hrbrmstr's Daily Drop

Drop #516 (2024-08-13): Typography Tuesday

hrbrmstr

A Plethora Of Pixel Fonts; Political Fonts; Letterform Archive

Yes, today’s edition is 100% focused on fonts/typography. But, if you haven’t checked out postgres.new, you truly should!

TL;DR

(This is an AI-generated summary of today’s Drop using Sonnet via Perplexity.)

Here’s a concise three-bullet summary of the blog post:

A Plethora Of Pixel Fonts

Chevy Ray, a seasoned indie game developer, took on an ambitious project to create a comprehensive pixel font pack after the success of his previous font packs released in 2016 and 2018. Following the release of his game Ikenfell, Chevy aimed to develop over 100 pixel fonts, ultimately exceeding his goal by producing 175 fonts.

To achieve this, he leveraged the Rust programming language to build a custom tool named PIFO (PIxel FOnt). This tool automated the process of generating, testing, and deploying the fonts. Ray’s approach was deliberate/methodical, starting with designing font sheets in pixel art tools and then converting these designs into PNG tilesheets and configuration files. PIFO processed these inputs to generate TrueType font files, ensuring they met quality and kerning standards.

Ray’s technical implementation included the use of Rust’s parallelization features to enhance performance, as well as custom algorithms for pixel clustering and contour generation. Rust’s strong type system and error handling provided the reliability needed for this intricate process.

The project also overcame several challenges, such as extending the character set to support multiple languages (EFIGS), implementing a semi-automated kerning process, and developing scripts for automated deployment on itch.io. The result was the “175 Pixel Font Megapack,” a significant contribution to the indie game development community, demonstrating the effectiveness of Rust in creating specialized tools and streamlining the font creation process.

Political Fonts

Political campaigns are increasingly recognizing that typeface selection in logos is not just an aesthetic choice but a strategic one that communicates a candidate’s identity, ideology, and competitiveness. Research published back in 2021 takes a look at how various factors influence these choices, shedding light on the psychology behind typeface decisions.

The paper suggests that graphic designers carefully select typefaces to embody the personality traits and ethos of a candidate. However, the choice is not entirely free; it must align with legibility standards, particularly for rendering the candidate’s name.

Oddly enough, political affiliation also plays a significant role. Serif fonts are favored by Republicans, symbolizing tradition and stability, while Democrats prefer sans serif fonts, reflecting modernity and progressiveness. As electoral races become more competitive, the trend leans toward sans serif fonts, perceived as more modern and approachable. However, Republicans still tend to revert to serif fonts in such scenarios, possibly to reinforce a sense of reliability and experience.

Candidates with incumbency or longer tenures are inclined to use serif fonts, likely because their logos date back to when these fonts were more prevalent (1996-2012).

Gender also influences typeface choice. Female candidates are more likely to use script or handwriting fonts for their first names, subtly signaling their gender. Male candidates often opt for slab serifs, exuding strength and authority.

Designers strive to match typefaces with a candidate’s brand, emphasizing authenticity. The chosen typeface must resonate with the candidate’s perceived personality.

Thankfully — regardless of stylistic preferences — legibility concerns are a priority, especially for materials like yard signs where readability from a distance is crucial.

I was a bit surprised the paper didn’t touch on age of the target constituency as a font-selection factor (I think the “sans serif” leaning by the GOP is due, in part, to that being what the older population in that party are used to).

In case you’re wondering what fonts are in use by the two major candidate teams are…

Letterform Archive

The Letterform Archive is a nonprofit center dedicated to the preservation, study, and celebration of graphic design, typography, and letterforms. They also strive to inspire and educate designers, scholars, and the public about the history and future of graphic design.

They have over 100,000 items related to lettering, typography, calligraphy, and graphic design, including books, periodicals, posters, sketches, original artwork, and ephemera. These materials span from the 1800s to today.

The Archive offers several ways to engage with their collection:

  • a gallery in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood, open to the public during regular hours
  • rotating exhibitions showcasing different aspects of their collection
  • an Online Archive featuring high-resolution digitizations of nearly 1,500 works
  • tours and research visits by appointment

Some recent exhibitions have included “Bauhaus Typography at 100,” “Strikethrough: Typographic Messages of Protest,” and “Subscription to Mischief: Graffiti Zines of the 1990s”

They have and do tons more than this (the site is sprawline!), so def carve out some time to explore it.

FIN

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