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Today’s episode tackles the type topics of legibility and readability through two stories. The first is about a horrendously illegible logo, criticized the world over. The second is about a designer who is helping to improve the readability of documents for millions, through the design of his groundbreaking typeface. Before I tell you the stories, let’s back up so that we’re on the same page. What the heck is the difference between legibility and readability, anyway? Legibility refers to the degree to which the individual characters can be deciphered by the eye. It’s all about how a typeface is designed. Some typefaces are designed to be more legible than others. Specific typographic techniques that affect a typeface’s legibility include x-height (the larger, the more legible... to a certain point of course), character shapes (traditionally recognizable shapes), stroke contrast (again, enough that it reflects traditionally recognizable shapes, but where the contrast isn’t too high), the size of its counters (space in open or closed letterforms), whether or not serifs are used, and stroke weight (not too heavy, not to light, but juuuuuust right). Type that is designed in such a way that readers can easily distinguish shapes of letters from one another is inherently more legible. Some display type (letterforms that are designed to catch readers’ eyes and their attention) should never be used for long passages of text (this is what ‘text’ style type is for). Some type is purposefully less legible (think, graffiti or certain ornate script fonts), however by and large, the type you select for your project should be legible. Illegible type makes it more difficult for our brain to recognize the shapes of letterforms, making it more difficult to process the type, therefore making the act of reading more difficult. Readers should not have to think about the process of reading. Excellent legibility lends itself to excellent readability… Readability is all about how the type is set, and whether or not it improves the ease at which a long passage of text can be read. Legibility comes first in order to have a shot at achieving strong readability. But aside from clear letterforms, what makes a passage of text more or less readable? A few things. Often, serif typefaces are chosen for long passages of text because of the extra weight they provide makes the baseline have greater visibility. This increases the ease at which our eyes can follow a line of text. Sans serif fonts are typically preferred when setting long passages of type on screen because serifs don’t translate well into pixels and can actually interfere with the legibility of letters. Furthermore, size (larger type is more readable to a point, until it makes the length of a line too short and negatively impacts readability), line spacing (also called leading), line length (also called measure), alignment (left aligned is the norm in the western world), letterspacing (also called tracking, or how much white space exists between individual characters), and word spacing (the space between words). All of these techniques can be tinkered with to improve the readability of a passage of text, although often the default in many word processing and design programs are set to be inherently readable. In all of these typographic strategies, the secret sauce to making a document readable lies in finding middle ground. By that I mean that too little or too much of any marking or spacing will impact the overall readability of a document. For example, if lines of text are squeezed together, the document can likely still be read, but it might not be readable. If lines of text are spread farrrrrrr apart, the document can still likely be read, but you’re not likely to label it ‘readable’. Lines of text that are given adequate white space to breathe, but are near enough the lines above and below is a good balance. A visual middle ground (or ‘Goldilocks approach’, as I like to call it) should be the goal. Let me now introduce you to two examples of legibility and readability. Or rather, illegibility and improved readability. One is a logo, the other a typeface. The year was 2006. Creative design and branding firm, Wolff Olins, who has worked with some of the world's most recognizable brands like Google and Uber, won the bid to design the visual branding strategy for the 2012 London Olympic summer games. The Brief: the 2012 logo was supposed to creatively capture London's Olympic spirit and inspire the vision that 2012 is "Everyone's Games". In 2007, the logo was revealed. The world was gobsmacked. The logo was met with disapproval and hostility. It was called “childish”, “ugly”, “ridiculous”, in no way representative of the brand. An unofficial public poll by the BBC found that 80% of those surveyed gave the logo the lowest possible ranking. A petition circulated in Great Britain that had 48,000 signatures to have it scrapped and start again. But the Olympic Committee stood behind the design. As they put it: "Our emblem is simple, distinct, bold and buzzing with energy.... It feels young in spirit... Not afraid to shake things up, to challenge the accepted. To change things.” Managing Director of Wolff Olins, Ije Nwokorie, says: “The notion of energy was really at the heart of the mark itself.” When asked how they developed the design, Wolff Olins Chairman, Brian Boylan, explained: “The mark itself came from an energy grid we drew of lines that moved around, contained within a rectangle, which we stopped at one particular moment. This was used in a very random way to create a pattern, so this idea of freeform is right at the heart of the brand. The typeface very much links back to that. We never recommended anything with horizontals or verticals–it was always slightly to one side, to make people look at this thing and think twice. We used the term “prescribed anarchy”–it wasn’t [that] we just wanted to draw something spiky.” But how much did the “inukshuk meets 1989 logo” cost to create? A rumoured 400,000 pounds to create (approximately $800,000). Perhaps the lesson here is two fold: not everyone will get your vision; it’s impossible to make everyone happy. Secondly, you don’t always get what you pay for when it comes to branding. Understanding the true “soul” of the brand is critical to design effective and relevant visual communication that will represent a brand’s community. FAIL! Or was it…? For one thing, it’s instantly recognizable and incredibly memorable… and we’re still talking about a design unveiled more than 13 years ago. They received a lot of criticism in the press, but they also received support for the brand identity. Nwokorie breaks it down: “Interestingly, the critical reviews tend to point out the rules we’ve broken, and in that sense they tend to be correct; the only disagreement is whether those rules need to be broken. Take a look at the attacks: “It’s too dissonant.” Absolutely, the dissonance was intentional. “It doesn’t reflect any of London’s famous landmarks.” Absolutely, the world knows about those, we don’t need to tell them. “It’s too urban, it’s too young.” Absolutely. It’s really interesting that even though the tone might be off, they shine quite an acute light on exactly the points we were trying to make.” In an article entitled The London 2012 Logo - A Designer’s View, published in 2007, six designers weigh in on the logo’s effectiveness. First up is Paula Scher, Principal at Pentagram. Scher appreciates that the logo bypasses cliches - of torches, of London city landmarks (Big Ben, anyone). She also appreciates that the logo ignores conventions of typographic legibility, and instead opts for abstract form. The jagged shapes don’t represent one type of sport, instead they represent the energy of the games, with a bright colour palette to reinforce this idea. Scher also likes the fact that the messaging can be a little subliminal. By associating this jagged shape and bright colours to the London 2012 Olympic Games, all of a sudden, other jagged shapes and bright colours remind us of the games. That said, while Scher likes the idea behind the logo, she thinks the execution of the drawing and the placement of the words London is amateurish. Her exact words are: “I'd give it five stars for the idea, but none for the craft.” Ouch. Alternatively, famed designer of the Jurassic Park logo and Associate Art Director at Alfred