Finding fonts for projects can be both fun and a
little frustrating. Even if you believe all typefaces
are created equal, you no doubt have a few favorites.
However, with any new project, you must first determine
if you are free to use whatever ones you want
or are you locked into using only certain faces.
LEGGO THE LOGO
In many cases, modifying a logo or identity will be
off-limits. You won’t be allowed to make changes,
no matter how good the argument. What do you
do when faced with a less-than-ideal font you must
use? Get creative, says Sharon Oleniczak of People
Design, formerly BBK Studio in Michigan.
Take the group’s work for Old Kent Financial, a bank in the upper
Midwest. At the time of People Design’s involvement,
Oleniczak says Old Kent was an established
brand within the region. Given that Old Kent was a
financial institution, People Design was aware of the
bank’s rather conservative mind-set.
“The bank wasn’t extremely open to trying anything
new,” says Oleniczak. “It had tight standards and
guidelines as far as fonts go. It used Frutiger as well
as Palatino.” She says People Design’s approach to the
Old Kent project focused on establishing a consistent identity program without changing the logo. Even Old
Kent’s in-house newsletter makes use of the Frutiger
typeface. “Again, we stayed within the family [for the
newsletter] … stuck with the Frutiger font throughout,
and we didn’t introduce another font.”
Note: In the hands of owners, it seems banks
are bought and sold daily—so it’s no surprise that
Old Kent was acquired by Fifth Third Bank. And
as a result, the Old Kent identity was completely
phased out.
ROOM TO GROW
Gouthier Design, now in New York City, added a
little breathing room to an existing font, Centaur
Expert, in a project for Ritz Carlton
Hotels. Jonathan Gouthier says, “The hotels are
pretty strict on the font usage. However, to go
beyond just boredom, there were a couple things we
were able to do: One, Centaur Expert had swash
capitals, which we used as focal points on the invitation
and the small brochure. Two, we widened the
tracking on the letterforms—this allowed the font
to appear much more elegant. Three, reproduction
of the type on metal pieces made it much less boring;
four, we created a floral-and-stripe pattern to
intertwine with the standard font.”
DIG DEEP
Another way to adapt to font restrictions is to consider
all of your options. Since 2000, Alexander
Isley, a Connecticut-based design firm, has been
handling the design of Connect—the newsletter
for the New York City chapter of Women in
Communications.
“About a year ago, Women in Communications
decided it wanted to establish some branding guidelines,
and another firm prepared those for us,” Isley
says. “But the issue would be how those guidelines
could be applied to Connect.”
As part of the new guidelines, Isley was faced
with using Avenir for much of the text. “The newsletter
always had a serif and a sans serif face, but
for the sans serif, [the firm that established the new
guidelines] suggested Avenir, which is a face that is
pretty wide,” Isley says. “It doesn’t lend itself to long
areas of text.”
While researching the font, Isley learned that a
few years before a condensed version of Avenir had
been developed. Isley suggested the organization add
the new version to its palette of typefaces. He says the
condensed version allows more words to fit on a page.
“If this [was intended] to be a stand-alone publication,
we probably would have picked a different sans serif
that was a little more flexible,” Isley notes. “Having
said that, we were really nervous before we found the
condensed version of Avenir. There’s a lot of subjectivity
that’s involved in selecting typefaces, but unless it’s
really something that isn’t legible or from a technical
point of view doesn’t work very well, I’ve always
thought that good type can play a supporting role.”
Isley says although there aren’t many hard-and-fast
rules for using typography, there is one cardinal
rule to follow: “Personally, I think when you start
mixing too many typefaces together it gets complicated.
I always think it’s good discipline if you can do
a design with one typeface or family, just using different
widths. Designers complain about the heinous
logo, and how you have to run it really big at the bottom.
I think it’s the same kind of thing with the type;
if you have a strong idea, you can work with it.”
FINDING THE RIGHT PARTNER
The Killswitch Collective had to work with predetermined
font choices for a multimedia promotional
CD, per the client’s brand guidelines. “The font that
World Creative Group (WCG) required us to use
was Giza—an extremely bold typeface, most effective
on posters in large sizes,” says Meredith Martin,
principal of Killswitch. “The WCG logo at the time
was spelled out in Giza, and the company wanted
the font to be used throughout the CD. Such a distinct,
stylized typeface was difficult to incorporate
everywhere. In the end, we used it for spelling out the company name in the intro, and then we
incorporated the font throughout the rest of the
CD in the headers of each section.” Killswitch
paired Giza with Avenir to keep the overall aesthetic
chic and contemporary, while Giza provided a
unique, thunderous punch to keep things lively and
not too serious.
Killswitch was commissioned to update the
identity and collateral for national architecture firm
Paul Finch & Associates. “While the group wanted a
fresh, sophisticated look for their new materials,” says
Killswitch designer Lindsey Turner, “they wanted to
keep the logotype they had been using for close to 10
years. The logo was originally set in Futura and used
in conjunction with the company name and tagline.
We paired the PF&A logomark with the architectural
type family DIN Pro, which we used at small point
sizes in a strict grid. Our use of refined, hierarchical
typography supported the existing logomark while
allowing it to stand on its own. Thus, we created a
more modern design without sacrificing the firm’s
more traditional aesthetic.”
LEARNING THE STEPS
Let’s face it: Fonts are a bit like shoes. It’s a common
analogy, but like a good pair of shoes, the comparison
fits. Both are necessary and noticed. Some
are beloved for their classic look and feel. Some are
disdained for overuse. Still others are looked at with
utter bewilderment. And yet, they are vital to most
every design project.
Isley approaches type as just another constraint
to be incorporated into an overall design: “Design
is always working against a set of constraints that
have been imposed, whether it’s the deadline, the
budget or a message that has to be conveyed. I
think it is one of the real challenges designers face.
Otherwise you would be a painter sitting in a room
solving problems for yourself.” Besides, he thinks
font proficiency can be learned like anything else.
“I think working with type is a craft,” Isley says. “I
think it’s like figure drawing. It’s a skill, and with
practice, being curious, being exposed to typography
or maybe taking a class, you can get a better appreciation
of it.”
