Fonts matter. That was the takeaway message from class this week. We first had a brief history lesson on the origin of fonts and the reasons they were designed the way they were. The easiest distinction between fonts is serif vs sans serif. Serif fonts are those that include lines at the end of letters. They were drawn in to prevent marble or stone slabs from breaking right through when letters were carved on them. It took away the stress. It also provides for a place for the overflow ink to go. The default font on Blogger is Times which is a serif font. You can tell by the T... T The line on the bottom of the T and the pointy bit on its left and right end give it its 'serifness.'
The other type of font is sans serif or no serif. They are named (you guessed it) for he lack of lines or pointy bits at the end of letters. This is an example of a sans serif font. Note the T.
So fonts matter and people get very upset when certain fonts are used. For instance, just the mention of Comic sans riles some people up. I personally don't have much of a reaction to different fonts. The most important thing for me is legibility. Another thing to take into consideration is the design. It is one thing to have the right font and another to make sure that it is visible and easy to read and understand. For an example of what not to do, I present the infamous Miss Universe finals.
There are a couple of issues with the design of this card and none of them have to do with the spelling of 'elimination.' Firstly, the information about the 1st and 2nd runner up are in the middle which is the most prominent part of the card. When looking at something like this under pressure and with no time like Steve Harvey did, the eyes immediately filter information. The middle of the card would be important and it would be easy to ignore 'Philippines' because the font is so small and near the corner of the card. It's easy to imagine that Steve saw 1st and Colombia in the same line and came to the wrong conclusion that the winner was Colombia. Also, for whatever reason, the card is not aligned. Did the creator of this card accidentally hit right align for the winner? The following is much simpler and cleaner design that is significantly easier to read and interpret.
Bibliography
https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/5bjth1/fonts_matter/
http://olaitankolawole.com/take-a-look-at-the-design-of-the-miss-universe-card/
The other type of font is sans serif or no serif. They are named (you guessed it) for he lack of lines or pointy bits at the end of letters. This is an example of a sans serif font. Note the T.
So fonts matter and people get very upset when certain fonts are used. For instance, just the mention of Comic sans riles some people up. I personally don't have much of a reaction to different fonts. The most important thing for me is legibility. Another thing to take into consideration is the design. It is one thing to have the right font and another to make sure that it is visible and easy to read and understand. For an example of what not to do, I present the infamous Miss Universe finals.
There are a couple of issues with the design of this card and none of them have to do with the spelling of 'elimination.' Firstly, the information about the 1st and 2nd runner up are in the middle which is the most prominent part of the card. When looking at something like this under pressure and with no time like Steve Harvey did, the eyes immediately filter information. The middle of the card would be important and it would be easy to ignore 'Philippines' because the font is so small and near the corner of the card. It's easy to imagine that Steve saw 1st and Colombia in the same line and came to the wrong conclusion that the winner was Colombia. Also, for whatever reason, the card is not aligned. Did the creator of this card accidentally hit right align for the winner? The following is much simpler and cleaner design that is significantly easier to read and interpret.
Miss Universe 2015 Results
2nd Runner Up: USA
1st Runner Up: Colombia
WINNER: Philippines
Now this would be much easier to read... even in comic sans.
Bibliography
https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/5bjth1/fonts_matter/
http://olaitankolawole.com/take-a-look-at-the-design-of-the-miss-universe-card/
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