A. Knopf, Chip Kidd, has fewer nice things to say. In fact, he is in almost complete opposition to Scher’s ideas. His main beef is the fact that “there's just nothing even remotely British about it.” He’s in such gobsmacked awe in it’s atrociousness, he gives it “no stars”. Yikes. How about Rick Valicenti, Founder/Principal of Thirst? Rick doesn’t have much of anything nice to say. In fact, he wonders if in selecting this design, the team at Wolff Olins wanted to give the world a mirror at which they could look at who they really are as a collective, creative force? “I rate this design’s contribution one star for effort and zero if these disposable results were accompanied by an invoice.” Oof. Next up is Lisa Simpson (great name), Creative Director at Pearlfisher. She makes an excellent point that while the logo’s goal is to be iconic and universally appealing, it’s neither. Although it’s graffiti-like characters are designed for a younger audience, isn’t this a little stereotypical? After all, the more minimalistic and sleek designs seen in the likes of Apple or Nike or Nintendo are revered and loved by those across generational lines. Simpson feels that we should give the younger audiences more credit when it comes to their design savviness. The one thing Simpson believes they got right is the non-static and ever-changing nature of the logo, which gives it the space to evolve in interesting ways. Her rating: “Two stars.” Urk. Fifth is designer Carl Rush, Founder and Creative Director of Crush Design & Art Direction. Rush recalls the outpouring of criticism from the general public and asks the question: “Why does everyone think they're a designer?” He acknowledges though that it’s a good thing for the design and creative industries that the general public thinks that graphic design matters enough to be so up-in-arms about this logo. He thinks the logo actually works quite well if the brief was to inspire everyone and reach out to young people, but he fears it might look outdated by the time the 2012 Olympics roll around. “Four stars.” Generous. Lastly is designer Andrew Bogucki, Principal and Chief Creative Director at Corebrand. In his own words: “In my mind, an Olympic logo should meet two simple standards: clearly communicate the year and place, both verbally and graphically; and capture the contradictory notions of the Games' stature and heritage with its contemporary excitement and energy.” He thinks it hits the mark in some respects and misses in others. For example, he likes the fact that the English punk rock scene seems to be the source of iconic inspiration, versus the more stereotypical representation of structures in the host city, however the execution leaves something to be desired. It’s rejection of rules just doesn’t quite fit the organizational structure of the institutionalized behemoth that is the Olympics. Poignantly, he does suggest that this logo would be perfect for an Olympics after party, though. He gives it “three stars”. Well said. Relating back to our main focus of legibility, one thing is clear: this logo was designed with other priorities in mind; legibility taking a back seat to capturing the spirit and energy of the host city and Olympic games. But the question remains: should a logo using numerals to communicate the year of a global, inclusive event be illegible? While I don’t necessarily agree with the design decisions made, who am I to decide? Those decisions were way above my pay grade. Moving onto our next story all about readability. The year was 2008. Dutch design student, Christian Boer, had a vision for a way to take his gift of graphic design and help himself, and millions of others, around the world. You see, Boer is dyslexic, which is a learning disorder that occurs in the area of the brain that processes language. According to the British Dyslexia Association: Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities. It is best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category, and there are no clear cut-off points. Co-occurring difficulties may be seen in aspects of language, motor coordination, mental calculation, concentration and personal organisation, but these are not, by themselves, markers of dyslexia. Boer wanted to design a typeface that would improve readability for millions. Boer’s breakthrough in studying his condition was that dyslexic individuals have a difficult time identifying 2D objects, but they don’t have a problem identifying 3D objects. He created 3D letters that he then modelled backwards into 2D letterforms. Symmetrical forms of traditional type is what makes it difficult for those with dyslexia to distinguish letters from one another. The threw traditional type rules out the window. He designed a typeface that prevents four things: mirroring, turning, swapping and overcrowding. Because this is a typography-heavy podcast, I’m going to get specific. (Check out dyslexiefont.com to see exactly what I’m talking about.) This typeface is designed with nine core features that make it easier for individuals with dyslexia to read: Heavier bottoms - Each character has a thicker stroke weight towards the bottom of the letterform to ground it. This helps prevent letters from being flipped upside down (p’s into d’s, for example). Different shapes - The shapes of letters (such as close cousins, b and d) are subtly different. If you were to mirror the letter b, it would not have the same shape as the letter d. The lowercase b has much greater weight on the lower right hand side of it’s round bowl, while the lowercase d has much greater weight on the upper left hand side of it’s round bowl. Better spacing - The distance between individual characters is increased throughout to avoid crowding and make the typeface more readable overall. Longer sticks - Some ascenders and descenders of the lowercase letters are longer than other letters within the typeface, as well as longer than typical typefaces at a similar point sizes. This also helps characters remain distinguishable from one another. Capital letters and punctuation - These both have increased weight to give the effect that they are bolded. This helps emphasize breaks, endings and beginnings of sentences. Inclined letters - Letters that look alike are slightly sloped, also to distinguish them from one another. Bigger openings - Larger open and closed counters help make each letter recognizable, while providing each letter with a little more breathing room. Various heights - Letters that look alike are misaligned and exist at different levels to avoid swapping. For example, the crotches of the v, w, and y all exist at different levels - v has the lowest crotch, w the middle and y the highest crotch. Higher x-height - The height of the lowercase letters is increased, but not the width. Which adds white space in and around each letterform, improving readability. He used his research, his first hand understanding of his experiences with dyslexia, and his knowledge and passion for graphic design to create Dyslexie Font: a typeface designed to make reading easier. Since releasing his font into the world, he’s received numerous accolades and awards for his work. Namely first prize at the Smart Urban Stage Awards in Amsterdam in 2011. The typeface was a finalist in two large international competitions in 2013: The INDEX: Design to Improve Life awards in Copenhagen and FastCompany Innovation by Design Awards in New York. It then won first prize later that year during the Rabobank New Generation Pitch in Utrecht. In the years that followed, toy manufacturers approached Boer to use the font on their wooden toys. In 2015, over 1,000 titles were on the list of books published using the Dyslexie font. The font was made available for free for home use, including a Chrome extension and Dyslexie font text editor in 2016. Boer has also been featured on TEDx stages spanning two continents. It’s exciting to see a young designer use his creative skills and available technology to make real change in the world. Reading and literacy are such important aspects to being an involved citizen in our world, that relatively simple technologies (like typefaces) that help level the playing field are an exciting step to making our world more inclusive, and ultimately, a better place for all of humanity. When thinking about your next design project, keep in mind the seemingly mundane, yet critical aspects of legibility and readability. As legendary type designer, Adrian Frutiger, puts it: “From all these experiences the most important thing I have learned is that legibility and beauty stand close together and that type design, in its restraint, should be only felt but not perceived by the reader.” In this light, often typographic restraint and mindfulness of design to produce legible letterforms help improve readability, thus helping readers avoid reading. Music by Podington Bear: Daydream Heartbeat Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

