Type in the Wild
Type in the Wild
Douglas G. Hunter
Table of Contents Week 1 (Bad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 2 (Bad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 3 (Bad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 4 (Bad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 5 (Bad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 6 (Bad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 7 (Bad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 8 (Bad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 9 (Bad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 10 (Bad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done with the Bad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Now to the Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 1 (Good) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 2 (Good) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 3 (Good) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 4 (Good) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 5 (Good) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 6 (Good) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 7 (Good) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 8 (Good) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 9 (Good) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week 10 (Good) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 24
1
Week 1 (Bad)
My first Type in the Wild item is the Bad. I found the item sitting on the counter with all the other cook books my wife has collected or been gifted over the years. It is a Better Homes and Gardens Complete Step-by-Step Cook Book. What makes this one a bad use of Type in the Wild is the spacing between the letters (kerning) which is not standard through out any of the letters used in the title words. Starting with the extremely large capital letter “C” which is intersecting a smaller capital letter “O”, the rest of the letters in the first word are all capitals, however, when you get to the letter “L” it is making contact with the next letter “E” where the three letters previously have enough kerning to have space between them. From the “E” to the “T” the arms connect at the top and yet the “E” is done in such a curve as to have arguably a barb as seen on the “C”, but it would, I guess be classified as a beak because it is technically an “E”. The lack of kerning and the connection of letters touching happens at random through out the entire title. It is amplified in the last two words, “COOK BOOK” which has such a negative kerning between the set of two “O”’s they are almost half in each other. The use of type in this example is a prime example of a late 1970’s type, and an example of what should not be repeated.
Week 2 (Bad)
2
Here is a bottle of Stolichnaya Vodka which I happen to have in my garageturned-Pub and Family Room. The bottle’s actual brand name logo is the main problem, although respectfully it is a logo so it is known by the font type used. Regardless, the font used has a few issues. The spine of the “S” is so elongated, coupled with the over exaggeration of the beak compared to the rest of it makes the letterform almost painful to look at and hard to recognize (outside of it being the logo) at a glance that it is an “S”. Additionally, the drop-shadow used could have been a bit thinner as it causes the text to almost look like the first word has too tight of a tracking. Between the “l” and the “i” the kerning could have been increased as well as with the “y” and the “a” at the end. As for the “vodka” the worst part of it, besides the v being a lower case and resembling a “u”, is the arm of the K being so bent towards the a it looks like an “i” or “l” that has bad kerning with a “c” and again between it and the “a”. All the text would likely have been better served as a logo to also not be slanted at an angle across a round bottle which makes for an unappealing visual. However, with that said, as a logo, one knows exactly which bottle is the vodka as it is the ugliest label behind the bar.
3
Week 3 (Bad)
As I have been doing a ton of reading, this week’s items are books. For the bad is an old copy of one of my wife’s favorite authors Bertrice Small. The title is “This Heart Of Mine”, the first issue has to do with the coloration of the text which was a poor choice especially compared to the book by the same author next to it. As for the text issues the kerning between the “r” and “I” in “Bertrice” should have been expanded as they are too close. Upon further examination the kerning is also an issue between the “r” and “t” in “Bertrice” and the “C” and “e” in “Bertrice”. In her last name the kerning is an issue between the “S” and “m” in her last name “Small”. Another thing that is noticeable is that the “B” of “Bertrice” and the “S” of “Small” extend well below the baseline of the font set. In the title “This Heart Of Mine” has some issues as well beyond the color issue with the background. The first is that they crammed the title into three lines of the binding of the book. To do this they made the word “This” of a markedly smaller text compared to the rest of the title, and drastically narrowed the leading between it and the next two words. There is something to note of the Capitalization of all the words in the title, all are above the baseline except the last word where the “M” of “Mine” extends well below the baseline. Besides the leading and of course the letter spacing issues of the title and the capitalization of “Of” there is a lack of a proper Em between the “t” of “Heart” and the “O” of “Of”. Altogether a poorly designed book cover for many reasons.
