Earlier this week, The Guardian covered a recent round of Twitter discussion from famous authors, in which author Sean Richardson asked, in which font and in which size do you write? The results were entertainingly varied, evoking strong emotional responses. As Richardson notes, ““The reaction to the tweet is fascinating because it goes beyond personal preference and into questions of identity, accessibility, place, accent and style.”
The article also quotes designer Sarah Hyndman: "The font you use is a form of non-verbal communication,” she said. “If you meet in person, tone of voice, clothes and body language carry a huge amount of information. If you write someone a letter you have all these tools available in your handwriting. But as soon as you sit down at a computer, especially if you’re working in a program that defaults to Times New Roman, we suddenly become identical and we don’t like that."
Hyndman gave a great talk on typography which you can find below. She discusses how typography is storytelling, and can be used to reveal truths or create myths, which can be used both for good and nefarious purposes. I particularly like the section where she asks you to picture the letters in famous logos, and experience the feelings they evoke without even being seen. And her retelling of Star Wars in 15 fonts is great fun.
Please select this link to read the complete article from The Scholarly Kitchen.