The anatomy of type is crucial to understand if you’re a designer, layout artist or type designer… but isn’t the most interesting subject. So I’ve decided to have a little fun with it. I worked for a book printer when I started my career and I was a sales representative. I spent my days reaching out to prospective publishers (the HarperCollins type of the world) selling the printing of books. The publishers would be the ones to work with the authors, marketing experts, and designers to create a book ready to be published and we would print it. They would send us a final PDF file of the text pages and the cover and we would bring their book to life; ready for store shelves and for readers near and far to enjoy. In my time working in sales, I for some reason began seeing the same type of work come across my desk again and again and again. There was a lot of children's publishing (which I loved) and on the other end of the spectrum, there were a lot of romance novels (which I found hilarious). There wasn’t a whole lot in between but I definitely covered the two ends of the spectrum. It wasn't uncommon to see ‘Cowboy ABCs’ along with ‘Cowboy Commando’ being finalized on the same day. That said, I'm taking a nod from my former role to bring you today's podcast. Today you will hear about the anatomy of type through the lens of a children's book and then a slightly more racy rundown of my top three favourite indecent parts of a character, or in other words, the parts of the character that makes my 12 year old brain giggle. Now I know this is a visual topic, so I can only convey so much meaning in an audio format. Therefore, it's great that you're here in the show notes for visuals to accompany this episode. I also recommend that you grab an old book or magazine or even cereal box to label the parts of each character to help you better understand what I’m talking about and save for future reference. Before we get to our story, let’s do a quick run down of some of the more common parts of a character I mention. It should help you understand some of the subtle nuances I slipped into the story. This helpful rundown is from Canva.com. Serif - a short stroke extending from the open ends of a letterform (this is one of the two main categories of type); long passages of text are often set in a serif typeface because the serifs add visual weight to the baseline, making lines of text easier to read Sans Serif - literally “without line”; typefaces with no serifs; they’re typically more modern looking faces Baseline - this is the invisible line that all the letters sit on. Serifs help accentuate or increase the visibility of the baseline to help readers more easily follow lines of text. Cap height - the height of the uppercase letters. Sometimes ascenders (on lowercase d’s and b’s, for example) extend above the cap height. X-height - also called the waistline, it’s the height of the lowercase letters. Stroke - any linear (curved or straight) part of a character. So an uppercase R is made up of 3 strokes, the vertical stem, the curved bowl and the diagonal leg. Stem - the main vertical stroke of a character; think of it like the stem of a plant; a letter’s support system Ascender and Descender - an ascender extends above the x-height and sometimes above the cap height too. A descender extends below the baseline. Lowercase d’s and b’s have ascenders, while lowercase p’s and q’s have descenders. Apex and Vertex - the upper most point where two strokes meet and the lowermost point where two strokes meet - it may be sharp or blunt (think uppercase A and the letter V - A for apex and V for vertex) Arm - a horizontal stroke that connects to the stem on one side (think arms of the uppercase T waving around like human arms) Leg - short, descending stroke (like an uppercase R or K) Shoulder - a curved stroke extending from a stem (lowercase h, m, n) Cross Bar - a horizontal stroke enclosed within a letter (uppercase A or H) Cross Stroke - a horizontal stroke that extends through a letter (lowercase t or f) Bowl - closed round or oval part of a character (a, b, d) Counter - closed or partially enclosed area of space within a letter (ex: letter a has a closed counter, while the letter u has an open counter); the counter in the centre of the ‘e’ is called an eye. Terminal - decorative end of any stroke that doesn’t include a serif; terminals can either be “ball terminals” (circular) or “finials” (curved or tapered) Swash - decorative extension from a letterform; it’s typically an add on character to the main character set in a font Graphic from Type Rules!: The Designer’s Guide to Professional Typography, 3rd Edition by Ilene Strizver Let’s take a minute to chat about pangrams. The sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” contains all the letters of the alphabet, otherwise known as a pangram. This line is therefore used when testing out different typefaces. The earliest known occurrence of this sentence dates back to 1885 when it was referenced in an article in The Boston Journal, although they used ‘A’ instead of the ‘The’. If you head to YouTube and search “Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog” you’ll actually get to witness a 2 minute and 11 second video from 2007 of, yes, a quick brown fox who jumps over a lazy dog. (The Internet now officially contains everything there is to contain in the world.) While the ‘quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog’ packs all 26 letters of the alphabet into 32 letters (33 letters if you include an ‘A’ in front, which also gives you all of the letters of the alphabet in lowercase), there are other pangrams out there. Some of my favourites include: Five hexing wizard bots jump quickly. (31 letters) Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs (31 letters) The five boxing wizards jump quickly (31 letters) Two driven jocks help fax my big quiz (30 letters) Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow! (29 letters) Let’s move on to story time! Take a listen as I tell you the story of the Letter Parade… Letter Parade! Serif and Sans are the best of friends, Their differences complement each style, Like chalk to cheese, zero to thirty degrees, They’ve been friends for a long, long while. While serif wears heels, embellished to the nines, Sans takes the opposite slant. She likes minimal gear and she is very clear, Serif hams it up when Sans just can’t. Today’s a big day for this friendly duo, A parade is happening downtown. “The party of the year! The alphabet’s here!” (Enter Serif, wearing a gown.) As they approached the scene they couldn’t believe All of the famous forms, From A to Zed, all black, white and read, The letters were here to perform. “Here comes Big A!” standing confident and tall, She is a sight to be seen. With an apex on top, where her two strokes stop “I bet she’ll be made Letter Parade Queen!” Next came Big B with his jovial belly, His spirit was advantageous. His round bits (called bowls), shook when he scrolled. His laughter was contagious. “I can’t stress enough, C’s been through so much. It really is no joke. He’s the reigning king, oh what trouble fame brings.” His stress is in thickening of his stroke. Next comes little d for all to see He’s reaching way up high. A generous lender, reaching up with his ascender He helps out because he’s a nice guy. Big E and little e both come next, There’s quite a difference in size. Big’s stem is strong, arms are long. While little keeps his eye on the prize. Little f’s come to prove that he’s ready to move, He’s equipped with a cross stroke. Big F gives a wink, little could only blink, And then stood up as tall as an oak. Here comes little g, so round and curved, His bottom is a loop. He’s also got an ear to hear loud and clear, For this reason g has all the scoop. Big H has a presence not many possess, He takes up lots of space, From his bottom to his top, his cap height can’t be cropped. His cross