Week 4 (Bad)
4
I found an advertisement/info board for “Free or low-cost birth control!” which was on a gas pump in Andalusia Alabama. My issue with the text is that it is not easily read as it is of a form as though it was handwritten. The most readable part of this information sign is the “IT’S YOUR BODY. TAKE CONTROL.” Which is in all caps and done in a sans serif font. Below it is the actual contact information in a smaller font, which logically should be close to if not the same size as the “Free” portion of the signage. Part of the issue with the “Free” and “All services” font is that parts of it are script like, in that they connect to the next letter, but not all of them do. Additionally, the kerning between the “w” in “low” and the “-“ prior to “Cost” is entirely too close to the “w”, its kerning needs to be increased. The spacing between all the largest words is different between each but in the lower text of the same font it is almost entirely even. Another visual issue lies in the cross stroke of the t in “birth” which connects to the ascender of the “h”, initially the thought is a kerning issue but likely this is just an aspect of the font chosen. There is also an issue with the lower text being light blue with a darker light blue background, it would have been better to have a more contrasting color for the text. At the very bottom in the border is the designers information and logo, I checked them out and they do have many successful advertisements in many mediums, but this one seems to fall short compared to most they do.
5
Week 5 (Bad)
For this week, I found myself looking hard at a conditioner I use for my beard. The uneven spacing of the brand name is an eye sore. The large kerning between the “A” and “b”, the “r” and the “a”, the “h” and “a” as well as the “m” and “s” stand in contrast to the tight, almost no kerning of the “b” and “r”, the “a” and “h” and the “a” and “m”. The inconsistency of this is also evident in the apostrophe which is connecting the “m” and the “s”. There is also an issue with the low contrast of colors between the text and the background of the brand name as well. The contrast issue is resolved in the solid color (compared to the two tone of the brand name) in the text below it, but that text is off center to the brand name above. One could also point out the lack of readability of the serif font of both failing to be effective at communicating the brand which would have been better served by a sans-serif instead for readability. The ingredients (besides not actually being identified by proper FDA requirements for Ingredients labeling) has numerous overall spacing between words and within the text of each word, like that seen between “Sunflower” and “Oil” the small amount of em between “promotes” and “hair” and the kerning between the “r” and “a” in “regenerate”. Additionally, several words have such bad spacing letters are or almost touching. All in all this is a very amateur labeling design.
Week 6 (Bad)
6
For this week, I came across a business card that at first I wondered what it was for beyond the pirate picture. To start with the contrast of the business name and the back ground is poor, a dark blue on a red background does not have enough contrast compared to a white on red or yellow on red or even green on red. The font choice does not lend itself to readability of the text which can mean a loss of business. The leg of the “R”’s have such a great flair to them they intersect and run into the “y” and “g” in the first two words and in the third word it extends itself in to the letter “t” of the word bellow. Another bit of distraction is the unequal em between “Royal” and “Rogues” compared to the em between “Rogues” and the ampersand “&” and again between the ampersand “&” and the word “Renegades”, although the em is evenly spaced on either side of the ampersand “&”. The hierarchy is also a bit off point with the main brand name followed by a slogan in much smaller text then followed up with a larger text of the same color as the brand name with the business owners’ names. Another annoyance of the slogan is the use of the three “…” at the end of the slogan. It should have just ended with a period (if that was even needed), The slogan could have possibly (conjecture on my part) used a bit more brainstorming to really put forth what the business is offering to the market/ buyer as I don’t know if they are actors or costumers. As for all the info at the bottom, they should have stuck with one web address and provided the other contacts through that web page and left the contact number with it on the business card.
7
Week 7 (Bad)
For this week, I came across another set of business cards. The first one on the left is for faery lair, a Texas Renfest vendor, and this is my bad example for the week. This business card uses a punch-through font which is entirely too small as they are trying to impart the delicate and refined aspect of the text for their business name. Unfortunately, there is not enough of the font to effectively use the punch-through graphic for this little business card. Additionally, the flair of the serif of the “:� on the last line bleeds into the text of the descriptive text of the line below it which would indicate that there was a little more leading required. I think the established hierarchy is faery-nough (forgive my parlance there) and works with the fonts chosen. The emphasis placed on the contact info accomplished by a bold font choice, however there is a cramped feel to the information in the text after the business name, and I wonder if a little more leading or em-spacing would help open it up a bit more. The overall feel of the font used for the business name is delicate and fragile and colorful with a mystical vibe based off the punch-through font with the imagery behind.
