FontSpace Blog

The Importance of Choosing the Right Font

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:44:48 -0700

Having a font that catches the eye has sold products for years, in fact, fonts are what connect us to our favorite brand names. Whether you're trying to promote your garage band's concert next week, design a party or wedding invitation, or promote an upcoming sale or new business, taking the time to select a font that sets you apart can leave a better, longer-lasting impression. From Coca-Cola's signature world-recognized font to a font as simple as the one used in the Got Milk? campaign, fonts have dominated marketing since their first use.

Stand out! Getting creative and using a noticeable font may mean the difference between being remembered and being forgotten. So, don't underestimate the power of the right font! It won't even cost you a dime, just a little thought and a little time. Check out free fonts with Fontspace. There are currently 26,487 fonts shared by designers around the world available for you to choose from!

Any typography fan knows that nothing blends in (or gets picked on) as much as comic-sans. In the same way, nothing stands out like a custom font tailored to either your audience or the personality of what you are promoting. If you want a font with individuality that stands out, try out the free Chalk-hand-lettering. If you want a unique and fun font, try out the free Confetti stream or Story book. If you want a professional and pretty font, look at the free Yaquote script or Jenna Sue. With so many choices available, you are sure to find what you are looking for and you might even find a treasure you never knew you needed!

Cambodian Millennials Develop Typography to Keep Khmer Alive in the Digital Age

Fri, 24 Jul 2015 18:50:15 -0700

Typing one Khmer letter on a keyboard involves multiple keystrokes. Consequently, Cambodians often use phonetic English spellings for informal communications.

As the world becomes increasingly digital, many Cambodian millennials are keeping their alphabet alive by creating Khmer typography.

The Khmer Typography Team can thrive thanks to Danh Hong, a Vietnamese graphic designer who programmed Khmer Unicode in 2001. Before that, any attempt at computerizing Khmer had to be done using Latin Lettering programs, which was extremely challenging.

Hong explains why creating Khmer typography is so difficult: "2,821 complex consonant combinations with stacked overlapping consonant feet and vowels." Creating a complete alphabet takes a lot of time.

Both amateur and professional Cambodian typographers use a Facebook group to look for help, encouragement, and inspiration. Part of the Facebook group includes an unofficial archive of fonts they like, fount anywhere from Buddhist Scriptures to album covers.

A current typography projects is inspired by one of these posts in the Facebook group. The post is a picture of a chalkboard full of a teacher's writing. The group went crazy for her beautiful handwriting, and typographers are hoping to get permission to digitalize her style.

We now live in a world where digital communication rules and the Latin keyboard dominates. We are lucky to have young, tech-savvy individuals like the members of Khmer Typography Team who are passionate about digitalizing their language.

Here at FontSpace, we have a wide variety of fonts from up-and-coming typographers. Do you have a font you'd like to share? If so, contact us!

The Power of Emoticons in Business

Thu, 16 Jul 2015 17:04:19 -0700

The use of emoticons has exploded over the past decade. They are a significant part of communication in everyday life for many people. They are even acceptable in the realm of business. Their popularity spans all generations, from young children to the elderly. This raises the question, “why are we so intrigued by them?” Here are a few primary contributing factors to the growth and power of emoticons.

Ability to Relate

Facial expressions are a universal language. Everyone understands their meaning, regardless of language differences. We relate easily to the emotions displayed on a face, whether it be human or digital. We respond to these pictures better than we do text. It is a simple matter of human nature. We pay attention to and understand facial expressions.

Friendliness

Emoticons often come across as friendly and casual. They are especially helpful in situations involving criticism or negative comments. They take some of the sting and harshness out of potentially confrontational conversations. They are particularly prominent on social media platforms and a number of businesses use them, taking advantage of the approachable perception.

Innovative

The diversity in emoticons is constantly expanding. People enjoy having the latest “hip” images available. Keeping up with this trend allows companies to portray themselves as innovative and “cool.” This is decidedly true if your demographic is the younger population. However, as stated earlier, even older people love them.

The true power of emoticons is within the people who share and use them. There is no question that they are immensely favored. They are welcoming and fashionable. Any business or entrepreneur wanting to connect with customers on a personal level should consider using them.

Helvetica for the 21st Century

Tue, 07 Jul 2015 14:54:10 -0700

Even if you know nothing about typefaces, you know Helvetica. It's the frontman of fonts, and 57 years after its creation, it's getting a makeover.

First, a bit of history from an article published on The Daily Gazette: Helvetica was designed by Max Miedinger, a Swiss man who was commissioned to update German 19th century fonts. It became explosively popular in the 1970s, but the font wasn't perfect. As great as it was for advertisements and headlines, it wasn't so pleasant to read in small form. Because of the flaws, a team of typographers were commissioned to make an updated version.

This led to Unica. Unfortunately, the timing wasn't right. The company commissioning the font was going out of business, and the typographic world was going through massive changes now that desktop publishing was hitting the mainstream. Unica became a footnote.

In 2012, Monotype director Dan Rhatigan stumbled on box that contained the photographic film masters for Unica.

