1u538f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=191&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237142/original/file-20180919-158213-1u538f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=191&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 3: Toward less formal visual identities.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The “reassuring” and the “audacious”</h2>
<p>Two colours predominate the studied population: blue (42% of logos) and red (29%). According to <a href="https://www.amazon.fr/Psychologie-couleur-Eva-Heller/dp/2350171566">Heller</a>, these two colours conflict in terms of meanings. Blue tends to dominate when the intent is to communicate that “reason” prevails. Red, on the other hand, is associated with “passion”, whether good or bad. This interpretation is widely shared in the academic literature. Blue, which is a “cold” colour, is claimed to have soothing virtues. It is generally associated with calmness, reflection and rationality. A favourite colour of the French, it inspires confidence. Red, which is a “hot” colour, has properties that excite, and it is associated with dynamism, action, vitality and physical strength.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237145/original/file-20180919-158240-a1l3it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237145/original/file-20180919-158240-a1l3it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237145/original/file-20180919-158240-a1l3it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=177&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237145/original/file-20180919-158240-a1l3it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=177&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237145/original/file-20180919-158240-a1l3it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=177&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237145/original/file-20180919-158240-a1l3it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237145/original/file-20180919-158240-a1l3it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237145/original/file-20180919-158240-a1l3it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 4: Most logos are either blue or red.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These associations suggest two main families of opposing logos. The blues make up the majority and are reassuring. They emphasize the theme of rationality, which is appropriate for educational institutions. The reds are more aggressive and they instead emphasize the themes of action and dynamism. Yet this choice is also appropriate in institutions where practice, initiative and boldness are encouraged. Many of the business school slogans also echo these themes (“makers” for EM Lyon, “create” for Toulouse Business School and Kedge, “make” for EDHEC and Montpellier Business School, and “dare” for HEC and Audencia).</p>
<p>The logos using warm colours are showing a tendency to develop. Among the schools that have recently changed their logo, many have chosen orange (ICN Business School, ESC Clermont, South Champagne Business School, ESC Pau). This trend seems to be moving in the same direction as the typographic changes described above. It reflects the intention of these schools to appear warmer and friendlier. This type of positioning is nicely captured in the slogan of the new South Champagne Business School brand (formerly ESC Troyes): “happiness is success.” This may also signal a change in the promise of these schools: to be less performance-based and more about well-being.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237146/original/file-20180919-158234-1d9u9q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237146/original/file-20180919-158234-1d9u9q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237146/original/file-20180919-158234-1d9u9q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=172&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237146/original/file-20180919-158234-1d9u9q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=172&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237146/original/file-20180919-158234-1d9u9q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=172&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237146/original/file-20180919-158234-1d9u9q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237146/original/file-20180919-158234-1d9u9q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237146/original/file-20180919-158234-1d9u9q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 5: Toward warmer visual identities?</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The “rigorous” and the “creative”</h2>
<p>The choices of illustration are more varied. Yet here also, we can see a specificity of the French business schools. With the exception of ESSEC and EM Normandie, no school uses “traditional” themes such as coats of arm, books, laurels or trees. These themes are, however, widespread in foreign schools (Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Cambridge, Melbourne and Oxford).</p>
<p>We also see that most of the schools (66%) do not use figurative illustrations but instead have chosen purely typographic or abstract logos. This choice contributes to the design simplicity and modernity, and it also sometimes conveys the idea of rigor.</p>
<p>Recurrences can nevertheless be observed if we consider the meanings of the illustrations. For example, some of the logos seem to suggest themes of taking flight, discovery and exploration through abstract shapes like arrows or ascending curves (GEM, Audencia, ISC Paris) or more figurative illustrations like the representation of wings (ESC Rennes, ESSCA), spheres, horizons or wind roses (IESEG, La Rochelle, EDHEC, HEC, Kedge).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237148/original/file-20180919-146148-13ha1wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237148/original/file-20180919-146148-13ha1wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237148/original/file-20180919-146148-13ha1wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237148/original/file-20180919-146148-13ha1wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237148/original/file-20180919-146148-13ha1wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237148/original/file-20180919-146148-13ha1wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237148/original/file-20180919-146148-13ha1wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237148/original/file-20180919-146148-13ha1wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 6: The promise of taking flight and discovery.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another trend among these schools is the positioning on the theme of creativity through abstract compositions, textures or geometric patterns that suggest the world of modern art (EM Strasbourg, ICN Business School, South Champagne Business School). These logos, however, remain in the minority, even though the theme of creativity is expressed in several slogans (Toulouse Business School, Kedge).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237150/original/file-20180919-143281-wa46du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237150/original/file-20180919-143281-wa46du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237150/original/file-20180919-143281-wa46du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=138&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237150/original/file-20180919-143281-wa46du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=138&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237150/original/file-20180919-143281-wa46du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=138&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237150/original/file-20180919-143281-wa46du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=173&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237150/original/file-20180919-143281-wa46du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=173&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237150/original/file-20180919-143281-wa46du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=173&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 7. Toward more creative visual identities?</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What changes can we expect?</h2>
<p>The content analysis confirms that the business school sector is governed by well-defined visual codes. Thus, a French business school logo in 2018 is usually blue or red, in sans serif capital letters, without illustration or with an abstract geometric illustration, and with an off-centre layout (aligned left or right). As the chart below shows, a whole series of variations around this model is then possible to express differentiated brand identities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237152/original/file-20180919-158222-1wfmqad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237152/original/file-20180919-158222-1wfmqad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237152/original/file-20180919-158222-1wfmqad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237152/original/file-20180919-158222-1wfmqad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237152/original/file-20180919-158222-1wfmqad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237152/original/file-20180919-158222-1wfmqad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237152/original/file-20180919-158222-1wfmqad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237152/original/file-20180919-158222-1wfmqad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 8. The galaxy of French business school logos.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By focusing on these characteristics, we see that these business schools have mainly sought to position themselves on the themes of modernity and innovation. However, the codes they have used are those of the twentieth century and the print era. The next step will probably include taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital age.</p>
