AUG
2009
One of the most important elements of graphic design is typeface or font. Choosing the right fonts while designing the layout is critical to the look and feel of the brochure or the website. Equally important, if not more so, is the role of typeface in how effectively the brochure design or web design conveys the message to the target audience. Is the heading attracting the viewer’s attention while not completely shadowing the other elements on the page? Does the brochure appear cluttered with text? Or is the text laid out in a way that all important info is available at a glance? A lot of these things are decided by the fonts we choose for that brochure design or website design project.
Given its importance, no designer can take the choice of fonts lightly. And that often means hours spent surfing fonts online or trying various combinations through graphic design applications or perhaps flipping through printed font directories. In case of trying fonts on the computer, well…anyone who has done it, will tell you how cumbersome it is. And in case of the printed font albums, one doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that there is a limit to the choice of fonts you have. And thats where the folks at Fontplore have come to our rescue.
They have devised an interactive application for searching and exploring font databases. It helps you browse, preview, compare and print fonts on an interactive table using tangible objects. Quite futuristic.
The sad bit is that the interactive tables are still something only the big agencies can afford. Though, given the way technology has made things accessible to people over the last decade or so (remember how expensive the first mobile phone was?!), it won’t be wishful to think that we will soon have an interactive table with Fontplore to vet font choices with clients for their design project. Can’t wait to lay my hands on it, honestly.
Fontplore Showreel from Mphasize on Vimeo.
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