Originally published here on 01/25/2009:
Typography as Art
My affinity for typography began at a very early age as I watched my father who is an artist design ad campaigns. I remember watching in awe as he spent endless hours tweaking his work and I was always jealous of his transfer letters- it looked like so much fun to rub and rub and magically text came to be! As early as second grade, I obsessed with how my handwriting appeared and would see a particular letter written somewhere and accordingly change the arch of my “a” and practice for hours emulating advertisements, high school cheerleaders’ posters, my father’s all caps handwriting or fancy “g” with two circles. I have always seen text as more than just a form of communication, it is art. I read typography blogs and study designer sites and it is delightful fun for me.
I’m not alone. The world thirst for beauty and tires of the monotony of advertisements. How many MLS home flyer templates can you look at before they all look the same? The solution could easily be typography.
There are fifteen videos below that showcase animated typography and I want you to watch whichever ones look interesting to you and think about how you use font in your marketing. Pay attention to the simplicity of the fonts chosen, the fact that many only use one font throughout, watch the colors, the contrast and the pace, and apply them to your print marketing. I challenge you to think of creating an animated text advertisement to music or your words or both. Enjoy!
Lyrical typography:
Typography in movies:
The simple beauty of typography illustrated:
Typography depicting politics:
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Great article! It is amazing just how much additional information and meaning can be gleaming from text simply by altering its type-face.
If you really love typography you should check out the documentary Helvetica by Paula Scher. It explores the world of typography, graphic design, visual culture, and of course, the font Helvetica – amazing stuff.
Also, if you are looking for new fonts to add to your marketing materials or to spice up your personal branding, my favorite is DaFont. They have a massive archive of fonts and the best part is that every single one of them is free!
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Very cool. I use to do the same thing always try to change my handwriting when I saw one I really liked.
In our MLS we have no control over the fonts, but in other marketing pieces we do so good points.
The different fonts make them say more than the mere words.
So, Lani, do you think maybe, just maybe, we could petition whoever controls the stylesheet on AG to change the body font from Arial to, maybe, Verdana?
The letter-spacing in Arial is tight, to allow more words per line, but it always seems “constricted” to me. Verdana’s fonts are just a tiny bit wider and the letter-spacing just a tiny tad looser, and it appears to me much more “elegant”.
In fact, I’d really prefer a plump, serif font such as Georgia or Garamond, but that would be asking too much.
Lani -
As a typography dilettante, I have to say thank you for this.
By the way, if you’re interested in topics like this, I really can’t recommend Presentation Zen more highly (www.presentationzen.com).
-rsh
Lani – this is way cool! Like you, I can spend hours tinkering with just the font of a project. I hope agents are inspired and motivated by what you’ve posted here. That video of the clouds and flowers is so neat (what’s it from?), and I’ve always enjoyed the “Catch Me If You Can” credits
Ah, yes, Pops remembers the rub-down type, and the sheets of waxed copy, and when the sundial hit noon, we’d order a blackened sabretooth tiger for four, and chant to Attuma, the rock-god. Good times. For a look at typography at it’s finest (and most pretentious) go to http://www.typography.com/about/index.php. Hoefler & Frere-Jones represent the state of the art. If you need real-world help, see identifont.com, to locate a look you may have floating in your head. Tinker-on, Wayne.
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@Rob presentationzen has always been a tool on our desktop, we couldn’t agree more.
@Ben Flinstone Anglin rock on… I think we typically just ask you though.
I always admire a well chosen font and wonder how or where people learn to choose them. Is it a talent you are born with or can it be learned? I am going to watch some of these videos and check out some of the links in the comments to see if there is hope for me.
WOW, I would never imagine you could triple the action out of words.
1. the action of thinking
2. the action on the video
3. the action to get you to do something.
Thank you, very well done. when I first started reading I wondered what could I get out of this, maybe learn a better way to choose a font, I love it when someone show me a different way to look at something. You have just educated a redneck. Pat your self on the back.
I remember watching these the first time you presented this….. and I enjoyed it just as much this time, thanks
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Lani, proper handwriting used to be considered a sign of gentility, class and distinction. Today in the electronic age, this translates to fonts used in printed materials. Everyone should take your advice and be aware of the image one conveys with each font chosen for every piece of material marketed and every online site developed. Font can change a site from boring to bold – it’s another way to stand out in a crowd without dropping your trousers.
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@LaniAR so you wouldn’t recommend Comic Sans for anything
@robhahn good find on presentationzen