tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/fonts-7579/articlesFonts – The Conversation2022-06-03T12:16:23Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1839052022-06-03T12:16:23Z2022-06-03T12:16:23ZCan Bionic Reading make you a speed reader? Not so fast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466634/original/file-20220601-49081-ugrudd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C20%2C6720%2C4446&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In an age of distraction, the desire to read faster and more efficiently is understandable. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/no-one-is-safe-royalty-free-image/1291463895">eclipse_images/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What if something as simple as bolding parts of a word could make reading a breeze, improving your focus, speed and comprehension?</p>
<p>That’s the claim made by the creators of <a href="https://bionic-reading.com">Bionic Reading</a>, an app that revises texts so that the most concise parts of the words are “highlighted.” </p>
<p>Doing so, according to the makers of the app, directs the eyes to focus on the important parts of the text. Because “your brain reads faster than your eye,” this allows users to read more quickly and efficiently.</p>
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<p>Early adopters have raved about the app on social media – <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9_KaVksCPU">including some users with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia</a>. But <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8pomrUYAAAAJ&hl=en">as an educational psychologist</a> who researches reading in print and digital mediums, I think the hype is overblown – if not misleading.</p>
<h2>Shaky claims</h2>
<p>On the <a href="https://bionic-reading.com">Bionic Reading website</a>, the inventor, a typographer named Renato Casutt, explains that Bionic Reading was tested independently using 12 participants. He adds that it wasn’t explicitly tested on people with dyslexia.</p>
<p>He then goes on to write that “the results are unclear.” From there, Casutt says Bionic Reading had a positive effect for most participants, but that others found it “disturbing.” </p>
<p>These tests don’t adhere to standard scientific practices. A sample size of 12 is extraordinary small, and it is highly unlikely it would make it past an editor’s desk for peer review at a reputable journal. Casutt doesn’t tell readers what the “positive effect” refers to. Was it reading time? Comprehension? Enjoyment?</p>
<p>The Conversation reached out to Bionic Reading for more clarity and to better understand its methodology. The company did not respond.</p>
<p>The company website’s assertion that the “brain reads faster than the eye” is also deeply flawed. Perhaps it’s a reference to <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Orthographic-Mapping-in-the-Acquisition-of-Sight-Ehri/156bd9fa294573538a19dc2ef4bd19bdae9cf418">sight words</a>: When someone learns how to read, they normally have many words that they can make sense of via simple recognition, rather than by breaking down the word into individual syllables or sounds. These sight words often appear at a higher frequency in texts at all reading levels. </p>
<p>Either way, what makes reading “slow” is not due to an inability to quickly perceive the words themselves – which is what Bionic Reading claims to fix. Instead, reading takes the time it does <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100615623267">due to language processing</a>, which is where our brains turn strings of letters into words and a series of words into meaning.</p>
<p>So no matter how quickly you recognize certain words, your brain still has to do the work to understand the sentence. </p>
<h2>Speed at a cost</h2>
<p>This isn’t the first time someone has tried to introduce ways to read text more quickly. In fact, educators <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1000838">used to teach speed reading in the 1980s</a>. However, that method faded from curriculums as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1529100615623267">research showed that faster isn’t always better</a> – nor do the techniques even lead to faster reading in most cases.</p>
<p>Bionic Reading may even hinder readers. Consider the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-6918(77)90012-9">speed-accuracy trade-off</a>, which theorizes that the more quickly one does something, the worse their performance.</p>
<p>My colleagues and I tested this theory for reading comprehension across print and digital mediums. We found, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2017.1411877">time</a> after <a href="https://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/24981">time</a>, whether in print or on a screen, the faster someone read a text, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.04.001">the less likely they were to comprehend it</a>.</p>
<p>When people read quickly, <a href="https://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/24981">they interact with the text on a more superficial level</a>, often skipping over entire sentences or paragraphs and failing to reread important parts of the text. </p>
<h2>Tried and true techniques</h2>
<p>To help struggling readers, especially those with dyslexia and ADHD, research suggests that one of the most helpful tools can be to simply encourage reading more slowly.</p>
<p>This is the antithesis of Bionic Reading’s argument. However, unlike Bionic Reading, the “read more slowly” school of thought <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=suc1o0hueowC&oi=fnd&pg=PA91&dq=slow+down+reading+for+dyslexia&ots=j9deteB8pJ&sig=0IRQ0YYJ7nou5U4PhOmmd8Oc9W8#v=onepage&q=slow%20down%20reading%20for%20dyslexia&f=false">has decades of research</a> supporting it.</p>
<p>Other simple steps, such as <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=XZvzCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA7&dq=follow+along+as+you+read+for+comprehension&ots=1GHql5fO44&sig=DKWLKk9lwWbjx3bWyTsm5lcRK54#v=onepage&q=follow%20along%20as%20you%20read%20for%20comprehension&f=false">following along with your finger or computer mouse</a>, can be helpful for those with reading difficulties, too. </p>
