Bad Examples Week Five

I found my bad example at work this week. I currently work at a boutique in the mall and they sell a variety of interesting brands and items. This particular item was compelling because of its bright, sporadic, and busy packaging. I realized soon after looking at it that it was meant to have typography on it. The words, when read in the correct light, read “Hooray! it’s my Birthday”. I could not get a good enough picture to show the entire phrase together in one photo. I love the idea of confetti filled layers in tumblers but the typography on this specific cup is almost entirely camouflaged. The words are designed in the same shiny metallic coloring of most of the confetti behind it. The typeface size and thickness looks like the same size a piece of the confetti could be. Instead of shiny the words could have been made matte, in a different color, and even possibly with a drop shadow or outline. It is a fun and bright cup but it could have been so much better if the designers had fixed the typography on it. Overall the typography on this piece is unfortunately mostly ineligible and planned out poorly.

I found my bad example this week in my pantry. I didn’t even realize we have had this can in our apartment, and who knows for how long. The first thing that stood out to me was that this can’s packaging looked old. The typefaces and kerning on them make this seem outdated. I do think the brand name looks alright, but it does not go together with the product text. The product text on its own is not presented well either. The words read “Real Cream of Coconut”. The word “Real” is not all caps like the other words, it is also not aligned with the other words, not the same typeface, not is it in the same color. The word feels out of place and should’ve either been situated with the others or cast out entirely. The words “Cream of Coconut” are too thin and too spaced out, they get lost with the background and the shape of the can. When looked at closer, the words “Cream of” and “Coconut”, are stretched out of their original shape. The top half is squished, and the bottom half is stretched vertically. Overall Believe this part of the typography on the design could have been saved if done in a bolder type, different spacing, and different stretching.