Stationery Behind The Scenes
Which font did you choose for your wedding announcement? Nuptial? Rook? Brittany? How about your birthday party invitation? Finding the right font can be overwhelming, especially when your options are much greater than before. Graphic designers call this search of fonts a shell game. Why? Well, because there are endless amounts of fonts available and only one fool with the same amount of bad luck. Want our advice? Here is your chance to break that losing streak.
According to Ryan Monahan, Giftsin24 resident type designer, choosing the right lettering style is a matter of preference and three important elements. “I think a font should have three things, consistency, style, and personality,” Ryan says. But is it really that easy? Yes and no. Your favorite font might be right in front of you. How can you tell? Let’s start at the beginning and learn the basics. “Most type design is derived from the motion and strokes of the human handwriting motion,” he explains. “We need consistency to comprehend that what we are seeing is the letter r and not an n. What about style and personality? Those elements Ryan says are “a big part of the design process and are learned through the observations of everyday life.”
Cram for it: This will be on the Pop Quiz
Let’s review the following terms again:
- Placement – How are words used?
The placement of your message on a card or note signifies importance. Whether your personalization is centered, set right or left, each position carries meaning. After all, your words are important, are they not?
- Letter size – What is the content of the message?
A magnifying glass, unless you are a gung-ho sleuth for hire, is unnecessary if your favorite font is the right letter size. What is the right letter size? A ten point font or higher is suitable for most readers. The content of your message will be determined by the celebration or special event in question. Remember, a larger font may be more appropriate for a birthday card than a card meant to share your sympathy.
- Clarity – Is it readable?
If you need a code breaker to decipher your message then you might want to rethink about using that font. Clarity, other than the terms mentioned above, is the most important design element in a lettering style. Your words should be easily read – it’s that simple.
For Your Eyes Only: Three Original Lettering Styles
In a prior post we wanted your take on three mock-up personalized notes. Today we present, with much anticipation, the following fonts. They are perfect examples, to say the least, of how bold shapes, relaxed strokes, and vertical lines can make an unforgettable impression by incorporating conventional design elements.
Font name: Cynthia
Ryan’s advice: Look for characteristics that draw the eye in like bold shapes.
“Any type designer or letter lover like me would say that oversized unbracketed ball terminals are the first features that jump out at you.”
Font name: Conord
Ryan’s advice: Imperfections are sometimes good design elements.
“This font’s imperfections give it a hand drawn look that calls your attention. I try to make sure it all looks consistent in looking inconsistent.”
Font name: Empire Heights
Ryan’s Advice: Vertical lines will get you noticed.
“Most people tend to gravitate towards tall vertical typefaces. They have a classier aesthetic regardless of other more prominent characteristics.”
Visit our online catalogue to see more lettering styles, ink and paper color choices.
What now?
Use this information at your own discretion. A lot of the decisions that graphic designers make are based on trial and error. There are no secrets or tricks of the trade that will turn you into a pro overnight. When in doubt study the fundamentals like the advice given above. But if you are still at odds with how much you know or don’t know remember this last piece of advice from our type design master Ryan Monahan, “When shopping for stationery I would definitely put legibility at the top of my list. If I can’t read the font it defeats the purpose of using it.”
We want your input. What do you think about the above lettering styles? Should we incorporate them in our collection of personalized cards and notes? Let us know.
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Jeff Harvey
Wow, the blogs are getting much longer lately! I like the various font designs here, although the Concord style appeals o me a little more than the others. I do like the sort of hand-drawn look it gives (although my own handwriting is nowhere near that good!), and in addition I’m glad that the letters have a little space between them. I guess that’s what is meant by consistency, but I’ve definitely seen some lettering styles where things are too close together, which can cause you to misread what’s on there. There was a picture I saw on Facebook a month or so ago where the lettering was bad, and it caused the word “flicker” to look like something else, a word I probably shouldn’t say on this blog.
Which just goes to show that some font styles are not good choices depending on the actual words of your message.
25 January 2013, 5:44 pmHilma Conger
I agree with Ryan 100%. If the font is difficult to read then it’s no good, plain and simple. I think the Cynthia font here is getting fairly close to the line as far as pushing readability a bit. That last letter is an s, right? That’s the only one I’m not sure about.
Concord and Empire Heights are both good, though. I’m not sure which I prefer between the two, but they’re both distinctive and easy to read, which is of paramount importance. As for word placement and font size, those are pretty much determined by which style of personalized stationery you get, aren’t they? That’s usually part of the individual style of the card, though I agree you don’t want to have a very small font, and that very large lettering is not always appropriate depending on what you are using the personalized card for.
27 January 2013, 12:50 pmPaulette Leto
I really like that Cynthia font! I can see what Hilma means about how it might take a little bit of effort to read, at least until you’re familiar with it, but it’s so stylish and very unique. I love how everything is so circular, from the general shape of the letters to the little ball tips on the end of letters. It’s a small detail, but I also like that the dots on the letter i are connected like that. I think it adds to the uniqueness of this style. I could see myself getting a personalized notepad with my name in this font, or sending out personalized cards written in this style. Definitely a keeper!