<p>I can understand the allure of Bionic Reading. Information bombards us. Sources of distraction are rampant. But <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/americas-reading-problem-scores-were-dropping-even-before-the-pandemic/">reading proficiency scores were dropping to new lows</a> even before the pandemic. Now is not the time to be valuing speed at the cost of comprehension.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183905/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren M. Singer Trakhman 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>The claims made by the creators of the app – which highlights parts of words to supposedly enhance users’ reading abilities – are dubious.Lauren M. Singer Trakhman, Assistant Clinical Professor of Human Development, University of MarylandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1307382020-05-06T16:08:06Z2020-05-06T16:08:06ZTypefaces have personality – and can be political<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332522/original/file-20200504-83779-1gd0fzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Barack Obama's 2008 campaign logo inspired scholars to study the role of typeface in political communication.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/balloons-with-the-logo-of-us-democratic-presidential-news-photo/82041792?adppopup=true">Getty/Sebastian Willnow/DDP/AFP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Any graphic designer worth their salt can tell you the best typeface for a new law practice in town is going to be drastically different than the typeface used for the local tattoo parlor. </p>
<p>You probably know this to some degree already – an email to your boss in <a href="https://www.fonts.com/font/microsoft-corporation/comic-sans">Comic Sans</a> is likely to be read differently than if it is sent in <a href="https://www.fonts.com/font/monotype/arial">Arial</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332861/original/file-20200505-83769-1fw9nl5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332861/original/file-20200505-83769-1fw9nl5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332861/original/file-20200505-83769-1fw9nl5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=228&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332861/original/file-20200505-83769-1fw9nl5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=228&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332861/original/file-20200505-83769-1fw9nl5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=228&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332861/original/file-20200505-83769-1fw9nl5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332861/original/file-20200505-83769-1fw9nl5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332861/original/file-20200505-83769-1fw9nl5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Different typefaces, different feeling: on the left, the note is written in Comic Sans, on the right, it’s Arial.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation US</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The same can be said for political candidates and their campaign signs. <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/politics-meets-brand-desi_b_151317">Much ado</a> was made in the graphic design community about candidate Barack <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_2008_presidential_campaign">Obama’s 2008 logo</a>. The logo and its font, called <a href="https://www.typography.com/fonts/gotham/how-to-use">Gotham</a>, now has its own <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama_logo">Wikipedia page</a>, and served as a <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3262979">wake-up call for scholars</a> to begin studying the role typography plays in political communication. </p>
<h2>Does the typeface you choose matter?</h2>
<p>During the 2017 campaign season, one of us, <a href="https://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools/department-of-communication/faculty/katherine-haenschen.html">Katherine Haenschen</a>, a researcher and assistant professor at Virginia Tech who studies political communication, saw a campaign sign on Highway 460, which runs through a rural part of southwest Virginia.</p>
<p>The sign – for <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Chris_Hurst">candidate Chris Hurst</a>, running for election to the House of Delegates in Virginia’s 12th district – was noticeably different from the candidate’s sign in downtown Blacksburg, a considerably more urban and liberal part of the same district.</p>
<p>The rural sign used a serif typeface, the same class of typeface as <a href="https://typographyforlawyers.com/a-brief-history-of-times-new-roman.html">Times New Roman</a> or <a href="https://www.fonts.com/font/adobe/adobe-garamond/story">Garamond</a>. Those fonts have letters that start and end with small flourishes, or serifs. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332503/original/file-20200504-83736-1sipr2g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332503/original/file-20200504-83736-1sipr2g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332503/original/file-20200504-83736-1sipr2g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332503/original/file-20200504-83736-1sipr2g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332503/original/file-20200504-83736-1sipr2g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332503/original/file-20200504-83736-1sipr2g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332503/original/file-20200504-83736-1sipr2g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Co-author Katherine Haenschen took this photo of the Hurst sign from the road.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katherine Haenschen</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332512/original/file-20200504-83721-1osayii.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332512/original/file-20200504-83721-1osayii.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332512/original/file-20200504-83721-1osayii.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332512/original/file-20200504-83721-1osayii.