Comments on: A Font We Can Believe In

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:06:25 +0000

Argh… you’re missing the point, Olivia. My point was that if you look at what H&FJ were trying to accomplish with the “voice” of Gotham seven years ago for GQ, it’s interesting to watch a politician use that typographic voice to try to position himself. The qualities H&FJ were trying to embody in their design are the same ones the Obama campaign seems to be trying to imprint on us subconsciously through Gotham. We’re all manipulated by typefaces, I’m just pointing it out.

By: olivia

olivia — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:44:18 +0000

Hmm, I hope this is not the state of political thinking in the design community.
I entirely agree with this quote:

“Are you kidding me? Is this what American politics has been reduced to? Picking a candidate by the font of his propaganda. Wow. That’s really deep … You’ve convinced me. Forget the issues, he has a cool font from GQ magazine.Are you kidding me? Is this what American politics has been reduced to? Picking a candidate by the font of his propaganda. Wow. That’s really deep … You’ve convinced me. Forget the issues, he has a cool font from GQ magazine.”

The bulk of the twaddle regarding design/politics makes me feel queasy.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:59:42 +0000

HF&J rules I just wanted to point to their newest typeface: Archer - just great. See it on http://typography.com/fonts/font_overview.php?productLineID=100033

By: Greg Formager

Greg Formager — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:31:44 +0000

Being picky about language is pathetic. It’s the mentally challenged sibling of judging people for what they wear. Grow up.

By: jk

jk — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:19:27 +0000

The original use of “font” on the personal computer was accurate, because scalable typefaces had not been implemented on the Mac and Windows OSs. Later, with scalable typefaces, the term “typeface” was used, correctly, but it never really stuck. People called them fonts.

Knuth’s Metafont made the same mistake, though it could be excused because Metafont is a way to generate font files, which are (still) bitmaps.

By: Deepak Harichandan

Deepak Harichandan — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:02:55 +0000

Thats leaves me to a surprise!
goodchoice, for signage.because The gotham is a less complex font and comes out with a clear, confident visual personality. As its beleive to inspired from the architectural blocks from a birds eye view.

By: Shirley Clarke

Shirley Clarke — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:13:44 +0000

p.s. I have always been amazed that nobody seemed to think it worth mentioning how closely GOTHAM resembles FUTURA. It is a lovely face, but most of the heavy lifting had already been done!

By: Shirley Clarke

Shirley Clarke — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:08:07 +0000

Gary,
re typeface vs. font:
perhaps Matthew Carter has been “tainted’ by all the time he’s spent in the USA? I bet if you asked Wim Crowell or Erik Spiekermann which term they preferred to use and where, you’d get a different answer.
They’d probably also tell you “all right” is two words and not one!

By: Dean Rader

Dean Rader — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:43:35 +0000

I actually write about this very concept on today’s Weekly Rader post, though I argue that font is only part of the equation when taking into account the semiotics of his logos and banners. I do think there are important distinctions between his font and Clinton’s, which gets reflected in the larger design of the logos. Does one font evoke “change” or “hope” while another suggests “tradition?” Clearly, the answer is yes.

You can check out my reading of their logos here:
http://weeklyrader.blogspot.com

By: Mr. Reeee

Mr. Reeee — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:51:02 +0000

A friend used to have an office next door to H&FJ. Curious, I went to their website and fell in love with Gotham and have been using it for years. I especially like the condensed faces, which I use for all my architectural drawings. It looks especially good for dimensions!

The ONLY downside, which I contacted H&FJ about?
There’s NO plus/minus character (± … option-shift-+), which is a big negative when doing construction drawings.

Glad to see that Obama’s got a good eye, too!