Visual communication has been a life-long affair for me. I love it. What I don’t love is the constant abuse of typefaces. It totally makes me cringe. (Kudos to Papyrus Watch for helping us laugh about it.)
Here are five fonts that I can definitely do without:
- Algerian
- Papyrus
- Comic Sans
- Lucida Handwriting
- Curlz
It’s my hope that you — as indie filmmakers — will pause, think, and make educated design choices at every stage of the filmmaking process. You see, the design choices you make speak volumes about you and your work as an indie filmmaker; however, sometimes they aren’t saying very nice things. Especially if you’re abusing a typeface like the ones I listed.
As indie filmmakers, we communicate visually on a regular basis. We make thousands of decisions about how we want a story told on screen. Where do we put the camera? How does this lighting or lens affect the story? What’s the best edit for this scene? We make so many decisions that communicate information visually to our audiences.
Even after picture lock, we make more decisions on behalf of our films. We use websites, avatars, posters, DVD labels, stickers, and business cards (among other things) to tell audiences about the film we so labored over so lovingly. Yet, somehow this part of the process *typically* doesn’t get the same respect.
When you pour everything into making a great film but skimp on graphic design, you do yourself — and your films — a disservice.
Respect the design process just as much as you respect the filmmaking process. It’s important. If you don’t feel comfortable making graphic design choices, ask a designer to help. Find a volunteer or raise the money to pay the designer. Make it happen. It’s that important.
In the meantime, please — for the love of all things holy — stop abusing those typefaces, eh?
Want to learn more?
If you want learn more about why these fonts are so hated, here’s where you can find thoughts from other folks. They’ll help you explore this subject. Do your own research, too, when you have a moment, eh?
- Typographic Hate Lists
- 10 Iconic Fonts and Why You Should Never Use Them
- A Guide to the Most Loved and Hated Fonts
- 15 Fonts Designers Hate and Why
- The top 10 most notoriously hated fonts
- Comic Sans: Why Designers Hate this Font?
- Designers Reveal Their Least Favorite Fonts
- The most hated fonts
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20 years ago I read a book called “The Mac is Not a Typewriter”. It was written by a typesetter and covered all the mistakes typists make when the use a word processor. I still have my copy and remember many of the rules. Typesetting used to be an art. Many people don’t know the difference between a serif and sans-serif font! I still like Helvetica for sans-serif and Century Schoolbook for serif. Another great book is “Eats Shoots and Leaves” about grammar mistakes. some funny stuff.
I’ll have to check out “Eats Shoots and Leaves” when I get the chance. Sounds awesome! Thanks for the recommendation, Mike!
Font misuse is terrible widespread. With so many fonts available for free or for a small fee, it blows my mind that designers, brands, companies, individuals all limit themselves to what’s available in Microsoft Word.
No kidding! It’s one of my big pet peeves, but I get that I I’m biased (having a design background). Glad you appreciate it, too! 🙂