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332512/original/file-20200504-83721-1osayii.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332512/original/file-20200504-83721-1osayii.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332512/original/file-20200504-83721-1osayii.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332512/original/file-20200504-83721-1osayii.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Candidate Chris Hurst’s more common campaign signs – that use a sans serif font – are held by supporters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/ChrisHurstForVirginia/posts/?ref=page_internal">Facebook, Chris Hurst for Virginia page</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sign in Blacksburg used a sans serif font that graphic designers generally consider more modern – in part because they were developed relatively recently. Sans serifs (sans means without) do not have those little flourishes. <a href="https://www.monotype.com/fonts/helvetica-now">Helvetica</a> is probably the world’s best-known sans serif and even has its own <a href="https://www.hustwit.com/helvetica">documentary film</a>.</p>
<p>The existence of two typefaces on two different signs for the same candidate raised the question: Does changing the typeface of a candidate’s name actually change something about how that candidate is perceived? </p>
<h2>Typefaces can communicate politics</h2>
<p>The two of us – Haenschen and <a href="https://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools/department-of-communication/faculty/dan-tamul.html">Dan Tamul</a>, also a researcher at Virginia Tech, who studies persuasion – designed a study to find out the answer.</p>
<p>We recruited participants from across the United States through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk program and didn’t limit participation to any age or political orientation. The participants are likely very similar to your average user and consumer of typefaces. While MTurk samples are not always representative, they have been shown to produce results that are <a href="https://alexandercoppock.com/papers/Coppock_generalizability.pdf">highly similar</a> to nationally representative samples. </p>
<p>We showed study participants a name written in one of several typefaces. Some of those typefaces were serif fonts, others were sans serifs, and others still were more stylized display fonts like Blackletter, which looks like a newspaper masthead, and <a href="https://www.dafont.com/sunrise-2.font">Sunrise</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332498/original/file-20200504-83769-aiee4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332498/original/file-20200504-83769-aiee4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332498/original/file-20200504-83769-aiee4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1207&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332498/original/file-20200504-83769-aiee4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1207&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332498/original/file-20200504-83769-aiee4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1207&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332498/original/file-20200504-83769-aiee4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332498/original/file-20200504-83769-aiee4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332498/original/file-20200504-83769-aiee4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Typefaces, top to bottom: Birds; Century Gothic; Cloister; Gil Sans; Jubilat; Sunrise; TNR Regular.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Contributed by authors</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Participants were then asked to rate how liberal or conservative they thought the typeface or the person whose name was printed.</p>
<p>Blackletter was rated by participants as the most conservative typeface and Sunrise as the most liberal. The serif typefaces, Times New Roman and <a href="https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/jubilat">Jubilat</a>, were rated as more conservative than the sans serif typefaces, <a href="https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/mti/gill-sans/">Gill Sans</a> and <a href="https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/century-gothic">Century Gothic</a>. </p>
<p>The perceptions of the typefaces were not uniform for all participants, however. Democrats generally rated typefaces as more liberal than Republicans did, with the exception of the three display fonts (Blackletter, Birds of Paradise and Sunrise). </p>
<h2>Typefaces are influential</h2>
<p>You might be tempted to throw your hands up in the air and think that this is just one more example of how <a href="https://theconversation.com/partisan-divide-creates-different-americas-separate-lives-122925">benign expressions are becoming politicized</a>. </p>
<p>Yet, graphic designers have often treated typefaces as <a href="https://ilovetypography.com/2008/01/10/type-faces-ellen-lupton-interview/">artistic expressions</a>, and past research has shown that <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/1375315">typefaces have personalities</a> that can influence not only how we think about them but also how we perceive what is written. </p>
<p>For instance, another study found people will rate <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25704872">scientific abstracts</a> as more interesting, appealing and of higher quality when written in a serif typeface compared to a sans serif typeface. Like real people, then, it shouldn’t be surprising that typefaces are perceived as having ideological leanings.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Rn-KcZPxSIQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Is Century Gothic a conservative, or a liberal, font? What about Times New Roman?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What this means for graphic designers is that the typeface you use to express your thoughts is something that can potentially shape how people will perceive you or your message. Our study shows such assessments can include political ideology.</p>
