Fonts

While reading this week's chapter, I was struck by just how much typography affects a piece of writing's message. When I was younger, I always used to mess about with the different fonts that were available on Word and wait until I found the "prettiest" font. I was a big fan of Comic Sans... Looking back I realize that using Comic Sans was a mistake for most pieces I was creating. It is not exactly the most professional font and quite frankly with its over usage it isn't even slightly funny. It has recently been getting a lot of flack from internet communities and people in general because it was used for everything and people thought it was "quirky". Quite frankly, I feel quite annoyed when I see it for those very reasons. 


Helvetica (the font I'm now using) is now one of the most widely used fonts ranging from the print on ads for Target to U.S. government documents. It was created by Mix Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, both from Switzerland, in 1957. There was even a documentary about this font that was released in 2007, which was the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of this style of writing. I did not have the time to spar to watch the entire film, which is on YouTube, so I settled for watching the trailer.


Nothing was spoken in this trailer but it still left me with a lasting impression: What has Helvetica told me today? Quite a lot I'm supposing. I'm not an expert on distinguishing fonts and I don't pretend to be. But after doing a little bit more research on this font, I found an interesting quote from Wim Crouwel said, "Helvetica was a real step from the 19th century typeface... We were impressed by that because it was more neutral, and neutralism was a word that we loved. It should be neutral. It shouldn't have a meaning in itself. The meaning is in the content of the text and not in the typeface." I never once thought about font in that way. It should not be dictating what the meaning is but rather allow the words to do that itself. 


Instead of letting the font do the talking, you should let your words create meaning. Looking back on some projects that I did during younger years, I think I took advantage of crazy fonts and let them cover up some of my bad writing. Or just let the fonts take over the entirety of the project. It's easy to use a font like Chiller to make a section seem creepy or scary but it takes time and a mastery of words to create a scene like that without using font as a crutch. 


With that being said, I definitely think that fonts are incredibly useful and fun. They can set a tone for a piece or an advertisement, direct our attention to important parts, and make it appealing for people read. It's just important that people don't use fonts, such as Comic Sans, to make others think you are quirky but use them to further enforce their statements.