Week 8 (Bad)
8
For this week’s I chose a label from a firework that we bought for tomorrows 4th of July celebration as we are not going out to a public display and chancing big crowds of people not taking measures to protect others or themselves. In particular the reason I am labeling this as a bad is not for an issue with the type of font nor spacing or shape but ith the color choices of the brand/type of firework name “Algiers” and the design they used to fill the characters with is unappealing to my eye and if it was not for the number of fireworks that it sets off I would not have likely chosen it as it did not stand out or have that much contrast with the background imagery of it’s label/ packaging. I will note that the warning label is pretty standard throughout most of the fireworks from Shelton Fireworks indicating that it is likely a government standard requirement for use (similar to nutritional information requirements) or at least a business standard to cover liability of people who use them unwisely. I will admit there is a heirarchy of text on this label with information clearly displayed but the em spacing is poor in the name of the firework with letters blending into each other.
9
Week 9 (Bad)
So for this weeks example I totally missed, however as my whole family has heard me at one point or another critiquing signs when we are out and about, my daughter said that this one bothered her and we compared notes on it. Probably the thing about it that sort of wears on me after looking at it with her was that with Guy’s signature there in red it looks like they set it up for him to view a design and he came in with a paint pen and signed his name right on top of the design concept and then someone said lets go with that. The overlay of the white text of his name over the product description “Original BBQ Sauce” feels off and I’m not sure but there is an illusion of an off- balance issue of the whole thing (but admittedly that could be due to the tv star’s image and hair throwing it all off balance as well, not just the text). It could also be the length of the one side Guy and Fieri being different lengths and they still tried to adjust the character widths to make them balanced but it still feels a bit off. There is a fair enough amount of contrast of the text using white and black letters and outlining the white letters in a fine black stroke but the “Guy!” signature just messes it all up and makes it unappealing, maybe it is just the pretentiousness of it that makes it unappealing, which is a shame as I had burgers from his burger joint on a cruise last year and they were pretty good.
Week 10 (Bad)
10
This weeks example comes from Fort Walton Beach courtesy of Paradise Liquors, a vehicle advertisement that should have used a mock-up of the truck for the graphics before it went to print. As we are looking more and more at design elements and layout, this one has so many issues. First the text under “Paradise” is printed into the seem of a window obscuring the text and making it difficult to read, had no idea what it said when I drove by (my daughter snapped the pic for me as I was driving us back from attending the Makersspace event at the Emerald Coast Science Center yesterday), in fact other than “Paradise”, “Liquors” and “Booze Cruizer” along with the telephone number, the text was entirely not readable in the lane of traffic next to it. There is a hierarchy issue as the emphasis of what is the primary information to draw the eye is really hard to distinguish, the rays bring the eye towards “Paradise” but the huge wave draws the eye towards the telephone number. While the purpose of the vehicle for that particular business, especially considering the pandemic, which would be Home Delivery is not of a contrast design that stands out like” Booze Cruizer” below it does. I would say the rear of the vehicle seems (from what little text can be seen there) has even more issues compared to the side of the vehicle. In MY opinion, overall from this and other’s posts, vehicle advertisements seem to be a week spots for many businesses in the area, possibly an area to consider for us future graphic designers hitting the market in the next few years.
Done with the Bad
Now for the Good
13
Week 1 (Good)
My item for this week is a Clorox Bleach Wipes container found in the front foyer of our house where we wipe everything coming in down due to COVID-19. The text for this one in comparison of the last is much better. The kerning is small and the letters are close to each other, however, there is enough space between to make the font “Clean” if you will, which is the intent of the product line. The text is set in what appears to be an oblique, as it is not quite italic. The “CLOROX” name is at an offset angle, that I don’t believe has been identified yet in the text of the reading. If it was created in InDesign it could be accomplished with a “Type on Path” or a “Transform” function depending on how the text was created. Although this is a good example, there is one thing that is a little distracting, but due to liabilities they have to do so, there are a lot of superscripts and subscripts through out the claims to emphasize selling points of their statements and claims. I do like their use of what would be the stroke dimensions (in InDesign) used through out the label to add contrast between the letters and background colors. The use of a Bold text for “Disinfecting Wipes” lends weight and emphasis to what the product is and does to sway the consumer.