<p>What still is not known, however, is whether the personality, sentiment or perceived ideology that people attach to a typeface can override information that they already have about the message or the person whose name appears in a typeface. </p>
<p>For instance, how many people are likely to change their perception of Trump if his name appears in liberal-leaning Century Gothic? Whether you love him or hate him, your mind is probably already made up.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the same might not be true for lesser-known figures. A typeface choice could influence the perception you have of people running for school board seats, the lawyer opening a new law office or the coffee shop you never noticed before.</p>
<p>Our study also found that people rated the fonts they liked as more aligned with their own political ideology. </p>
<p>The key takeaway then may be to consult a graphic designer for any important project to gauge how your preferred typefaces will be seen.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130738/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 organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Everything is political. And that includes typefaces, write two scholars who found that people see one group of typeface styles as liberal, another group of styles as conservative.Daniel Tamul, Assistant Professor in Communications, Virginia TechKatherine Haenschen, Assistant Professor of Communication, Virginia TechLicensed 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/668552016-10-12T13:09:18Z2016-10-12T13:09:18ZMcDonald’s accused of copying graffiti logo – here’s why we should protect street artists’ original tags<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141254/original/image-20161011-12005-iynty5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stc4blues/3597931890/in/photolist-6tWkNs-bZNNV-bAW7A-6ujzyQ-bza7AH-4VRcrr-DWdceW-pwSoZJ-h4RcxR-6ssTwr-bmfekN-4W1N3T-4VRcXe-4W65ah-96vpva-9qZ9iT-6tGBe5-4VVbLo-2XLDxM-4VQVmK-4VRbAi-bza5Ez-4VRcDz-96vChV-cLPCQb-4VVtaA-4VRbT2-9BZELA-4VVrrQ-47FmNb-bFmYdz-6Fu4mB-4VQVhx-4VRcnZ-4W1Mf4-4VRcAF-4VQUjD-4VRbQv-4VRc6F-4VRbKZ-4VVsjj-4VVrnd-4VVsYA-4VVsa5-4VQUTv-aoWWxA-4VQUqr-4VVayN-bmfdTQ-4W63i7">stc4blues/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fast food giant McDonald’s has its own, very recognisable logo, but it may soon need to defend itself against a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/326747894/031124419751397-Da-3-d-0">copyright lawsuit</a> for allegedly appropriating someone else’s, in this instance the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/mcdonalds-dash-snow-sued-tag-graffiti_uk_57f7918ee4b04e1174a47c07">stylised name of a street artist</a>.</p>
<p>The family of the deceased artist <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/sep/20/dash-snow-new-york-artist">Dash Snow</a> recently brought the case to a Californian court. Also seeking to protect Snow’s anti-consumerist reputation, they claim that McDonald’s has committed copyright infringement by using a “brazen copy” of Snow’s graffiti signature and <a href="https://consumerist.com/2016/10/06/mcdonalds-accused-of-stealing-late-artists-work-to-make-fake-graffiti-on-restaurant-walls/">featuring it on the walls</a> of hundreds of its restaurants. Snow started his career as a graffiti artist with the crew <a href="http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/tag/irak/">IRAK</a>.</p>
<p>This is just the latest in a string of cases where graffiti or street artists have brought copyright suits against corporations that have allegedly copied their pieces, including fashion companies <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/09/us/moschino-lawsuit">Moschino</a> and <a href="http://www.widewalls.ch/graffiti-artists-sue-cavalli/">Cavalli</a>, and clothing retailer <a href="https://theconversation.com/graffiti-copyright-battles-pitch-artists-against-advertisers-30291">American Eagle Outfitters</a>. These cases were all settled out of court.</p>
<p>Yet the Dash Snow dispute is the first that seeks copyright protection of what within the graffiti subculture is called a <a href="http://www.fatcap.com/graffiti-style/throw-ups-1/pictures.html?s=mv">throw-up</a>. A stylistic signature representing the artist’s name, the throw-up is made of personalised (often bubble) letters, outlined in one colour and filled with another. Another, less sophisticated type of graffiti signature is the widely known “tag”, which consists of letters drawn in condensed calligraphic form. Both populate urban environments around the globe.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141214/original/image-20161011-11994-1qv9tmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141214/original/image-20161011-11994-1qv9tmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141214/original/image-20161011-11994-1qv9tmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141214/original/image-20161011-11994-1qv9tmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141214/original/image-20161011-11994-1qv9tmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141214/original/image-20161011-11994-1qv9tmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141214/original/image-20161011-11994-1qv9tmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141214/original/image-20161011-11994-1qv9tmk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Left: Dash Snow’s SACE tag. Right: McDonald’s decoration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BERREAU v. MCDONALD’S CORPORATION ET AL, 2:16-cv-07394.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Throw-ups and tags represent a strong desire to be recognised and appreciated within the subculture. They are basically street logos. They glorify identity and are mainly addressed to other graffiti artists within the community – often representing the first step in the career of what may eventually become a street artist.</p>
<h2>Too trivial?</h2>
<p>But some may argue that throw-ups and tags lack a sufficient level of originality to be considered copyrightable, and are too trivial to attract protection.</p>
<p>Yet the debate about whether these street logos deserve such protection may be influenced by the fact that they are frequently perceived negatively by large sectors of society, as opposed to more elaborate pieces of street art, which are increasingly accepted and appreciated. </p>