<p>For example, the content analysis revealed that the notions of <a href="https://vimeo.com/29732896">motion design</a> and interactivity remain poorly integrated into the visual identities of our schools. Only Toulouse Business School animates its logo with a discreet <a href="http://www.designfloat.com/blog/2013/06/17/hover-effect-usability/">hover effect</a> on its website and only EM Strasbourg seems to have experimented with a <a href="https://www.skillshare.com/classes/Dynamic-Brand-Identity-Designing-Logos-That-Evolve/239606488/classroom/discussions?teacherRef=8918443&enrolledRedirect=1">dynamic visual identity</a>. Moreover, 73% of the schools with a slogan do not have a version of their logo that incorporates the slogan.</p>
<p>Yet if we believe the famous graphic designer Paula Scher, it is becoming increasingly less viable to base an identity on a single fixed logo. <a href="https://milesherndon.com/blog/design-brand-identity-system">Brand systems</a> and dynamic visual identities are becoming unavoidable. These systems are also in line with several of the themes that the schools position themselves on: innovation, creativity, digital technology and diversity. They make it possible to develop the complete, coherent and diversified graphic charts that schools need today to sign a wide range of programs, campuses, chairs, foundations and research laboratories. Last, they are adaptable to different communication media and offer a personalized and interactive experience.</p>
<p>It is therefore likely that business schools will adopt what Paula Scher calls “liquid visual identities” in the future. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and the <a href="https://vimeo.com/110380013">MIT lab</a> provide two interesting examples of what these brand systems offer and what <a href="https://gizmodo.com/why-mit-media-lab-scrapped-its-old-logo-after-just-thre-1651927638">pitfalls</a> to avoid.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qbg9be9yXaQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103451/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Franck Celhay travaille pour Montpellier Business School. </span></em></p>Through their text and graphic design, business-school logos are signs that “speak” to their stakeholders and the public at large, communicating identity, values and promises.Franck Celhay, Associate professor, Montpellier Business SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/782522017-08-15T04:48:55Z2017-08-15T04:48:55ZOn brand: how Australia’s apartment frenzy echoes the 1870s cattle boom<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178952/original/file-20170720-23995-1x7jvqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Melbourne, city of cranes.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Imagine in the years ahead that you were to come across a photograph of the Melbourne streetscape from 2017. Two things would immediately signify it as being from today – the <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-charts-on-crane-spotting-a-way-to-tell-which-australian-cities-are-growing-and-where-76776">number of cranes</a> across the skyline and at street level, the construction hoardings glistening with glamourous promise. </p>
<p>Melbourne is now experiencing the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-02/home-truths-what-happened-to-the-great-australian-dream/7371668">most dramatic real estate boom</a> in living history – this feverish development has seen 13,000 new apartments constructed each year for the past two years with plans for another 22,000 over the next few years.</p>
<p>And like that photograph of the 2017 streetscape, one can also take another kind of record, a typographic snapshot. Fonts can tell us something about a time and a place. Within the real estate industry, this is centred around branding – and more specifically those ubiquitous logos weaved throughout our urban landscape.</p>
<p>In an age when each individual building demands a logo as much as an address, and often these congeal (8 Breese, 85 Spring Street) or fill us with an aspiration to be somewhere else (West Village, Haus), the end result is a seemingly never-ending array of marks all jostling to dazzle us with their glamour and aspiration. But is this massive explosion of logos a new thing? </p>
<p>The clearest way to see any of these connections is to look across other periods of economic boom. The oversupply of livestock in the 1870s is one such time. During this period the plentiful supply of cattle necessitated that the ownership of herds be strongly signified and differentiated in the marketplace. At that time the most effective way to do this was through branding – quite literally, a hot iron branded seared into the rumps of the livestock. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178957/original/file-20170720-23995-1uw0ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178957/original/file-20170720-23995-1uw0ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178957/original/file-20170720-23995-1uw0ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178957/original/file-20170720-23995-1uw0ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178957/original/file-20170720-23995-1uw0ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178957/original/file-20170720-23995-1uw0ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178957/original/file-20170720-23995-1uw0ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178957/original/file-20170720-23995-1uw0ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cattle branding, 1864.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://search.slv.vic.gov.au/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do;jsessionid=B6171F856C83A293C76E6BA140585C60?tabs=detailsTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=SLV_VOYAGER2395034&indx=1&recIds=SLV_VOYAGER2395034&recIdxs=0&elementId=0&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&query=any%2Ccontains%2Ccattle+branding&search_scope=Pictures&dscnt=0&vl(1UIStartWith0)=contains&scp.scps=scope%3A%28PICS%29&onCampus=false&vl(10247183UI0)=any&vid=MAIN&institution=SLVPRIMO&bulkSize=20&tab=default_tab&vl(freeText0)=cattle%20branding&fromLogin=true&group=ALL&dstmp=1500526717190">S. T. G./State Library of Victoria</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By the latter half of the 19th century the simpler alphabetical brands had all been used up so the designs became increasingly complex and idiosyncratic. These plentiful livestock brands began to do odd things – letters would be turned upside down or flipped, there would be strange little icons of hats, anchors, fish, shields, glasses and other even more abstract shapes. </p>
<p>When placed alongside the embellished brands extolling the contemporary real estate boom, some strong design similarities become clear. It seems that the imperative to produce a distinct identity seems to bridge 140 years with ease. These design similarities hint at the underlying economic cycle, boom followed by bust. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170711/original/file-20170524-5782-1uz33bn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170711/original/file-20170524-5782-1uz33bn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170711/original/file-20170524-5782-1uz33bn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170711/original/file-20170524-5782-1uz33bn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170711/original/file-20170524-5782-1uz33bn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170711/original/file-20170524-5782-1uz33bn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170711/original/file-20170524-5782-1uz33bn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170711/original/file-20170524-5782-1uz33bn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The top line are real estate brands from 2016 whilst the bottom line are cattle brands from 1870. Apartment brands from left to right: Nest at the Hill (Doncaster); Queens Place (CBD); Reflections (North Melbourne); Capital Grand (South Yarra)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who we are and want we want</h2>
<p>The logos that festoon the hoardings across our streets tell us a great deal about who we are, and more specifically, what we want. Script typefaces (those based on handwriting) tell us that we are in an age where people yearn for the authentic, the handmade, a personal connection. The use of fonts, patterns and symbols as well as specific colours may offer us an insight into what cultural shorthand is being used to speak to many prospective buyers. </p>
<p>It is that supreme marker of modernity – sans serif fonts - that above all others expresses our shared contemporary notions of style and urbane aspiration. These fonts, such as “helvetica”, do not use the ornamental ends of letters that serif fonts, like the one you are reading on, include. We take in and process all of these factors in the split second that we consume a logo.</p>
<p>Logos, and the typefaces from which they are composed, have always spoken of the times we live in – including the reflection of economic and social patterns. The mechanised efficiencies of the early 20th century were met by a geometric simplicity in letterforms, whilst the 1970s sexual revolution coincidentally saw spacing between letterforms become very intimate, coupled as it was with the advent of phototypesetting, a process soon superseded by computers. </p>
