Type in the Wild by cjw57

Type in the

Wild An in-depth look into the typography we see everyday

Jules Herold-Ward

Introduction Typography is in more places than you realize, and has more of an impact on your view of a product than you think it would have. I realized this throughout the ten weeks I collected typographic examples for this booklet, for my Typography courses final project. Tying in with overall design, typography is very important in converying your message, your tone, and your concept with your product, whether it be on a cereal box, a billboard, etc. Just as much as good typography draws you into the product, bad typography can do the exact opposite (not very suprising). Whether it be the wrong choice of typeface, too much/ too little leading, poor positioning, bad typography can turn you off from a particular product just as much as a bad design would. Throughout this book we’ll be examining various examples of both good and bad typography, and seeing what particular typographical elements help to make them “good” or “bad”. The examinations will progressivley go more in detail as the weeks move forward, as I was learning more typographic principles with each week I collected examples. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed making it!

Week One

Monster Energy & Dollar Store Decoration

Good To begin this relection, we’ll start with one of my favorite examples of good typography: the Monster logo. This is an example of good typography because the typeface used is very similar texturally to the actual logo itself, with them both being rugged and “monster like”. The type spelling out “energy” is a different typeface than the main one used in the word “monster”, but compliments it by being a fairly simple sans serif with higher tracking between characters. This opposes the main type, which is more complex in structure with less tracking between characters. This difference in the two types makes the can look less busy overall, yet maintains appeal to look at. The color usage of silver and green compliment each other very well and, much like the type structure itself, reminds the consumer of a tough and rugged “monster”, relating to the brand name. The type contrasts very well with the background of the can also, making it legible from a distance away. The outline of the main “monster” type is reflective as well, which adds some flair and uniqueness to the can. The main type itself makes use of the Greek letter “Φ” (pronounced phi), which is used for the letter “o”. This symbol is used in multiple mathematical equations, including the golden ratio, multiple probability theories, and certain equations involving energy (Wikipedia 2021). This use of the symbol in place of the “o” is quite clever since the symbol “Φ” is used in some equations relating to energy, thus tying it to Monster Energy.

Our first example of what I would consider bad typography is on this fake shimmery stocking I got for Christmas as a decoration last year. I state this for multiple reasons, mostly due to the types positioning and size against the rest of the stocking. The size of the letters compared to the rest of the stocking makes the words harder to read, especially from a distance away, which is how most people would be viewing this design. Paired with the luster of the plastic bits decorating the stocking and the actual words themselves, the lettering is very hard to read under a lot of circumstances. Making the type bigger would improve the legibility and quality of this design. Secondly, the positioning of the type is pretty awkward. Both of the words are tilted down to the left, but the second word, ‘Christmas’, is tilted a bit further down than the word above it, ‘Merry’. If both words were tilted the same amount, this typography would look less unappealing. Even having both of the words parallel to each other, not tilting at all would look better. However, the actual style of the lettering isn’t bad, and the color is a good contrast to the reddishness of the stocking. If the size and positioning of the type was a bit adjusted, the luster on the words toned down a bit, the typography of this stocking wouldn’t be that bad at all. Though I did purchase this decoration from the dollar store, so I wasn’t quite expecting a fully quality design for my money.

Bad

Week One

Monster Energy & Dollar Store Decoration

Bad

Week Two

Goldfish & Groovy Air Freshener

Bad

Good Our next example for bad use of typography is on this bottle of air freshener, specifically the main logo displayed on the center. The type is garish and a lot to take in, which doesn’t lend this product any favors. The two typefaces used are very different from one another, with one being a serif typeface and the other being sans serif. The top text is also very bold and tall, with various design elements coming from the type. The bottom text differs greatly from the top text, but not in a very complimenting way. The typeface itself has incredibly thin strokes, while being very big and bold in other parts. It’s not different enough from the top typeface to complement it, but it’s different enough for the pairing to not go so well together. The bottom text’s typeface also makes it harder to read due to the narrower lines on the characters being on a small scale, like on this small bottle I have. The top text looks fairly decent for the most part, but the dot over the ‘i’ looks very disproportionate to the rest of the type. If the dot was sized up to be properly proportionate with the rest of the text, the design of the top type would be improved tremendously. The horns and tail coming out of the top text looks okay, but the tail is a little bit distracting and busy. I believe editing the tail by shortening or simplifying it would improve the design of the top text overall.

