Study Task 1 - What's my type?

To determine what type represented my personality the most I started by looking at each typeface. I could see that the serif fonts (Garamond, Bodoni, Times New Roman and Century Expanded) all looked like they would represent a very formal individual. I don't see myself as a formal person at all - I find it boring! Also singling out letters such as 'a' I could get a grasp of the main differences between each of the types. For instance the a's of the serif fonts didn't differ much at all. In fact the main difference between the serifs is the weight of the type and whether they include flourishes on the curls of the 'c' or tails of the descending letters (g, j, y). However the sans serif fonts differ quite a bit in the style of the letters. Helvetica's 'a' is very similar to those of the serif fonts but Futura's is very simple and geometric, eliminating any unneeded lines. As a result of analyzing the types I think that my personality would be more suited to one of the sans serif fonts.

After looking at Vignelli's 6 basic typefaces, I researched each one to find out it's history. I will just use bullet points to avoid creating a wall of text.

Garamond:
- Designed by Claude Garamond in the 16th Century.
- However, when Garamond became popular many of his fonts related back to Jean Jannon.
- Produced to be legible.

Bodoni:
- Designed by Giambattista Bodoni
- Bodoni drew his influence from the Romains du Roi (A french typeface developed in the late 17th century)
- Also takes inspiration from Baskerville.
- Has been used most famously in the CBS logo, the Nirvana logo and even in the Hilton Hotel's menus.

Century Expanded:
- Designed by Morris Fuller Benton
- It is the only font allowed to be used in the Supreme Court of the United States

Futura:
- Designed by Paul Renner
- Inspired by the Bauhaus movement
- First typeface to be on the moon
- Used in IKEA and Volkswagen's branding
- Also used in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim in the UI (Skyrim is my favourite game!)

Times New Roman:
- Designed by Victor Lardent
- Commissioned to be made for The Times Newspaper (was used for 40 years)
- Claimed to be one of the most widely used fonts of all time.

Helvetica:
- Designed by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann
- Originally named Neue Haas Grotesk
- Helvetica's named after the Swiss national goddess "Helvetia" 
- Used in American Apparel's marketing
- Vignelli designed the New York subway infographics using Helvetica.

After much deliberation I chose Futura as the font that represents my personality as I believe that I'm a modern individual who works efficiently (like Futura's type is very efficient). I also enjoyed seeing some of the earlier designs of Futura and seeing how Renner came to his final simple geometric type. I love the way he constructed the g with a triangle and I also like the brutal simplicity of the m and n being just straight lines.

My interests are also linked quite closely to the history of Futura. I love space and astrology, so the fact that it was the first typeface on the moon makes it so much more interesting to me. My first car was also a VW Polo and my favourite game is Skyrim so the typeface was used in both of my favourite things!

My Presentation Slides