<p>Booms have a habit of producing an oversupply. And this oversupply calls for some kind of unique differentiation. Differentiation calls for creativity. This is where branding comes in. Trying to tell a herd of cows apart in the 1870s is perhaps no easier than trying to differentiate the often generic architectural forms of apartment developments built today. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174655/original/file-20170620-24868-uwcoc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174655/original/file-20170620-24868-uwcoc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174655/original/file-20170620-24868-uwcoc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174655/original/file-20170620-24868-uwcoc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174655/original/file-20170620-24868-uwcoc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174655/original/file-20170620-24868-uwcoc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174655/original/file-20170620-24868-uwcoc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174655/original/file-20170620-24868-uwcoc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brands of the cattle boom (black) contrasted with contemporary real estate (white)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The old marketing adage “the more generic the product, the more you differentiate by brand” certainly appears to be at work here. This is but one comparison across two localised economic booms but the same pattern could be expected to appear whenever there is an “over stimulation” in a highly crowded marketplace. </p>
<p>What this frenzy of logos does show us is that despite the world of brands being fixated on the “now” it too has a “then” – one that I am sure we will see again some time soon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78252/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Stephen Banham does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Melbourne has seen tens of thousands of new apartments constructed over recent years, and apartment brands are flourishing. We can see striking typographic similarities with another economic frenzy: the 1870s cattle boom.Dr Stephen Banham, Lecturer in Typography, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/255582014-04-21T05:20:36Z2014-04-21T05:20:36ZComic Sans gets neue lease of life – but it may end in tragedy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46696/original/wtprwbx9-1397746838.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C50%2C975%2C546&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sans pals.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Love it or hate it, the Comic Sans typeface makes amateur typographers of us all. Now a new version has appeared, promising to lend credibility to the comic line of typefaces.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.comicneue.com/">Comic Neue</a>, designed by Craig Rozynski, is like Comic Sans but has been designed with some key differences that are supposed to make it less unsightly.</p>
<p>We don’t normally talk about typography and often only notice typefaces when they are atypical or inhibit our ability to read. Comic Sans is different. It divides opinion among those who don’t usually identify as typeface enthusiasts. And in its wake, Comic Neue is causing a stir too.</p>
<p>Rozynski says on his website that the typeface “aspires to be the casual script choice for everyone including the typographically savvy”. Do we really need another comic script though? Was Comic Sans really that bad in the first place?</p>
<h2>The unloved typeface</h2>
<p>If you have been near a computer in the past 20 years, you have likely encountered Comic Sans, the “fun” typeface with rounded edges that appears to be written with a felt-tipped pen.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46708/original/vq8259nm-1397751660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46708/original/vq8259nm-1397751660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46708/original/vq8259nm-1397751660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46708/original/vq8259nm-1397751660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46708/original/vq8259nm-1397751660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46708/original/vq8259nm-1397751660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46708/original/vq8259nm-1397751660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46708/original/vq8259nm-1397751660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Comic Sans: bringing comedy to tragedy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/charlie_harvey/5300868899/sizes/l">Luwig van Standard Lamp</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you are an amateur designer, it’s the go-to typeface for just about any occasion that requires a relaxed approach. If you are an experienced designer, it’s the last typeface you’d ever use, unless you want to be ridiculed without mercy.</p>
<p>The typeface, now approaching its 20th anniversary, was originally designed by Vincent Connare for Microsoft Bob, Microsoft’s 1995 interface for various iterations of Windows. </p>
<p>Microsoft Bob came with a dog that would interact with the user. In the initial version of Bob, the dog offered assistance in speech bubbles using Times New Roman. Connare decided that comic dogs probably wouldn’t “speak” that way, and went to work designing something more interesting. He used the hand-drawn characters found in popular comic books like The Dark Knight Returns and the Watchmen series as inspiration for what would later become Comic Sans. </p>
<p>Since then, the typeface has been used for everything from <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/4/3136652/cern-scientists-comic-sans-higgs-boson">physics presentations</a> to <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/03/01/pope-benedict-comic-sans-album/">papal documents</a> and its popularity is only matched by the disdain some people have for it. People feel so strongly about the typeface that there is even a <a href="http://bancomicsans.com/main/">website</a> devoted to banning Comic Sans entirely. It is this ridicule that prompted Craig Rozynski to redesign the typeface into the new Comic Neue.</p>
<h2>Friendly font</h2>
<p>Comic Neue is a sans serif typeface designed to appear casual and friendly. There are numerous different characteristics of the typeface that convey this tone. Generally speaking, the more a typeface resembles handwritten text, the more it is perceived as casual.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46703/original/4vdv7v4f-1397748366.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46703/original/4vdv7v4f-1397748366.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46703/original/4vdv7v4f-1397748366.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46703/original/4vdv7v4f-1397748366.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46703/original/4vdv7v4f-1397748366.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46703/original/4vdv7v4f-1397748366.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46703/original/4vdv7v4f-1397748366.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46703/original/4vdv7v4f-1397748366.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Each letter, or character, in a typeface is comprised of a series of straight and curved lines called strokes. While some typefaces change the width of a stroke drastically, each stroke of Comic Neue is the same width throughout. This creates what designers call a mono-weight typeface. These mono-weight strokes mirror the strokes you would get with a pen or pencil. The end of each Comic Neue stroke also comes to a rounded point, which again mirrors handwriting. </p>
<p>Certain characters, such as the lowercase a and g also tell us a great deal about the tone of a typeface. These specific letters have two different variations, known as single and double story.</p>
<p>Single story letters have one enclosed or mostly enclosed space, called a counter. Double story letters have two counters. Single story letters, like those found in Comic Neue, are considered more casual and friendly.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46710/original/7y24hty7-1397752310.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46710/original/7y24hty7-1397752310.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46710/original/7y24hty7-1397752310.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46710/original/7y24hty7-1397752310.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46710/original/7y24hty7-1397752310.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46710/original/7y24hty7-1397752310.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46710/original/7y24hty7-1397752310.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46710/original/7y24hty7-1397752310.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stay away, kids.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sermoa/3934576261/in/photolist-55ySJM-6ZFJrK-6AaJPi-4EZRUA-3gU66-4rW9AM-9URsGW-9Z5Enp-5pQnAZ">Sermoa</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All of these casual attributes can be found in both Comic Sans and Comic Neue. What separates Comic Neue from Comic Sans, however, is the perfection found within each character. Where Comic Sans strokes are often crooked, Comic Neue strokes are exact. The vertical strokes are perfectly vertical and the counters are uniformly rounded. These small changes, combined with a thinner stroke throughout, convey a slightly more professional tone.</p>
<h2>Your neue best friend?</h2>
<p>Comic Sans is arguably the most misused typeface in history. It incites laughter in some people and rage in others. While the changes made to it to create Comic Neue do contribute to a more professional tone, there is no way to tell if the typeface will be more socially accepted.</p>
