Originally published here on 01/25/2009:
Typography as Art
My affinity for typography began at a very early age as I watched my father who is an artist design ad campaigns. I remember watching in awe as he spent endless hours tweaking his work and I was always jealous of his transfer letters- it looked like so much fun to rub and rub and magically text came to be! As early as second grade, I obsessed with how my handwriting appeared and would see a particular letter written somewhere and accordingly change the arch of my “a” and practice for hours emulating advertisements, high school cheerleaders’ posters, my father’s all caps handwriting or fancy “g” with two circles. I have always seen text as more than just a form of communication, it is art. I read typography blogs and study designer sites and it is delightful fun for me.
I’m not alone. The world thirst for beauty and tires of the monotony of advertisements. How many MLS home flyer templates can you look at before they all look the same? The solution could easily be typography.
There are fifteen videos below that showcase animated typography and I want you to watch whichever ones look interesting to you and think about how you use font in your marketing. Pay attention to the simplicity of the fonts chosen, the fact that many only use one font throughout, watch the colors, the contrast and the pace, and apply them to your print marketing. I challenge you to think of creating an animated text advertisement to music or your words or both. Enjoy!