bar helps him to brace. Little i may be small but she is mighty, Don’t underestimate this one. If you look on top, her party doesn’t stop. Her tittle has all the fun. Little j’s a big thinker who likes to tinker, His descender helps him dive deep. In his design he slips under baseline, He stretches down in order to leap. K comes out strong, showing off her leg, She’s got a great one to stand on. High kicks are her scene, she’s really a dream, Her stroke’s greater than she planned on. Little l’s got a lot and won’t soon be forgotten, She ascends onto the stage. With stem standing tall, there’s no way she’ll fall, Oops! She’s going to be enraged. Here comes M and his presence is felt, but he really is quite square. It’s a little complex, he’s got one vertex And two apexes up in his hair. Little n is ready for her parade debut, She has come to play. She looks over her shoulder, “Bring on the smoulder!” Correction: she’s come to slay. Oh me, oh my, O wants to say hi, Please don’t count her out. She’s lovely and round making an “oo-oo” sound. Her counter’s inside, no doubt. Little p descends onto the stage, Carrying a bowl on her face. From pasta to plants, this letter enchants. Her own contains negative space. Next comes big Q with her regal tail That extends from her round shape. It can cross right through or almost look like a shoe. “I hope she remembered the tape.” Arrrrrr says big R who looks like a pirate Standing on one leg like a bloke. Swash buckler’s pride, extending out from his side. He shows off his decorative stroke. S is all swerves, you can see his spine, His curvature is quite sly. If he stood up straight, he’d have a different fate… He’s a better man than I. Tiny t’s tenaciously tedious, but tender and tall, He’ll need to pay a tariff. He’s at the end of his stroke, it is no joke. It’s terminal when it’s not a serif. U likes to entertain, her energy never feigns, She’s always thinking about others. No matter which case, she’s got open counter space For her sisters and her brothers. V is victorious, vivacious and vexing, No other letter quite comes close. When seen from afar, she’s like A minus the bar. V stands on her head, juxtaposed. W resembles other forms, And undercover agent of sorts. He’s double the v, turns me into we. A team player of every sport. Little x marks the spot, hit the target, makes the shot. X is a stroke times two. Measured from the baseline, to the waistline. X-height describes all lower cases, too. Why should Y let out a sigh? She’s got all the same parts. Strokes and a tail, a vertex that scales. This form’s got lots of smarts. And last comes Zed (sometimes called Zee), Showing off her famous hairline. Thin strokes are stunning, never cunning. But sometimes mistaken for a spine. Each letter so different in their beautiful forms, In various widths, weights and styles, Each character shines through, beauty (and brains too!) They all have reasons to smile. Each flaunted their font in the letter parade, They showcased their best perks. From condensed to wide, they showed so much pride, And all together they just werk. “Exclamation point!” The parade didn’t disappoint. Serif and Sans were elated. Heavy and light, every character right. It was worth how long they weighted. Sans turned to Serif and kerned her in close, “You’re the best friend there ever was!” Away they sped, hitting the lead. (Ensuring they upheld type laws.) As for Serif and Sans, it wouldn’t be long Before catching a glimpse of the alphabet. They looked in the mirror and it became clearer... These two forms, well, they’re typeset. Now that the G rated version of the lesson is through, let’s move onto the… PG13 rated version (better than nothing, right?). Here we go: the anatomy of type - the good, the bad and the naughty edition. Here’s my top 3 favourite terms for the parts of characters 3. Crotch - the space where the arms of a character meet the stem (such as in the letter v or the centre of a capital M); an acute crotch is less than 90 degrees while an obtuse crotch is greater than 90 degrees 2. Tittle - the ‘dot’ above the lowercase i and j 1. Diphthong - a glyph, or secondary compound character, comprised of two vowels in a single syllable (such as a and e together); in other words, these alphabetic symbols represent the pronunciation of a combined vowel; a diphthong is a subcategory of ligature, which is two or more intersecting letters fused into a single character; diphthongs are also called ‘tied characters’ or ‘quaints’ The next time you write something down, don’t forget to cross your t’s and tittle your i’s! MUSIC Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Music by Podington Bear: Golden Hour PHOTO Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash Anatomy of Type: Graphic from Type Rules!: The Designer’s Guide to Professional Typography, 3rd Edition by Ilene Strizver POETRY Letter Parade - Diana Varma, 2020

Rules exist throughout our lives, including in the world of design and typography. I get that we have to have rules to maintain order in society, but do we really need rules for these types of creative disciplines? Like most answers to complex questions, it’s a shade of grey; not black or white. Rules were made to be broken, after all. Designer Paul Felton, who won the 2005 D&AD (Design & Art Direction) New Blood award for his work created The Ten Commandments of Typography/Type Heresy: Breaking the Ten Commandments of Typography, published in 2006. The cover design is a clever one, made to look like a holy text with gold foiled minimalist type and imagery on either side - one side the ten commandments and the other the type heresy side. So the book makes a statement by being able to switch between the two juxtaposed sides of a typographic rule book, depending on whether you’re in a rule following or rule breaking kind of design mood. But why should designers and non-designers care about the commandments of typography? After all, it’s a designer’s job to select and make the type look nice. That’s what the ‘creatives’ do. Incorrect. Whether you like it or not, choosing typefaces, designing layouts and arranging type has all been thrust upon you... and you and you. The beginning of desktop publishing not so many years ago meant that anyone who had access to a digital device became a typographer of sorts. Whether creating a presentation slide deck or formatting an essay or composing an email, you have inadvertently stepped into creative design roles, no matter how un-creative or technical you believe your day job is. You are a creator. You are a designer. You are a layout artist. Welcome to the club - it’s a great place to be. In coming back to the commandments of typography, many have written their own top ten lists instructing the world about what to do and, more importantly, what not to do with type, and today’s list comes from author Rob Carney. Rob is the Head of Editorial, Graphic Design and Publishing for Transport of London (think: iconic London tube imagery) and he also writes for a variety of design publications. Without further ado, here’s a rundown of Rob’s 10 type no-no’s: 1. Thou shalt not use default kerning. “Oh, how I yearn to kern”, said very few people on this planet. But perhaps more of us should pay attention to kerning, which is the spacing between two individual letters on a screen or page. As a reminder, kerning and tracking are co-workers who do similar work, but not the same job. While they both are horizontal spacing experts, kerning adjusts the space between pairs of letters, while tracking adjusts the spacing between all letters in a word, line or paragraph of text. Kerning is a little more detailed and finicky and it should be used when setting headline type (you would NOT need to or want to kern type in body text in a short or long document). But why is kerning necessary if you’re using a professionally designed typeface? Well uniform spacing may not always look natural, so it’s sometimes in our best interest to play type God and move things beyond what the type designer or software (InDesign, Illustrator or Photoshop) lays down for us. For example, think about two lowercase letter t’s, side-by-side huge and on the side of a bus. There will likely be space between the two crossbars each of the letter t’s, which makes total sense, but visually, it might look choppy. By adjusting the kerning manually, bringing the two t’s closer together, closing the gap, the entire word looks more balanced and visually appealing. Use your gut. Not all headline type will need to have kerned letter pairs, but it’s definitely an option if you can’t put your finger on why that headline ‘feels off’. 