<p>The reputation of the comic typefaces may well be irreversibly tainted forever. Some might argue that is a good thing. The internet enables access to a seemingly endless selection of “comic” typefaces: <a href="http://www.dafont.com/janda-manatee.font">Janda Manatee</a>; <a href="http://www.dafont.com/smartkid.font">Smart Kid</a>; <a href="http://www.dafont.com/search.php?q=action+man">Action Man</a>; <a href="http://www.dafont.com/search.php?q=Cartwheel">Cartwheel</a>; <a href="http://www.fontspace.com/kevin-richey/rudiment">Rudiment</a>; or even the rather unwieldly-named <a href="http://www.dafont.com/year-supply-of-fair.font">Year Supply of Fairy Cakes</a>. But few of these have ever made it into the mainstream.</p>
<p>Yet other much maligned typefaces are regularly used. Papyrus, a font which many hate as much as Comic Sans, remains a mainstay for many designers.</p>
<p>So can legitimacy be granted to a family of fonts that, by their very nature, are designed for fun? The remains to be seen. In the meantime, Comic Neue offers us one more opportunity to decide if we really need a comic font for that all-important business document.*</p>
<p>*We probably don’t.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/25558/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Love it or hate it, the Comic Sans typeface makes amateur typographers of us all. Now a new version has appeared, promising to lend credibility to the comic line of typefaces. Comic Neue, designed by Craig…Robert Honnell, Graduate Student, Auburn UniversityDerek G. Ross, Assistant Professor, Master of Technical and Professional Communication Program, Auburn UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/256972014-04-17T02:24:33Z2014-04-17T02:24:33ZIs Comic Neue the new Comic Sans – sans the comedy?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46607/original/k5cjt4s8-1397699852.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">With the quirkiness of Comic Sans gone, what are we left with?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://comicneue.com/">comicneue.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A new font called <a href="http://comicneue.com/">Comic Neue</a>, by Sydney-born designer <a href="http://craigrozynski.com/">Craig Rozynski</a>, has been <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=comic%20neue&src=typd">trending online</a> in the past few weeks. The font was developed, in the designer’s words, “to save Comic Sans”, one of the most famous and criticised fonts ever. </p>
<p>It took three years for Rozynski to develop the font. But was it worth the effort? And does it save Comic Sans, as it was intended to?</p>
<p>Using Comic Sans is on the big-type-crime list of any designer. Plans are being forged to end its world dominance at <a href="http://bancomicsans.com/main/">The Ban Comic Sans</a> group. In the <a href="http://comicsansmustdie.tumblr.com/">Comic Sans Must Die</a> project, every day one individual glyph of Comic Sans was symbolically “destroyed” online in a short animation, for all to see.</p>
<p>Even Google makes it very clear what “the most hated font” is:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46499/original/h5fb8ry9-1397608499.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46499/original/h5fb8ry9-1397608499.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46499/original/h5fb8ry9-1397608499.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=126&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46499/original/h5fb8ry9-1397608499.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=126&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46499/original/h5fb8ry9-1397608499.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=126&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46499/original/h5fb8ry9-1397608499.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=158&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46499/original/h5fb8ry9-1397608499.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=158&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46499/original/h5fb8ry9-1397608499.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=158&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google screenshot</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How does a font become so hated?</h2>
<p>Microsoft released the original font in 1994. Its American creator <a href="http://www.connare.com/whycomic.htm">Vincent Connare</a> objected to a serious and formal font, <a href="http://practicaltypography.com/times-new-roman.html">Times New Roman</a>, used in a test version of “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob">Bob</a>”, so designed Comic Sans to replace it in the speech bubbles of Bob’s cartoon characters. </p>
<p>Connare never intended for the font to be used in any other way. Slowly though, Comic Sans made its way to everywhere text was used – door signage, exam papers, medical information, official letters and so on.</p>
<p>Fonts have a huge impact on setting the tone and mood of printed or displayed messages, made clear here on <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-words-how-fonts-make-us-feel-18562">The Conversation</a> by design academic <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/louise-mcwhinnie-104765/profile_bio">Louise McWhinnie</a>. The term “visual language” refers to those meanings created by the appearance of text and image, meanings that enhance the text’s literal meaning. </p>
<p>There are fonts that can convey professionalism or seriousness, but Comic Sans is not one of them.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46596/original/k8b7b5x3-1397694490.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46596/original/k8b7b5x3-1397694490.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46596/original/k8b7b5x3-1397694490.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46596/original/k8b7b5x3-1397694490.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46596/original/k8b7b5x3-1397694490.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46596/original/k8b7b5x3-1397694490.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46596/original/k8b7b5x3-1397694490.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46596/original/k8b7b5x3-1397694490.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com">passiveaggressivenotes.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Comic Sans is the funny, friendly, cute, cheer-up, informal, good-for-a-child’s-birthday-party-invite font. When so widely used outside this context – in <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/4/3136652/cern-scientists-comic-sans-higgs-boson">the announcement</a> of Higgs Boson particle discovery say, or Pope Benedict’s <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/03/01/pope-benedict-comic-sans-album/">resignation letter</a> in the Vatican’s online photo album – the mismatch between the literal meaning of a text’s message and the font’s added meaning of infantility and fun creates a new meaning of immaturity, unprofessionalism, or pretentiousness.</p>
<p>This misuse in wrong contexts, together with the font’s ubiquity enlarging the scale of the problem, is probably the main reason behind the worldwide hatred. </p>
<h2>A verdict on Comic Neue</h2>
<p>How has the worldwide misuse, especially by non-designers, been addressed in the new release of Comic Neue? It seems it hasn’t. According to the Comic Neue <a href="http://comicneue.com/">website</a>, it was the weirdness of Comic Sans that Comic Neue tries to fix, its “squashed, wonky, and weird glyphs”. This has been achieved.</p>
<p>Comic Sans was drawn up to imitate the style of hand-lettered comics. Each letter was conceived individually. Unlike in many other fonts, the horizontal strokes in the uppercase “E” are different to their equivalents in the uppercase “F”; lowercase “p” and “d” are not just the same forms rotated 180 degrees. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46597/original/mckfyjbr-1397694561.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46597/original/mckfyjbr-1397694561.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46597/original/mckfyjbr-1397694561.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46597/original/mckfyjbr-1397694561.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46597/original/mckfyjbr-1397694561.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46597/original/mckfyjbr-1397694561.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46597/original/mckfyjbr-1397694561.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46597/original/mckfyjbr-1397694561.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lines are crooked, and angles of vertical strokes vary greatly – the lowercase “g” leans to the right compared to the lowercase “j” which leans to the left – as you would expect from a child’s handwriting. None of this is true in Comic Neue.</p>
<p>The unified appearance and clearness of the font is based on repeating familiar established forms. The look and feel of Comic Sans is like that of a rough and cute (childlike) handwritten typeface. Comic Neue is the corporate version of handwriting: efficient and uniform. Comic Neue also seems more legible, mainly because of bigger “counters” (the empty bit in “p”, for instance).</p>
