The wonder of fonts

Font has become more interesting to me since taking this class, and I’ve been taking more time to notice its variations. A few months ago my Kindle suggested I change the default font of my books to Bookerly. The Kindle stated it causes less eye strain or fatigue than other fonts. I have a hard time seeing the difference between this and some of the other fonts available on the Kindle, so it is interesting to me that people have taken the time to not only develop the Bookerly font, but also apparently to study how it affects the reader compared to other fonts.

It’s been a few years since I've written a paper, but I do remember that the font was always Arial or New Times Roman. This is what Arial looks like, and this is Times New Roman. They are so different that I don't understand why they were both considered acceptable default fonts. Perhaps this was just the preferences of various teachers I had. Page 26 of White Space is Not Your Enemy reports that Times New Roman and Helvetica are today's standards. Helvetica is very similar to Arial, so perhaps the standard is to have a default saref and default sans saref font.

The thing that stood out to me the most on the Poster Pointers PowerPoint is that subheadings should be sans serif while the body should be in a serif font.

 

Sans serif subheading

with serif body

Serif subheading

with sans sarif body

Sans serif subheading

with sans serif body

Serif subheading

with serif body


In the samples above it is easy to see why the subheadings would be sans serif while the body would be serif. It helps to create contrast between the body and subheading, and serif fonts cause less eye strain, so it makes sense that the bulk of the text would be serif.

Lastly, while reviewing this blog post it is easy to see why on page 34 our text lists using too many fonts as a layout sin, but I will leave it as is because in this instance I think showing the differences is important.

 

COLOR

standout-cabin-designs.com

The first thing I noticed is that my favorite color, brown, is equated with inexpensive for so many people. It makes me feel safe and comfortable. The next thing I noticed is that while yellow seems to be the universal color of happiness, both my answer and the survey result have colors with yellow in them chosen as least favorite color and nausea. Is there some deeper meaning in this? Does too much happiness make us nauseous? Is it that we perceive this similar but not quite right color to be an imitation of happiness that is more offensive than the color of mourning or bad luck? I chose yellow for happiness and chartreuse for nausea. On page 117 our text notes that analogous colors like these should create unity, so there seems to be some disparity in my color choices. I’m not sure that I have any particular association with chartreuse, but I did find a picture that I think expresses my thoughts, as well as one that expresses my connection between yellow and happiness.

angelmeile.com

marthastewart.com

producemadesimple.ca

arlingtonnational.com

I have been thinking about buying a Kitchenaid mixer for about 15 years. I can’t say that I bake enough to justify the purchase, but I still really want one. I have been stopped from pulling the trigger by a combination of the steep price and my analysis paralysis when it comes to choosing a color. This photo uses asymmetrical balance and the rule of thirds. The lighting makes the color of the mixer look extra rich. Action is created by adding the dough in the bowl and the already completed cookies off to the side, which is more interesting that looking at just a mixer. During his presentation Jim pointed out that commercial photography creates a fantasy, where the item being sold looks better than anything you have at home. This photograph definitely creates a fantasy. You’re not just buying the mixer, you’re buying the idea of having the perfect cookie making session in the perfect kitchen, where your decorative sprinkles are held in fancy little bowls and your cookies sit atop fancy little stands. Kitchenaid’s own blog, “kitchenthusiast” at blog.kitchenaid.com, talks about taking advantage of shadows to add texture to the photo. This shadows in the photo are suggestive of the sun shining through the kitchen window off to the left, evoking a long day off to leisurely craft baked goodies without making a mess.

Animoto Video

I was very excited about this assignment, but had no idea what my topic would be. I looked at each of the themes available in Animoto hoping one of them would inspire me. As soon as I saw the Halloween theme I knew that was the one I wanted. I love scary stories and horror movies. I thought about making up a horror story to tell through pictures, a sort of silent movie, but I was skeptical that I would be satisfied with what I could accomplish in the allotted time frame. Still, I wanted to do something more than assemble a collage of creepy pictures, so I came up with the idea of making a public service announcement to draw people’s attention to something we should be afraid of. Again, I didn’t have something particular in mind, so I googled “what should you be afraid of” and came across a New York Times article that argued we should be afraid of sitting for more than a few hours a day.

