The Common Thread

If you are having difficulty selecting a font, try the Periodic Table of Typefaces. This is an excellence resource that can help the expert or novice typographer in selecting a typeface for a given project.

For the novice there are a few more consideration that are necessary:

First, let us clarify the difference between the words, font and typeface. Typeface refers to a “family” or a group of letters that have the same style, for instance: Arial, Helvetica, Times, or Garamond. Font refers to the more specific description within a typeface such as Bold, Italics, Roman, or Oblique.

Next, consider how your audience will read composition. If it is running text or paragraphs on a printed page, try not to get fancy, be considerate of the reader, oldstyle typefaces such as Times, Garamond, and Caslon will be you best choice. They are the easiest to read for running text. When someone is reading running text, the mind sees each word as one image, that is why one can read through a paragraph quickly. It is the shape of the word that your mind sees, not the individual letters. This shape is primarily defined by the ascenders (e.g. the line of the lowercase “d”) and descenders (e.g. the line of a lowercase “p”). When you use “all caps” you have destroyed the one word image, and the mind must slow down and decipher each letter. The moral of the story: never use all caps in a paragraph.

The vast majority of typefaces are designed for titles. This is because titles have few words in them, so fancy letters can be read because your mind can slowly evaluate the information in each individual letter, and differentiate them by their characteristics. This is also why it is acceptable to use all-caps in a title, since your mind can take a moment to decipher the information letter by letter.

If an artist chooses a constraint… he presumably believes that he will benefit artistically from having a smaller sphere of choice. Some examples of chosen constraints are sonata form, sonnet, haiku, iambic pentameter; still-life painting, charcoal drawing; two-person play, comedy of manners; Greek temple, Roman arena. (Livingston)

My constraint of choice is the “cube” or as some refer to as the cubicle. At first look, the “Freedom” of the free-lance would seem a far superior choice to the graphic artist. The free-lance has the freedom to create a work environment that reflects all that is conducive to creative thinking—choice furniture, quiet music, and few interruptions. Although the cube may not possess the environmental qualities that promote creativity to its fullest, I will argue that the constraint of the cube does provide for high-quality work that is better suited to the client. Design, by definition, is problem solving, and—boy—do you have to problem solve in the cube. The tempo is fast, interruptions are commonplace, and the workload is intense—what better environment to force a designer to create efficient and effective systems that allow for good, consistent solutions. It is working within these systems that excellent work can be created. Rarely is the work clever or cerebral, but occasionally, when it is called for, it can be. That is the point, as graphic artists, our work should be a result of our clients wants and needs—which less often calls for a dramatic creativity, and more often calls for solid, consistent, and successful design. This might be a stretch—but I will liken it to Vermeer rather than Picasso.

Beyond the constraint of the cube, as an in-house graphic designer working for an AMC, I have the added benefit of possessing a pre-developed understanding of each client and their needs. Being on the “inside” I develop an understanding of each client that could never be attained from the “outside”. Also, by superseding the “getting to know you” steps, efficiency is dramatically increased.

Great design doesn’t need unlimited budgets or tons of man-hours. The constraint of the Cube can help the graphic artist produce work that is effective and efficient, and over the long haul, develops a certain client trust that can lead to a deeper relationship and greater success.