<p>Often considered to be mere scrawlings, which visually pollute our cities and require expensive cleaning by local councils, throw-ups and tags are also disliked by many because they are ubiquitous, sometimes associated with gangsterism, and (to the eyes of people outside the subculture) indecipherable. Such a belief is reinforced by the assumption that throw-ups and tags seem easy to paint, or are the product of mischievousness rather than artistic ability.</p>
<p>But all this ignores the fact that over the years, most graffiti artists develop and perfect their own lettering style. Even throw-ups and tags which to an untrained eye seem banal and meaningless may be considered creative and sufficiently original within the subculture.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141255/original/image-20161011-12013-l9a95b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141255/original/image-20161011-12013-l9a95b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141255/original/image-20161011-12013-l9a95b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141255/original/image-20161011-12013-l9a95b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141255/original/image-20161011-12013-l9a95b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141255/original/image-20161011-12013-l9a95b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141255/original/image-20161011-12013-l9a95b.jpg?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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vandalism or creativity?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lord-jim/5533599381/in/photolist-9qZ9iT-6tGBe5-4VVbLo-2XLDxM-4VQVmK-4VRbAi-bza5Ez-4VRcDz-96vChV-cLPCQb-4VVtaA-4VRbT2-9BZELA-6ssTwr-4VVrrQ-bmfekN-47FmNb-bFmYdz-4VQVhx-4VRcnZ-4W1Mf4-4VRcAF-4VQUjD-4VRbQv-4VRc6F-4VRbKZ-4VVsjj-4VVrnd-4VVsYA-4VVsa5-4VQUTv-aoWWxA-4VQUqr-4VVayN-bmfdTQ-4W63i7-bmfdij-6Fu4mB-bmfdxN-4VVbbN-4VVu6j-4VVaMu-4VVav3-4VRcMD-9FZcgg-4VQUN8-4VRdbt-4VQUcz-4VQUAD-4VVu2w">lord-jim/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Graffiti has historically been an art movement that revolves around letter formation and calligraphy. Over the decades many original ways of drawing letters, and adorning them by adding arrows, crowns, curves, twists and other decorative elements, have been created and consolidated. And new lettering styles that seek to re-interpret, reconstruct and deconstruct the alphabet are still regularly created within graffiti communities.</p>
<h2>Getting creative</h2>
<p>That many tags may be considered original and therefore protectable by copyright is confirmed by the high level of competition between artists, who aim to distinguish their own lettering style from that of others. Accusations of copying throw-up and tag styles (what in graffiti jargon is defined as biting) are not uncommon within the graffiti scene. This indirectly confirms that more original letters, such as the ones developed by Dash Snow, are the result of creative effort.</p>
<p>Take, for example, the famous <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/image_galleries/banksy_gallery.shtml?4">Banksy’s tag</a>. One may arguably claim it is very unique, and therefore eligible for copyright protection. The upright back of the capital letter “B” is missing; the letter “k” needs the “n” for a support; the top of the letter “s” is slightly cut off and the final “y” looks semi-dwarf. Tags are clearly far from simply written words – they are also images.</p>
<p>Throw-ups and tags have undeniably grown in popularity and have attracted attention from marketing gurus always in search of new ideas capable of infusing street credibility into their commercial offers and making products more edgy and marketable. There have also been cases of <a href="http://www.widewalls.ch/street-art-forgery-case-jonone">street art</a> falsely attributed to the real artist. And a variety of graffiti font styles are regularly offered for sale online for creative people and professionals to use in their urban artworks.</p>
<p>The belief that innovative lettering styles can be original enough to attract copyright protection is reinforced by the general principle enshrined in most copyright laws around the world that the quality of a work is not relevant for the purposes of copyright subsistence. In other words, copyright protects both highly meritorious and (what many people may consider) awful works. The concept of artistic work has become quite a broad one nowadays.</p>
<p>In the end, if copyright laws consider simple charts, diagrams and technical drawings as copyrightable (as they do in most jurisdictions), it doesn’t seem so heretic to give stylish and original graffiti lettering the same treatment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66855/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Enrico Bonadio 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>When commercial giants want to capitalise on graffiti ‘logos’, it’s time to protect street artists under copyright law.Enrico Bonadio, Senior Lecturer in Law, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/623732016-07-21T14:51:05Z2016-07-21T14:51:05ZA hundred years of Johnston – the iconic typeface of the London Underground<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131255/original/image-20160720-31146-5vtrke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s been 100 years since the London Underground’s distinctive typeface made its first appearance. Alongside the unmistakable roundel, Johnston has helped to create some of the most recognisable signage in the world: a design which screams “London!”, no matter which language you speak. It has guided Londoners and visitors alike through the city’s complex and changing transport system for a century – it’s hard to imagine where we’d all be without it. </p>
<p>On the centenary of London’s most famous lettering, now is a good moment to reflect on how Johnston has shaped the city, and why words – and the way they’re written – form such an essential part of urban infrastructure. </p>