27 January 2013, 2:08 pmstationeryfan811
I like all these font styles! Surprise surprise, right? They each have their uses they’d be appropriate for. Each font is lively and exciting in its own unique way. I can really see that Empire Heights font being used for the title page of a children’s book, for example. Which means it would be good for a personalized card intended for kids, which is what I would use it for.
Is that middle font supposed to be called Conord, or is there a typo and it should be Concord? I know I read it as Concord the first time, and it looks like I’m not the only one either. Either way it’s a cool font, and the one that has the most hand-written look of the three. I could see it being used for a wide variety of personalized stationery products, actually.
27 January 2013, 2:54 pmMaxine
I think Ryan Monahan’s analysis of font choices is spot on. I think I would substitute “readability” for “consistency” in his list, but he seems to mean pretty much the same thing with that word choice anyway.
I would really like to see the entire alphabet, both upper and lower-case, on display with these fonts. The Cynthia font is very unique and stands out more than the others (although they’re good too), but I have some concerns about readability. I think the lower-case S at the end would look better if it weren’t a completely closed circle. It doesn’t seem like you can really mistake the S for another letter, but it still looks off, somehow.
It took me a couple of views to notice the subtle background images behind these fonts. Are we seeing a preview of some future designs there? I hope we are, as I particularly like the way the Empire Heights font plays off the faint skyscrapers you can see behind it. I think that gives off a very urban flavor that would make a great personalized card style, and I for one would love to have something like that.
28 January 2013, 1:31 amHenry B Springs
Spring weddings will soon be blooming once again, along with the perennial cascade of returning spring flowers. They usher in a myriad of colors that help us identify with the season. Similarly, there are so many color choice options offered on the Personalized Cards and Notes for whatever reason, whatever occasion, not to mention your own, unique wedding agenda!
If you’ve been exploring the scenes or envisioning your most important spring events, keep in mind those Best Selling Cards and Notes to let everyone know just how special those events are. Before going any further you’ll want to consider ” consistency, style,” and personality that Personalized Cards and Notes deliver. That is the total point in picking your own, a style you will fall in love with and have others fall in love with as well. Whether it’s your own Personalized Cards, Notes or Wedding Agenda you want to send a personalized message and have them realize where it is coming from and that you took the time to send it.
28 January 2013, 11:19 amMary Beth
I like them all, but this Conord or Concord or whatever is my favorite. I’m not really seeing these “imperfections” but it does have a certain charm to it. I can see this working on personalized cards, stationery, maybe even napkins. I think it would work best on a personalized notepad though, since it does have that sort of handwritten look to it.
28 January 2013, 11:11 pmJonathan Price
I think Maxine is on to something that those backgrounds behind the fonts could actually make some nice personalized card designs. They’re all very well-chosen and compliment the corresponding fonts pretty well. Although between the three, Empire Heights definitely fits best with the background it has.
On their own merits, each of the three fonts has something cool going for it. Cynthia is festive and very distinctive. I see what people are saying about how it pushes the bounds of readability, but I had no problem with it. I would like to see how the rest of the letters look though.
Conord is interesting because of its more rugged style, like how you can see little bits of the background color coming through gaps in the letters. I could honestly see this font being used in like a jeans ad or something. But beyond that, it’s also good for personalized notepads or other stationery products.
Empire Heights is an odd one. The tall, thin letters look interesting, but I think it would only work for certain kinds of stationery. I think it would look good on a taller personalized notepad that’s not very wide, for example, but I can’t imagine a personalized napkin design where it would fit well at all.
So like I said, each font has its strengths, and I think they all have potential. I’m interested to see what all gets done with them!
29 January 2013, 12:08 amElizabeth Anderson
Put down another vote for Empire Heights! I think this is a very versatile font that looks very nice. I agree with whoever said it had a kind of urban feel to it, though maybe that’s got something to do with the buildings in the background of that image. Either way I think it’s very fitting. I disagree with Jonathan though, I think this font would look nice on personalized napkins just as well as anywhere else. I would go for dark colors though, to keep with that urban feel I mentioned.
29 January 2013, 1:15 amBethany
I like these fonts. Will we see them on some new personalized stationery products sometime soon? I like that they all have distinctively different feels to them, and would be good for a very diverse range of products. I suppose none of these fonts are exactly what you’d want for something like a business card (well, depending on your business anyway), but they range from semi-formal to completely fun, and I like that. I could see myself ordering personalized stationery with any or all of these lettering styles at some point.
29 January 2013, 9:50 pmRay Williams
Some interesting choices here. I like that we’re being given a preview before new products are made featuring these fonts. I’m going to judge them by how I think my name would look in that font, and by that metric my favorite is the Concord. The Empire Heights is good too. Cynthia is a neat font, but I don’t think it would work for me, so I’m more interested in the other ones. I suppose each font is better for different kinds of personalized stationery products, though. For instance, I think the Concord would look better on personalized notepads, Cynthia better on personalized cards, and Empire Heights on napkins.
30 January 2013, 12:17 amIsabel Gutierrez
Seeing these fonts is cool, especially with the designer’s comments alongside them. I would really like to hear Ryan’s thoughts about what kind of products he would design with these lettering styles and perhaps see some mockups of finished products using these font styles. I’d love to see what kind of cards, notepads, and other personalized stationery come from these three excellent fonts.
30 January 2013, 12:52 am