Our next example of good typography is in the Goldfish logo, specifically the word ‘Goldfish’ itself in the logo. The text uses a nice, easy-going typeface that isn’t too bold or harsh, but not too light or soft. The target audience for Goldfish is primarily children, and the type reflects that greatly in a way that isn’t too glaringly obvious. The use of the little goldfish where the dot above the ‘i’ goes proves this as well, and fits in nicely with the design of the type. The swoops and curves of the typeface fit in well with the curves laying outside of the type, such as the trail behind the fish. Moreover, the highlight inside the type defines the characters well, and adds a nice, subtle touch to the design of the type. The usage of brown in the type is also well done here, it isn’t as harsh as, say, if they had used black instead. The brown also compliments the orange quite nicely. The drop shadow behind the text helps accentuate it even more, as well as complimenting the highlights in the type. The positioning of the type is well done in accordance with the design on the rest of the bag as well. The motion is going around from the left hand side, with the swooping design giving the illusion of the fish swimming our way. The text goes along with this motion quite well. The type is angled to match with the fish, continuing the illusion of motion on this design.

Week Two

Goldfish & Groovy Air Freshener

Bad

Week Three

Fruity Pebbles & Bando Notebook

Good Our next good example is the logo for Fruity Pebbles. The design of the type fits the theme of the cereal very well, as they’re connected with the Flintstones. The rocky texture of the characters helps achieve this. The slight cracks in the design, the illusion of depth provided by the shadows, and the rugged outline of the characters help aid in this effect. The colors used pop out a lot and are very saturated, which also fits the cereal quite well, which is also colorful. The main color used in the logo, yellow, contrasts very well with the background of the box, which is red. This contrast makes the logo even easier to spot from a distance, which comes in handy when you want to get a customer’s attention in a grocery store. Henceforth, the motion of the type makes it much more interesting to look at. The type is tilted up to an angle to the right, with the characters getting smaller the more right you look. This is a better choice than just having the logo be flat with no motion at all, especially considering the cereal’s target audience. Furthermore, the main target audience for Fruity Pebbles is young children, a bit obvious due to the fact that they use cartoon characters as their mascots. This logo fits that target audience perfectly. The big, cartoony, colorful type is very likely to get the attention of their target audience, as well as being very memorable, therefore making it even easier to spot on a grocery store shelf.

Moving along, the next example for bad typography is featured on the cover of this notebook I found in my universites bookstore. Where do I even begin with this? To start, the placement of the characters makes no sense and isn’t very even. All the characters are offset from one another and look like they were placed individually, with no regard as to what the whole would look like. The placement of the word ‘to’ confuses me a lot; it looks incredibly uneven and out of place. It offsets the balance of the type and makes this design look very heavy on the right side. Secondly, the type itself is at an awkward size compared to the notebook. It’s not small enough to be just an accent, but it’s not big enough to be a full design on the notebook. Adjusting the size of the type and finding a size that works well with the notebook would benefit this design. Henceforth, the colors chosen do not go with each other at all, and are quite frankly an eyesore to look at. The differences in value are very stark, as you have a very dark green and blue matched with a light orange, pink, and yellow. Finding a good balance in value with these colors would make this not so painful to look at. However, they do contrast nicely with the color of the notebook, which makes it very legible paired with the typeface used.

Bad

Week Three

Fruity Pebbles & Bando Notebook

Bad

Week Four

Easy Cheese & Krazy Glue

Bad

Good

Our next example of bad typography is this super glue I fiound, labelled “Krazy Glue”. Overall, I think this type is boring, especially considering the brand name, and I think it could look a lot more exciting. The typeface used looks to be a fairly simple sans-serif face, bold and in black. I think the typeface should be one that fits the brand name better and is more compelling to look at. I will say they probably choose this face because of its legibility, which is understandable. Good legibility is extremely important for products on shelves in a store, especially smaller products. However, I feel like they could have found a typeface with good legibility that’s more compelling than this basic face they chose here. Moving on, the one element that sticks out to me is the crooked ‘A’, which was most likely the idea the designers had in mind. However, it looks quite lazy to me, and not simple in a good way. Like I stated before, a better typeface paired with this design choice, or a variation of it, would have worked much better. Despite these points, there are a few things I do like about this design as well. I like the italicized ‘glue’ underneath the z. The italization creates a contrast between ‘glue’ and ‘krazy’, which makes legibility better. The placement of it is good as well, as it falls into “the rule of thirds” sweet spot, and not just in the center or completely off to the side. Despite these points however, the other elements composing this type are too glaring to ignore.