2. Thou shalt not overuse script fonts. I have a love-hate relationship with script fonts. You know, the ones that look like handwriting. Script fonts can work well in certain circumstances, namely in large sizes, or when used as part of a thoughtfully-designed vintage logo or when used sparingly and paired with a contrasting geometric sans serif typeface, for example. Script typefaces are found on all sorts of amateurish looking posters, flyers, on the sides of transport trucks and even in TV commercials selling the latest buns-of-steel-esque fitness machines. Script typefaces DO NOT work well in body text of any kind. While receiving an actual handwritten letter in the mail is downright exhilarating (who else lives for snail mail?!), receiving the exact same letter in a script typeface similar to my sender’s handwriting, but typed and printed using a script typeface, would cause me to rethink my reply. While the former is endearing, special and truly lovely, the latter is illegible, unreadable and in bad taste (sorry if I seem dramatic). Script body copy breaks so many other type rules around the readability and overall usefulness of a formatted document, that this is a rule that’s really meant to be kept and not one to break often, if ever. 3. Thou shalt not place type over busy backgrounds. The first rule of readability is black text on a white background is the easiest to read. Especially when considering the accessibility of a document’s design, maximum contrast from the letterforms to the background is necessary so that as many people as possible can easily read your message. Accessible or inclusive design is good design for all. If you are using a background image, contrast of type to your image must be at the forefront of your decision making. This might mean using a light coloured image, increasing the transparency of your image to lighten the colours used, creating a sold-coloured shape in which to place your text or moving your image or background to accommodate your text (think text wraps in InDesign). Black text on a blue background is just not advised. 4. Thou shalt not use many many fonts. Too many fonts confuses things and moves designs closer to the amateurish side of the scale and away from the professional side. If we think about a single piece that is designed with too many fonts it begins to look amateurish. Rob suggests no more than 3 fonts used in any given document. Furthermore zooming back a bit, using too many fonts in a multi-page digital or printed document (across a website or through a magazine, for example) also can confuse the overall look and feel of a publication leading it down the path of amateurish design yet again. Zooming back even further, too many fonts used for a single brand across multiple mediums (think of your social media presence, a website, any printed marketing collateral, signage and so on), can also confuse the overall look and feel of a brand's image, watering it down at best, and making it feel amateurish (word of the day!) at worst. This may not seem like a big deal but design (including the incorporation of type) plays a big role in the outsider perception and consumer confidence of a brand. If you and your team can't even be trusted to choose a designer capable of producing professional work, what's to say that your product is produced with quality and/or is even safe to use? People judge books by their covers all the time, and companies can use this truth to their advantage when they have a really great product or service to share with the world. They can ensure that their design represents them appropriately. All is to say, don't go crazy with the fonts because it looks bad, making your product or service look bad with it. 5. Thou shalt not fake small caps. Small caps are exactly what they sound like: they are smaller versions of their capital counterparts, incorporated into the font file and used when all caps are needed but you don’t want to appear as though you’re yelling at readers. Small caps can be used in headlines or body copy to more seamlessly marry with mixed case type (which is to say, when combined with lowercase and uppercase letters). You can fake small caps by stating your message in all-caps and then reducing the point size of the letters, relative to the rest of the type on the page. This is cumbersome, time consuming and does not look the way the type designer intended. Don’t do it. It’s just not worth all the effort. If you really need to use them, instead choose a typeface that incorporates small caps into the mix of available letters. 6. Thou shalt not use fake italics. Also called ‘pseudo italics’ or ‘oblique type’, fake italics are simply slanted versions of their roman letter counterparts. They’ve had a few too many drinks and are leaning over a little funny. This is in comparison to true italic type that isn’t just tilted over, but tilted and tracked closer together, the result being that there is less space between each letter and therefore true italic type takes up less space on the page. In fact, this is why italic type was developed originally. Although we use italic type primarily for emphasis today, it was originally designed to save space on the printed page because printing’s expensive, you know? So someone (namely, printer Aldus Manutius) developed a way to maintain legibility and readability while maintaining the same sized type on the printed page all while saving space and therefore paper and ink costs. Genius! If you’ve ever clicked the ‘I’ button in Microsoft Word or GoogleDocs, you’ve broken this rule. If you’ve ever intentionally added a skew (measured in degrees) to type in InDesign, you’ve broken this rule. To be honest, I’ve broken this rule LOTS of times. The way to not use fake italics is to select a typeface with an italic option. This way you’re using the thoughtfully-crafted italic letterforms and spacing that the type designer intended. I get it and I agree that this is the best option, but in a pinch, sometimes good is good enough. (Yes, I could wash my hair, but I’m running short on time so dry shampoo will give me a similar effect - pseudo clean - no?) 7. Thou shalt not use all caps All caps are really shouty. They just SCREAM ‘I’M SCREAMING AT YOU’. So it’s generally impolite to emphasize text using all caps. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly than the underlying politeness of it all, is that all caps impede readability and are dang hard to read. Our brains fare much better with lowercase or mixed case type, where we can quickly pick up on the shapes of whole words, with the hills and valleys created by the ascenders and decenders of letters. An interesting study was performed at Cambridge University whereby researchers found that as long as the first and last letters of a word are in the correct spot, the rest of the letters can be jumbled and we can read it just fine. So even when an entire sentence or paragraph contains jumbled lettered words, our brains pick up on the general length and shape of a word and we can read it with relative ease. (Google ‘Cambridge study jumbled letters’ to try it for yourself’.) All caps aren't all bad, but please use it sparingly. 8. Thou shalt not reverse type If black text on a White background produces the highest contrast and therefore most readable type, shouldn't it hold true that white text on black background is just as readable. After all, the contrast is still the highest it can be. Alas, it's not the same. Designers for the digital world don't recommend reverse type because it strains users eyes when read for any length of time. Designers for the printed world don't recommend reverse type, especially with small type on porous paper like newsprint, because the letters (negative space) can fill in with ink, reducing the legibility and therefore readability of the overall project. So just don't do it. Or rather do it, but use it sparingly and only for emphasis. 