Kristin Becker's DTC Classes at WSU

This is the one of the movie posters from the movie the Great Gatsby. I saw that another student used a different poster from the same movie/book to talk about but I chose to still use this typeface as an example because it is so unique. The decorative chrome typeface adds and supports the theme of the movie which is the glitz and glamour of the ultra-stylized 20s that the movie takes place in. The font looks extremely classy but is still used in a fitting and unconventional way. The font has a dimensional effect especially with the thick layer of shiny chrome on top of it. The type has a high contrast in letter shapes as well as the incorporated stripe pattern. Together with the kaleidoscopic pattern, the typeface successfully established a glittering roaring twenties atmosphere that the story is set in. Though this font is decorative, it is still a sans serif so as not to appear as an overwhelming font with all the other elements that are added. This typeface is appropriate for the content as it is very flashy. The typeface is also very chunky and bold and thick. The scale of the words “the great” obviously is to highlight the main part of the title which is “Gatsby”. It is hard to try to classify this typeface as it is very decorative but appears very bold. The contrast between some of the stripes applied adds extra dimension and pizzazz that makes the typeface especially intriguing to the eye.  This typeface in this title doesn’t appear big and bulky as it should due to the contrast with the rest of the content of the movie poster. The use of all capital letters creates a very clean line with no ascending elements.

Great Gatsby Poster

If you look at the poster for 127 Hours, the font choice may not be the most visually exciting thing to have ever been done with type on a movie poster, however browsing through several I found that it was one of the most effective posters. This is in part because it utilized what we just learned about color to great effect, but it’s simple typeface appearance works well in tandem with that.

The title of the movie is the most important part of the poster, If a potential viewer were to see the poster, and loved James Franco, and Slum-dog millionaire, that might convince them to go see the movie, but if they don’t know what the movie is called, the rest would be irrelevant. For this reason the designer made “127 Hours” much bigger than anything on the poster, and used a very heavy weight. Also as a San’s serif font, it is much easier to read quickly, which is the point of a poster. I think the “127” is that much bigger than the “Hours” primarily so that the fonts could use similar kerning and Horizontal scale. (i.e. stretching out the 127 would make it appear awkward, while squishing the hours further would make it harder to read) The kerning does make the title feel a little squished though, but the size and weight of the font make it easy to read. I think that this is because of the themes of the movie, the main character is trapped, squished under a rock and placing it there between the 2 rock faces and making it feel squished gives a sense of claustrophobia underneath them.

Looking at the other parts of the poster, The name “James Franco” and the title “Slum-dog Millionaire” use similar sans serif fonts and are the next most weighted, as well as the claim that it is a “Triumphant True Story.” This is because they are the next most important things, “Slum-Dog” won an academy award, and James Franco is a popular actor. It’s more important to associate the title “Slum-dog Millionaire” with the project than to make it clear that it’s the same director, which is why that middle line is weighted less.

In this movie poster the The Godfather Part II, the text is center aligned on the top of the poster making its way down the page into the middle of the poster. The yellow typeface is important to the poster because it makes the text standout on the black background. Yellow is the only color used on this poster besides black, it is used for the typeface as well as the illustration of the man. The text on the poster changes from being lower case, upper case and back to lower case. Caps being used on the poster are used to emphasize importance. The “Part II” is in all caps which makes the eye go straight to that text, it shows that this is of most importance, it tells the viewer that a new movie, part II, is coming out.The creator of this poster also thought about scale when creating this, hierarchy and contrast is developed through the mix of typeface. On the other hand, the scale and width of the text is very compressed. All the text have very little to no spacing in between each letter. There is also a mix of different typefaces, “The Godfather” is the typeface that carries throughout most of The Godfather posters I looked at while the “is coming for Christmas” typeface is way more simplistic which gives it a feeling of lesser importance. To me it does not seem to fit well with this poster, it looks like an after thought. I think that the typeface is correct for this content because the typeface for “The Godfather” is used for all the posters. The typeface is dramatic but simplistic which I believe fits well with the movie and mobsters.

