I recently read a very well-writen post on the I Love Typography Blog called, “On Choosing Type”. It is a great course for those studying typography and design and for people like me, a great refresher in why I love design so much in the first place.

Very frequently, we as working designers have no choice in typefaces for our clients. So often, we default to what we know looks clean and is fool-proof. But every so often, you may have the opportunity to make some choices. Gone are the days of choosing typefaces strictly for what looks great on paper. We now need to think about screen options big and small. In fact, with the birth of mobile marketing, we need to rethink what is legible for an entirely new screen size.

The first paragraph of this article struck a huge chord with me: “Typography is not a science. Typography is an art. There are those who’d like to ‘scientificize’; those who believe that a large enough sample of data will somehow elicit good typography. However, this sausage-machine mentality will only ever produce sausages. That typography and choosing type is not a science trammeled by axioms and rules is a cause to rejoice.”

I encourage anyone who creates or evaluates creative to take a trip over to the I Love Typography Blog and read more.

You can’t necessarily judge a book by its cover but you certainly can lose half your audience with one. The reality is in this oversaturated world of marketing messages, people are getting picky. You need to make a statement that is concise, engaging, and clear right on the cover. Otherwise that brilliant novel (or the bulk of any brochure for that matter) inside will never be read or seen.

One way to help your cause is with a bold headline. The impact of a headline depends on the words that are written and the way they are displayed. Today, I am going to talk about the pros and cons of treating headlines in an all cap way. Read more…

Here is a really cool use of video/animation to explain principles of typography.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=2o1U4o1bc2k[/youtube]

I know this is an old video but a year later it still rings true. Comic Sans is the worst typeface ever.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RqdZCo6vkI[/youtube]

The next time you hear a client say, “it needs an image, it’s too boring.” the problem may not be them, it might be you. Creative use of typography can dominate the layout and create an equally compelling composition.

Using scale, color, and spatial relationship can do wonders. And throw in animation and you have yourself a masterpiece.

Don’t believe me? Check out the masterpiece after the jump by Jarratt Moody. Read more…