A lot of chops are parodies of posters, packaging and ads which involves working with fonts. This post will explain to you what you need to look for and how to match a few fonts that you might see and use in various graphic design work you may decide to chop.
This will not be a comprehensive blog on fonts as a lot of technical information are not necessary for you to know at this point. What you need to know are tricks for you to identify a font quickly to match.
There are fonts that are totally being used over and over and I will advise you to keep those handy. They are basically from the same foundry (aka font makers) and bought as a set which a majority of professional designers have and use. These are fonts like:
Avant Garde
You have seen this in logos like ‘Stand Up to Cancer’ or Kelly Clarkson’s new single My Life Would Suck without You.
So if you see a font that has a very round O, C, G or the lower case A and e, think Avant Garde. The number 0 though is pill shaped which is another way to narrow this font. Also note the tips are square off like on the letter W or V where most fonts have them pointed sharply.
Below a distinct uppercase R. O is round compared to zero.
Futura
Once in a while you’ll confuse one font for the other as in the case of Futura. Looks somewhat like Avant Garde but there are subtle differences.
You’ve seen these in logos and ads for Absolut Vodka and Living Language books.
The smallcase O, A and E looks similar to Avant Garde but check the W has pointed corners. The lower case g is also longer as the lowercase F is taller.
Compare the C in Avante Garde to Futura. In Futura it looks like a circle that’s been sliced vertically to form C. In Avante Garde you get more of the circle.
A quirk of this font is when you go bolder the pointy corners disappear.
Helvetica
This font is legendary as it is widely used yet you might not notice it. This never gets old for the fact that the lines and proportions are clean. A cheaper knock off is Arial but if you want to be legit you must use helvetica.
You’ve seen versions of this font in Katharine McPhee’s album – Helvetica Light.
How will you know if a font is Helvetica? They’re not as round as Futura or Avant Garde but it’s lowercase A basic with the little curve on its tail. The lower case J and Y have a curve bottom but it doesn’t curve up like the lowercase G.
Eurostile
Eurostile is like the cliche high tech font. Characterized by square letters with curved corners. I’ve seen it used in shirts by fcuk (French Connection).
Optima
Optima is based on Roman typeface without the serifs – those little narrow tips sticking out (shown below).
Optima is characterized by different thickness which is not characteristic of Sans Serif typefaces.
You’ve seen this font on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial which makes obvious it’s Roman origin.
Characters I would watch for are on the A and M how the type gets thin then fans out like a spatula on its tips which appears in most of its lowercase (below).
I’ve only skimmed the surface of this topic but the purpose here is to learn and memorize enough fonts so you can match them better if you decide to chop. Eventually you will realize that many designers are just using the same batch of fonts again and again.
To be continued…
Posted by unravel101 