The next example for good typography is the Easy Cheese logo type. I really like this design for a number of reasons, first being the positioning of the characters. The placement of the letters is very fun and fits the product well, with it resembling the cheese which comes out in thin strips. These letters are packed very close together, as this product is a slim can, but the kerning is done very well here. The characters that grab my attention the most are the ‘A’,’Y’, and ‘H’. The strokes on them are cut off slightly by the letters to the left of them, but not in an abrupt way. It feels natural, and it works very well with this design. Secondly, the type itself is fairly rounded and soft looking, once again reminding the viewer of the product that’s inside the can. The highlights inside the characters also remind me of cheese, as well as being a nice touch to the letters to give them more dimension. The black lining to the right of the characters also gives the type more dimension, as well as complimenting the highlights. Furthermore, the color choices are well chosen too. Yellow and red are the two main colors people associate with food, which are the colors we see on this design. In addition to this, the yellow text stands out very well against the bright red border around the type, making legibility easier. The typeface chosen also makes legibility very easy here.

Week Four

Easy Cheese & Krazy Glue

Bad

Good

Week Five

Peace Tea & Dollar Store Sticker

Good For our next example of good typography, we’ll be looking at the Peace Tea logo. There are several reasons I choose this, but the most prominent reason is unity. The characters all have a sense of unity, with them being very close in shape and size, but still being different enough for legibility to not be an issue. Each character has a rectangular overall shape, but has rounded corners, giving much more of a soft effect which goes in line with the product name. The type is in black and bold letters, which makes it easier to read from afar, which you would more often than not be doing in a store where this is sold. The horizontal strokes in the ‘A’ and ‘E’ letters, aka arms, are tilted up to the right slightly, which gives some more visual flair and uniqueness to the lettering. This is just noticeable enough to be easily seen, but just subtle enough to not throw off the type. The right side of the arm of the letter ‘T’ is extended to cover the tops on the letters ‘E’ and ‘A’ on the second row as well. This provides a little more visual weight and more visual flair to the design of the type. The size of the letters ‘E’ and ‘A’ in that row are also sized down, to properly fit into the smaller space the arm of the ‘T’ created by being extended. This change balances out the design, for leaving it unchanged or just moving them off to the side would disrupt the visual balance of the type.

Moving on, this example for bad typography, a sticker I found at the dollar store, deviates from the sense of unity the previous good example set. This design is very confusing and poor in several ways, but the way the words are arranged is the main one that is the most noticeable. When I look at this type, I first want to read it as “May your fruit days be full”. I had to do a double take with this when I saw it in the store to read what it truly said, which isn’t a good thing to have potential consumers doing with your design. Perhaps rearranging the type and/or changing the size of some of the words would make proper legibility easier for the viewer. Also relating to how easily the viewer can read the type, the use of bold characters for both the words “days be” and “fruit full”, paired with the arrangement of the type, makes reading this properly difficult. The words “days be” should be changed to not be bold, to make legibility easier. Just having “fruit full” in bold would make it clear that those words are the main subject of the type. Furthermore, the fonts used don’t go together very well. The use of a thin, curvy font with a bold, straightened font makes for a contrast that doesn’t go very well together in this design. The use of more similar fonts would have made this design better, in my opinion. The tiny exclamation mark off to the side also reads as lazy, and isn’t very noticeable at all compared to the rest of the design.