<p>The development of modern cities and transport systems called for new tools to help people negotiate urban life: new technologies for finding our way, new systems for naming, new rules to preserve order and avoid accidents – and, of course, new visual forms to communicate all of these things. Every city has tackled these tasks in a slightly different way, and London made progress thanks to the efforts of many different people. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131438/original/image-20160721-32286-l1nd72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131438/original/image-20160721-32286-l1nd72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131438/original/image-20160721-32286-l1nd72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131438/original/image-20160721-32286-l1nd72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131438/original/image-20160721-32286-l1nd72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131438/original/image-20160721-32286-l1nd72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1081&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131438/original/image-20160721-32286-l1nd72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1081&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131438/original/image-20160721-32286-l1nd72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1081&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">I get around.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>For instance, in 1854, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/snow_john.shtml">physician John Snow</a> mapped the cholera epidemic in London. Not only did he manage to locate the source of the outbreak (a water pump in Soho), his designs also helped those in power to understand the needs of the people. His maps were consulted during the development of crucial sanitary and plumbing works, which transformed London into a 20th-century city.</p>
<p>Later, during the 1930s, Phyllis Pearsall also helped to forge the path, by creating an alphabetical index of London. Pearsall’s <a href="http://www.az.co.uk/?nid=5">Geographer’s A-Z Map</a> became a milestone of design and transformed the way place can be understood, by recasting the city’s then 23,000 streets into an easily navigable list. </p>
<h2>Designing London</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131435/original/image-20160721-32600-jz2zd8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131435/original/image-20160721-32600-jz2zd8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131435/original/image-20160721-32600-jz2zd8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=741&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131435/original/image-20160721-32600-jz2zd8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=741&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131435/original/image-20160721-32600-jz2zd8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=741&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131435/original/image-20160721-32600-jz2zd8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131435/original/image-20160721-32600-jz2zd8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131435/original/image-20160721-32600-jz2zd8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Johnston, by Johnston.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnston_(typeface)#/media/File:Johnston_2.png">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the likes of Pearsall and Snow responded to the city’s surface, others turned their attention underground. In 1908, three events transformed London’s nascent underground railway: both the roundel symbol and the word “Underground” appeared for the first time in stations, and the network’s first machine-made tickets were issued. </p>
<p>These innovations were part of managing director Albert Stanley and then-publicity officer Frank Pick’s plan to rescue the ailing Underground Electric Railway Company of London. From this, a brand was born, and calligrapher Edward Johnston was commissioned create a typeface as visually striking as the roundel mark. In 1916, it was rolled out right across the city. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131432/original/image-20160721-32606-t3x4h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131432/original/image-20160721-32606-t3x4h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131432/original/image-20160721-32606-t3x4h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131432/original/image-20160721-32606-t3x4h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131432/original/image-20160721-32606-t3x4h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131432/original/image-20160721-32606-t3x4h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1165&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131432/original/image-20160721-32606-t3x4h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1165&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131432/original/image-20160721-32606-t3x4h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1165&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trajan column: an inspiration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uralumnitravelandlearn/7295605192/sizes/l">UR Alumni Travel & Learn/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For Johnston, the alphabet’s most important letter was “O”. Along with the “I”, its purity and character drives the form of all others. For inspiration, he turned to one of the Roman alphabet’s most critical touchstones: the Trajan column. Located in Rome and constructed in around 117AD, the column celebrates Emperor Trajan’s military victory in the Dacian wars with an inscription of six lines of letters. </p>
<p>It was the unadorned, uncorrupted form of the column’s square capitals that defined the character of Johnston’s typeface, which strove to represent a humanist essence among the chaotic visual landscape which was emerging above and below ground in London in the 1930s. Advertising and branding were colonising the everyday visual space, and competing for the attention of passengers and pedestrians through a veritable typographic storm. </p>
<p>But Johnston had a more radical intention: to create a typeface that was understated, quotidian, ordinary – a part of the consistent background, rather than a changing foreground. It’s this quality which perhaps explains the design’s longevity; the way it has become a feature of the city’s landscape, seeped into its infrastructures of government and, of course, transport. </p>
