Abstract
Given the sheer number of typefaces available in the market and the predominance of intuitive criteria during the process, font selection (even after a general decision regarding the features of the fonts sought after has been made) is a difficult task for both, students and professional graphic designers. A more rational, systematic approach is proposed, based on objective formal attributes and design parameters derived from Gerrit Noordzij’s ideas and Erik van Blokland’s TypeCooker methodology. This paper intends to show that digital font data bases and simple algorithms can be used to refine a font search, a convenient approach to most graphic designers, type designers, font foundries, and design educators.
Highlights
Resumen ( ES p ) Debido al inmenso número de tipografías disponibles en el mercado y a la predominancia de criterios intuitivos, la selección de fuentes se ha convertido en una tarea difícil para los estudiantes y para los profesionales en diseño gráfico, inclusive después de que se ha tomado una decisión general sobre las características de las fuentes buscadas
Dada a enorme quantidade de tipografias disponíveis no mercado e do predomínio de critérios intuitivos, a seleção de fontes virou um trabalho difícil tanto para estudantes quanto para designers profissionais, mesmo logo depois de decidir sobre os critérios gerais para a sua busca
Font selection is still considered an art and many designers do not think about computers as anything but a simple means to an end
Summary
I ntroduction Computers make our lives easier by calculating what we humans cannot. Font selection is still considered an art and many designers do not think about computers as anything but a simple means to an end. Told to pick when in doubt rather than what they would pick if they were more aware of both the massive amount of options and the cognitive processes taking place when they design (McRaney & Dobelli, 2011) What if their intuition was just one of the many tools used by designers to choose type? What if their intuition was just one of the many tools used by designers to choose type? What if an automatic tool for choosing type could be designed, based on all the digital information that we currently have? At least hypothetically, basic data analysis applied to font design and font selection could yield surprising results and help us understand more about typography than any type classification system devised in the centuries before has been able to
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