Design Citizens

This fun little article about the appropriate and accurate use of different typefaces appeared in the NY Times yesterday. The basic premise is that the more you love typography, the more annoying it is to see poorly-set type or outright mistakes. (I guess it’s the same with grammar lovers - my own father once cringed audibly in the middle of a church service when the pastor used the nonword “irregardless.”)

I guess the difference is that more people overlook poorly-executed typography than poor speech - usually when I point out icky type I just get eye rolls and no one is outraged except me. So it was nice to read that there are others - even non-designers - who share my sensitivity. I even learned something new - apparently in the movie “Titanic” the numbers on the gauges of the ship are set in Helvetica. I had never noticed that (though it’s probably been 10 years since I’ve seen “Titanic” in its entirety.) Helvetica, of course, was not introduced until 1957, making it the type equivalent of having Elvis Presley sing the ship down as it sank.

Note - the photo above is from Chris Beesley who also wrote a post on his blog about bad type.

Thanks to Maggie for the link!

Post a comment

Name: (required)

Email Address: (will not be published) (required)

URL:

Comments: