Thursday, September 27, 2012

typeface in the wild assignment


The awning and the banner are for the same company, yet their fonts and color do not match.  it is confusing to look at and having more colors just distracts from the individuality for this establishment.  There isn't anything striking about it amidst the jumble of colors. the yellow of the awning overpowers the text so much that it gets more noticed for the yellow more than the establishment it represents.  the text is too thin and a bit cluttered with information.  understandably, it must have both chinese and english translations. i don't think a phone number is absolutely necessary to be place there.

 this is a pretty awesome typeface.  the restaurant is congee village.  the bowl you see above the chinese character is the symbol for congee. you can see the resemblance from the first chinese character down on the sign, which is the same one as the one constructing the bowl.  the green sticks out from the background earth tones.  the colorful bulbs around the sign are a bit excessive.  this probably isn't the best for non-chinese speakers since there is no english on the side, but there is a huge sign at the front.  the bowl on top gives it a torch like quality, like it is being presented and i think it is much more pleasing than it being on the bottom or on the side.
 the type is obscured by the background.  it is placed in between the rightfully distracting tailights of the bus which obscures the text even further.  the font is too thin to be noticed, it sacrifices boldness for style. i guess it makes more sense that this ad is meant for people driving behind it since the text would be level to a person driving a non-bus vehicle.
 i really disliked this typeface upon first glance and i wanted to decipher why.  i think its that the bar itself seems pretty laid back. its got outdoor seating, tvs indoors, and a generally inviting mood to it, except for the design of the name.  the font seems elitist, maybe because of its emboldened italics or how clean cut it looks. or the color of the banner makes it feel like an unsuccessful attempt to bridge the ages.
 the sign that i think says "chil" and the one that says "photo" doesn't pop out from its background.  especially in a street like broadway, it is difficult competing with the gilded storefronts.  the flapping of the flag wisps the name into obscurity. i think it is best if there is another, more stable medium for a shop to be noticed and a flag is used as a secondary source  if it wants to retain the fluttery quality of a flag.
 i kind of like this design. it uses the instantly recognizable colored track charts of the subway map to draw a subway goer, everyone there, and advertises through useful information.  the font and color of the background give a good simulation of an official MTA notice.  even though it is an advertisement, we walk away knowing more that what it is advertising.  it shows the time it takes from popular stops to get to the barclay center.  so at the union square stop, it says 14 mins.
 there's something very goofy about this that addresses what i suppose is a serious topic. look both ways before you cross the street.  the eyes on the "o"s placed on rows of real eyes have that "spot the difference" feel.  perhaps the playful attitude towards the topic suggests that it should be such an instinctive reaction that it is a bit ridiculous that it has to be advertised.  the words are bold and the eyes on the "o"s brings even more attention to it.
this is a storefront for a store selling signs that have a lot of lit signs in front.  even in daylight, it demands attention.  it is the most obnoxious store on the block and it does so effectively.  it has lights that serve no purpose other than to emit light for the passerby to take notice.  it has an array of "open" neon signs that don't say "close" when the store is closed.  it might as well be a giant lightbulb.
these signs work pretty well together.  there is consistency with the background color, the outlined text, the text color, and the font.  the flag's font strays a bit from the banner, but it is still in the same vain of elongation.  it definitely grabs attention. it is a simple one-worded shop. it has a memorable yellow that people can refer to. the background is not overpowering since the boldness of the text fills up the space adequately.
at first glance, i thought it was another fro-yo store. it has bright neon colors with a white background with a vague shape.  the inside of the shop itself looked like any other stop and go food spot.  the name of the store doesn't really reveal what it actually is. i was surprised to find out that this was a hand rolled sushi shop.  upon closer inspection, the typeface is actually quite clever.  the "o" minimalistically resembles the inside of a hand rolled sushi with the tail at the bottom left of the "o" which is considerately put left to avoid confusions that it might be a "q" if put on the right.  i still find this a misleading font. perhaps their intent was to modernize a traditional food. in that regard i guess it is successful.