As an independent Graphic Designer, I do a lot of networking to meet potential design and marketing clients. Often, when I hand someone my business card, the first question they usually ask me is not what do you do?…But “What does the “G” stand for?”
I explain that it stands for graphics…that it comes from 11G, the unit of the condo when I started the company…that the letter represents the bump out of my garage in that same condo. And, all of these things are true!
But…the real reason I chose “g” is that I just like letter! Now mind you, I’m not crazy about every “g” out there. Some of them are pretty darn boring. But, the intricacies and curves of the letter form “g” in serif fonts like Garamond, Caslon, Times and Bodoni, I find quite beautiful.
I have always found the art of typography amazing. When I started studying design at the Hartford Art School in West Hartford, CT, I focused quite a bit on typography, learning the families, formations, ligatures and even the history of some of the classics. I had a knack for hand lettering, and loved generating my own decorative display type. Today, I find that there are soooo many fonts available to us that there is just no way to keep up with them all.
However, I still try to make it a point to review the type collections on font web sites on a weekly basis. I take note of the new style trends, see what may work well for a specific client or project, and continue to be amazed by the truly talented typographers who painstakingly develop our digital font libraries. Sites such as www.fonts.com and www.letterheadfonts.com offer outstanding examples of creative font usage, which serve as inspiration.
Incorporation of decorative fonts and creative usage of the classic fonts in a layout can bring immediate focus and attention to your piece. However, incorporating EVERY font you own into your layout screams “I did this myself in Publisher.” Keep your font selection for each piece to a minimum, and allow your body copy some room to breath.