The latest research shows that standing is probably not a significant improvement over sitting, so I looked up the CDC’s actual recommendations, which specify that we need physical activity. Based on this I tweaked the message from the New York Times’ article’s “don’t sit” to the more proactive idea of “move”. I looked for free stock images of scary things, but frankly wasn’t happy with what I found. I decided it would be more fun for me if I used pictures I already had. This was challenging, because what I have are family photos, which aren’t taken with the intention of being frightening. I did scrounge together several photos that I thought would fit my theme, including the photos of sofas and televisions. I supplemented this with a picture of one of my cats, some headstones by my apartment, and a short video of my rocking chair. I was hoping the spider who lives in my apartment would come out so I could get some video of that, but no such luck. If I had more time and/or money I would have set up some photo shoots to get more images.

I would definitely use Animoto again. I think it quite obviously lends itself to organizing family photos, but I am very interested in the idea of using it to tell a story through pictures and would like to try that. Although I didn’t use storyboarding for my PSA, I would definitely storyboard before shooting photos to tell a story. There is so much more to think about in a picture than I had realized. For instance, I knew I wanted to wait until the sun was setting to get the ambiance I wanted for my photo of the headstones. This would have been more important to plan out if I had to travel somewhere to get that photo. Even shooting a 3-4 second video of my rocking chair involved a lot more than I had anticipated. I ended up shooting that from several different angles and with the blinds at various degrees of openness to get a clip I was satisfied with. I definitely see how storyboarding would save time and money on just about any project.

Appreciating Art

Our text says that there should be only one focal point. I was initially drawn to this piece because of the play on balance; the top or lid appears to be floating on the base. But when I walked up to get a closer look it seemed that the focal point is actually the blue middle of the lid. Several of the principles of design are used to draw the eye there: the contrast of the blue against the red, radial balance, and the way movement is created. Several elements of design mentioned in the text are used to create movement. The red portion of this has lines of raised texture, which make an organic form that looks like fingerprints, which appear to be swirling towards the blue center of the lid. Volcanic toilet was the term that came to mind. I didn’t want to dwell on that, so I started examining the rest of the piece and was really intrigued by the melted copper section in between the lid and the base. Looking at the blobs was like looking at clouds, and I found myself seeing things in the shapes.

This particular section looked to me like a reindeer running out of a burning forest while a smiling gargoyle is reaching out to pull the reindeer back in. I really like how what is basically a bowl with a lid can become anything you project onto it.

Visual Literacy

This item is something I pick up at least weekly to get it out of the way of my vacuum. Instead of throwing it in the cat toy bin, I looked at it and started to see it. I would describe it as a green wedge with white polka dots, green ears and tail, and a white rectangle above the tail. It has no eyes. My analysis indicates that the wedge is made from a smooth, shiny cloth and stuffed with some sort of fiber. The ears are felt. The tail is a mini-rope of green woven threads. The rectangle is paper. Kennedy says that “visual literacy is the ability to construct meaning from images," which is the interpretation phase. I struggled to find meaning in this toy mouse. 

Our textbook says “form follows function”. At first glance, you could say that the function of this piece is to get the cats to play with it and the styling (green color and polka dots) is the artistry. However, this item came in a package with a lot of toys being sold seasonally. I suspect the true objective was to get the package sold, without much concern for getting a repeat purchase later. Thus the form really is part of the function, as the color and design are really meant to coordinate with the other toys in the package to appear pleasing to humans and stimulate an impulse purchase.

Taking all of this into consideration, my interpretation of this item is as follows: What might appear to be artistry is actually part of a greater design calculated to stimulate consumerism.

My Pet Peeve

My pet peeve is when people chew their food with their mouth open. I don't want to see it and I don't want to hear it. Yuck! 

Click here to read about why you shouldn't chew with your mouth open.