Mr. Rhatigan shared the masters with his team, and Monotype designer Toshi Omagari took on the Resurrection Unica project, staying loyal to the original design but updating it for the modern world.

And so, Unica 2.0 is born.

How will this impact people? Not very much on the surface level. For regular people, the fonts probably look indistinguishable, but "to designers like Rhatigan and Omagari," the differences are clear as day. "Even looking at the film masters" Rhatiganhe "could see 'all the detail, all the intention that was in there.'"

Have you created any fonts based on a classic favorite? Contact us to share!

The Mystery of the Drowned Type

Thu, 25 Jun 2015 16:10:14 -0700

It's quite a story. A legendary typeface, a nasty business feud, and a modern Indiana Jones determined to discover a typographical treasure.

When Hammersmith's Doves Press was established in 1899, it quickly gained a reputation for its beautiful Venetian-style typeface designed by Edward Prince. The type perfectly fit with Doves Press' elegantly-bound volumes, each a work of art with a touch of medieval grace.

But by 1908, Doves Press was in financial trouble, with the two partners in bitter opposition. One of them, T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, couldn't stand the idea of the typeface being used by anyone else. So he began to destroy it. Every night from 1913 to 1916, the old man dumped more of the metal type off the Hammersmith Bridge.

It was never seen again.

Or so we thought.

In 2010, Robert Green decided to restore the typeface in digital form, working from printed pieces. Eventually, he took on the challenge of salvaging the actual metal type from the Thames, recovering enough of the type to more accurately redesign the Doves Press typeface. He released the result in January, 2015.

The recovery of the Doves Press type has sparked a new interest in the beauty of many Old Style typefaces. Based on 15th and 16th century typefaces, they evoke the drama of the era just before the First World War, when art and craftsmanship blended. They combine formal typefaces with unexpected touches, decorative, but easily readable.

Some of the old-style typefaces are being rediscovered: Goudy, Centaur, Galliard, Belwe, Souvenir, and Palatino.

And there are modern re-imaginings of the old faces: Sudbury, Kelmscott Roman NF, Aurelis ADF No2 Std, Centabel, Cock, and Colwell, among many others.

The Wonderful and Elaborate World of Dingbats

Wed, 17 Jun 2015 20:51:18 -0700

The history of dingbats is as old as the printing press. A typesetting solution to esthetic concerns and ornamental augments, dingbats provide type characters that create framing, add punctuation, manage empty space and provide embellishments to complement and organize blocks of text. With the advent of computerized typesetting, you may have a selection of dingbats in the form of fonts (also known as pi fonts) that are available for use in various publishing programs. The tradition of these ornamental symbols is so rich and vital to typography that some type foundries still cast symbols for letterpress printers.

Dingbats come in a plethora of varieties. Some decorative designs incorporate animal themes, others are directional or grammatical in nature, like arrows and manicules; or the ancient Greek hedera symbol which divided paragraphs, much like the modern pilcrow (¶) sign is used today. Historically, floral themes supplied decorative space fillers and framing; these are known are fleurons. Digital typesetting has brought about character codes that includes an array of dingbats in the Unicode and universal character set. This has popularized dingbats and made them easily applicable in desktop publishing.

Fontspace has a over 1,500 crowd shared "pi fonts" available for free download. Users have contributed such varied designs that feature banners, frames, stars, unique fleurons, hearts, popular characters and so much more. Here's a list of 7 dingbats themes that have over 50,000 downloads!

WWDesigns font, created by WindWalker64. 260,000 + downloads. Ornamental and geometric designs.

Dingleberries font, created by Nymphont. 200,000 + downloads. Victorian fleurons and ornaments.

KG Heart Doodles font, created by Kimberly Geswein. 110,000 + downloads. Modern Valentine and heart oriented symbols.

NeoclassicFleuronsFree, created by Intellecta Design. 110,000 + downloads. Fleurons of varied weights for framing.

CornPop, created by Intellecta Design. 108,000 + downloads. An array of corner dingbats.

Evilz font, created by N+. 78,000 + downloads. Fun, silhouette black skulls and halloween themed creations.

MixedBag, created by Digital Magic. 67,000 + downloads. Graphic symbols in high contrast of varied themes.

If you've developed your own set of fun and helpful dingbats, and want to share them with the world, contact us, or get started here. We look forward user contributions that can enhance the design possibilities of typographers everywhere.

Best Free Fonts of the Week - June 2015

Thu, 11 Jun 2015 19:06:41 -0700

It's that time again! Time to take a look at some of the best free fonts of the week. This time we're going to be showcasing brand new fonts from designers you may not have heard of yet.

Crucifixion

Looking for the perfect font for your metal band's new tour poster? Your haunted house? Are all the free fonts you've sifted through not scary enough? Look no further than Crucifixion, designed by FontMonger. It'll certainly darken the mood, but in all the right ways.

Electric Circus

Want a cute hand-drawn look that's still easy to read? Check out Electric Circus from Des. Some letters change from upper to lowercase, while others don't, making for an overall look that seems organic and hand-done.

