Font Fight

Helvetica vs Arial. Comic Sans MS vs Known Universe. Papyrus is for Chumps, etc.

Truth is, I don't really care for or much about any of these much hated fonts. Helvetica and Arial work well for certain situations, just like all fonts do. Helvetica Neue looks fantastically elegant and sophisticated in its lighter weights, but the heavy weights have got to be one of the most oppressive and depressing font faces ever created! I'd never use them in a million years for ANYTHING. It's like sitting down to breakfast on a clear, warm spring morning only to find you're eating green-eggs and ham with Stalin as your guest.

I'd rather use Arial (or some other sibling) for heavy weight applications where a neutral typeface is needed. At least I wouldn't feel like trying to have sex on a piece of Panton furniture.

Indeed, the whole problem WITH Helvetica is that it comes with Swiss Modernist design already installed. I respect the work of these masters TREMENDOUSLY, but I wouldn't call their work enjoyable. In fact, what most modernist design says to me is "I hate you". It's done with a simple but ugly palate of colors. It's abstract to the point of being alien. It's graphed and gridded to the point of obsessiveness. And it is as lifeless as the moon.

Interesting? yes. Innovative. Absolutely. A delight for movie producers trying to portray the future. Definitely. But friendly, enjoyable, lovable, accessible, inviting? Never. Ever. And Helvetica was the Trojan horse that Swiss designers wheeled their bizarre art form in, to the design studios of the world.

In general, I don't like any of the Akzidenz-Grotesk progeny. Geometric sans serif faces, like Futura or Toronto Subway, seem much more elegant and respectable to me. They have personality, back-bone, and say to the world "life can be classy, elegant, and chic but also accessible". They give the viewer something to strive for, while at the same time saying "the subject matter will be issue-free" and "socially acceptable". They are optimistic fonts, and I like that quality.

Comic Sans is, to me, no different than any other comic book font, and should be used accordingly. As something that fits that genre, for a touch of whimsy, when children are involved, or to simply lighten the mood and seem nonchalant.

I really like Papyrus, actually. It's elegant and exotic, and although it is rather overused by the average person with a computer remember - most average computer users don't have a lot else on their computer that is available FOR use in situations that could use a touch of the Orient or mythology or mystery, which is what Papyrus adds. The same goes for Comic Sans.

In fact the real issue to bring up is - although the average computer has a lot of different fonts on it, certianly more than any average person fifty years ago would have access to, without investing in a font folio or spending money on MyFonts or FontShop, they wouldn't know or have access to better fonts anyways. It's really not their fault.

Anywho . . . I know it's fun to berate the unilluminated literati of the world, but I think most of them feel they do their best. Who are we to criticize?

I'm bored

Here's the result:


I guess it's "my style". Clean, stylish, elegant (at least I think so) and relatively simple. I don't know if that's because I'm not much of an artist, or because of a genuine aesthetic. Aviano Sans does a great job here. I think a better script font would improve the inner content, but this is the best one I have available to me.

cheers!