Week 10- When good type goes bad -ie “How could they use that font—What were they thinking?

This week I will be talking specifically about an item that had promising typography, but the final product came up slightly short. Although it is in my opinion I believe that this product could have been advertised a little better, for example the type in the bottom black and white squares: even up very close it is difficult to read. The placement of the type could probably be made a little more exciting as well, although it is a pencil so it is probably not the easiest item to advertise as exciting. This pencil package is actually quite old as well, so there may have been improvements made to the design that I am unaware of. In it's defense the package does read "classic" which does seem to be implied by the simplicity (perhaps like it is supposed to be one of the first products that where released.) So while this packages design is hard to read and not exactly the most interesting thing to look at, it may actually serve its own purpose by looking like it was one of the first pencils ever released.

Week 9- Good use of a ligature

This week I will be talking about ligatures and there common uses. Most often ligatures are featured on books or as an advertising means (although they have other useful purposes as well) in order to draw attention or just as a way of looking nice well saving space. For this weeks example I choose a packet of "Whisper Soft" tissues. The nature of the product would seem to imply softness as well as the font that was selected for the product. The joined "f" and "t" are the ligature in this picture and although the design of the box might not be affected to much if the letters were separate it still would not look as good as it could be.

Week 8- Poor Kerning

For this weeks post I will be talking about poor kerning. For my example I choose a heater located in the basement of my own house. It is rather old, but because this is something that is intended to be be used for personal heating, that instructions on operating it should be easy to read. Although the text is not impossible to read I find my self sometimes having trouble distinguishing letters because they are too close together. Another reason why I believe clear type is so important for instruments such as this are the heath factors. Something that heats obviously presents a danger if not handled properly, so for things like this kerning is an essential factor .

Week 7- Bad Typography

For this weeks post I will be talking about "bad" typography. For my example I have a newspaper pictured to the left. I considered this to be "bad typography only because it does not utilize any real design or creative placement of type, but since this is a newspaper (which focuses on providing information rather than displaying anything to fancy or distracting) there is really not much room for creative type placement as the job of a newspaper is to provide information, not art. So although this is not typographical interesting it still does its job, providing people with stories and of course news everyday.

Week 6- Good Typography

For this weeks post I will be discussing what is in my opinion a "good example of typographical placement". I choose this bottle of wine because I think the placement of the letters an the choice of fonts look nice, but also because this bottles design was what caused me to buy it in the first place. Based on nothing more than the appearance of the bottle I decided to take a risk and buy it. I would say that whoever designed the label of this bottle did a good job because in the end I bought it just based on appearance. For the subject matter "wine" usually a more sophisticated and elegant font would be required. The type on this bottle is simple but, does seem elegant in an old fashioned kind of way.

Week 5: Hand rendered typography

For week fives post I will be talking about hand rendered typography. All though some of the type may not appear as clean or easily readable, many hand rendered types can be just as successful at grabbing someone's attention or communicating a specific message. Often because these types are more difficult to read in certain situations it is better if they are displayed large, so as to avoid strain on the eyes. Although not all hand rendered type has to be used for advertising purposes. Sometimes it can be used for something as simple as labeling a VHS tape. 

Week 4: Historically influenced typography

This week I will be discussing historically influenced typography. For week four's example I choose the logo from my own school. Although it may not seem to be historical, typography has played an important part in the design and advertisement of college logos for quite a long time. Rather than wasting unnecessary space the logo uses minimalism as well as negative space in order to create a pleasing design. It is also a nice means of advertisement for the school.