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FontDiscovery 🖼️ 99: Why is Comic Sans So Controversial

fontdiscovery.typogram.co

FontDiscovery 🖼️ 99: Why is Comic Sans So Controversial

Plus: History of Metaverse & Colors from Great Barrier Reef in Australia

Hua Shu
Nov 29, 2022
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FontDiscovery 🖼️ 99: Why is Comic Sans So Controversial

fontdiscovery.typogram.co

Hi Everyone 👋

I hope you had a good (holiday) weekend! My thanksgiving was good. For dinner, I made a fantastic (in my opinion) lamb. Friday, mostly relaxed and tweaked on icons for Typogram.

I was ready to be fully productive until I came down with a case of Conjunctivitis🐰 yesterday. So now, I'm taking it slow with a warm compress and reminding you to take care of your health as we veer into December.

This week, enjoy an excellent issue from our archive on a great handwriting font, Shadows Into Light!

My thanksgiving dinner

In this Issue

  • Theme: Fonts & Tone

  • Font of the Week: Shadows Into Light Two

  • Design Idea of the Week: Catch up on Metaverse

  • Color Inspiration: Greater Barrier Reef, Australia

sample of Shadows into Light Two
Sample of Shadows Into Light Two

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Font of the Week

Shadows Into Light Two

Fonts, Tone, and Intentions

Handwriting fonts are a double edge sword. They are nice because they feel personal, but they are also tricky because each has a unique tone of voice based on their visual characteristics. When you choose a specific (handwriting) font, you have to determine whether that tone is appropriate for what you are trying to convey.

font comparison
Comparing tones of different fonts

Comic Sans is one of the most well-known examples of font misuse, cultivating jokes and memes into a cult of its own. Born as a font imitating comic book lettering, it has been used repeatedly for situations it was not intended for, like resumes, research papers, and other “serious” things. Just recently, Michael Thomas, an American football player, left this cryptic message on Twitter hinting at a feud with his management. While the message is serious, it’s hard to take it seriously because of the Comic Sans.

Twitter avatar for @Cantguardmike
Michael Thomas @Cantguardmike
Image
10:32 AM ∙ Aug 9, 2021
25,839Likes4,408Retweets

Comic Sans graphic; source: twitter

Shadows Into Light Two Overview

Shadows Into Light Two mimics clean and neat handwriting. It feels casual, intimate, and easy-going without too much fuss. Shadows Into the Light Two is the updated version of the original font, Shadows Into the Light. In my opinion, it has better readability for users due to updated spacing.

Font details 

  • Tiny dots on the lowercase letter “i” and “j”

  • Slight slant, especially in uppercase letters

  • One weight, no italics 

font detail 1
Font detail, tiny dot
font detail 2
Slight slant, especially in capital letters

How do I use it for logo? 

Shadows Into Light Two is readable and brings an extra personal touch to projects. It has a clean and easy-going tone. I would avoid using this font for projects like journal and research content. Bonus tip: The tiny dots in “i” and “j” break down under small scales, so if your logo contains those two letters, it may be best to enlarge the dots.

How do I use it for marketing and branding?

Shadows into Light Two has only one weight and no italics. It is best to use sparingly to add a personal touch for marketing graphics. It can pair with a sans serif, like Nunito Sans, to showcase its tone. Regular Nunito also works this font perfectly because its rounded cap matches the round tip of Shadows into Light Two nicely. It is not most readable in small sizes. It is not the best for paragraph text.

font pairing
Font pairing between Shadows Into Light Two and Nunito

Design Idea of the Week

Catch up on Metaverse

Recently, I have been hearing a lot about Metaverse. This week, I share a couple of articles that helped me understand this concept better. I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject.

Metaverse: A Brief History 

This article goes over the history of the Metaverse that ties together technology, video game, and science fiction. I was surprised to learn that Metaverse is actually a concept that goes way back - in fact, the idea and term “metaverse” is first described in Snow Crash, a science fiction novel by Neal Stephenson published in 1992. 

Future of Retail? Alibaba’s Metaverse Art Exhibition for China's Black Friday

If you wonder where this Metaverse concept can go right now at its infancy, this retail experience created by E-commerce giant Alibaba could be a hint. For China’s Single Day (a massive shopping event equivalent to Black Friday), Alibaba hosted an art exhibition in TaoBao, produced and curated by its virtual employee (a virtual idol) Ayayi, where you can explore different NFTs created by big brands like Burberry. Is Amazon or Meta (Facebook) the next to do this?


Color Inspiration of the Week

Great Barrier Reef, Australia

This week, enjoy this beautiful image from the Greater Barrier Reef in Australia.

Coral Beige #E3E9F0 | Zesty Orange #F4A052 | Soft Charcoal #363636 | Warm Aqua  #80B0BF
Greater Barrier Reef
Greater Barrier Reef in Australia; source: flickr

Jargon Buster!

Geometric Sans Serif

First seen around 1920s

Geometric sans serif is influenced by geometric shapes, such as circles, rectangles, or triangles. The strokes also have very little contrast. Futura is an example.

geometric sans serif

{img: Futura is the most well-known example of Geometric sans serif }


Creative Prompt

Try creating a social media graphic with Shadows Into Light Two!


Thank You

Thank you for reading this week! You can find Shadows Into Light Two here. 

Infographic for Shadow Into Light Two
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FontDiscovery 🖼️ 99: Why is Comic Sans So Controversial

fontdiscovery.typogram.co
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