Have a Great Day

A great set of letters made to look like they've been hand-drawn with a thick Sharpie, Have a Great Day by Runes&Fonts is bold but still friendly. With its lightly-brushed style, it almost gives off a calligraphy look.

Lento

Lento by HeHoo is delicate and swirled without getting messy. Its ubiquitous curlicues create an overall look that evokes fantasy. Just try to look at it and not think of fairies!

Civilisation Maya

With letters that look to be intricately carved out of stone into leaves and vines, Civilisation Maya by CloutierFontes transports you effortlessly to the Mayan jungle. Flip through the pictures to see a very cool set of glyphs to go with the Roman letters.

If you're interested in more free fonts, explore our website! We're sure to have what you're looking for. If we don't, contact us!

Typography Expert Explains our Emotional Response to Fonts

Thu, 04 Jun 2015 20:29:44 -0700

Dominique Dalla has her doctorate in tactile typography and currently works as the digital media course convenor for the Queensland College of Art at Griffith University on the Gold Coast.

In other words, she's a typography expert.

People have a strong emotional reaction to fonts. Most people don't think about that very often, but Ms. Dalla has been aware of the emotional relationship between humans and fonts since she was a small child.

Learning to write left-handed in a right-handed world was stressful for Ms. Dalla. She was keenly aware that her writing was different from that of her peers. In other words, there was never a time when Ms. Dalla was not aware of the differences between fonts (or handwriting).

In an article for ABC Australia, reporter Damien Larkins asked Ms. Dalla about the tendency for people to have an emotional response to typefaces. She responded with a metaphor:

"Typefaces have personalities - if you're going to go and give a speech in parliament, you probably shouldn't dress as a clown."

There is a time and place for each font. Take the love-to-hate-font Comic Sans, for example. You don't hear anyone complaining about it when it's in a comic book.

If your friend showed up to a fancy restaurant in denim cut offs, you would have a negative emotional reaction. Similarly, there is an element of appropriateness that goes along with choosing a font. If a font is not appropriate for its context, you won't be happy.

Have you designed any fonts with a specific context in mind? Contact us to share it!

Some Typefaces are Healthier than Others

Fri, 29 May 2015 14:14:33 -0700

The Atlantic recently reported on new research that suggests that typefaces may have a an impact on health.

In 2012, filmmaker Errol Morris wrote a short piece for the New York Times Online pondering the likelihood of death by asteroid. He then asked readers if they felt that "we live in an era of unprecedented safety," and how confident they felt in their answer.

Mr. Morris didn't let readers know that the piece would appear in one of six fonts at random. The results were statistically significant:

Those who had read the piece in Baskerville "were the most likely to believe it and the most convinced of their choice" Those who read the piece in Comic Sans were least likely to believe it, and least sure of their answer.

Morris's experiment promoted a question that has led to several follow up studies: "Can we separate the form of writing from its content?"

We know intuitively that font choice is important simply because each of us has preferences in fonts we like to read or type with. Company marketing divisions put a lot of thought into choosing the typefaces that are appealing and best represents their products.

But what about the health industry? More recent studies show the chosen font on prescription bottles impact how likely patients are to read potential side effects, and individuals are more likely to stick to a new exercise routine if the instructions are presented in a simple and clear typeface.

Exploring the relationship between information and the font in which it is presented is still a relatively new area of study, especially in the health industry. It will be interesting to see if and how typefaces can impact health in a major way.

The Official Fonts of Awesome

Thu, 21 May 2015 13:37:11 -0700

Sweden takes their fonts seriously, and hey, we can get behind that. The country recently adopted a national font.

Created by a team of Swedish designers, Sweden Sans will be the reigning font on national websites and many printed materials. Combined with the official yellow and blue chosen alongside Sweden Sans, the firm but humble font is reminiscent of those Ikea trips we spent lost in a maze of Swedish ingenuity. We give Sweden an A+ on branding.

Here in America, diversity is our middle name (awesome is our first), so check out a few of our picks for state and national pride:

LMS Star Spangled: We Americans are a bit loud, a bit flashy, and we are pretty proud of it.

Urban Jungle: For the New Yorker braving the trials of subway travel and defying the laws of space with compact apartment living.

Raw Denim Audacity: Don't mess with Texas, but do mess with this font for a modern western feel.

KBTropicalVACATION: A fun, whimsical font, use it to tell everyone you're headed to Florida. Be jealous.

KR California Sun: You'll definitely get your share of sun from this California-inspired creation.

Walter: We know Disney isn't a state, but maybe it should be. The mouse certainly is part of the American experience.

KG Small Town Southern Girl: "When life hands you lemons, squeeze them into sweet tea and thank God you were born a Southern girl." If you hail from Mississippi, it's hard to say it better than that y'all.

American Purpose: We're bold; we're strong; we're full of, you guessed it, purpose.

Looking for more awesomeness? Check out our most popular free fonts or fresh new fonts, like Ocean Coastlines. Contact us for questions, feedback, or about becoming one of our contributing designers. We would love to hear from you.