<p>The quirkiness of Comic Sans is gone, but what does that actually leave us with? Comic Neue, according to its website, is meant as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the casual script choice for everyone … perfect as a display face, for marking up comments, and writing passive aggressive office memos. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is it still meant to look like handwriting? Is it a child’s handwriting, or maybe that of an office worker? Is it still meant to convey fun and playfulness, or is it serious? Is it “the casual script choice” or not? Connare gave some feedback <a href="https://twitter.com/VincentConnare">on Twitter</a>:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46524/original/knm7zcfv-1397617409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46524/original/knm7zcfv-1397617409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46524/original/knm7zcfv-1397617409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46524/original/knm7zcfv-1397617409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46524/original/knm7zcfv-1397617409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46524/original/knm7zcfv-1397617409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46524/original/knm7zcfv-1397617409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46524/original/knm7zcfv-1397617409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">twitter.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The website’s cheeky message, “make your lemonade stand look like a Fortune 500 company”, that conveys aspiring professionalism does not help to clarify. What does the font make the lemonade stand look like?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46598/original/j83qb87s-1397694787.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46598/original/j83qb87s-1397694787.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46598/original/j83qb87s-1397694787.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46598/original/j83qb87s-1397694787.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46598/original/j83qb87s-1397694787.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46598/original/j83qb87s-1397694787.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46598/original/j83qb87s-1397694787.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46598/original/j83qb87s-1397694787.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lemonade stand comparison.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Comic Neue tries to “save” Comic Sans by creating a different font, getting rid of the “essence” of Comic Sans. The new font may not get misused but with its childlike quality gone will people have a reason to use it at all?</p>
<p>Rather than create a new font, why not just rename the old one “Children’s Party”? I can’t see the Pope formatting his communication with that. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/25697/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>My wife Dr Agnieszka Bachfischer is the much valued co-author of my published articles.</span></em></p>A new font called Comic Neue, by Sydney-born designer Craig Rozynski, has been trending online in the past few weeks. The font was developed, in the designer’s words, “to save Comic Sans”, one of the most…Gerhard Bachfischer, Course Director/Lecturer, Visual Communication, School of Design, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/201862014-02-04T01:56:12Z2014-02-04T01:56:12ZInside the making of a book trailer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40565/original/fymmrgqr-1391477137.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">moving spread</span> </figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40372/original/kdg6snc7-1391383834.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40372/original/kdg6snc7-1391383834.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40372/original/kdg6snc7-1391383834.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40372/original/kdg6snc7-1391383834.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40372/original/kdg6snc7-1391383834.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40372/original/kdg6snc7-1391383834.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1166&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40372/original/kdg6snc7-1391383834.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1166&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40372/original/kdg6snc7-1391383834.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1166&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Final cover design.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Last year, while designing the cover for <a href="http://gabriellecarey.com.au/">Gabrielle Carey</a>’s book <em><a href="http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/book.aspx/1272/Moving%20Among%20Strangers">Moving Among Strangers</a></em> (UQP, 2013), Gabrielle and I started talking about book trailers. </p>
<p>A book trailer is a short video created to promote a book, similar to a trailer promoting a film. But where a film trailer is created by editing together snippets of the feature length film, a printed book has no existing audio-visual material to draw from. </p>
<p>So why promote a book with a video?</p>
<p>The obvious answer is that, as people increasingly buy books online, publishers must appeal to consumers online. This means thinking past static book covers and short blurbs, to more enhanced media. </p>
<p>Gabrielle’s book via QUP’s <a href="http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/book.aspx/1272/Moving%20Among%20Strangers">website</a> looks like this:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40402/original/pwg2dxqh-1391396353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40402/original/pwg2dxqh-1391396353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40402/original/pwg2dxqh-1391396353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40402/original/pwg2dxqh-1391396353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40402/original/pwg2dxqh-1391396353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=617&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40402/original/pwg2dxqh-1391396353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=617&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40402/original/pwg2dxqh-1391396353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=617&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Screen shot of Queensland University Press’ website.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And via Amazon.com:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40459/original/6337tqzg-1391406792.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40459/original/6337tqzg-1391406792.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40459/original/6337tqzg-1391406792.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40459/original/6337tqzg-1391406792.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40459/original/6337tqzg-1391406792.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40459/original/6337tqzg-1391406792.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40459/original/6337tqzg-1391406792.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40459/original/6337tqzg-1391406792.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Screenshot of Amazon’s page for Moving Among Strangers.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Both QUP and Amazon’s websites have more textual information than is feasible to fit on a book cover: a long collection of quotes from (and links to) reviews of the book, and to Gabrielle’s other books and extended biography. This additional information gives readers more to base their purchase decision on, particularly the reassurance that other people considered it a good read.</p>
<p>Both sites are also loud with ads and other unrelated information. What’s lost online is the ability to make a connection with the book – hold the thing, to flip through and get an idea of the writing style and story – to push the consumer from browsing to buying.</p>
<p>Amazon.com attempts to rectify this with its “LOOK INSIDE!” function:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40405/original/grphnt9v-1391398541.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40405/original/grphnt9v-1391398541.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40405/original/grphnt9v-1391398541.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40405/original/grphnt9v-1391398541.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40405/original/grphnt9v-1391398541.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40405/original/grphnt9v-1391398541.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40405/original/grphnt9v-1391398541.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40405/original/grphnt9v-1391398541.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Screenshot of Moving Among Strangers as shown on Amazon.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although this provides a taste of the writing style, it doesn’t give a sense of the book object. The typesetting of the actual book is significantly more appealing than this digital preview suggests (if I do say so myself), which may be neither here nor there to many people, but some of us make choices at least partially based on the aesthetic appeal of a book. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40565/original/fymmrgqr-1391477137.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40565/original/fymmrgqr-1391477137.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40565/original/fymmrgqr-1391477137.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40565/original/fymmrgqr-1391477137.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40565/original/fymmrgqr-1391477137.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40565/original/fymmrgqr-1391477137.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40565/original/fymmrgqr-1391477137.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40565/original/fymmrgqr-1391477137.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The same passage of text from Moving Among Strangers as shown by Amazon, as it appears in the print version.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author's photograph</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I’m particularly sensitive to this is because Amazon has lied to me before. The copy I ordered of Sven Birket’s The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age appeared to be printed using a fax machine – the text was so blobby I could barely read it. To be fair, the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0865479577/ref=rdr_ext_tmb">Amazon preview</a> appears blobby, but I assumed it was a low-resolution scan. I didn’t believe anyone would sell a book that poorly printed. If I’d seen it in a bookshop I wouldn’t have bought it. Apologies to my local independent bookshops – lesson learned.</p>