Bad

Week Five

Peace Tea & Dollar Store Sticker

Bad

Week Six

Events Poster & Batteries+Bulbs

Bad

Good

The next example for bad use of typography is this sign for Batteries + Bulbs I found out in Pensacola. There are several reasons why I don’t particularly like this design, but the main one is the ‘+’ symbol. I wrapped my brain around it for a good few minutes and I could not come up with a reason why there’s a dot besides the upper stroke to the right. My guess is it was to add some visual flair and to make the design more compelling, but it just isn’t necessary and creates confusion. Furthermore, the dual color use on the plus sign is also confusing and just doesn’t work together. Maybe if they switched around the placement of the color this could be an interesting and compelling design choice, like having the orange side of the plus sign face the green type and vice versa. Or perhaps just having the plus sign be a different color (or a tint of the green/orange used) would be a good idea too. Continuing, the ‘l’ and ‘b’ in the word ‘Bulbs’ can look blended together and make legibility harder, especially from afar. I would suggest exaggerating the black border between the ‘l’ and the ‘b’ to further differentiate them, or to adjust the kerning of them to be a little bit more separate. However, there are a few things I like in this design, like the typeface chosen and the color. The typeface is a big and bold sans-serif font that is easily legible from a ways away, and the colors are a nice contrast against the white background of the shop wall. However, despite these good elements I pointed out, the previous points I made on the quality of the design are too distracting to ignore.

Our next example for good use of typography is on this poster I saw from across the elevator at my dorm, specifically the type that says “Events”. The type on this caught my attention right away, and I was drawn into wanting to know what was on this poster because of it. The big, bold letters are very demanding of attention, and almost force our eyes to look at it. The colors used in tandem in the background contrast very well with the color of the type, making it stand out even more. The use of a black border around these big, white characters also makes the type pop out even more. If the black border wasn’t included in the type, legibility would definitely be more of a challenge. The border around the type also acts as a 3-D element to the type, making it appear more dimensional due to thicker strokes emulating a raised texture. The positioning of some letters in front of others also adds to this extra layer of dimension. The position of the characters is very fun and inviting, and adds an interesting visual flair to the overall poster. It creates a feeling of carefree-ness, and lets the viewer know it’s not too serious and is meant to be fun. The colors and shapes in this poster overall give it that effect as well, with the red and blue combo together being reminiscent of comics books and other light hearted things, but the title type is the main element there.

Week Six

Events Poster & Batteries+Bulbs

Bad

Good

Week Seven

Cheez-It & Campus Sign

Good Our next example of good typography is the Cheez-It logo. The text is in a bold, closely kerned together san serif typeface, with white fill and no borders. The use of a bold sans serif font makes legibility easy, from both close and afar. The white text on the red background also helps with this, and is aesthetically pleasing as well. The drop shadow behind the type helps emphasize it, and adds some dimension to the design. The color choice of a dark red for this helps it be distinct, but not as heavy as a black drop shadow would have been. The use of an actual Cheez-It cracker in place of the dash is quite clever, and makes this typography unique. The Cheez-It being at an angle, as opposed to being level with the type’s baseline, adds a hint of excitement and visual flair. The drop shadow of the cracker falling on top of the type adds even more dimension, with that establishing that it rests on top of the type instead of them being on the same plane. The detail of the ridges on the cracker is nice, but it would still be effective if it was simply a smoothedged square. It would perhaps be even more effective, as it would match the look of the type better. Another detail I like is the beginnings of each of the words being capitalized. It improves readability of the design and distincts the two words as being separate, but not in a way as to make them seem like separate bodies of type.

The next example for bad use of typography is on this sign that is hung up at my universities commons. This typography was so close to being appealing, but unnecessary adjustments were made in what I assume was an effort to be visually interesting. Obviously, the adjustments I’m talking about is the ‘U’ with the baseline raised above the other characters, and the extended arm of the ‘M’ connecting to the ‘B’. While some adjustments of certain characters here may have worked out, these do not ,especially the ‘U’. It is majorly distracting and stands out among the design of the board like a sore thumb. When walking past this sign in the commons, it was the first thing I noticed out of everything on the board. For how distracting and emphasized it is, it takes away from the typography and doesn’t suit the design of the board at all. The typography would have looked much better if the ‘U’ wasn’t changed at all, or at least not as drastically. I’m also unsure as to why a period was included at the end of the ‘commuter hub services’ header. As for things I do appreciate here, the use of a different color and type style for the word ‘services’ is a good contrast to the ‘commuter hub’ type. However, the types are still similar enough to still be considered a part of the same body. The typeface used is a big and bold sans serif one, which makes legibility of the poster easier, which is important when you want to get people’s attention from a distance like how a poster/board usually would. Despite these points, of course, the glaring issues involving a few of the characters cannot be ignored.

