Design O’The Times
By Simon Bisson & Mary Branscombe in Editorial
Posted in Font, Design, Windows 7, visualisation, Web browser, Microsoft on
You might think it’s just a font, but it’s not really. It’s a statement of who you are, what you mean, and why you’re doing something.
Pretentious?
Perhaps - but it’s still true. There’s an underlying meaning and message in the shape of the type face you’re using. Serif fonts can be serious, with plenty of gravitas just like The Times used to have, while sans serif are direct, quick to deliver a message. Bold fonts emphasise, while italics rush you along. Then there are the many millions of speciality fonts, which give your message a spin that only they can. And then, of course, there’s Comic Sans - but there’s always a runt of the litter (or in this case, a runt of the letter).
It’s a matter of semiotics. There’s meaning to the symbols we use, meaning that we all interpret in slightly different ways. Some if it comes from the way those symbols are used in a cultural context, while other comes from the very shape grammar of the symbol - angular shapes are disturbing, while smooth lines are pleasing. We can go on: circles encompass, arrows point, while lines join things together. The meanings in symbols touch users and viewers in visceral ways, and a poor choice can be the difference between a customer saved and a customer lost.
Last week there was a disturbance in the force, as if a million designers had suddenly cried out in shock and anger. Ikea had changed the font used in its catalogue. It wasn’t a big change, a switch from Futura to Verdana. Both were similar sans serif fonts, though with one big difference: Futura had been designed as a modernist font, with distinct political intentions - while Verdana, well it had been designed by Microsoft to look good on screen and on print. To most of us it wasn’t much of a change - and one we barely noticed. Even so, there’s a change. Ikea’s edginess has become replaced with a comfortable, everyday look. It’s part of the background now,no longer out on the cutting edge. What’s more, it’s also cheap.
That’s the sort of message we need to consider in the fonts we use on our web sites and in our applications. Design is important in conveying the message behind a brand - just look at how the fonts BP uses have evolved over the years to carry the company’s corporate message. It’s a subtle process, but one that works well, and one that can increase user engagement with applications and services as well as with online properties. Yes, it’s easy to use one of the default fonts in Windows or OS X - but is that the message you really want to give?
One thing that’s changing are the limitations of screen fonts. Complex ligatures and the like just don’t work well when you’re laying out a page on screen. Computing the positions of letters is hard enough, let alone trying to deal with flying lines and curves.
If you’re running Windows 7 (and Office 2010), why not play with Gabriola. It’s a new font with a difference - now you’re able to use those complex design type effects no matter what you’re doing. It’s the first font with the hints needed to build on new screen layout features that come with the latest version of ClearType. It’s an impressive feat - and something we hope that other fonts will support soon.
After all, good design really does matter.
–Simon
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