Good

This week I looked around my house to find different examples of typography. I ended up choosing this box of photographic paper from Ilford as my example of good typography. Everything that is written is very clear and legible. The typeface of the Ilford logo is a very simple bold sans-serif font that really grabs the attention of whoever is viewing it. The tracking of the Ilford logo is also really consistent which makes it really appealing and nice to look at. The type is really close together, but not too close to where it seems cramped. It is just close enough to feel compact and organized without it being so close the letters begin to run together. The typeface also helps with that organized feel. Everything is very geometric, so each letter fits nicely next to one another. The letters below it are much thinner and much smaller than the Ilford logo above them, which really helps to separate them as a different block of text. The total space that the block of smaller text takes up is also roughly the same size as the Ilford logo. Since they are the same size it makes the area feel very well-balanced and sturdy. Despite the amount of text in that area, it does not feel overly cramped though. The tracking is tight and the leading is just enough to separate the text without going overboard while keeping everything condensed and clean. The only real issue that I could find with it is the visibility of the silver “MGRC” text in the purple area. Even then, the visibility is not awful, but not quite as clear as everything around it.

This text is from a bag that I got from the camera store Calagaz. Overall, I would not completely consider this an example of very bad typography, more so an example of very bland typography with some noticeable mistakes. Overall, the design is just very bland and boring. The contrast between the black text and the yellow background is perfectly fine, but the bright yellow color is the only thing that creates any real interest. I do not think that the font choice is bad, but I think that the sizing between the store name and the information below it could be changed. As it stands right now, there is some change in font size, but I do not feel that the change in size is quite enough to separate them; this makes it feel just like a big block of text that all runs together. Maybe changing the information to a slightly smaller size or giving it a thinner tvcould be enough to separate them. One other issue that I found with this text is the store name at the top. It is not a massive issue, but the kerning between some of the letters could be tweaked to really make the spacing more consistent. This issue is most noticeable in LA and AZ at the top. The bottom of the A in both of these instances begins to run into the next letter and it starts to mess with the spacing as a whole. While this did also happen with the RD in the Ilford logo, it did not really mess up the feel of the text. However, in the example with Calagaz, it makes the whole thing feel a tiny bit worse.

This is a wrapper from a small loaf of bread that was bought from the supermarket. I think that this is a fairly good example of good typography. There is a very solid contrast between the background and the text which really helps with how easy it is to read. The color of the text and the background are also quite nice. Instead of a harsh pure white and black, the background is a nice warm off-white and the text is a warm brown. The combination of these colors makes the design feel somewhat warm and welcoming which would make me, personally, more likely to buy this bread. The font choices are not bad either. The words “TAKE & BAKE” are in a very simple sans-serif font which I do not think really helps or hurts the design much. I think that if those words were in a slightly rounder and softer font, it may make the packaging feel a bit more welcoming, but what is there currently is not bad. I think the font on the circle below it works very well. The serifs in the font make it feel slightly rustic, which is very reminiscent of a loaf of bread like this. The tracking on the “TAKE & BAKE” text is fairly loose but not too loose. One thing that I do not really like about this typography is how every word on the packing is capitalized. Since capital letters tend to draw more attention than lowercase letters, it is possible it could be very slightly confusing. However, the different sizes of the type do a good job of breaking up the information, which makes up for the capital letters.