28 April 2010

Good Font/Bad Font

Indulge me in something a little silly here. I'm a font nerd, and this cup of soup I came across at Harris Teeter the other day really brought a smile to my face:

(For those interested, Harris Teeter's font is called Jester).

On the other hand, this sign at a Barrack's Row restaurant made me look twice:


This font is Copperplate Gothic Bold, which clearly has quite a following out there in some quarters. Note the two lowercase "o"s in the word "Room"—they've been rotated ninety degrees, apparently because the sign's frame wasn't made large enough for the restaurant's name to fit. Not important, but it did catch my eye...

7 comments:

  1. Funny -- I had my own negative reaction to the Chesapeake Room typeface. I like Copperplate Gothic, but it's just so common now, such a lazy "I'm trying to be modern" choice. The sign struck me as rote.

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  2. It also looks to me like the "s" is upside-down....

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  3. I agree - that S is totally upside down.

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  4. It looks to me like the guy who made the sign didn't know which direction the letters were supposed to go in.

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  5. I think Copperplate Gothic is lame because it's overused. Didn't know the name until now though, but I see it everywhere. It's like a faux-fancy/old font.

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  6. Bless you for your posting. Copperplate Gothic Bold is the greatest font of all time. You did bring up some interesting points. I do agree that the overall font and it's impact is compromised when letters are rotated like the poor people at the Chesapeake Room have done. While their intentions are good, the ghost of Frederic Goudy may haunt them and their establishment.

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You can be curmudgeonly too, but let's try to be civil and constructive here, ok?