Bad

Week Seven

Cheez-It & Campus Sign

Bad

Week Eight

Rold Gold & “Eveready”

Bad

Good Our next example of bad typography is on this pack of flashlights I found a while ago at Target. I’m assuming the type “EVEREADY” is the name of the flashlight brand shown here, but I can’t be sure because there’s no clear indication of what exactly that type represents. This is the first of many problems this type has. For instance, it’s overall very plain and uninspired. The typeface used is a big, bold, and condensed sans serif one, with a black border/ shadow surrounding the characters. The type all has the same x-height, and is compacted and tracked the same for each character. This is a big reason why this type looks quite boring and plain. Furthermore, the type can easily be read as something else. When I first looked at this product, I thought it said “everyday”. The lack of distinction between characters contributes to this error on perception. To fix this issue, I would perhaps separate the words in the type just slightly, or have some emphasis on certain parts of the type. This would make readability much easier for the viewer. This may be a small nitpick, but the fact the counter of the ‘A’ is colored in dark while the other ones aren’t throws me off just a bit. I’m aware it’s the shading/border of the type concentrating into a small space, but an adjustment to the size of the border in that space could have improved this design. Overall, this type is incredibly dull and generic, and could use some major adjustment to look more appealing.

The next example for good typography is the logo for Rold Gold pretzels. The type is a bold serif typeface, set with a white fill. The type catches your attention immediately, due to the thick strokes of the type and the white fill. The contrast with the blue background improves legibility from afar as well. The yellow border around the type also contrasts with the blue background well, and adds a pop to the characters. It also connects itself with the yellow color of the rest of the bag, which makes the design feel more unified. The extended arm of the first ‘R’ cupping the bottom of the second ‘O’ is also a nice touch to the design. The size difference of the ‘G’ and ‘D’ in the second word of the type helps to frame the word ‘pretzels’ beneath it, which is more interesting than just laying the text beneath the main ‘Rold Gold’ type. This also helps, once again, make the design feel more unified. The typeface used for the word ‘pretzels’ appears to be a small cursive one, with white fill and varying stroke widths. This typeface contrasts with the above one greatly, but they both compliment each other and go together well. This contrast creates more visual interest than using the same typeface twice. This cursive typeface also is fairly legible from a distance, though not as much as the main type. The kerning of the overall type is fine tuned and is spaced out just right, for it to not be too far apart or too close together.

Week Eight

Rold Gold & “Eveready”

Bad

Week Nine

Cheerios & Cooking Mama

Good

The next example for good typography is on the box for the limited edition heart-shaped Cheerios. There are multiple elements I like in this design, but the main thing that intrigues me is the variety and contrast in typefaces used. The text ‘Limited Edition” is in a cursive typeface that is very swooped and curvy. The main text that spells out “Cheerios” is in a tall and bold serif typeface, closely kerned together. The type “Happy Heart Shapes” is in a bold san serif typeface that is evenly spaced out, and the “with” type seems to be in the same typeface the “Limited Edition” text is in. This variety in typefaces creates a visual hierarchy, discerns different texts from each other, and creates more visual interest in the overall design. Furthermore, the “Limited Edition” text being in cursive while the “Cheerios” text is in a fairly plain serif typeface suits both of the texts well, and creates a clear contrast between them. If the typefaces were swapped between the texts, it wouldn’t work as well as this, because the typefaces wouldn’t suit the text. Furthermore, the choice to have the “with” text be in the same cursive typeface as the top text was a good decision. This makes the design feel more unified, and also contrasts with the bigger sans serif “Happy Heart Shapes” type next to it, once again establishing a visual hierarchy. Moving onto the main type, I also enjoy how an actual heart shaped Cheerio was used in place of the ‘o’. This creates more intrigue and focus on the design, and demonstrates what the “Happy Heart Shapes” look like. It also shares a similarity to the dot above the ‘i’ next to it, which is also substituted by an actual photographic Cheerio. This creates more unity in the design as well, and is a good example of the similarity element of the Gestalt principles.