9. Thou shalt not combine serifs. Opposites attract. Contrast, not conflict. Difference is delightful. When selecting typefaces for a project, it’s common typographic practice to choose typefaces that are more dissimilar from one another than they are similar. Contrast creates visual interest and also helps develop hierarchy in a document and when used in conjunction with size, helps readers navigate the flow of a document - where to look first, second, third, and so on. Choosing typefaces that are too similar to one another (ex: two serif typefaces) makes it look like you’ve made a mistake. It can look as though you chose one typeface, changed your mind halfway through your project, selected a different typeface but then you forgot to go back and change the original choice. Carney also cautions designers not to use a serif typeface for a headline and the body copy that follows that headline. He suggests that it throws the typographic hierarchy all out of whack. I’d never heard this typographic rule before, but it makes sense. If you look at most major, reputable websites and printed publications, the headlines are generally in a sans serif face, while the body text is a serif face. I always love learning about these little nuances of design - it’s like finding a few more breadcrumbs on the trail leading to the magical house designed with candy in the woods. Let’s just hope there’s no one there looking to eat us alive… well maybe our clients every once in a while. 10. Thou shalt not use long measures A ‘measure’ refers to the length of a line of type or the width of a column of type. It’s how many words you need to read before your eyes must move down and find the next line of type. While the tiny flourishes along the baseline of letters (serifs) helps readers construct a visual path horizontally, left justification in the western world helps readers’ eyes have a consistent place to find the next line of text. This is in comparison to text that’s centered, therefore containing a moving, ragged edge that takes more work for our brains to find the start of the line every time. But it’s all for not if your line of type is incredibly long. This is why most books, newspapers and other printed publications break text into more digestible columns with more optimal measures. Our brains have a hard time reading lines of text that are both too long and too short, causing distraction, so we must take the goldilocks approach and create a measure that’s neither too short or too long, but juuuuuuuuuust right. What’s the perfect number? Some experts say 10-12 words (says type designer Eric Gill of Gill Sans fame), while others suggest approximately 66 characters. Creating measures that are juuuuuuuuust right help readers avoid reading; it helps readers focus on the content instead of the act of reading itself, which is what every great typographer, designer and layout artists should be aiming to do with any sort document they get their hands on. We’ve now reached the end of the ten commandments of typography. But wait, there’s more. One more. One more very important, nay critical, commandment that I firmly believe must be followed, perhaps above all others... 11. Thou shalt not use Comic Sans. I needn’t say any more than that, but I will. It’s not a good idea to use it for emphasis. It’s not a good idea to use it for humour. It’s not even a good idea to use it ironically. Repeat after me, I shalt not use Comic Sans. True story, when looking for local daycares for my then one year old daughter, there was a highly recommended daycare with a purposely misspelled name - my guess it was in an attempt to look juvenile and cute. Although it came highly recommended by those I respected, I couldn’t wrap my brain around the horribly misspelled name, but the kicker was the sign when I drove by to take a closer look. Comic Sans. I hit the gas. No way, no how. Like I said earlier, how can I trust the judgement of management to take care of my child when they don’t even have the common sense not to use the world’s most laughable font front and centre on their lawn?... My loss? Perhaps. But that’s a decision I’m okay living with. Let’s wrap up. What I’d like you to keep in mind is that there’s no definitive list of to-do’s and not-to-do’s when it comes to typography or design or art (except the Comic Sans rule… seriously). The beauty is in the eye of the beholder (or ‘beer holder’ in the case of wooing clients over drinks). Instead, these rules play the role of detective, helping us figure out why certain designs look professionally polished, while others look so cringingly amateurish. By identifying specific considerations to make our type projects tip more to the professional side of the scale, it helps novice designers speed up their design process, or at least cut down on the number of iterations a design moves through. These rules can be very helpful when you’re just starting out or when you’re looking to refresh the eyes through which you examine designs. At the end of the day, if you’ve communicated your message in a way that resonates with your target audience and in a way that’s in alignment with your client’s goals, and most importantly, if your client is happy, then rules be damned; congratulations. You’ve done what you’ve set out to do, designer. Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

So which is it? To-MATE-o or to-MOT-o? And while we’re at it, is it a typeface or a font? Are they synonymous or is there a difference? Can you hear that? Listen really closely… type snobs around the world are yelling in unison: “YESSSSS! Of course there’s a difference!” I whole heartedly agree, however I confess that I have been known to use the two interchangeably. But I do solemnly swear that I will do my best to not confuse the two and use them in their appropriate contexts thus forevermore. Let’s break down the difference between a typeface and a font. A typeface is: The unique design of letterforms. It’s the beauty, the creativity, the art established by the type designer. Helvetica is an example of a typeface. So is Times New Roman. So is Comic Sans (if you can call that art). Typefaces often exist in family units (ex: thin, bold, condensed, etc.) that the type designer intended to be used together. A font is: On the other hand, Is the technical execution of a typeface. (Ex: 12pt. Helvetica Neue Bold). It exists as a single size of single weight of a single width of a single style of typeface. In modern meaning, a font is a file that allows users to install, access and output the design - it’s the delivery mechanism for the typefaces’ letterforms (.ttf, .otf, .ps). Font files hold algorithms, or instructions, that allows a font file to be visible on-screen and processed for printing. Imagine the various aspects of a single typeface are clothes in your closet. (Let’s call our make believe type closet “Wardrobia.otf”.) You’ve got lots to choose from - different widths (skinny jeans and track pants👖), different weights (light tees and heavy sweaters👚), different styles (casual and formal👗), and sizes (clothes that used to fit and ones that fit now👙). Although you’ve got lots to choose from, you’ll only ever wear one outfit at a time. While your closet contains all aspects of a typeface, your outfit choice is the font. While we're on the topic of nomenclature, let’s talk letter case; by that I mean uppercase and lowercase letters. Back when letterpress was the primary printing technology, there were these things called type cases. A type case holds all of the little metal letterforms that make up a typeface. One typeface = one type case. This chest of drawers contains perhaps 10 to 20 long skinny drawers that pull out. Each drawer is one single size of type (ex: 10 pt or 12 pt type). Imagine using Microsoft word or Google Docs or any other word processing software today. You have the ability to change the size of a given font on a whim. It's easy, you just choose the point size that you think will work best and then sit your computer for the next 20 minutes trying to decide whether you're going to go with 11pt that looks a little daintier on the page or the more standard 12pt size to make your essay fill up that much more room on the page, thereby making it appear meatier than it actually is. I mean, you’re only human… But changing the size of the type in a given design when letterpress printing is not as easy, because each drawer houses all of the the type in one single size. Compositors would pull out the appropriate drawer when they began their work, and much like fast typists of today’s modern world of computing (you!), these historical typists were also very quick to pull out the letters they needed because they were arranged much like