<p>But this is an extreme case. On its own, unappealing typesetting may not be enough to turn people (other than me) off buying a book. Yet without creating a physical and aesthetic connection to a book via the design there is one less element to tip consumers over the line from browsing to buying. And in the current publishing market where every book sale matters, this is significant.</p>
<p>The value of a book trailer, then, is the potential to add an evocative element to a book’s on-line presence, which is lost when the cover, paper stock and typesetting are removed from the book package. But trying to directly replicate this tactile experience on screen doesn’t work:</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6ltS5kPXxFc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Beyond the poor production quality – I shot this on my mobile phone without proper studio lighting – this is also an essentially boring video. It shows the book object better than the online shops, but doesn’t give a sense of the content.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you can’t translate the experience of browsing a book effectively on screen, what can you do? To think this through, Gabrielle and I decided to make a trailer for her book. </p>
<p>We commissioned one of my students <a href="http://kallieennever.com/">Kallie Ennever</a> to create the trailer for us. I handed over a digital folder with <a href="http://zoesadokierski.com/Moving-Among-Strangers-book-design">my drafts</a>, layered Photoshop files and raw collage elements for her to work from (the bits I used to make the cover illustration). It made sense that the trailer should match the look of the cover, to reinforce the visual identity of the book. Gabrielle wrote the script.</p>
<p>Kallie showed me an <a href="http://www.aboutanimatics.com/">animatic</a> – an animated storyboard for how the final will look – and we discussed pacing and narrative. Otherwise, the motion graphic sequence is all her own creative work.</p>
<p>Gabrielle used her network to pull together some impressive audio elements. We recorded Gabrielle reading a short passage from the book. Geordie Williamson, chief literary critic of The Australian newspaper, recorded himself reading a passage of Stow’s prose for us (the book is about the connection between Australian author Randolph Stow and Gabrielle’s family). Composer <a href="http://www.iaingrandage.com/stage-works/theatre/">Iain Grandage</a>, who wrote the score for an adaptation of Stow’s book The Merry-go-Round in The Sea produced by Perth’s Black Swan State Theatre Company in 2002, gave us permission to use another of his Australian inspired compositions as a soundtrack.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u9nmsnzPsM8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The final book trailer, created by Kallie Ennever, with artwork by Zoë Sadokierski, voiceovers from Gabrielle Carey and Geordie Williamson, soundtrack by Iain Grandage.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kallie was paid by Gabrielle for her time – we do not endorse students working for free. Otherwise, no-one was paid for their time or contribution in making of the trailer. With less resources and generosity, I’m not sure how authors without the financial backing of a willing publisher would deal with the production costs of producing even a short trailer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/20186/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Last year, while designing the cover for Gabrielle Carey’s book Moving Among Strangers (UQP, 2013), Gabrielle and I started talking about book trailers. A book trailer is a short video created to promote…Zoe Sadokierski, Lecturer, School of Design, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/196992013-11-28T19:06:18Z2013-11-28T19:06:18ZKerning, spacing, leading: the invisible art of typography<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36116/original/jtjt3ysx-1385433869.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A trained typographer can see font problems a computer cannot.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jenni Konrad</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If the type that surrounds us clamours for our attention, then the space that surrounds it is the silent component: ever-present, but only considered when it imposes upon, hinders or muddies type’s meaning or message.</p>
<p>Many people assume a computer will create perfectly balanced spacing between letters, words and lines. Such faith in technology is misplaced.</p>
<p>The use of space requires at least as much consideration as the choice of font, and where the computer fails this task, the typographer assures its success. </p>
<p>The negative space between letters is as crucial as the character of a font in delivering meaning to the reader; to feeling “right”.</p>
<p>This article breaks down three of the hidden elements of good typography: kerning, word spacing and leading. When correctly applied, you won’t notice them. When done badly, they’re the <em>only</em> thing you’ll notice.</p>
<h2>Kerning</h2>
<p>According to the stick-figure web comic <a href="http://xkcd.com/1015/">xkcd</a>, if you really hate someone, teach them to recognise bad <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerning">kerning</a> – the adjusted spacing between letters.</p>
<p>Each letter has personal space that brackets it. For a computer, those spaces are defined by the digital postscript settings.</p>
<p>These common settings, though, do not accommodate the space that is formed when particular letters combine, so kerning can become “keming”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35839/original/fzwmh5j7-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35839/original/fzwmh5j7-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35839/original/fzwmh5j7-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35839/original/fzwmh5j7-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35839/original/fzwmh5j7-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35839/original/fzwmh5j7-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35839/original/fzwmh5j7-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Louise McWhinnie</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An uppercase A placed next to an uppercase V will require different kerning to an A and E combination. An uppercase T combined with a lowercase e will also require kerning, due to the extreme cutaway of the T. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35837/original/r48qqw5p-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35837/original/r48qqw5p-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35837/original/r48qqw5p-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35837/original/r48qqw5p-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35837/original/r48qqw5p-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35837/original/r48qqw5p-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35837/original/r48qqw5p-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Louise McWhinnie</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When two or more letters unite, the individual letterspaces that combine sometimes require spatial adjustment. That’s where the typographer’s eye for detail can do what a computer cannot.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35838/original/jkpwp83r-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35838/original/jkpwp83r-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35838/original/jkpwp83r-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35838/original/jkpwp83r-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35838/original/jkpwp83r-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35838/original/jkpwp83r-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35838/original/jkpwp83r-1385079059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Louise McWhinnie</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Examples of poor kerning abound, usually within signs and pieces of text “designed” by non-designers. The web is littered with <a href="http://www.11points.com/Web-Tech/11_Photos_Made_Raunchy_With_Bad_Kerning">examples</a> gathered with typographic amusement, by those who recognise what happens when “good type is forced to do bad things”.</p>