<h2>Changing face</h2>
<p>The typeface’s 1979 redesign by Colin Banks and John Miles placed Johnston at the centre of a strategic rebranding for <a href="http://www.ltmcollection.org/roundel/about/detailedhistory.html?IXpage=4&_IXSESSION_=GAwsfxHs6_c">London Transport</a>. They reined in some of Johnston’s typographic idiosyncrasies, by reducing the ratio between a stroke’s height and thickness, and breaking the rule that the stroke of a letter must be a constant width. </p>
<p>These interventions helped to shape the typeface that so powerfully embodies the character of the city; steeped in history and tradition, while striving towards an ideal of modernity; resolute and resourceful, unique and efficient.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131441/original/image-20160721-30441-1jwezce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131441/original/image-20160721-30441-1jwezce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131441/original/image-20160721-30441-1jwezce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131441/original/image-20160721-30441-1jwezce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131441/original/image-20160721-30441-1jwezce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131441/original/image-20160721-30441-1jwezce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131441/original/image-20160721-30441-1jwezce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From old to new.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/futureshape/6936208501/sizes/o/">futureshape/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the 21st century, we’ve seen Johnston’s lettering extend beyond the functional and into the political, after it was adopted by London’s mayor and assembly. Now, 40 years after Banks and Miles’ redesign, global type agency Monotype <a href="http://www.dezeen.com/2016/06/27/monotype-update-transport-for-london-100-year-old-johnston-typeface-underground-tube/">have retooled Johnston</a> for new platforms, trends and media. Notably, they have introduced thinner weights for digital use and, for the first time, the hash (#) and at (@) signs. </p>
<p>Like London, the typeface is subject to the push-and-pull of its own sense of self and history: one feature of Monotype’s Johnston100 redesign was the return of those quirks and idiosyncrasies that fell by the wayside in previous reworkings. The versatility of Johnston’s remarkable letters show how such superficially simple characters can powerfully influence the way people experience the city. It is the “voice” which helps people to get around – a comforting familiar presence amid the chaos of the morning commute.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62373/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Wilson 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>A century ago, Edward Johnston designed a typeface for London’s transport authority. It continues to shape our experience of the city to this day.Paul Wilson, Lecturer in Communication Design, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/267252014-05-30T12:26:23Z2014-05-30T12:26:23ZThe secrets of designing a good typeface: it’s all in the tuning<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/48735/original/7rwn9tq9-1400249793.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">And how do you read your typeface?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelpasch/2249021588/sizes/l">Justmakeit</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When we want what we write to be clearly communicated to a reader, we generally try to use a typeface that is clear to read. But few people realise how quickly your choice of typeface affects that process. If we can understand it better, we can design typefaces more effectively.</p>
<p>Readers like expending as little effort as possible when identifying individual letters and recognising words, so that they are left with more capacity to focus on understanding the meaning of the text. </p>
<p>Today we have many legible typefaces, each of which has its own visual style. Futura, for example, has no contrast of thick and thin strokes whereas Bodoni has substantial contrast.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49385/original/wckqxvqc-1400948384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49385/original/wckqxvqc-1400948384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49385/original/wckqxvqc-1400948384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49385/original/wckqxvqc-1400948384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49385/original/wckqxvqc-1400948384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49385/original/wckqxvqc-1400948384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49385/original/wckqxvqc-1400948384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How contrast can vary.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other characteristics include the slant, the weight and the angle of stress. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/48736/original/bp5w9r6j-1400250150.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/48736/original/bp5w9r6j-1400250150.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/48736/original/bp5w9r6j-1400250150.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48736/original/bp5w9r6j-1400250150.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48736/original/bp5w9r6j-1400250150.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48736/original/bp5w9r6j-1400250150.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48736/original/bp5w9r6j-1400250150.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48736/original/bp5w9r6j-1400250150.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">So many Bs.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite this variation, fluent readers can, apparently without undue effort, identify quite different shapes as all being the same letter. An “a” in Comic Sans looks very different from an “a” in Times New Roman but they are still instantly understood as an “a” to the reader.