the keys on a keyboard - in the same location in every type drawer. There was a standard map to follow as where to find each letter… but sometimes there would be a mixup, especially if an inexperienced, or perhaps tired (or perhaps slowly dying of lead poisoning…) printer’s apprentice, whose task it was to put all the type back in the case after the print job was over, mixed up similar looking letters. b’s look like d’s and p’s look like q’s. In fact, the print shop is where the colloquial phrase ‘mind your p’s and q’s’ originates. (In other words ‘be on your best behaviour’ or ‘watch what you’re doing’). As I’ve described above, there was originally one large type case for each typeface, but then “divided cases” were developed. These were pairs of cases, one containing small letters, or minuscules, were housed in the lower drawers, while one containing capital letters, or majuscules, were housed in the upper drawers. The Compositor would remove two drawers to do their work, the small letters from the lowercase and the capital letters from the uppercase… wait a second… aha! I see what they did there. This slang stuck and most of us don’t go around reminding technologically-needy co-workers NOT TO YELL AT US IN ALL MAJUSCULES when composing an email. (Maybe this would have a more lasting effect.) Getting back to our matter at hand, yes, it ultimately does matter how you refer to a typeface versus a font (especially if you’re working on your Girl Guide Type Snobbery badge). There is a difference. But will the Type Police hand you a ticket for mixing them up once in a while? Not very likely. If you are ever slapped with a type citation from said police, perhaps say ‘May I ask for your font-giveness while I mind my p’s and q’s?’… too much? Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

I love books, that’s no secret. And today we’re talking books and the making of books. This episode could also have been called “my friends won’t go to bookstores with me anymore”. I may or may not walk around bookstores showing anyone who will listen all the cool stuff about book production. So with any luck, after this episode, you too, will be stricken with an inability to find friends to go to bookstores with you. Check out this video for an overview of How Books Are Made. Let's piece together a paperback book (also called a softcover book) - so please grab one off of your shelf. Preferably, please find a softcover novel with text only on the inside (not full colour children’s book or cookbook with lots of pictures). Also, try to find a best seller or popular softcover book, one where thousands and thousands of copies were likely printed. This helps ensure (although it’s not a for-sure) that the book was printed and bound using traditional machinery and techniques, versus digital presses. There are two main parts of a book (text and cover) and there are three main processes to manufacturing a book: printing the text, printing the cover, binding the two parts together. Let's start with the text. - Text is typically printed at high speeds on a printing press called a web offset printing press - Web = roll of paper (kind of like a giant roll of toilet paper that weighs thousands of pounds and is as tall as a person) - Offset printing prints the same image over and over again from a ‘master’ (an thin aluminum printing plate) - Pages are not printed in order, instead there are many pages that are laid out (imposed) on the printing plate so that when the text pages are printed and folded the pages will be in the right order - Both sides of the web are printed at the same time = both front and back, significantly speeding up the process - The text component can be broken down further into what are called signatures (a fancy name for sections of the book) - Signatures are not the same as chapters, as they aren’t broken down by content, instead they are broken down into sections of the book for printing - For example, most signatures are a multiple of 8 (32 pages or 48 pages, commonly), which is why there are often blank pages at the end of a book, to make it a multiple of 8 - A 288 page book might be made up of 9, 32 page signatures (9 x 32 = 288) - Take a minute to figure out how many total pages are in the book you’re holding - Remember that each single sheet or leaf of paper is 2 pages - Also remember that you can’t necessarily go by the page numbers, because sequential numbering usually starts after the front matter (copyright page and title pages, for example) - See? Multiple of 8! - The press prints one signature over and over and over again until all copies are printed. - On a web offset press, the huge roll of printed paper is also cut and folded in-line, so that the lean mean printing machine prints, cuts and folds all on the same piece of equipment. - A huge roll of blank paper is fed into the press and printed and folded signatures (a section of the book) are spit out the other end - This happens again and again until all of a book’s signatures are printed - So again, in that 288 page book made up of 9 signatures, we still have 8 press runs to go, changing the master (printing plate) each time - All signatures are bundled up, placed on a skid and taken to the next step in processing - bindery But wait! We’re missing something... the cover! - While text (or the inside of the book) is usually printed from a roll of paper, covers are printed from sheets - If printed the traditional way, this means doing so in a sheetfed offset press - similar to a web offset press, in that each cover is printed over and over again from a master printing plate - More book printers are seeing the value of printing covers on digital presses, even when the text is printed conventionally - faster speed, ability to customize covers, and the ability to print a single cover (proof) to show publishers exactly what they can expect the final cover to look like - The quality of digital presses has vastly improved in the last few years to the point where even experts have a hard time discerning conventional from digital with the naked eye - Most softcover books are either 10 pt. cover stock or 12 pt - Covers are typically printed using the 4 process colours - cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK) - When these four colours are laid over top of one another in varying amounts across a printed page, you get all the colours of the rainbow! - Now feel the cover of your book. What does it feel like? Glossy, matte and dull, or maybe uncoated entirely? - Coating is added to a book for sensory reasons (it feels good in your hands when you pick it up from a book shelf), aesthetic reasons (sometimes covers can contain both matte and glossy areas - called ‘spot gloss’ or ‘spot UV coating’), as well as for protection from handling and water - Most books have some sort of coating on them that was either applied after printing (but on the printing press) or as a separate process after printing - Coating is a huge opportunity for designers to be creative and make their books stand out; we all judge books by their covers! Text, meet cover... - When all text signatures for a book are printed and the cover is printed, coated and trimmed, binding the two parts together is the final step - Most softcover books with relatively high page counts (essentially page counts that result in a spine that’s ⅛” or thicker) are hot glued together - we call this perfect binding - Perfect binding is literally like a giant glue gun - like some can be 30 feet long or more depending on how many signatures it can accommodate - these are loaded in compartments are the front of the machine (also called hoppers) - What’s most important to remember in this process is that the signatures are STACKED on top of one another in sequential order - Remember that they’re already folded down so that the pages are in the right order, that happened directly after printing on the web offset printing press - They now just have to be assembled or put in order and stacking the signatures on top of one another is how that happens - Once the complete stack of signatures is assembled inside the perfect binder and held together by a clamp, the spine of the signatures (where the glue will be applied) is ground down with a little saw (it kind of sounds like a skate sharpening machine), the hot glue is slathered onto the spine and a little on the front and back page and the cover is stuck on - Take a look at the top of your book and you can see the dried glue. Notice that the glue is also on the first and last pages so that the cover has something to stick to and this helps hide the glue on the spine. - Once it’s all stuck together the last step before giving the hot glue some time to dry and then boxing up the books is to trim the book on three sides - Why 3 sides and not 4? The spine, of course! We don’t want to trim off the spine we just glued on. A giant knife with three blades (called a three-knife trimmer) comes down from above and cuts through the paper (it’s kind of like a giant cookie cutter that is the exact final size that the book needs to be) To review: 1. The insides of the book (the text) is grouped into signatures (chunks of the book) and printed from a roll of paper on a web offset press 2. The cover of the book is printed and coated - maybe on a sheetfed offset press or a digital press and all different types of coatings can be applied to jazz up the design 3. All text signatures and finished covers are taken to the bindery department where they meet for the first time, to live happily ever after The End. We have a book! Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