The Godfather poster from http://www.moviepostershop.com

The Godfather poster from http://www.moviepostershop.com

“Self” magazine, page 96, April 2014

I found this to be an interesting headline when I was looking through a “Self” magazine. What really stood out to me about this headline was that it is “thin and high strung” which is a characteristic of a type that is used for a headline according to the reading. As well as being the largest text on the page, it is a serif type. This creates a contrast with the remaining text on the page. It is important because the remaining text is meant to be more informative therefore the san serif type that the designer chose to use is much smaller and has a heavier stroke than the headline but does not overpower it. This creates a hierarchy through contrast in scale because the headline is a much larger point size than any other text on the page. At the top of the page the word “SKIN” stands alone and further stands out from the rest of the headline “GAME CHANGERS” because it is in red making it the only text on the page that is not black.

“Self” magazine, page 96, April 2014

Fundamentally, the structure of the font that the designer chose to use for the headline works well because it is the largest text on the page and it is “thin and spindly.” It stands strong on the page because of how large of a point size it is and its scale compared to everything else on the page. If it were at a point size that was smaller then 24 pts it would be weak and as a result it would not be a prominent element on the page and the basic text might stand stronger because it feels heavier at a much smaller size. Another thing that I noticed about the headline is that it is in all caps so the x-height is not a relevant characteristic of this headline. I also noticed that there is a very small width space between each letter. I would classify this type as transitional because it is sharper and less calligraphic than humanist serif type. In some cases the letters in the headline touch but in other instances there is a sliver of space between one letter and another. For example, in the word “SKIN” the “S” and the “K” do not touch, but the “K” and the “I” touch at the bottom.

I chose the title on the season one box set for Game of Thrones. The title is successful in many ways, it eludes to what the TV show is about by textually portraying strength, ancient characteristics, and elegance.

The title shows a sense of strength by using traditional small uppercase letters throughout the title and similar uppercase letters for the words “Game” and “Thrones.” At first glance the title may seem analogous in terms of caps, but with a second look one notices that the cap height of the “G” in “Game” and the “T” in “Thrones” are a few points larger, and they also extend below the baseline differentiating between the upper and lower case while keeping a sense of boldness in the title. Steadiness is also shown through the small uppercase placement on the baseline, it appears as though even the bowl of the curved letters do not dip below the baseline but sit on top of it.

The elegance involved in the HBO TV series is an important factor to play into the text since the characters in the show are all some form of royalty. This nobility exudes through the delicacy of the cross bars. If the cross bars were left more bold in comparison to the stems, the words would appear more masculine and less ornate.

Another important factor in creating an old-fashioned title is the serifs that are present. Since people have come to recognize fonts sans serif as modern, those texts with serifs have become synonymous with old-fashioned, or outdated. Since Game of Thrones is supposed to be in a different time, including the serif was an appopriate choice. The sharp shape to the serifs paired with the elongated terminal on the “T” appears to take the shape of a sword, which is a common weapon used throughout the series.

All these choices, serifs, crossbars, stems, small uppercase and terminals, come together to create an appropriate typeface for the “Game of Thrones” box cover.

New York Times Newspaper Cover: graphics8.nytimes.com

The New York Times has been a typeface that has always stood out to me and stands out more than anything on the newspaper itself. The font is different in that it is not a font that is used commonly. The reason for this is that the newspaper utilizes relatively simple fonts for articles and headlines so The New York Times will be distinguished and catches attention.

New York Times title : gutenberg.org

The space between the x-height and the cap height is very small throughout the text. The letters sit on a line but it is somewhat hard to distinguish what the line is because of the serifs and the the odd descender and ascenders. The typeface also seems to have a bold and italic form to it. There is a major overhang from where the letters curve for each of the letters. The scale throughout the typeface remains unchanged.To me the typeface has a humanist style or old style for classification of font.