When it comes to web design, count me in as a big fan. As a fan of web design, its not possible to ignore the role fonts play in the design of any outstanding webpage. The same can be said for print media. Designer fonts or typefaces are the difference between a so-so page in a magazine and a page that catches you’re attention. Some corporate identities go hand-in-hand with a particular font.
The people who design fonts or typefaces (calligraphists or calligraphers or type designers) are true artists in every sense. They have a litany of considerations when designing a new font or typeface that few people would think of. When all of the letters in a set are put side-by-side, they need to have a consistency.
They are often inspired by fonts used in years past, ancient scribes or calligraphers or in local signage. Typefaces run the gamet from sans-serif to serifless roman to script to modern serif to slab serif. Most come in varying weights also. Many types also offer several styles like italic, bold or condensed.
A well-styled font, used in a heading, can draw attention to an article or blog posting by improving on the ho-hum style of a more run-of-the mill, commonly-used font. Often, these stylish fonts have to be displayed as image files because the local font-set on the reader’s computer isn’t expansive enough to include them. (and then there are web fonts like those available from Google Web Fonts-see below) The custom fonts are all well-suited to print.
Many of the type designers work for design “studios” or “type foundries” which are tasked with coming up with specific designs for clients. Fonts or typefaces are often described in the terms used by devotees of fine wine, cigars or coffee. Words like “playful,” “elegant,” “quirky,” “lively” or “contemporary.” (or full-bodied, chocolaty, musty or a hint of fruitiness; different subject, same idea………it all differentiates)
Several of my personal favorite examples of great typography are included to the right. On my graphic, I have included the “Wisdom Script” font, the “Vevey” font, the “Clarence” font, the “Lobster 1.4” font, the “Japanese Brush” font, the “Jellyka-Estrya’s Handwriting” font and the “Dream Orphans” font.
Great Type Designers
The Estrya’s Handwriting font was designed by Jellyka Nerevan. Jellyka’s (Jessica’s) font names, such as Jellyka CuttyCupcakes, are as creative as her font designs. A resident of Quebec, she is only 20 years old.
The type designer responsible for the Lobster font is Pablo Impallari. A self-taught type designer from Argentina, Impallari’s Lobster font has been used in various media, restaurant menu’s and signage around the world. Another of Impallari’s creations, the Dancing Script, a throwback to the 1950’s, can be seen at the heading of this post.
Lost Angeles designer, Vanessa Lam is the talent behind the Vevey condensed sans serif typeface. The Art Center College of Design grad also provides branding, print and packaging design expertise.
With more than 1000 font designs under his belt, Nagoya, Japan resident and Ottawa-native designer Ray Larabie is the designer of the Dream Orphans font. (He may also be the designer of the Japanese Brush font, but that has been hard to confirm….if you are reading this Ray, drop me a line)
Great typography helps define corporate brands. From the early bottles of Coke to the curvy text in the new version of the Xerox logo, the styling of the letters makes all the difference.
Pull it from a server
Google Web Fonts is another approach to adding more exciting typography to a website. (assuming they work out the cross-browser compatibility problems) Google says that the service offers a directory of web fonts which, used with their API, can improve the look and readability of a site. The available fonts are all open source and free and the API service runs off of Google servers. The Lobster font is one font available through this service.
Those who participate in this art will probably find fault with my inter-mingling of terms and discipline’s, but the end result is what I am fascinated with typography and all things that impact web design. Brilliantly designed fonts or typefaces just make all the difference on a magazine page or webpage. Why settle for the mundane when extra style is only a font away?