Week 2 (Good)
14
Here is the outer case of another bottle of liquor from my Pub. This one is a very expensive bottle of Crown Royal XR (Blue, I also have the even more expensive Red as well). Unfortunately, the text is a bit hard to read in the image only because of the metallic embossing of the letters on the case (tried taking the picture with and without flash but this was the better pic). The lettering in the descriptive text is a mix of uppercase for readability, and a few italics for transitions. The text is tracked well with the only complaint possible of the em-quad between the “LaSalle” and “Distillery”. The “Crown Royal” text like in the Stolichnaya Vodka is the logo, but in this case, it is readable as well as notable to be easily recognized and understood. The overaccentuated swash in the beak of the “C” and the two overaccentuated swashes developed in the stem of the “R” and its leg lend balance with that of the descender turned swash of the “y” and that of the “l” to present a balanced and appealing logo. The Use of the “XR” with kerning to make the “X” and the “R” touch is something that at first did bother me until I realized that the space formed creates a diamond shape reflecting the rarity and value of the whisky (spelling is correct as there is a spelling difference between American whiskey and a whisky of Canada and the UK). I also thought it was a good concept to put the words on either side respectively of the letters. Overall, this is one of my favorite bottles and packaging of their line of whisky
15
Week 3 (Good)
For this example of good text I am using the cover page of the works of Edgar Allan Poe by the Funk & Wagnalls Company. This series of books is a commemorative edition with simple black binding and very little text on the exterior. This title page is very clear to read due to the serif type text chosen. Most of the text is well spaced and laid out rather well. Very little decoration is worked into the text. And other than text sizing, the only other variation is in the two lines of italic text under the image and at the very bottom. While admittedly they are a little harder to read, they are informative and do not lend much weight to the over all conveyance of the words within. All the other letters are completely in capitals and all in the exact same script. The text really works well with the art work on the page and does not make contact with any of it and the author is of course the largest text on the page. Overall the entire use of text on this page is simple, conveys what it is, well balanced, very clean and easy to read.
Week 4 (Good)
16
I found the text of my laser etcher to be very easy to read. The safety articles and information text are well placed and meet OSHA requirements for removal of power potential in case of emergency. There are two main fonts used, one is a serif and the other sans serif. The serif is informational in purpose, while the sans serif text pertains to the laser system specifically and needs to be clearly read. In the main informative text box on the lower left the serif font is providing informational safety and recommendations for ensuring safe operation of the machine and to ensure reliable functionality of the laser. I will admit that in a couple of places the kerning could be better and even just general spacing within a word. One jumps out in particular which is the em between “route” and “of” in item “5”. In the safety functions of the system, the text of the switches, button functions and displays are well spaced and for the most part centered on the items. Even the vertical text by green and red switches at the bottom are evenly spaced and very readable. The emergency switch follows OSHA standards, so its text is federally mandated in its use such as the all caps and the font choice and how it is displayed around the emergency stop switch. Even without the instruction booklet the information presented is very effective. There is one thing to note, the product is not American made, so the syntax of the text could be better in the information section, but after reading about it in the manual, the information is understandable.
17
Week 5 (Good)
For my find this week I saw this magazine at the store after checking out. The cover was so simple, clean, and an elegance to portray the cover story of the late Princes of Wales in the United Kingdom. Starting with the simple sans-serif text of the magazines brand name and logo with a very good contrast of white text to the red background makes it stand out from a distance. The text itself is geometrically even from stroke to all accessories and extensions from the stroke. Even the distance of the background is even in distance to that of the stroke width. All-inall extremely pleasing and easy to identify. The text of the subject of the magazine for this issue appears to be done in a Baskerville font, in white to compliment the Princess’ dress. The serif text lends a bit of sophistication while not being too thick in comparison to the brand name, and yet not too thin either, reflective of the grace of subject. The spacing of the letters has been carefully balanced and happens to have its baseline (if extended and visible) match that with the bottom of the subject’s chin. The final words are done in a font similar to Baure Bodoni and italicized to bring a small emphasize of the subject’s passing and is a Victorian color of love when used for funerals and death. Again, the font is elegant, in a smaller text reflective of how the memory of her passing is eclipsed by the life she lived. This cover reflects the sadness of her passing and the grace of her life, it is very thoughtfully designed.
Week 6 (Good)
18
I found a library card for the Public Library in Crestview. As a lover of books besides the image, the text screams everything of the text that I expect to see when I open up a 1,000 plus page novel to start reading. A well-defined and very refined serif font with good leading and spacing in each word with all the title centered in the space it has. It imparts hat the library is welcoming, and spacious for all to come to. The hierarchy Is simple and prevalent, title followed by address and contact information, all of which is simple and straight forward smaller font size. Address on one line, contact number on another followed by the website, all centered to the entire card. The contrast of the text is simple with all of being a black text on a parchment like designed graphic design, which also speaks volumes of what to expect, books and paper, everything that a library is. My only issue with the card would be in a single off spacing between the “r” and the “y” in the word “Library”, for some reason it stands out to me but all of the other text sits well with no adornments or fancy fonts. Even though the text on the outside of the library is in all caps on the actual building (known from frequenting the location) the use of title caps works well with this particular medium of a business card.