<p>Tight kerning between letters can however be used to great effect in logotypes. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35982/original/kqrh8r7d-1385334494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35982/original/kqrh8r7d-1385334494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35982/original/kqrh8r7d-1385334494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35982/original/kqrh8r7d-1385334494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35982/original/kqrh8r7d-1385334494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35982/original/kqrh8r7d-1385334494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35982/original/kqrh8r7d-1385334494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">fedex.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Graham Smith</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>See how cleverly this is exploited by FEDEX, above. (Did you notice the white arrow created by the space between the E and the X?) Examples of others that exploit space can be seen <a href="http://www.designer-daily.com/logo-design-17487">here</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34826/original/zkvz7zh5-1384078321.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34826/original/zkvz7zh5-1384078321.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34826/original/zkvz7zh5-1384078321.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34826/original/zkvz7zh5-1384078321.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34826/original/zkvz7zh5-1384078321.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34826/original/zkvz7zh5-1384078321.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34826/original/zkvz7zh5-1384078321.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This video shop frontage in Florida illustrates a combination of poor font choice and poor kerning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">davidfish</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Word spacing</h2>
<p>Some years ago, my husband casually asked, “Who’s Tom Braider?”. Initial puzzlement quickly converted to typographic delight, as I saw the Tomb Raider movie poster and understood his question.</p>
<p>Over-separation shifts the focus from the words to the spaces, whilst under-separation causes “Tom Braider”-like misunderstandings. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35840/original/5tn7xb98-1385079063.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35840/original/5tn7xb98-1385079063.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=219&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35840/original/5tn7xb98-1385079063.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=219&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35840/original/5tn7xb98-1385079063.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=219&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35840/original/5tn7xb98-1385079063.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35840/original/5tn7xb98-1385079063.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35840/original/5tn7xb98-1385079063.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Louise McWhinnie</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If words are bricks, and spaces mortar, one hopes to see a wall, not bricks and mortar.</p>
<p>The issue of word separation is often exacerbated by the misuse of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justification_(typesetting)">justification</a>, one of the four text-setting options offered by the computer (range left, range right, centred or justify).</p>
<p>The temptation to create a clean-edged text block means that the computer can apply arbitrary and often incorrect spacing.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35845/original/bkh8f5zg-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35845/original/bkh8f5zg-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35845/original/bkh8f5zg-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35845/original/bkh8f5zg-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35845/original/bkh8f5zg-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35845/original/bkh8f5zg-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35845/original/bkh8f5zg-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Louise McWhinnie</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Text set with short line lengths (such as newspapers) creates enforced space in which the spaces often become more prominent than the text. This results in “rivers” (when word spaces join up between adjoining lines, running like liquid through the text), “puddles” (widened word spaces that dominate) and “lakes” (large puddles).</p>
<h2>Leading</h2>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading">Leading</a> (pronounced “ledding” and named after the strips or slugs of lead traditionally inserted between lines of metal type for printing) provides breathing space between lines of text.</p>
<p>Knowledgeable use of leading creates not just an ease of reading, but can also influence the mood of a body of text.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35843/original/rcqp7nv3-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35843/original/rcqp7nv3-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=166&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35843/original/rcqp7nv3-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=166&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35843/original/rcqp7nv3-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=166&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35843/original/rcqp7nv3-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=208&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35843/original/rcqp7nv3-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=208&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35843/original/rcqp7nv3-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=208&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Louise McWhinnie</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s commonly assumed that fonts of the same point size will look the same size. Wrong. Some fonts of the same height actually consume more space, looking larger and causing text to feel overcrowded en masse, as illustrated below.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35844/original/tkk6t5cc-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35844/original/tkk6t5cc-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=252&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35844/original/tkk6t5cc-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=252&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35844/original/tkk6t5cc-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=252&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35844/original/tkk6t5cc-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35844/original/tkk6t5cc-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35844/original/tkk6t5cc-1385079068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Louise McWhinnie</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Good leading adjustment also addresses the typesetting car crashes that occur when the lowercase descenders of one line (g, j, p, q, y) clash with the ascenders of the line below (b, d, f, h, k, l) or even the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tittles">tittles</a> (the dots above the i and j). Font selection and an application of sensitive leading resolves these issues.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35846/original/d5czhprh-1385079073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/35846/original/d5czhprh-1385079073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35846/original/d5czhprh-1385079073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35846/original/d5czhprh-1385079073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35846/original/d5czhprh-1385079073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35846/original/d5czhprh-1385079073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/35846/original/d5czhprh-1385079073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crashing leading.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Louise McWhinnie</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Choosing a font is not the end of the story; it is only the beginning.</p>
<p>Understanding the space that surrounds the letterforms and how they combine to make words, lines and text is vital in effectively communicating, rather than typing, a message.</p>
<p>If, as Star Trek’s James T. Kirk states, “space is the final frontier”, then space is the invisible frontier that separates type from typography.</p>
<p>… and, in case you’re wondering, The Conversation has set this article in:<br></p>
<p>Headline: 42 point Helvetica Neue Bold on 50 point leading.</p>
<p>Text: 17 point Helvetica Neue on 26 point leading. </p>
<p>(Please be aware that this may convert to Helvetica, depending upon the reader’s computer.)</p>
<p><br>
<strong>Further reading:</strong><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-words-how-fonts-make-us-feel-18562">Beyond words: how fonts make us feel</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/19699/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise McWhinnie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If the type that surrounds us clamours for our attention, then the space that surrounds it is the silent component: ever-present, but only considered when it imposes upon, hinders or muddies type’s meaning…Louise McWhinnie, Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning), Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/185622013-10-27T10:31:28Z2013-10-27T10:31:28ZBeyond words: how fonts make us feel<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33376/original/y2rf8x6s-1382334486.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Typefaces impose mood, emotion, attitude, formality and informality.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">arnoKath</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Typography is all around us. Fonts are on every document and website we read but also within the ephemera of our lives: on the toothpaste we use, newspapers we read, bus tickets we swipe and the streets we travel.</p>
