Yesterday I was introduced to a new font. I fell in love. It was suggested as a solution by a fellow designer for a solution to a stationery system we're working on. I've hired her on to help me with this job as school as started and all of my fabulous students need more of my time. It works out quite well though. She and I have always been on the same wavelength when it comes to design so her solutions and my solutions for the project compliment well. When she suggested this font, I immediately knew it was a winner. Why? The personality. I know I sound like a broken record but the same old font just won't do and I won't allow it to do. Let me show you why this is so special.
Looking closely, it can be noticed that the letterforms, while perfectly easy to read, are slightly "off". Counters don't sit quite in the center. The lower case letters are playful. Just look at that e, k and g! Marvelous! And the upper case Q! Wow. Still, with all these fun forms, the font allows easy access to the words. I can read it through the specialness. It's a bonus that it looks cool too.
The font is available through veer.com and was designed by Stefan Hattenbach in October 2007. A brand spankin' new font ripe for opportunities. He says this about the creation:
"The roots of Expansion can be traced back to an old CD cover. I searched long and hard to locate the original typeface and designer without luck, so bit by bit, I began designing each letter with my own characteristics. Eventually, this developed into a complete, modern display family. The unique character and unexpected details of this face work surprisingly well in longer bodies of text as well as in headlines." - veer.com
4 comments:
OK so here goes. This is my second experience with this blog thingy. My first was asking health questions on my cousin's wife's blog to help her get a good grade in her nursing class. It was kind of a family duty but she did get a good grade.
Sooooooooooo these things have a tendency to make my mind go blank. I stare at the screen wiggle my nose like Samantha Stevens and try to think design thoughts.
I have a tendency to ramble. Here goes... :-)
So I suppose you want to know what kind of magazines I read. I will pretty much pick up anything and read it, even books without pictures. (Magazines, newspapers, science fiction...right now dragon stuff.) I suppose the magazine I read most often is the Sunday NYT Magazine that's inserted into the paper. The fashion inserts are cool too. The headline designs are usually minimalist yet quirky. They do a lot with a little and I enjoy the designers' sensitivity to the content of the stories. (And did I say great storytelling through photography as well as strong writing?)
I think there is a great deal to be learned about the design needs of a variety of audiences—no matter what kind of design you are doing—in magazines. Looking at only cool stuff is great but you run the risk of developing a narrow perspective. If you are truly excited about your job prospects in editorial design start looking at tons —I mean loads — of magazines and newspapers.
Just a note: when you start looking at the bad stuff and you can't help but start to redesign it in your head, you're hooked.
You might not think to pick these magazines up and read them they're definitely not cool but I dare you anyway. Try Family Circle, Woman's Day and AARP Magazine. AARP is the world's largest circulation magazine. Great organization, not overly designed but nice attention to type. It has great variety of interesting stories and info as well as great illustration. It is for over 50 and it is fun. What a concept? My Mom gets it. It's a free read and surprisingly up beat.
Yea I occasionally buy Real Simple but in the end after I read it I realize just how disorganized my life is and I need a good dose of Us and People. There is nothing like a little out of hand B. S. to make you feel like you've got it all together.
Love Halvorsen. I could marry Halvorsen. Expansion not so much. I think on the third date I would complain of a headache and go home early.
Ms. Dash
We'll get you up and running so you can post out there instead of in here. You'll be blogging like a champ in no time! In the meantime, I put it out there for you. :)
I'm definitely a fan of the letter G for some reason thats one of my weaknesses. I love love love the letter G. That definitely makes this font worth my attention and a winner in my eyes.
CarissaKe_DB_GDII
I don't know. The G doesn't really do it for me. It seems like a deflated version of how it should be. I don't think it quite matches the rest of the font.
Andy_C_EC_GDII
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