19
Week 7 (Good)
For my find this week, another business card with a solid and simple layout, much like the name of the business “Castle Tower”, which has an implied/imparted general sense of Firm, solid, dependable…safe. The only thing about this one that bothers me is the leading between the owner’s name and the contact number in that there is a bleed-over of the “J” into the “7” below it. The font choice of a thick bold serif font lends to an “Old-reliable” aspect to the business. It’s hierarchy is evident in the boldness of the name and owner and the contact number with everything else of the same font family, but not bold. The simplicity of a solid color font in comparison to the bad example stands in marked contrast in that there is no feeling of delicate or fragility in what this business produces. Durability is more of what is imparted upon the viewer of this business card. Even the choice of background design (that of a parchment like imagery/background) imparts a durability of antiquity to the viewer, combined with the type choices I would have no reason to doubt the quality of the product this vendor turns out.
Week 8 (Good)
20
For my find this week I stumbled on this package that my wife bought for my daughter who has been striving to eat healthier and is doing well at changing the eating habits of the household with lots of fruits and vegies and a reduction in the consumption of meats. This was one of the things that she asked for and it was a delightful use of text, easy to read, simple hierarchy and information was clear and not busy at all to my eye. The extension of the leg of the R gives a growing fresh feel to the fruit name and the use of the sans serif font gives a very informal-not stuffy feel to the text but at the same time feels clean and easily read. Using the white font color for the text with a red background provides ample contrast in the food type and the opposite with the item weight by using the reversed color scheme of red on a white background is again tying to the contrast started above and carried at the bottom. Even the use of the green text and the white on green in the top right corner is a contrast of color to the red used for the labeling and feels like it was taken from the green of the strawberry leaves in the photo in the center, so in a way it ties in to the picture as well.
21
Week 9 (Good)
For my find this week, At first this one seemed so busy to me and I did not like it but I stopped and looked at it and I started to see the hierarchy of it all and it grew on me. At the top left is the size of the box in a simple form of text with white on black text contrast, next to it addresses that the bags are made to protect from leaks, then down to the brand name in bold white on red banner to bring a good amount of contrast to the text and brand name/logo. The next level is using aspects of other established brands to bring credibility to this particular item to show it will fight unsightly odors while in use. Then below that is the size of the bags and the actual quantity (details essentially in this level of the front panel of the packaging to include the type of garbage bags - drawstring) The very bottom is the detailed dimensions of the bags. All of this is done with attention to contrasts (with exception to the brands they have incorporated into their product, my critique woul be of the “Gain” logo, but it is established and known so that is a point of personal discourse more than anything) which they really don’t have a choice in when marketing them with their product. Unfortunately if it weren’t a Glad product and most know what Glad Bags are, the labeling almost obscures the product image entirely.
Week 10 (Good)
22
Now for this week I found this right down the street from the Bad for week 10, also in Fort Walton Beach. Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q. The use of yellow and white text in contrast to the signs back ground stands out well and is legible from a good distance. Additionally, the design choice to connect the extended swashes of the first and last “S” together establishes a very defined visual hierarchy, above this line is the business name, below the line is what they serve. By choosing a serif handwritten type font for the name shows that it can be formal. And yet the Text of the lower part of the sign done in a clean sans-serif font identifies a clean yet informal atmosphere of the business. At first I was a bit put off with the really large S at the beginning of the name but in fact it is an intentional focal point, like the big “M” of McDonald’s, it is meant to grab the attention of the viewer, and for those who don’t know better, the descriptive text below fills them in to what it is. I even like the use of the black fill of the shadow of the text as it is raised from the sign but was not ignored, providing a depth to the text as well as additional contrast to make the colors really contrast to the red background. I thought there may have been a bit of too much exaggeration of the em space between “Real” and “Pit” as well as a little bit of leading issue between that and the name above with the extended design of the letters, but that may in the end of this discussion be just my personal interpretation of what I see/feel.
Credits Cover image from: httpsupload.wikimedia.orgwikipediacommonsthumbee1Xerxes_Cuneiform_Van.JPG220px-Xerxes_Cuneiform_Van