<p>Our visual habitat is populated with myriad letter forms, all communicating layers of competing information, instruction and message, clamouring desperately for our attention. Our selection and reaction to this communication is largely influenced by the fonts themselves.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33378/original/ccdgnpsq-1382335210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33378/original/ccdgnpsq-1382335210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33378/original/ccdgnpsq-1382335210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33378/original/ccdgnpsq-1382335210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33378/original/ccdgnpsq-1382335210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33378/original/ccdgnpsq-1382335210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33378/original/ccdgnpsq-1382335210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fonts are ubiquitous, but what are they telling us?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruth Ellison</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The typewriter provided a single typeface without choice and the computer offers a similar abdication of responsibility through its default font.</p>
<p>But access to typefaces is now almost limitless. Just as handwriting expressed individual personality, now vast ranges of fonts can be selected to communicate and enhance meaning. </p>
<p>Why and how do people select fonts? For the non-designer, a process of elimination rather than appropriateness to message is often the guiding principle. <a href="http://practicaltypography.com/times-new-roman.html">Times New Roman</a> would not be regarded as an appropriate choice for a five-year-old’s birthday party invitation: it suggests a lack of party games. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.linotype.com/44078/BrushScriptRegular-font.html">Brush Script</a> might not be regarded as appropriate for an obituary: that suggests a certain joy at the passing of the recently departed (perhaps you might like to consider what you judge to be appropriate or inappropriate from the selection below?).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33369/original/r8832h8m-1382332210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33369/original/r8832h8m-1382332210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33369/original/r8832h8m-1382332210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33369/original/r8832h8m-1382332210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33369/original/r8832h8m-1382332210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33369/original/r8832h8m-1382332210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33369/original/r8832h8m-1382332210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Would Brush Script carry the right gravitas for an obituary notice?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Louise McWhinnie</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The choice of typeface is not simply about how it “writes” words, but what the choice of its design and letterforms all combine to actually “say”.</p>
<p>For a typographer, an understanding of the construction of the letterforms, their readability and the cultural and historical context all combine to determine the selection.</p>
<p>The web is full of <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/bad-font">blog posts</a> and <a href="http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/02/10-iconic-fonts-and-why-you-should-never-use-them/">articles</a> by designers imploring us to stop <a href="http://bonfx.com/23-really-bad-font-choices/">misusing</a> and <a href="http://practicaltypography.com/bad-fonts.html">abusing</a> fonts. </p>
<p>US designer Mark Simonson <a href="http://typophile.com/node/39210?page=2">has written</a> that some fonts act as “novice magnets”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>To the average person, most fonts look more or less the same. But, if a typeface has a strong flavour, it calls attention to itself. It’s easy to recognise and makes people feel like they know something about fonts when they recognise it … using it makes their documents look “special”.</p>
<p>To the experienced designer, such typefaces have too much flavour, call too much attention to themselves, not to mention the fact that [they] often carry the baggage of being associated with amateur design.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A perfect illustration occurred on the world stage when <a href="http://home.web.cern.ch/">CERN</a>, the Swiss home of the <a href="http://home.web.cern.ch/about/accelerators/large-hadron-collider">Large Hadron Collider</a> particle accelerator, announced in 2012 that scientists had discovered a Higgs Boson-like particle.</p>
<p>The announcement of this hugely important development in particle physics was an occasion of gravitas and significance. Unfortunately, <a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/11/11/comic-sans-history-examples-best-practices/">Comic Sans</a> was chosen to <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/4/3136652/cern-scientists-comic-sans-higgs-boson">convey the message</a>.</p>
<p>What should have been the announcement of a major scientific discovery was devalued by an onlooker’s image of a lone scientist with a home PC: a stark illustration of how the choice of typeface can devalue content.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33045/original/hpckpkhy-1381808070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33045/original/hpckpkhy-1381808070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33045/original/hpckpkhy-1381808070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33045/original/hpckpkhy-1381808070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33045/original/hpckpkhy-1381808070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33045/original/hpckpkhy-1381808070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33045/original/hpckpkhy-1381808070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Comic sans: not the font to choose for a serious message.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">hapticflapjack</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While many can identify when a typeface jars, the key is in understanding <em>why</em> and then applying that understanding to one’s own use of type. </p>
<p>It’s important to understand a font is more than simply a tool; it is, in fact, a character. Its visual character can impose on the text as much as a person’s voice, cadence and tone influences the reading of a speech.</p>
<p>Melbourne typographer <a href="http://www.letterbox.net.au/australian-typography-1995-2005-2">Stephen Banham</a>, in defining the character of <a href="http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/mti/gill-sans/">Gill Sans</a>, once said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Whenever I read text set in Gill Sans, I can’t help but hear the voice of an English narrator reading along with me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While certain typefaces inhabit historical and cultural contexts that influence the way they are read, they also impose mood, emotion, attitude, formality and informality. </p>
<p>Fonts have become so much a part of our everyday visual communication and culture they’re even the topics of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typeface_(film)">films</a> and documentaries, the most well-known among them being Gary Hustwit’s 2007 release, Helvetica.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7JkpYgjbYRg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Helvetica, a film by Gary Hustwit.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The character of a font, however, does not simply exist within its positive forms, but also the negative spaces it inhabits through its proportions, inner forms, spaces between letters, words and lines (kerning, word-spacing, leading). </p>
<p>Spacing is to type as breathing and tone is to speech. The way in which space is used aids readability, paces the text and forms hierarchy and emphasis. When used badly, it’s what one person referred to as “good type forced to do bad things”. But that’s a subject for another article.</p>
<p>Just as <a href="http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventors/a/Gutenberg.htm">Johannes Gutenberg</a>’s development of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movable_type">movable type</a> led to mass-produced access to knowledge through the printed word, the availability of the personal computer has democratised accessibility to typefaces.</p>
<p>From the comfort of their desks, people access typefaces that were traditionally the domain of designers and printers. This democratisation is a double-edged sword. Accessibility does not endow knowledge, and increased use does not enhance ability, unless knowledge is sought and then applied. </p>
<p>Reading and writing are not as simple as one thinks. What the author writes, the typeface expresses. Typing and typography are not the same. </p>
<p>An understanding of how letterforms construct words visually, and how those words convey meaning, is essential for communication to be truly effective.</p>
<p>… And, in case you’re now wondering, this article is set in <a href="http://typedia.com/explore/typeface/helvetica-neue/">Helvetica Neue</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18562/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise McWhinnie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Typography is all around us. Fonts are on every document and website we read but also within the ephemera of our lives: on the toothpaste we use, newspapers we read, bus tickets we swipe and the streets…Louise McWhinnie, Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning), Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.