Moving on, the next example for bad use of tyopgraphy is main logo on the box art for Cooking Mama: World Kitchen for the Wii. Overall, this type is very dull and uninspired, and seems like it was an after-thought for the developers. The use of all lowercase letters for the type that says “cooking mama” looks off, and doesn’t do a good job of properly displaying the title of the game. The use of capital letters for the beginning of each word would have improved this issue a bit more, and wouldn’t leave the viewer with a sense of unease about the type. Furthermore, although this may seem like a slight nitpick, the absence of the dot in the ‘i’ also throws me off of this type. This may have been done to make all of the characters a bit more uniform in height, but the absence of the tittle once again creates a sense of unease in this type. Moving on, the size of the main type is also very boring and dull. To create more excitement and bring more attention to the box/type, I would try making the type a bit bigger and perhaps placing it more towards the center of the box, instead of on the left hand side. Furthermore, I would have switched up the typeface used in the type spelling out ‘World Kitchen”, to create more contrast with the main type. Perhaps a thin-stroked and cursive typeface would work, especially considering the wording it’s being applied to. Even using the same typeface but in a different setting, like italics or thin (or a combo of both) would create more visual interest by being a contrast to the main type, but still having a little bit of similarity due to the same typeface being used.

Bad

Week Nine

Cheerios & Cooking Mama

Good

Bad

Week Ten

Old Spice & Birthday Card

Bad

Good Finally, for our last example of bad typography, we’ll examine this card I saw at Target. I don’t particularly strongly dislike this, but there are several elements to it that would qualify it as bad typography, in my opinion. First off, the cacophony of colors used is a bit of an eyesore, and makes the type a bit harder to read. The text reading ‘meet you’ and ‘meet my’ is featured in #000000 black, which is quite a contrast from the more neutral tones used in the colored text. This contrast is just a touch too much for this design, in my opinion. The use of a less intense color in place of black, but still contrasting with the colored text, would be better suited for this card. I do like the fact that the colors are analogous instead of random, but a uniform or limited colors would have been a better choice. With the amount of colors and letters present on this card, the type just seems to mix together. The missing counters of certain characters also contribute to this issue. Furthermore, the removal of the counters on certain letters is a bit bewildering. Maybe this was done in an effort to further separate the colored text from the non-colored text, but it just makes the type look slightly off. I would have also adjusted the type positioning and size more, instead of just leaving it dead center and all a monotonous size. Overall, I don’t hate this design, but it could definitely be improved majorly.

For our last example of good typography, we’ll look at this stick of Old Spice. The main thing that catches my attention with this type is the contrast between the typefaces used. First off, we have a very old fashioned cursive typeface displayed as the brand name, Old Spice. This typeface fits in well with the theme of the brand ,which is supposed to be reminiscent of ‘old fashioned’ values. The next typeface we see used is a bold and tall sans serif face, displaying the name of the deodorant scent. This typeface contrasts very nicely with the first one used. The simplicity of the second face compliments the more complex structure of the first face. If these two typefaces were more similar, viewers would have a harder time discerning what is what on the stick. Furthermore, the typeface used beneath the ‘deep sea’ text compliments the text above it without being too similar to the other two. The colors used in the type is also an important element of what makes this typography successful. The brand name being in red makes it stick out immediately against the cooler colors being used on the stick, and shares a similarity to the red hexagonal border around the center. The ‘deep sea’ type being in blue helps connect it with the cooler tones on the stick, and discerns it from the other text on the stick, putting it further up the visual hierarchy. Lastly, the other smaller text being in gray sets it at the bottom of the visual hierarchy, as well as the type settings and size. Overall, this design sets up a very clear visual hierarchy, and does so successfully, making this an example of good typography.

Week Ten

Old Spice & Birthday Card

Bad

Conclusion Throughout the creation of this book, I’ve learned a lot about typography and what seperates fundamentaly good design from bad design. With this insight, I often find myself subconsciously looking at type we would normally think nothing of with a more critical eye. If not for this book and my newfound knowledge of typographic design principles, I wouldn’t see myself critically analyzing type on the same level I would criticize normal design. Also, along with helping me have a more critical eye for type, I view this book as sort of a progression of my knowledge on typographic principles. As the weeks continue on throughout the project, I started to incorporate more key terms and in-depth critiques as I grew more knowledgable on typography. I find having this transition basically recorded throughout a ten week period really interesting, and I wouldn’t mind doing another project like this again. I’m incredibly thankful for the lessons of typographic design this book and my professor helped me learn throughout my spring semester. And of course, I hope you enjoyed this book!