This episode is all about The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier. In this timeless classic about branding and design, Marty explores what it means to build a strong brand (hint: it's more than a logo) and I share my top 3 Aha! moments revealed in the book. This book and this episode are not to be missed by anyone who wants to learn about the immutable laws of branding. Marty is currently the Director of CEO Branding for Liquid Agency, a branding agency. I’ve written and spoken a lot about branding and I would consider this book a MUST READ if you want to get a better sense of this industry. Here I’ll be sharing my top 3 Aha! Moments revealed in Marty's book: Aha! #1: “When enough individuals arrive at the same gut feeling, a company can be said to have a brand.” - A company can create a brand image (and pay lots of money to do so), but that’s not the same as a brand - A brand is not what a company says it is, it’s what THEY (the collective THEY) say it is, therefore a brand is what your customers say behind your back - Every person who interacts with the outside world on behalf of your company (from the sales people to customer service to social media managers) makes decisions every day that help or hinder the brand - Collective actions over a span of time (in the recent past - you’re only as good as your last meal, for example) equals a brand - Later in the book, Marty goes on to say that each person in the company should have a compass (or ‘brandometer’) which is a set of ideas about what the brand is and what makes the brand tick - no decision, big or small, should be made without first asking “will it help or hurt the brand?” Aha! #2: "Among the hallmarks of a charismatic brand are a clear competitive stance, a sense of rectitude, and a dedication to aesthetics. Why aesthetics? Because it’s the language of feeling, and, in a society that’s information-rich and time-poor, people value feeling more than information.” - You don’t only have to walk the talk, but you have to look the part doing it - Certain colours have been found to influence behaviour and it’s no surprise that colours are associated with different emotions and feelings, that therefore influence consumer behaviour But logos don’t have to cost a fortune to look good and work wonders to elevate a brand’s status - take for instance Nike and the 2012 Olympic Winter Games in London - One of these logos is rumoured to cost only $35 and be designed by a student, while the other cost over half a million dollars to create - One is iconic, the other laughable - One is crisp and modern, the other illegible - Nike was a steal while the Olympic Committee was robbed Aha! #3: "The traditional view of design is that it has four possible goals: to identify, to inform, to entertain, or to persuade. But with branding there’s a fifth: to differentiate. While the first four are tactical, the fifth is strategic, with its roots deep in aesthetics - a powerful combination of logic and magic.” - Our brains are hardwired to notice difference - Marty states that “only one competitor can be the cheapest - the others have to use branding.” - How are you different (and therefore more relevant to your customers) than your competition? If only one company in a given category can the cheapest, you need to figure out a way to compete on something other than price. - Price isn't as important as you'd think because despite popular belief, most people don’t go with the cheapest option; instead, they go with the option that’s the best fit or the option that provides the most value for money. - How do you stand out in a crowd? That’s a deeply personal and strategic question each brand owner must ask themselves - Another one of my favourite branding and design big thinker, Seth Godin, has written a whole book about this - Purple Cow. Black and white cows are everywhere. You wouldn’t stop your car to see a brown cow. But a purple cow, now that’s something truly remarkable. Something that you could literally make a remark about to someone else. You’d genuinely want to tell others about your purple cow sighting and pass on the info in case they themselves would like to see it. - Difference is good. Difference is necessary. Difference creates strong branding. Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

This episode is all about Comic Sans. Comic Sans is the cilantro of typefaces: either loved or hated with a passion. Comic Sans is also like an undercover spy fronting as a children’s entertainer, getting to travel to places where he'd never normally be allowed. Learn more about a typeface that's defined a generation. Some notable ridiculous Comic Sans appearances include: - The Spanish World Cup trophy - The front page of the Wall Street Journal - The Pope’s photo album in the Vatican The typeface and the inappropriate contexts in which it’s been used has outraged so many that in 2005 a group of passionate Canadians campaigned to have it banned. But Comic Sans isn’t all bad. Research out of Princeton University in 2010 suggests that studying information in difficult-to-read fonts helps students better retain the information. Let’s break it down: First ‘comic’. The one place you should see it is in comic books because that was Comic Sans original purpose: to mimic the handwritten text found in comic book speech bubbles. It was created by type designer and Vincent Connare and released in 1994 by Microsoft Corporation. You have the likes of The Watchmen and Batman to thank for inspiring the world’s most-hated typeface. Now, ‘sans’. It refers to ‘sans serif’. Broadly, typefaces are categorized into two categories - serif and sans serif (meaning with decorative flourishes, serifs, and sans, french for ‘without’). Comic Sans exists without any additional flourishes to the tops or bottoms of its letterforms. But why do we care so much about Comic Sans? Twenty or thirty years ago, unless you were a designer or a printer or someone working intimately in the graphic communications realm, fonts were something chosen for you. The world of desktop publishing and the drop down menu changed everything. For better or for worse, we’ve all become layout artists. Each computer is a self-contained publishing machine, connected to a global network of places to broadcast said work. Each new document, presentation and email represents and reinforces both our company’s brand image, as well as our own. Whether you like it or not, you’ve had the publishing world thrust upon you. An updated version of Comic Sans (called ‘Comic Neue’) was launched in 2014. Who is this man of mystery trying to save the world, one poorly-chosen typeface at a time? He’s an Australian designer named Craig Rozynski. The typeface was launched more broadly that year thanks to a Kickstarter campaign that helped make it available in more than 40 languages. Over $10,000 Australian dollars were raised by almost 200 backers to make it happen. And now you can download the font for free at comicneue.com. The first Friday of July has been dubbed ‘Comic Sans Day’ and is celebrated (or lamented) the world over. So why not celebrate by changing all writing you do that day to Comic Sans - get into the holiday spirit! Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash