20th Century Typography

This is an appropriate poster for my 50th typography blog because this is honestly one of my favorite designs that I have found that focuses on typography. There are two main sections of the design, both of which mirror the similar pointed shape. There is also a repeated banner that is found at the top, middle, and bottom of the design. First of all the hierarchy is great. The title lines are in large type and even have different fonts. This also shows hierarchy within the title itself. Under the title is the guest's line of type which is in a blocky font that doesn't differ too much from the main title font. Below is the location which is surrounded by smaller secondary type that is basically more info about the location. In the bottom section is the date and time, tickets, and an additional tagline. These lines of type are aligned very well and create implied shapes that help form order. There is also a difference of the pattern in how the type is aligned, which helps to create variation and interest. After these type boxes is an additional line of type that includes some social media advertising in bold and regular forms for more variation. I only see three different fonts used for this design which follows the first rule of typography. Different variations of the fonts are used to help the hierarchy, but still follow the rule of fonts. I think that the monotone color scheme works very well and I like the over all look of this design. This layout has all of the features of a well designed event poster. I can see that this poster was well thought out and that alignment was important to the designer. I think that the poster grabs immediate attention from far away and even at a closer glance. This is truly a great event poster and I think this would gather the attention and interest of the audience while also being very easy to read, which is what typography is all about.

Why Design Now?

This typographic event poster has a very cool design idea, but there are some pros and cons about the overall typography. The top of the poster is nicely done and the green color scheme is very appealing on the yellowish-brown background. Unfortunitely the type underneath green type is lost due to the lack of color variation. It looks like this design is going for cut out look at the top, but there is not enough definition on the bottom of the type to show which letters are which. It honestly took me some time to see that "now?" was at the top and it looked as if the recycling logo was randomly placed on the page. I like the way that they mirrored the first and second halves of the tagline in the middle. This is a really cool idea but I personally would have moved "for" over a little to the left and aligned the "f" with the "r", that way the "o's" would match up and the "r" would match the same half-arch shape found in the beginning of the "m". This would require some additional spacing adjustments, but would help the design feel a little more authentic. The address, time, date, and contact info are all separated by the line coming from the "f". The time & date, as well as the contact info, are all left justified on the right side. The address is right aligned on the left side. This is inconsistent and does break the readability. The actual synopsis of the event is sideways and runs next to the almost-centered bar. This is also very hard to read and very unnecessary. There is so much empty space in this piece left over and this really makes me ask, "why didn't they at least make the type large enough to read?". I think that they could have used the synopsis to take up most of the empty space on the right and if they made the type larger it would be easier to read and it wouldn't look as unfinished as it does now. I think that this was poorly designed typographically. I think that there could be a lot more elements of design and typography in this poster, but unfortunately they were not added.

Jackson's

Jackson's Restaurant Bar & Grill has a two sided menu layout. The menu has a very interesting layout in the way that the menu section is split into four sections. The logo is at the top and therefore has hierarchy over the menu items showing that they are all to be associated with the logo. Each group of menu items is given a large title that features a very interesting font with an underline. Beneath the title is the list of menu items for that sections. All sections are center justified and are in a brighter color so that there is a variation in the fonts and so that it stands out more. Each menu item has the price next to it but it is separated by a vertical bar. This is a nice touch and at first I thought this could make some items look like they had a 1 in front of them, but once I realized that the price tag is in between the price and the bar. At the bottom of the top half of the menu features some additional details about what comes with the meals. I like the idea of using additional information in a bold font as a dividing line that separates the page. I really like this design and the layout. It features great organization and it shows really good consistency.

Menu Typography 2

This menu design uses an illustration for the background that has a low opacity but uses two colors that work very well for a low opacity design. I like this design because the design is very simple, doesn't stand out too much, and blends nicely behind the type. I also really appreciate that the design continues on both pages. Having the image on both pages helps guide the customer's eyes across the menu. As far as the type goes, the I think that they are very consistent with their layout. The title fonts are larger and in a center justified alignment, while the menu items are a little smaller in a black font to create variation. Underneath the item is the description. An interesting feature is that the left side items of each page have right justification, while the right side items have left justification. This means that there is a distinctive center line in the middle of each page. I am not sure whether or not I like this design feature or not, but it does stand out as being different. I think that the menu uses very unique ideas as far as the layout goes, but I would like a little bit more variation in the title font and maybe a little more leading before each title. There are some space issues that make some areas look a little bunched together.

Menu Typography

This menu uses a lot of very common elements as far as the typography, but the other small design elements that they use are very nice. I like that in the background is an illustration with the opacity turned down low to add an additional interest to the type while maintaining good use of real estate. As far as the typography goes, I think that the type is very well done. The type is center justified but because of the layout and how they are placed within the menu it still creates an implied sense of organization and shows order. The title for each category is in a much larger font than the menu items themselfs which helps finding items much easier. I also like that there is a thin line running underneath each title. This helps to create the order in the menu. Underneath the title is the menu item and the price. I like the font that was chosen for the sub text because it provides don't variation, but doesn't go too far away from the look of the other fonts. The additional description is also well designed and has an appropriate amount of leading so that the spacing between descriptions is close enough to see where it falls but far enough for easy readability. Over all I think this is a great menu and the layout and type play off of the subtle illustrations very well.

Hard Rock Cafe

This is a menu cover for the Hard Rock Cafe in Detroit, MI. The front cover has a tagline at the top above the graphic which is a great idea to get the attention of the customer and kinda give them a sample of what the restaurant experience will be like. After the graphic comes the logo. The logo sits right in the center and is in the same color as the rest of the type on the front. Underneath the logo is the address and the phone number, fax number, and website. I think the front is very well done and the information given is done appropriately for the cover. The back side of the menu has the salad options, dessert options, and additional information. The address and restaurant name are also repeated on the back of the menu. The typography for the menu items is very well done. They used a larger font in a centered alignment to create a headline for the category. Underneath that is the actual list of menu items. These menu items are all left justified and include the price after title of the menu item. There is also an appropriate amount of space given for the price after the menu item. A font variation is used for the special/featured menu items. They are in red as oppose to the other black fonts. Under the name of the menu item is the description of the menu item. This is in a smaller font to create hierarchy and helps show that this information falls underneath the headline of the item menu. The additional information on the back of the page features a basic white font that resembles the font, Impact. I think that having a font like this and making all of the type in one line of text is a little too intense for a menu; all of the type underneath this looks very small and unimportant. Overall I really like the design of this menu and I think that this is a great example of typographical hierarchy and an appropriate use of font variation.

Tea Room

Unlike most menus, this menu uses many different alignments and variations for the typography. The logo type is directly in the center of the menu at the top and takes a large section of the menu's real-estate. On the top left is the location of the tea room, while the right side has a date stamp. The different menu categories are found on both the left and right sides of the menu and also the bottom underneath the Saladier section. These categories use hierarchy to show importance in the menu categories over the importance of the menu item. The items themselves are listed in a center aligned format and have the price listed right after the item description. The categories are separated by the use of tiny star illustrations to add a small design element and help create and organized look to the menu. The middle of the menu has a section of salad choices. The title for this category is much larger then the others, is in the direct center of the menu, and uses a different font to show that that is the highlight of the menu. The type for this section is aligned very well to create a boxed shape and to maintain a very nice, organized look. The choice numbers are very large and stand out a tad too much. Under the categories are the quickie meals, children's lunch, and the featured lunch special. I like this menu, but I think that there are too many different fonts and that they are not similar enough. The bottom fonts look more sophisticated then the category type that looks to be more military inspired, while the logo looks to be very very script heavy and looks to be something found in a calligraphy book. The different alignments are very inconsistent and the "salad symphony" section looks squished underneath the other choices and can be overlooked. I think that this could use more consistency throughout the menu and less focus on creating a border around their salads.