Typecasting: Auditioning The Right Font

Back in early 1980s in an early high school art class we were asked to list and identify up to five fonts.

Sure, there's... Times Roman, like a newspaper, then there's um, the medieval font, thing that The Courier-Mail uses, oh, oh um there's another one like they use in old movies and stuff and then there's one that looks like sausages.

No. Really.

Today's children could probably name at least a dozen by their correct name thanks to early familiarity with word processing programs.

But it's correct use is far from child's play. The right use of type is important for evoking moods and conveying a message - quite apart from the words created in that font.

That's why major corporations take the development of their branding seriously and trademark the result.

It's quite an art creating a typeface - just ask designer Mark Simonson In addition to creating, reviving and adapting various type styles, he's also written a fascinating article called Typecasting which looks at the use and misuse of font in film.

The anachronisms are difficult for a non-artist to spot but as Mark says:

Anachronistic typography in movies is certainly not one of the world’s pressing problems. At worst, it reflects badly on a film in a subtle way that suggests careless production values to the typographically aware, even when everything else is well-crafted. Getting the type right is not that hard, especially nowadays when so many historical typefaces are readily available in electronic form. Historical information on typography is easier to find than ever.

If a poor choice of font for a second's glimpse on the big screen can have an affect on a film's perception, then how much so does it affect business?