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49386/original/x6ymphpv-1400949538.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49386/original/x6ymphpv-1400949538.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49386/original/x6ymphpv-1400949538.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49386/original/x6ymphpv-1400949538.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49386/original/x6ymphpv-1400949538.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49386/original/x6ymphpv-1400949538.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49386/original/x6ymphpv-1400949538.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Challenges of identifying letters.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It can be relatively difficult to differentiate between some fairly similar letterforms, though. On the face of things, a “c” and an “e” have very similar shapes, as do an “i” and an “l”. A comparable problem occurs in speech perception, where we need to identify vowels from different speakers. This is a challenge because the acoustic pattern of a vowel from one speaker is distinct from their other vowels but overlaps with the acoustic pattern of a different vowel spoken by someone else.</p>
<p>In designing typefaces, there is a tension between making sure there is a uniformity of style, which is achieved through commonalities in the shape, proportions, and other attributes of letters within a typeface and ensuring that each letter is distinct. For typographer <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Typographic_Opportunities_in_the_Compute.html?id=4hncNwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">Jan Tschichold</a>, “legibility has its roots simply in the comfortable recognisability of thoroughly distinctive yet congruent letter forms”.</p>
<p>There are even <a href="http://bdatech.org/what-technology/typefaces-for-dyslexia/#dyslexie">typefaces designed</a> specifically for dyslexic readers. Among other things, these tend to <a href="http://bdatech.org/what-technology/typefaces-for-dyslexia/">increase the distinctions</a> between confusable letters. Dyslexic readers, it seems, prefer “p” and “q” to have distinct shapes rather than just be mirror images of each other, for example in the typeface Lexia Readable. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49176/original/3sdqhw5t-1400695472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49176/original/3sdqhw5t-1400695472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49176/original/3sdqhw5t-1400695472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49176/original/3sdqhw5t-1400695472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49176/original/3sdqhw5t-1400695472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49176/original/3sdqhw5t-1400695472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49176/original/3sdqhw5t-1400695472.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">Irregularities of style.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the same time, there is psychological evidence that the shared traits between letters can help a reader identify them more efficiently. This has been explained as the reader’s <a href="http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/25604/1/SanockiDyson2011.pdf">perceptual processing system tuning to the regularities across letters.</a></p>
<p>Type designers add stylistic features to the basic forms of letters, whereas the reader considers the letter the other way round. They identify which stylistic forms have been added and remove them to find the basic form beneath it. </p>
<p>This process happens within a fraction of a second, when our eyes first fix on letters. If we focus on this process, we might be able to better understand how we process typefaces.</p>
<p>By collaborating with typeface designer Sofie Beier, we’ve identified some of the outstanding questions that need to be answered.</p>
<p>We don’t yet know exactly when we retune so we don’t know how the level of distinctiveness between typefaces affects timing. We don’t know if retuning is a default process and we don’t know if it happens gradually or rapidly. Nor do we know exactly what triggers it – is it that we have noticed that the letters are in a different typeface or that we struggle to identify certain letters? We don’t know if it happens more in some readers or reading contexts than others.</p>
<p>These are all important questions that could help us design better typefaces. We might even try to see if some irregularities, such as one or two particularly quirky letters in a typeface prevent us from tuning, making reading it more difficult. </p>
<p>This last question links to the contradictory objectives of distinctive yet congruent forms. If we know the answers, we could make better decisions about the optimum degrees of uniformity and distinctiveness in our typeface and about whether uniformity across some features, such as width, placement of <a href="http://www.typographydeconstructed.com/serif/">serifs</a> are more important than others. </p>
<p>Once these issues have been addressed, we could have a firmer basis for supporting people who have more difficulty reading – but we could also choose typefaces for specific purposes and design new typefaces that optimise legibility.</p>
<p>We may never be able to resolve the difficulties we have understanding the nuances of speech because we can’t choose what people’s voices or accents sound like but we do have control over what we read and how we present words to each other. With a little more understanding, we could develop typefaces that are not only visually pleasing but also highly functional.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/26725/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Dyson 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>When we want what we write to be clearly communicated to a reader, we generally try to use a typeface that is clear to read. But few people realise how quickly your choice of typeface affects that process…Mary Dyson, Associate Professor, Typography & Graphic Communication, University of ReadingLicensed 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/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.