Want to be a Great Designer...It's All in the Fonts

Stop Using OS Fonts!
OS fonts are any font that comes pre-installed on your computer. Or any of the fonts to the left.
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Since these fonts are available on everyone's system, you can imagine how often they're used. Designers have an interesting reaction to these fonts; They're overexposed, overused, poorly designed, not to mention unattractive. We love to hate them! Ask any designer to use any of these fonts in your next project and you will be sure to repulse them. You've been forewarned ;)

Those Script Fonts Have to Go!
Now I'm not particularly opposed to using script fonts. In the right context they can add great visual value and depth. What I am opposed to is, once again, the overuse and the sheer myth that script fonts are the answer to showing a little 'class'.

I've heard clients say, 'I want it to look fancy so let's use a script font'.

Ok, sure but how does that relate to a dog grooming business? If it was one Paris Hilton frequented, maybe. But even then, it's just borderline cliché and who wants to be a cliché?

Listen, you hire a designer to help your business stand-out from others of the same kind. So why would you want to use a concept that is, in my humble opinion, amateur and overdone? You're paying your designer good money so why not get the most (and the best) out of them. Make 'em work for it! Delving deep into great thought, consideration, and strategy may not be the easiest way but great design demands due diligence and determination.

The way I see it, if something seems like a challenge, then you're on the right path. No one said success was easy.

Now designers, you're not getting off that easy. This applies to you too :)

So maybe the client gives you free reign with the exception of 'make it look fancy'. Funny to see how quickly SOME designers are to jump on the 'script' bandwagon. Maybe you aren't one of them but if you are, I challenge you to find other solutions to script fonts. Jump off that bandwagon!

And Finally, Stop Using So Many!
Some say, the more the merrier. Well, not when it comes to great design.

Some designers feel that the more fonts they use, the better. It will give the impression they spent a lot of time designing it or that it gives the final piece, personality. Unfortunately, this isn't the most effective way to do either. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the right ones. Just look at any great ad campaign or logo. Concise, clear, and clever.

When I see something with too many fonts I feel like I'm at an event where everyone has decided to dress to suit their own taste rather than dress to the theme that was chosen for the evening. You can imagine how chaotic it would be if some were dressed up, others were dressed down, some dressed in black, others in bathing suits.

Bridget Jones comes to mind when I say this. In one of the scenes from the movie, she attends a 'Tarts and Vicars' themed party so she made sure to choose the cutest Playboy bunny outfit to wear. When she arrives and no one is dressed like a tart or vicar, the host informs her that she called to tell her that she had decided not to have a themed party after all and Bridget is left embarrassed that she didn't get the message.

In the design world, like Bridget's party, there will always be a theme, a message, an objective, something that you need to work around, or communicate clearly. With this in mind, professionals chose fonts to support the context of the material they're designing for. It just makes sense right?

On that note I should say that there are no right or wrongs. But there is 'better'; Better options, better choices, and better results. In order to arrive at 'better' one is required to step outside of what you have available on your operating system and the standard 'fancy' script fonts, to find something else that works just as good, if not...better.

[I'll be posting Part II of the 'Want to Be a Great Designer' series in the coming weeks so check back soon! In the meantime, I encourage feedback :) It can only get better from here!]

The Buyer Experience : Real or Just a Fake Fendi?

Stepping into Aritzia, shuffling through shirts in search of a flattering piece of apparel, I felt a little strange. Not because it was a store I rarely frequented but as I was shuffling through shirts priced at $90, I noticed that they were on cheap plastic hangers and simple metal racks.

Not that this particular 'way' of selling clothes particularly bothers me but in my minds eye, I had figured this place to be high-end. The prices certainly screamed that but how they were being presented to me felt like I was buying a fake Fendi out the back of a classic Cadillac. [Yes, I like my Sex and the City]

Where is the class? Where is the message that these clothes are worth what I'm paying? The buyer experience there was less than expected.

Now to prove I'm not a clothing snob, I'll compare Aritzia to a store who's got it right; RW&Co. One of my favorite stores to buy clothes from (when I can afford it). Just like Aritzia, they charge a premium for their clothes but the difference is in the presentation and experience. When I walk in, I know right off the bat I'm going to pay a mighty price for a well-designed piece of apparel. The racks are well designed to not make me feel like I'm bargain-shopping, the clothes are on wooden hangers, the store is clean and professional, the music doesn't make me feel like I'm clubbing at 10am. You see, I want to feel my hard earned money is being well spent and that the clothes I'm buying are worth their price-tag so much that they merit wooden hangers and a fabulous showcase.

But then again, maybe Aritzia has it right in giving the impression that people have stepped into another average clothing store. Or maybe it was just this location that sold their clothes that way? If it was, they have some serious branding issues.

Either way, there's something to be said about 'the buyer experience' and I think it should be taken into consideration when you're selling anything over $50.