Frighteningly Friendly Fonts
August 06, 2007 Filed in: Text &
Fonts
Have you seen any of Hewlett-Packard's recent print
or web advertisements? These have been around for a
while, but I hadn't really paid too much attention to
them until two things happened: we got new HP's at
work, and I received one of their catalogues in the
mail.
In both cases, I kept getting distracted by their font selection. Here are a couple shots of their web ads to illustrate:
x
Why do I feel a sudden urge to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas?
We're in the heat of summer, and this whole campaign looks like Halloween. Even the colors reinforce that feeling. I don't know what feel they intended for this marketing, but "slightly creepy" was probably not the goal. ("They're creepy and they're cooky, the HP family...")
Font and color use contribute to the overall feel of your work – even in slide presentations. Sometimes, going with a default font is okay, but in other instances, you may want to pick and choose between fonts for the best results. I whipped these alternatives up in just a couple of minutes in Keynote, so they're far from perfect. However, I think they offer an alternate feel to the ads. (I'm partial to the laptop example, personally.)
x
How would you change these ads, or do you think they're fine how they are? Remember, if you are using visuals to communicate a message, every element is important, and this includes the font you choose. The wrong font can send your audience a mixed message, so take some time to browse those many fonts available on your computer.
In both cases, I kept getting distracted by their font selection. Here are a couple shots of their web ads to illustrate:
x
Why do I feel a sudden urge to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas?
We're in the heat of summer, and this whole campaign looks like Halloween. Even the colors reinforce that feeling. I don't know what feel they intended for this marketing, but "slightly creepy" was probably not the goal. ("They're creepy and they're cooky, the HP family...")
Font and color use contribute to the overall feel of your work – even in slide presentations. Sometimes, going with a default font is okay, but in other instances, you may want to pick and choose between fonts for the best results. I whipped these alternatives up in just a couple of minutes in Keynote, so they're far from perfect. However, I think they offer an alternate feel to the ads. (I'm partial to the laptop example, personally.)
x
How would you change these ads, or do you think they're fine how they are? Remember, if you are using visuals to communicate a message, every element is important, and this includes the font you choose. The wrong font can send your audience a mixed message, so take some time to browse those many fonts available on your computer.