To understand 'font' we should first explain 'typography.' Typography is a word where ‘type and ‘ography’ have been merged and it means the process of creating type. This is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and aesthetically appealing when displayed. Typography can include choosing the style and appearance of characters (letters, numbers and symbols) as well as the arrangement (related to the principle of design: hierarchy) and includes consideration of point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing and letter-spacing. You can learn more about typography here.
Font refers to a specific variation or style within type. It's a digital file that contains a set of characters with consistent design attributes, such as the shape of letters, numbers, and symbols. Fonts encompass different weights (bold, regular, light, etc.), styles (such as italic), and sometimes other variations. Each font has a distinct appearance that contributes to the overall visual representation of the type.
While typography relates to all kinds of text and how they are spaced and arranged, font refers to the style of the text.
In film posters and advertisements, font can play a large factor in how the themes, style and vibe of the movie are visually communicated. An action movie might use big, bold, blocky fonts that represent the big actions occurring. In the 'Mad Max' advertisements, this included adding cracks in the font and the texture of dirt and / or blood splatters to represent the many scenes shot in the desert and featuring violence. Similar tactics are used in horror movie posters that use sharp of dripping fonts to create feelings of tension and eeriness. Romantic films can used hand-drawn fonts to represent authentic and organic vibes to represent budding relationships.
Use the list of film genre vibes and try to identify how they relate to the film genre posters below:
Class Project: Fonts & Films
Below are the same tables that we used when we first started speaking about film genres. Today, you should expand the 'Colour / Font / Style' section to specifically reflect on font styles.
Instructions
Go to the same genre that you worked on before.
Find 3-7 examples of posters that specifically show fonts which you feel suit the vibe of the genre.
Insert the new pictures in the 'Colour / Font / Style' box.
Dot-point what about the way the fonts look communicates a vibe similar to the film genre.